Go on...

beyerun wrote:I was recently scammed on a purchase and found out some interesting things.

My concern is posting how to do it will encourage lurkers to give it a try.  I know nobody who posts here would do something like this.

There is a way to rip people off on eBay, have them pay via Paypal and have there be zero recourse.

I know this because I have emailed, filed complaints, and called, and found out how it all doesn't work.

I'm sure its been done before, and I'm sure the person will do it again and again.

If nobody has a problem with me explaining it I'll do that.  

If anyone doesn't want me to post it, I won't.

Sure.  If you buy something from someone on Ebay, and pay for it using Paypal and you are a confirmed Paypal member, all the seller has to do is send you a brick in a box as long as they have a delivery confirmation receipt attached.  All Paypal has to verify is that the delivery confirmation is valid and went to the address indicated, and the seller is in the right.  That's one way, I'm sure there are dozens more.  This is why it is vital to leave negative feedback when you are ripped off, and why you should always check feedback before you place a bid, and read the comments listed.  Anyone with less than 98% feedback should not be dealt with, period, unless you are willing to take a chance to be ripped off.  Hopefully you pointed out whatever scam took you in in negative feedback to the seller...enough of this and he won't be able to rip off anyone else after awhile.  Please let us know what happened.

Mike B.

Check feedback. If they have any feedback about items not arriving, then you should probably be wary. If there is only one, or it seems possible ther was a mistake, it may be ok.

deimos3428 wrote:

Badmike wrote:Sure.  If you buy something from someone on Ebay, and pay for it using Paypal and you are a confirmed Paypal member, all the seller has to do is send you a brick in a box ...<snip>

Please, do NOT do this.  If you're going to send me some kind of fraudulent package, at least have the courtesy of making it light.  Shipping gets expensive!

Whoops, should have said "foam packing peanuts" instead of a brick. No use going to any unnecessary risk when ripping someone off!
  In my ten or more years selling and buying online I've pretty much seen and heard everything.  I really think I've been very, very luck over the years, in that I have had very few ripoffs and generally they have been very inexpensive, I think most have been under $20.  
  One of my favorite scams ever was two guys, one based out of the area I live in, who worked the post office for hundreds if not thousands of dollars before being caught and prosecuted.  Like most crooks, they got too greedy, but until then they had a nice little scam going.  Crook #1 would get an appraisal on a small antique object, rare comic book or collectible 1st edition novel.  Crook #1 would then "sell" the item to Crook #2 on Ebay or a similar forum.  Crook #1 would then ship the item to Crook #2, being sure to insure the item for whatever the item sold for, typically close to the appraisal price (say, in the neighborhood of a few hundred dollars).  Crook #2 would receive the package, and remark that the box looked somewhat damaged and could he open the item there in front of a postal employee.  Low and behold, the item would be damaged in some way, and Crook #2 would ask for an insurance refund after Crook #1 sent him the proof of insurance.  
  As you have probably figured out, Crook #1 was packaging ALREADY DAMAGED items in boxes with slight damage or wear, and sending it the cheapest possible shipping method so the box or package would gather a few more realistic dings and bumps.  And of course, Crook #2 was writing the appraisals of said items using the letterhead from the insurance company he worked for (the appraisals were fake but looked real) and buying the items on Ebay using his real name, thus creating a paper trail of the "true value" of the "undamaged" item.  
  To cover their illegal activity Crook #1 and Crook #2 would not have insurance claims for every sale;  typically one or two a month would be declared, with both engaging in dozens of other sales a month.  They got busted after about a year of this when they got too greedy and started declaring larger and larger insurance claims on items (which was eventually noticed by the clueless postal authorities).   Finally someone started noticing  certain patterns and the two were set up and nailed by postal authorities.  I think the post office that issued the insurance claims was in a very large city, because smaller post offices would seem to notice large claims that were made very frequently.  In my experience you have to jump through rings of fire to get insurance refunds.  
    Anyway, the above story is NOT meant as an example of how to steal; you WILL get caught eventually, the post office's fraud department has made such scams very likely to get discovered.  But it just shows the lengths that people will go to for what they consider "easy money" and taking advantage of the system.

Mike B.

So beyerun,

What was the scam that you got hit with so the rest of us can avoid it?

I just had an E-Mail sent to me (Supposedly) from the seller of one of the recent ST1 auctions. It was a second chance offer from the seller. The E-Bay html was in the letter and it all looked quite correct and official to me.

The E-Mail address for the seller was not the same as that of the Original Seller and the NEW seller couldn't spell his own name right, or anything else for that matter. The NEW seller must not use English as a first language. Grammar was ill used throughout the letter and spelling errors were about every other word, and just forget about punctuation too.

I figured it was a scam the first time around and so I did not even consider doing the deal. Now I plan to report the scammer to E-Bay. Should have done so the first time, but as now I was uncertain it was actually a scam.

I have Now asked the advise of a person with far more experience with this sort of thing and that person had now told me yes, it is definitely a scam.

I will not likely EVER agree to a second chance offer from a seller on E-Bay, unless I have dealt with the seller several times before and know personal info about him/her that can't be faked...

Anyway, what is the best way to report this jerk?

Say you'll take it if you can fly down and pay in person.

Aneoth wrote:I just had an E-Mail sent to me (Supposedly) from the seller of one of the recent ST1 auctions. It was a second chance offer from the seller. The E-Bay html was in the letter and it all looked quite correct and official to me.

The E-Mail address for the seller was not the same as that of the Original Seller and the NEW seller couldn't spell his own name right, or anything else for that matter. The NEW seller must not use English as a first language. Grammar was ill used throughout the letter and spelling errors were about every other word, and just forget about punctuation too.

I figured it was a scam the first time around and so I did not even consider doing the deal. Now I plan to report the scammer to E-Bay. Should have done so the first time, but as now I was uncertain it was actually a scam.

I have Now asked the advise of a person with far more experience with this sort of thing and that person had now told me yes, it is definitely a scam.

I will not likely EVER agree to a second chance offer from a seller on E-Bay, unless I have dealt with the seller several times before and know personal info about him/her that can't be faked...

Anyway, what is the best way to report this jerk?

Ebay should do away with the Second Chance offer, probably will someday after it becomes public how much it is abused.   Face it, Ebay puts the option in so you don't do a sale on your own on the side without them making a profit.  
   I don't advocate skirting Ebay's rules, but on occassion I have helped out a buyer who emailed me after an auction wanting to know if I have a second copy for sale. Never had a problem doing this.  I would never respond to a seller that sent a second chance offer, or offered me something "on the side."  But if a buyer has a good rating and seems pretty sincere, I've been known to help him out.  

Mike B.