Watch out for this new scam (eBay or other)

[digitaldrummer]

watchout for this new one (or at least new to me)

you buy an item
the seller gives you a tracking number through USPS - it shows label is printed
tracking does not move for a few days or more (and they just tell you it shipped...)
suddenly a new tracking number appears and shows it is delivered, or is being delivered
but you don't have it. even though it shows delivered. and you never get it.

somehow the shippers are getting tracking numbers that go to the city you live in. This makes me think that they probably work for (or have contacts at) a large company that ships a lot of product worldwide. They wait until they see a tracking number for your same city and then change it to that one. USPS will only show you the city and state (due to privacy issues) so you can't prove that it was not delivered since it did not have signature requirement.

I confirmed with my local USPS that a tracking number given to me was not a mis-deliver, and was not even near my neighborhood. He also said he had seen it at least 3x this month. F*&*ing eBay. sure hope their money back guarantee holds and they don't try to fu*ck me too.

[digitaldrummer]

the eBay "100 Guarantee" and "eBay Money Back Guarantee" are absolute nonsense. Ebay mostly uses automation (AI) to match the item tracking number. if it shows delivered, then you are screwed. The scammers know this and they are stealing tracking numbers - I'm not sure how, it could be on the inside of a large corp, or the USPS itself, or even inside eBay - but they find one in your city and re-use it on eBay. Then eBay decides in their favor and you are SOL. The USPS will not show you or eBay the exact address of delivery (due to privacy concerns) and the scammers are using this to their benefit.

If you have anything shipped to you USPS, make sure it uses the "request signature" option and you actually sign for it.

UPS and Fedex will allow you to see the actual delivered address if you have an account with them (otherwise it's pretty generic too).

It's nearly impossible to talk to anyone at eBay (or Amazon, or... but not 100%) and I finally did talk to several people, but it took a week or more of being adamant that I would not accept their "it shows delivered" answer and it finally got escalated. I'm still waiting for the final decision on a "manual correction refund". In the meantime I also filed a case with Paypal (actually PayPal credit) and they have already erased the charge, but they are still investigating so they could re-instate it if they feel like it. So I'm still hoping that eBay comes to their senses and agrees this is fraud and issues the refund (then PayPal, can undo theirs...). Such a huge pain in the ass that I don't ever want to do this again.

[kslight]

That’s not great. As a seller I never ship without a signature regardless of value. But as a buyer I see that as hard to control.


I can only assume with AI the scams will continue to get worse and harder to detect. I see some very specific scams on Craigslist.

[Nick Sevilla]

I always try to buy either from a known seller, or someone who has good ratings. Preferably local to my country too.

[digitaldrummer]

it's only gotten worse between me and eBay. They denied my refund again (but did not tell me). I had to call and finally talked to a supervisor again (or so they claimed) and they finally told me that the reason it was denied is because Paypal had issued a chargeback. They said if there was not a chargeback pending, then they may have been able to help me still (since I have multiple points showing this was clear and obvious fraud). although tbh, I think this is an inside job, eBay removed my negative feedback on the seller - yet nobody seems to know why it was removed. that and the fake tracking numbers...

Remember eBay and Paypal split several years ago, so they are no longer part of the same company. Paypal (actually Paypal credit in this case, which is through Synchrony) sent me a letter saying they are investigating - and they are talking to eBay. They never really asked me for info, but they did temporarily remove the charge from my PP account. I sent them documentation and spoke to someone and they confirmed they are waiting on eBay and they have 45 days to respond. The case will be decided within 60 days (from when I opened it). I don't really have a good feeling about it. I will certainly never use eBay again since their "eBay Money Back Guarantee" is a joke. Hoping PP comes through for me.

[frans_13]

I have to say i am a few years after the point where i consider Ebay or Paypal anything but unusable and corrupted, kinda like a division of goverment... both times i have been f___ed by them they firmly helped the crooks while i had all the documentation they "needed".

[Scodiddly]

eBay is fine place to buy little electronic bits from China (LED strips and such), but I don't think I'd buy anything big these days.

[digitaldrummer]

I probably won't use eBay ever again for anything. Still fighting eBay/Paypal. Just tried to buy a cheap SDC (I need one overhead for some live drum gigs - mostly to feed into the IEMs) and even though I got an "offer" from the seller, they sorta disappeared after I accepted it. I contacted Reverb support because when I tried to msg the seller, it said they were unable to accept messages (wtf?). then while I was waiting for support I noticed it showed their account was "suspended" (wtf again? never have seen that before). But Reverb got me a refund by the next business day (granted it was only $35 this time...) but I was glad to see that at least.