eBay fraud You can't stop it! Beware all sellers

[Guest oneliner]

I am an eBay top rated UK power seller. This is my full time business.

 

Last week I was forced to see a gaping hole in eBay’s security/ seller protection.

All sellers need to take note of what happened to me as you will find it extremely difficult to resolve because of the way eBay operate.

 

I am in the UK and have an eBay shop on eBay.co.uk

 

A UK buyer went on to eBay.com as opposed to eBay.co.uk (this is imperative for the fraud to succeed) and made her purchase from the .com rather than the .co.uk site.

 

This buyer then bought goods from me for £49.99 I posted the goods using first class recorded delivery. The goods were signed for the next day.

 

The buyer then opened an item not as described case in the .com resolution centre. saying that she had bought a different size to that which she received.

 

I have been sending messages to this buyer but she ignored all of my messages.

 

She then put a tracking number in the eBay.com resolution centre; she did not send me the tracking number.

(she had no intention of sending any item back to me as this was part of the Confidence Trick])

I then checked the tracking number and the only message that the tracking number brought up was ‘this item has been delivered’.

 

In I then rang the Post Office and they informed me that this tracking number referred to a parcel that was posted 24th January 2012

and collected from the sorting office in Halifax on 25th Jan 2012.

 

The Post Office then provided all of the tracking details which I then forwarded to eBay.co.uk as I could not get anyone on eBay.com to hear my case.

 

The transaction by this fraudulent buyer took place on 20th August 2012.

 

In the resolution centre, the only communication I am allowed is with either the buyer or eBay themselves is to click the button to refund the buyer.

There is no option to dispute what the buyer has said.

 

In the meantime,

I have spent many hours on the telephone to eBay and got absolutely nowhere because eBay.co.uk cannot deal with any problems that come from eBay.com.

I have tried ringing eBay.com numerous times, but got nowhere in doing so.

 

The eBay.co.uk have been helpful in the way that they can see exactly how I have been duped by this buyer

but cannot do anything about because the person bought on eBay.com which is US based.

 

I received a telephone call from an ebay call centre based in the Philippines by a manager and she confirmed that ebay.co.uk

cannot look at the case because the transaction was made on ebay.com.

 

Now to add insult to injury, ebay.com have now found in the buyers favour and put a strike against my seller account because I did not refund payment to this buyer.

This is despite that eBay.co.uk fully aware that I have been the victim of a fraudulent buyer.

So despite no item being returned to me and also that I have categorically proved that I am the victim of fraud,

eBay.com have not only allowed this loophole to be exploited to the full,

but also held myself liable for it!

 

To highlight the M.O. of this buyer that eBay can do nothing to prevent.

· Opened an eBay account in the UK

· Opted to have Private Feedback

· Used her works address in Guildford Surrey on eBay and Paypal

· Used a telephone number that doesn’t belong to anyone

· Went on to eBay.com to make the purchase

· After receiving the goods, opened an ‘item not as described’ case in the eBay.com resolution centre (Buying on the ebay.com site as opposed to eBay.co.uk is Key to the success of the Fraud)

· Send an ‘old as you can get’ tracking number to the eBay.com resolution centre.

· The older the tracking number, the better as a detailed history is harder to obtain and is not checked to it's validity by eBay.com

 

· Ignored all email messages that I sent to the buyer

· The Fraudster knows full well that eBay.co.uk team can/will do nothing to help you because the transaction was not made on the .co.uk site but on the .com site

· You will not be able to get thru to speak to someone in the US where eBay.com is based and if you do, they do nothing about your concerns.

 

You may get so frustrated going round and round in circles for hours and days on end that you have to give up,

if your whole life is not going to be consumed by trying to resolve the issue.

 

The case has been found in the fraudulent buyers favor and she has had her payment including postage costs refunded in full.

She also gets to keep the item she purchased from me.

I have spoken to eBay staff at the eBay.co.uk call centre in Dublin and they agree that it is totally wrong but can do nothing about it.

 

Please be wary that this can happen to any seller and eBay will not do a single thing to protect the seller and will always side with the buyer whether or not concrete proof of fraud is provided. This is the way the system works when a transaction is carried out as above.

[Gazette]

Surely this is fraud and theft. Report her to the police.

[Guest oneliner]

I will be reporting this to the Police, but all ebayers need to know how the system works in a buyers favor if they purchase on the ebay.com site as opposed to ebay.co.uk. The staff at eBay's UK call centre in Dublin tried to stop this fraudster from winning the case and one of the staff at Dublin took on the case himself and contacted ebay.com on my behalf (this is not usually allowed, if you have a problem on the .com site, you only deal with eBay.com in the US) as I had provided categorical proof that this is fraud but was still unable to stop the person being refunded. All a person needs to do is this - if he/'she is outside the United States, make a purchase using ebay.com - Not ebay.co.uk, or whatever Country you may reside, report that you have a problem, provide an old tracking number from the oldest parcel you can get and that's all you need to do. The buyer will win the case. Simply crazy, yes.

The eBay staff are well aware of my case and would be welcome to make a comment here because they are not happy with the way the system has been allowed to cheat me but they simply can't stop it.

[andydd]

This seems like a bit of a dumb fraud, probably carried out by someone who thinks they are being clever but ultimately may be easily tracked, i recall a similar case in my local apper, a young guy found with hundreds of items in his house and was then arrested.

 

Surely most sellers know that Ebay has many flaws and in cases like this, ignore what Ebay say and go straight to the police, if this person is carrying it out lots of times, the police may well be interested but may need some persueding.

 

Andy

[postmn]

hold on i work in that town

[Guest oneliner]

I received a phone call today from a staff member at eBay.co.uk and he can't understand how I lost the case with having absolute proof that this fraud. He had tried to prevent the eBay.com resolutions team from siding with the fraudster but has so far been unable to so. He also agrees that if he couldn't stop this from inside of eBay, it is impossible for me, being outside of eBay to prevent this happening. It is an established fact that anyone can pull off multiple con tricks

like this from anywhere in the world simply by making a purchase on the eBay.com site as opposed to the eBay.co.uk site or any other country's eBay site. I have told eBay that I have put this case on the forum as people need to know what can happen even though they cannot be protected by eBay from this type of fraud.

Edited September 5, 2012 by oneliner

[Guest oneliner]

After numerous lengthy conversations with eBay.co.uk I have now had an email that tells me tha my selleing account has been compromised and that the case will not be held against me. This is a feeble excuse by eBay as they only did this after being told that a complaint is going to be made to the Police and this will at the very least show that eBay are guilty of malfeasance. My eBay account has not been compromised in any way shape or form. I was not even asked to change the password on the account. eBay are trying now to play this down as it is a practise that can be carried out with impunity by anyone whom so wishes. I will keep cag updated with further responses from eBay

eBay’s email to me is copy and pasted below

 

 

Hi *****,

eBay Customer Support has reviewed the case and made a final decision.

We’ve issued a full refund of GBP 54.74 on Sep 04, 2012 to the buyer as it appears your selling account was compromised. You will not be asked to reimburse eBay for this amount. The hold on this PayPal transaction has been removed. The case is closed and will not be counted in your seller performance evaluation.

 

Decision:

This case has been decided in the buyer's favor.

Comments:

The buyer claimed that the item didn't match the description.

You can also view the details of this case in the Resolution Center.

 

Item # : ********

Size: S

Sale price: GBP 49.99

Quantity: 1

Sale date: Aug-18-12 04:50:05 PDT

Buyer: *******

 

Case #: *********

Case opened: Aug-22-12 05:46:12 PDT

Case closed: Sep-04-12 12:51:27 PDT

View purchased item

 

Email reference id: [#062538e28a5c4a43b59780bf059bb05d#]

Please don't remove this number. eBay customer support may ask you for this number, if you should need assistance

[Guest oneliner]

A note has just been sent to my Paypal account which provides further proof that it is impossible to prevent fraud when it is executed as described in my initial post. I have copy and pasted the message below. In the meantime I have again rang eBay.co.uk and am waiting a return call as they are struggling to provide proper assistance to me.

 

You are receiving this email because eBay has refunded a buyer who bought an item from you. This refund was for eBay item ********** to eBay member ******** for the total amount of USD 87.11. This refund was due to a dispute raised by the buyer stating Item Not as Described. As you are aware, in these cases eBay contacts you to provide a resolution for the dispute within 7 days. In this case as you did not resolve the dispute, eBay refunded the money to the buyer. You are now requested to reimburse the refund amount to eBay. Please note that if you do not reimburse the full amount to eBay, your eBay selling privileges may be restricted or removed. For more information about the dispute process, please visit the Resolution hub: Please contact eBay Customer Support for any additional questions you may have. Sincerely, eBay Customer Support

[Guest oneliner]

A link to this page has now been provided to eBay.com to invite them to make a comment here.

[Guest oneliner]

In one of my earlier posts where I copy and pasted an email from eBay's messaging system, where it states that my account was compromised was a deliberate lie by eBay because they now accept that this was fraud committed by the buyer. eBay.com have always tried to hide this fraud as it is so so easy to perpetrate and they do nothing to prevent it.

I spoke with a Supervisor today from eBay.co.uk and he is expecting to make an official reply to this thread giving eBay's reasons why they allow this things to happen.

To re iterate, it is eBay.com based in the US that are at fault in this matter. eBay.co.uk have known that is a case fraud but could do nothing to prevent eBay.com from siding firmly with the fraudster.

The way for a person to buy something without having to pay, is log onto eBay.com (not eBay.co.uk) and make the purchase from the .com site. Then after receiving the goods, say that they will be returned to the seller. Provide some old tracking number a few days later and ...........the buyer is automatically refunded.

eBay should, any day now, post their reasons for allowing the fraud to take place, then rewarding the fraudster by giving a 100% refund plus P&P. Then putting a strike against my seller account and also a threatening message in my Paypal account stating that if I don't refund eBay for the full total that they had paid the buyer, they are going to restrict or suspend my account. Disgraceful, no less.

We await your response eBay. You asked for the link, now you've got it please respond so the Public can see what you have to say!

[Ship'sBelle]

WOW! Disgraceful behaviour, as you say. Well first of all I'm sorry to hear that you've had so much hassle ... and secondly, thanks very much for the warning. This incident really DOES need to be widely publicised.

 

Obviously a crime (fraud/obtaining goods & cash by deception) HAS been committed by the buyer.

Edited September 23, 2012 by ims21

[Guest oneliner]

Update: I have now been given £25 in eBay vouchers because eBay.co.uk have accepted that eBay.com got it wrong. (£25 in no way compensates for the time I have had to spend fighting them for 'turning a blind eye' in allowing fraud to take place).

It is also well known amongst eBay staff that if a person returns even an empty box and provide tracking details of such, the fraudster will always win. eBay know that in the majority of cases, when the fraud doesn't amount to a large amount of money, quite often, the seller won't pursue it because of the length of time it takes and eBay themselves will always side with the buyer - regardless. It was only because of my good fortune in being able to speak to the right eBay staff at the Dublin (eBay.co.uk) offices, was I able to get any sort of justice. It was impossible for me to win my case with eBay.com without their help, despite having concrete evidence that I was the victim of fraud - they simply sided with the buyer and put 'strikes' against my account (only removed because Dublin offices took up my case) and then told me that my account would be restricted or suspended if I didn't ' pay up.

This fraud is obviously more widespread than just an individual case here and there, eBay.com obviously have policies in place that frustrate sellers from taking a stand against fraudsters - One reason that is evident, is that it takes up eBay's time when a seller disputes a case like I have done, and time equals money, so eBay.com simply 'stonewall' any legitimate claims by sellers that a buyer has committed fraud against them as it is less work for them if they can deter the buyer from fighting such cases.