Fell For a Sophisticated Scam (Fake Chanel Bag) - Help!

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#20
Mimiloves10 said:
Hi Guys,

Really need some help.

1) I purchased a Chanel Medium Classic Flap bag (black) off Gumtree (an Australian website) and paid via PayPal G&S.
2) I was convinced because the seller uploaded a copy of the receipt (personal details blanked out) which clearly started the serial number of the bag (matched inside hologram sticker), and provided a certificate of authenticity from an online authentication service called Luxury Authentication Australia (https://www.luxuryauthentication.com.au/). However I can tell from their online website that they authenticate via photos only and haven't seen the bag in real life.
3) She said she lost the authenticity card but provided a photo of it. This wasn't an immediate issue for me since I know it can happen (and fakes can come with authenticity cards) and the price was adjusted accordingly. I didn't plan to resell the bag so I didn't mind.
4) I received the bag and it looked great. A COPY of the receipt was sent (not the original). Receipt copy/format looks genuine and same as an authentic receipt from the store that I have. No obvious issues however I did my due diligence and sent the bag out to be authenticated by Royal Bag Spa which is the only Australian authentication service that I can find that uses Entrupy. As far as I know Eticincler does not accept authentication from overseas, et.c
5) Royal Bag Spa's Entrupy Check says the bag is COUNTEREFEIT!! Specifically they pointed out that the interior material is not consistent with authentic Chanel interior material and images from the hardware logo are inconsistent with authentic Chanel hardware logo. (But interestingly, nothing about the caviar leather...)

So my question is... how is this even possible??? Could Entrupy be wrong? I have read somewhere on the Purse Forum that they have been wrong with Coach, but I'm assuming that Hermes/Chanel which are two brands they advertise themselves as being able to authenticate shouldn't be wrong right?

My best guess is.... The seller had a genuine bag/genuine receipt then made a batch of super fake bags matching the serial number on the receipt then sold them with copies of the original receipt.... if that's the case then this is a super sophisticated scam!

And second question is... what should I do?

1) Contact seller and ask them to refund my money? What if they deny its fake? What if they close their PayPal account after being warned and run away? They are an individual seller, not a store.
2) Raise dispute with PayPal (SNAD?). But what if the seller uses the copy of the receipt as proof of authenticity, or the authentication from Luxury Authentication Australia? Will PayPal understand that superfake bags cannot be authenticated via photos only?
3) Should I send the bag back to them or not (if they or PayPal ask me to)...
4) Could Entrupy be wrong?? I'm so confused here.

I haven't done anything yet. Waiting to hear back from your advice before doing anything.
I'm a lurker on this forum and never had to post anything until now... wish this wasn't my first post. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Can you post some pics of the bag?
 
#21
Yes wondering what happened - did you get a refund. Also i wanted to mention, i'm in Melbourne as well, but i get all my premier bags authenticated here first!! Then i go to a4u. I havent needed to use a hands on place yet. For that amount no one should be buying off gumtree without getting it checked first.
 
#22
I’m late to this thread, but I really hope you managed to have your bag authenticated by a method other than Entropy. If it was fake, did you manage to get a refund?
 
#23
Entrupy provides the most reliable authentication on the market and whomever is saying it isn't, doesn't have one. I own one and tested it with a friend's super-fake, a Chanel so good, even I thought it was legit! It flagged it as counterfeit. When you're using it, you can see how close the microscope gets to the fibers of the fabric, the stamping, etc. I'm not saying it's foolproof - there is that 1% chance they get it wrong. My guess is that this seller either photoshopped a fake entrupy certificate or used a real bag to get the Entrupy cert and then swapped bags with a fake that had identical serial number. I'm so sorry this happened to you - really hope you can get your money back!
 
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#24
nextbighype said:
Entrupy provides the most reliable authentication on the market and whomever is saying it isn't, doesn't have one. I own one and tested it with a friend's super-fake, a Chanel so good, even I thought it was legit! It flagged it as counterfeit. When you're using it, you can see how close the microscope gets to the fibers of the fabric, the stamping, etc. I'm not saying it's foolproof - there is that 1% chance they get it wrong. My guess is that this seller either photoshopped a fake entrupy certificate or used a real bag to get the Entrupy cert and then swapped bags with a fake that had identical serial number. I'm so sorry this happened to you - really hope you can get your money back!
Click to expand...
Those of us who've seen some of the fake Coaches that Entrupy has authenticated (and there have been dozens!) disagree!

And the fakes with which Entrupy has been wrong are NOT "super fakes." They are some of the most obvious fakes made.

I can't speak for other branded bags but with Coach, my conservative guess is Entrupy has been wrong at least 25% of the time! And that's a huge percentage for AI to get wrong. Your estimate of 1% error rate is grossly under what I believe it to be.

As such a fan of Entrupy, perhaps you have some influence with them. I strongly recommend you refer their PTB to the Coach subforum because they seem to need HUMAN expertise in the company. Their computers aren't good enough.

ETA: No, I don't have one and would NEVER trust it over human experts' eyes.
 
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#25
I’m certainly not affiliated with Entrupy, I’m just a paying customer. I’m surprised to hear they offer authentication for Coach, as it’s not a premium brand. I’ve only used it on Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermès. Sounds like if they are offering other brands, they need to work on their AI for those brands.
 
#26
nextbighype said:
I’m certainly not affiliated with Entrupy, I’m just a paying customer. I’m surprised to hear they offer authentication for Coach, as it’s not a premium brand. I’ve only used it on Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermès. Sounds like if they are offering other brands, they need to work on their AI for those brands.
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Pardon me for pointing out that they're ripping off customers whether on a "premium" brand or not. ANY mistake that doesn't get corrected is wrong!

I'm pretty sure I've read about mistakes on Chanel and LV also though I'm not going to invest the time to search them out. Perhaps someone else will chime in with their opinions.
 
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#27
BeenBurned said:
Pardon me for pointing out that they're ripping off customers whether on a "premium" brand or not. ANY mistake that doesn't get corrected is wrong!

I'm pretty sure I've read about mistakes on Chanel and LV also though I'm not going to invest the time to search them out. Perhaps someone else will chime in with their opinions.
Click to expand...
There's no need to be rude -- I was actually agreeing with you when I said "sounds like if they're offering other brands, they need to work on their AI".

Yes, I'd be curious too if anyone has gotten a false identification on Chanel, LV etc.
 
#28
nextbighype said:
Yes, I'd be curious too if anyone has gotten a false identification on Chanel, LV etc.
Click to expand...
Here are some posts:
FAKE CHANEL:
from September 3, 2020 - https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/entrupy-is-not-dependable.1006960/page-5#post-34028257
from August 30, 2020: https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/jumbo-flap-series-28.1029097/page-2#post-34021126
from June 2, 2020: https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/jumbo-flap-series-28.1029097/#post-33838588

FAKE LOUIS VUITTON:
This is a thread about a fake that was "authenticated" by Entrupy.

Of interest to those wondering about the accuracy of computer authentications

O M G!! Because this is LV related, I'm tagging @Addy , @Lee , @lshcat and @lovlouisvuitton If there are other LV authenticators I've missed, please let them know. Over the years, I've seen many fakes of various designers listed by linda*s***stuff and getting action on reports of fakes is...
forum.purseblog.com forum.purseblog.com
 
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#29
Entrupy has wrongly identifed real Givenchy and Prada as fakes, and marked fakes in the same brands as real. Personally i WILL NEVER use entrupy nor beleive it if a bag is sold with it, to me its a worthless certificate. The science doesnt work, you cant proove it works. How does it know that the bags made in a workshop from artisans that used to work for Hermes and stole leather and hardware from Hermes, is a fake ??
 
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#30
nextbighype said:
I’m certainly not affiliated with Entrupy, I’m just a paying customer. I’m surprised to hear they offer authentication for Coach, as it’s not a premium brand. I’ve only used it on Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermès. Sounds like if they are offering other brands, they need to work on their AI for those brands.
Click to expand...

They need to work on their AI for CHANEL too, as you can see in the August 30th and September 3rd links that BeenBurned posted they have made quite a few errors with CHANEL.
 
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