Well, it happened to me -- $1000 Bal Bag Fraud Case

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#16
SchnauzerCrazy said:
The short and the sweet of it: over a month ago (March 17, 2011) I received payment for a 2011 Balenciaga and sent it to the address listed on the Paypal form. As the transaction was for over $250, I also chose signature confirmation and insured it. The transaction went smoothly - he received the bag on March 21 and left positive feedback.

At 2am today (over a month after this transaction), I received an email from Paypal notifying me that they are seizing that amount from my account because the buyer is claiming an unauthorized transaction. Needless to say, any thought of sleep dissipated and anger took over. I immediately provided Paypal the tracking information showing delivery to the address listed on the Paypal form (where it says "OK TO SHIP") and also requested the USPS records as to the signature confirmation they have on file. I cannot provide the PDF of the signature confirmation yet (which, by the way, clearly lists the buyers name as the signor) because the case is now "Pending Paypal Review" and the offices are closed.

This thief could not have picked a worse target: I'm a lawyer and my husband is a federal agent. Not only am I angry at suddenly having a negative balance on my Paypal account, I'm also angry that he had the balls to pull this stunt. Unsurprisingly, I took the opportunity to email him.
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Wait a minute. This same thing happened to me, like the SAME exact thing. I sold a YSL Muse bag for over $1000 and about a month later the buyer claimed an unauthorized transaction. I literally woke up to negative balance.

I called paypal and pretty much freaked out on them. I told them that it was THEIR job to verify that addresses match the billing statement and that the only reason I shipped to that address is because they said "OK TO SHIP". I followed all the precautions. Tracking, signature conf, etc. The paypal agent said that I was correct and because I had sig conf (and shipped to the paypal approved address) that I was covered under their 'Seller Protection Policy'.

They credited back the money immediately but wouldn't have automatically done so had I not stressed the fact that THEY told me to ship to that address. Paypal is just as much at "fault" for approving the address, KWIM?


Is there any reason that you can think of for why you wouldn't be covered under seller protection??
 
#17
mashanyc said:
Does it say whats the reason for chargeback? I checked out his/her feedback and its mostly for selling
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"unauthorized transaction" I.e., someone used his card without his knowledge.

lovely64 said:
This is awful. I notice you have the same bag listed now. Did you have two of them?
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Those are not the same color - I bout one in wheat and another in a lighter color (sorry, can't seem to think of the Bal name right now) but not ended up liking either. I have no problem being checked out - I have nothing to hide - so absolutely ask questions.

Ladies, thank you so much for your support! I went to sleep around 4 this morning (anger + adrenaline) so I am going to be a little slow. Even so, the first thing I did when the alarm clock rang was check for emails from the scammed - no such luck. I don't think he'll email - there is nothing for him to say that can help him and anything he does say can hurt him... But then, it always does surprise me how dumb some people can be so I'll keep my fingers crossed. As soon as my brain starts up again, I have phone calls to make! He seriously messed with the wrong girl!
 
#18
gplus3 said:
Oh, and I forgot to say, the quality of your photos are amazing!!

Hope everything works out well for you.
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Jennie's Aunt said:
Fingers are crossed that this works out for you. Sorry that you even have to deal with this headache!

I had an unauthorized charge on one of my credit cards. I reported the charge to my credit card company and they did remove the charge .... but they also removed other charges from the same day! Ummmm .... I didn't ask for that to do be done! Another call to the credit card company straightened out the authorized charges. Maybe something similar happened in your case?
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Things happen and it's possible - I'll hope that's the case but I'm still going to call everyone I can and make it a pretty bed of nails for him to sleep on tonight. I hope he gets as much sleep as I did.
 
#19
littlerock said:
Wait a minute. This same thing happened to me, like the SAME exact thing. I sold a YSL Muse bag for over $1000 and about a month later the buyer claimed an unauthorized transaction. I literally woke up to negative balance.

I called paypal and pretty much freaked out on them. I told them that it was THEIR job to verify that addresses match the billing statement and that the only reason I shipped to that address is because they said "OK TO SHIP". I followed all the precautions. Tracking, signature conf, etc. The paypal agent said that I was correct and because I had sig conf (and shipped to the paypal approved address) that I was covered under their 'Seller Protection Policy'.

The credited back the money immediately.


Is there any reason that you can think of for why you wouldn't be covered under seller protection??
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I had the same fear but I think I'm golden - address was OK and I received the signature confirmation email from USPS and his name is clearly written on it.
 
#20
^ So they claim somebody used their Ebay account, their Paypal account, then received the merchandise at their confirmed address, signed for it and left feedback? HaHaha! its so outlandish, not even funny.
 
#21
harpercassidy said:
Wow- so sorry to hear you are going to have spend your time dealing with this! And as everyone else has said... they really messed with the wrong person! Your advice and knowledge were so helpful to me in my scammer case- thank you. I am just so sorry you now have to deal with a similar situation. Good luck and please tell us what PP says- interesting the person is using the unauthorized transaction claim... we have seen empty box, different item, INR- but, I am curious how this case will proceed.
Good luck.
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Sweetie, thank you for the positive wishes! :smooch: I hope I can score one for the good team: it win't make everything right but hopefully deter others.
 
#22
^ Paypal CANNOT tell you it's "OK TO SHIP" and then take your money back saying that it's a fraudulent charge. It can't be a fraudulent charge if you ship to the VERIFIED BILLING ADDRESS.

If I were you I'd start making some noise with paypal. This is exactly what seller protection is for.

They are the ones who told you to ship to that address. If it is an inaccurate address, that is their fault. Although it's more likely the right address, in which case you're still protected.

ETA: I'm serious. YOu qualify for seller protection and paypal will eat the money if they have to.
 
#23
Thanks for your reply. Sorry that I didn´t see they were different colours.

This is very disturbing. How can they take your money when they said it was OK to ship. You shipped to the correct address, what more can you do???
 
#24
^ If she followed the few guidelines on paypal, she will be covered under the seller protection policy no matter what happens with the chargeback. I can only hope she's on the phone with paypal now.
 
#25
littlerock said:
^ Paypal CANNOT tell you it's "OK TO SHIP" and then take your money back saying that it's a fraudulent charge. It can't be a fraudulent charge if you ship to the VERIFIED BILLING ADDRESS.

If I were you I'd start making some noise with paypal. This is exactly what seller protection is for.

They are the ones who told you to ship to that address. If it is an inaccurate address, that is their fault. Although it's more likely the right address, in which case you're still protected.

ETA: I'm serious. YOu qualify for seller protection and paypal will eat the money if they have to.
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littlerock said:
^ If she followed the few guidelines on paypal, she will be covered under the seller protection policy no matter what happens with the chargeback. I can only hope she's on the phone with paypal now.
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I'm on hold with them right now while they "review" it. I don't plan on getting off this phone until that balance is lifted. That said, I wish my brain was moving faster than molasses right now... Thank you for your support. I really, really appreciate it :hugs:
 
#26
UPDATE: Paypal has removed the hold from my account but I'm nowhere NEAR done with this scammer. Like I told them on the phone, I have a few phone calls to make to a few police stations in Delaware. I hope he's strapped in for his very own sh*t storm.
 
#27
SchnauzerCrazy said:
UPDATE: Paypal has removed the hold from my account but I'm nowhere NEAR done with this scammer. Like I told them on the phone, I have a few phone calls to make to a few police stations in Delaware. I hope he's strapped in for his very own sh*t storm.
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You. Are. Awesome.

As a Risk Manager, I'm totally stoked to see you going after the thieving scammer, even if you do get your money back. Follow through is important to keep it from happening to others.
 
#28
littlerock said:
^ If she followed the few guidelines on paypal, she will be covered under the seller protection policy no matter what happens with the chargeback. I can only hope she's on the phone with paypal now.
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:smooch: I would like to kiss you in thanks but I just woke up so a virtual kiss should have to do! I called Paypal and was firm but polite and the hold was removed, just like you said. I was braced for more of a fight but at least my money is safe.

As far as the scammer though, he's not. I know that there have been many scam stories here - few with positive outcomes - and my heart went out to each and every seller. No one deserves this. But it's hard when you have to juggle a job, a family, kids, bills, and the stress of it all -- many give up. Unfortunately for the thief, I happen to have nothing BUT time to put him away, as well as the resources and ability to do so. Maybe it'll be a small consolation after being scammed but I will not let him get away -- I'm going to call EVERYONE I can (including the fraud departments of CCs -- this is literally what I do for a living in insurance defense, protect companies from scammers!) to make sure this guy goes away. I was merely angry last night. This morning, I may still be a little sleepy so I'm not angry but I'm determined and that has always been the worst side of my temper.
 
#30
OK - completely off the wall but I'm Russian by birth and my husband and I like to rib each other about our differences. He came out of the shower just as I was getting off the phone, turned to me and in a dead-pan said, "I. VILL. BREAK. YOU!" Made my otherwise crappy morning :biggrin:
 
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