Warning: To all those selling on ebay and using paypal!!

juicygrl41

juicygrl41

Member
Feb 14, 2008
622
0
#1
I know that a lot of issues like this have been talked about on this forum but I wanted make sure that everyone is aware of what is going on so that they do not get scammed the way I almost was.

I was selling my Juicy Couture Sidekick on Ebay and was contacted by someone asking if I would ship to the UK and they would pay $450 ($150 over my asking price) for the international shipping. I thought sure, the UK is fine and I agreed, thinking 'well at least it isn't someone from Nigeria trying to scam me'.

Then a few weeks went by and I hadn't received any funds from them so I emailed them again asking them to please send the funds or let me know if they were not interested anymore so I could sell it to someone else. They responded back and said they would send the funds asap and to please mail the item out an provide a tracking number. Also at this point they had given me 4 different names and two different addresses. One was the billing address in the UK and the other was the address they wanted to me to ship to which was a Nigerian address. This made me very suspicious and I originally thought it was identity theft.

Almost immediatly after the payment was sent from the seller I got an email from PayPal informing me that due to their new policy to protect buyers ands sellers that I needed to mail the item off before the funds were credited into my account. I thought this was unfair and was planning on calling PayPal to question how this new policy is supposed to protect sellers and also ask about the possible identity theft issue.

Well when I called PayPal and explained the situation I was informed that this was indeed the Nigeria scam and that the email that I got stating it was from PayPal was in fact the scam email. They had me send it to them at [email protected] and informed me not to contact the buyer again.

What makes me the most angry is the way that PayPal is dealing with this (or not dealing with this I should say). The representative I spoke with acted as if it was no big deal that I was scammed and aslo that they security that PayPal raves about is not secure at all. I asked him how PayPal was going to ensure that this person is not able to scam myself or someone else, they said he would be blocked from using PayPal. I asked what stopped him from using another email or screen name, they said they know the network the user is on. I asked what stops them from using another computer, the rep wouldn't answer that (therefore nothing stops them, which is probably how they are able to continue to scam people) I asked the rep what stops this person from harassing me and asking me for the phone because he "sent the money", the rep wouldn't answer me (so nothing stops this person from harassing me) I asked if I should change my PayPal security information so just in case, the rep said that is not necessary (which I do not believe so I will be changing my information asap)

Thanks from listening guys I am very angry and upset about this situation and the way I was treated about the situation. I really just need to vent right now.

I also want to ensure that no one else is scammed or almost scammed by using PayPal and thinking they are safe. If you have any suspicious emails or your buyer is acting unusual please contact PayPal and report this person- we all need to help out each other.
 
#2
UPDATE: I just checked my email and I had one from the seller saying he had made the payment and to send the item. I really want to email him and tell him where to stick this payment but I am going to not do that and take the high road.

I can't believe this...

I am now forwarding every email he ever sent me to [email protected].
 
#3
WOW! I Paypal is so full of it! They claim to protect sellers but when you have a real situation that needs some serious attention it falls on deaf ears! Sorry to hear that Paypal so unhelpful. It seems that they don't care and these scammers get away with it. I am glad that you posted this important information!
 
#6
Please note that they might just send the payment! This happened to a friend of mine, the checked looked real and everything and the bank was going to cash it but I told her to ask the bank if they can verify the check for her, when they did they found it was a real check coming from a closed account! Please be very careful...
 
#7
Anything that seems to good to be true...surely is...my pessimistic attitude...lol!

I'm soooooooooooooooooooo glad it worked out and you didn't end up losing much more!!! PP is sucking pretty hard these days...aren't they?
 
#8
thanks for all the encouragement girls!

I have received another email from him saying that I should not be alarmed, that he is not scamming me and saying that he is buying this for his neice so that is why he has so many different names.

I called PayPal again and informed them that this man was now harassing me and they basically said that they couldn't stop him and that I would need to contact my service provider to have the harassing emails stop. I also asked what stopped this man from hacking into my PayPal account and the women said that is not possible because of the security questions the site asks. I said that is basically bull because they were able to hack into the site to do this in the first place.

Belladiva79 do you think you could please explain what happened to your friend in a little more detail (if you know) you can PM me if you want because now that I am scared about that happening to me.
 
#9
juicygirl41, I'm really glad that everything worked out and that you didn't get scammed.
I agree that at times ebay and paypal are really lacking in protection and I really dislike the fact that we seem to pay them so much in fees yet we don't seem to have a whole lot of control once they have our money.But, I think that this post is a good reminder that we as sellers have to keep our eyes and ears open and watch for signs that things are not right. Things like a buyer changing a name and/or address should set off alarm bells as should someone offering more than has been asked for an item. As other poster said, something that seems too good to be true, is probably not true.

I believe that in some cases, our own instincts and gut feelings are more protection than paypal ever will be. JMHO :smile:
 
#10
why are you blaming paypal for this? it's inevitable and unfortunate that scams DO exist in this world. i've received fake emails from paypal, ebay, AS WELL AS bank of america, chase, etc. what can paypal do to stop scammers from sending out fake emails under their name? it's up to the end user to be aware and not fall for them. the only thing they can do is create awareness about their policies.

and i'm not sure why you're also blaming paypal for the scammer sending you emails. they can't control these people and certainly can't block emails for you. just delete and ignore the emails.

really, people's paypal accounts get hacked because they receive these spoof emails asking them to sign in to change their info and the link they provide in the email says paypal, however, links to their own site and once you enter your info, they have your password. again, it has nothing to do with paypal's security being inadequate. and why does someone need to hack paypal in order to pull off a scam like this?

i don't understand why you're so quick to put blame when if you really think about it, there's nothing paypal can really do to stop these scammers. that's all scammers do, they think of ways to trick people. you should be angry with scammers in general, not paypal.

if i were to be mad at paypal, it would be because of some of the policies they enforce like the 21-day funds hold rule or the extravagant fees they charge.
 
#12
hartofalyon said:
why are you blaming paypal for this? it's inevitable and unfortunate that scams DO exist in this world. i've received fake emails from paypal, ebay, AS WELL AS bank of america, chase, etc. what can paypal do to stop scammers from sending out fake emails under their name? it's up to the end user to be aware and not fall for them. the only thing they can do is create awareness about their policies.

and i'm not sure why you're also blaming paypal for the scammer sending you emails. they can't control these people and certainly can't block emails for you. just delete and ignore the emails.

really, people's paypal accounts get hacked because they receive these spoof emails asking them to sign in to change their info and the link they provide in the email says paypal, however, links to their own site and once you enter your info, they have your password. again, it has nothing to do with paypal's security being inadequate. and why does someone need to hack paypal in order to pull off a scam like this?

i don't understand why you're so quick to put blame when if you really think about it, there's nothing paypal can really do to stop these scammers. that's all scammers do, they think of ways to trick people. you should be angry with scammers in general, not paypal.

if i were to be mad at paypal, it would be because of some of the policies they enforce like the 21-day funds hold rule or the extravagant fees they charge.
Click to expand...

ITA. :yes:

these kinds of scams are really common and not very hard to pull off; we just have to use our common sense and be very cautious. even if paypal (or chase, or bank of america, or a bazillion other institutions out there) had state of the art, painstakingly strict security, they can't stop joe schmoe from sitting at home, sending out scamming emails and persuading sellers to send stuff to nigeria.

IMO a good rule of thumb is, if it seems suspicious, just stay away. In this case, I would've been weary from the beginning of someone willing to pay an extra $150 for international shipping.
 
#14
I am glad you didnt send the item out. It would have been hard to lose the item and the money. I dont think you are blaming Paypal but it sounds as though they didnt do much to reassure you your account was safe. It doesnt make anyone feel very confident.
 
#15
thanks moi et mes sacs... i am certainly not blaming paypal for not being able to block this man from sending me emails what i am blaming them for is the fact that they did not try and reassure me at all the my paypal account, not to mention my actual bank account were protected. this has the potential to turn into identity theft and to affect my credit and yet they were very uncaring about it all.
 
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