NEW scam or maybe an old scam?

[tazziee789]

Hello fellow Ebayers, I think I just sold an item to a buyer that pulled a HUGE scam.

Here are the details.....

Newer Ebayer, from 2012. From my search of the last 14 days, he has sold approx. $70,000 worth of machinery equipments, 100% feedback with approx. 110 feedbacks (from sales, as a seller). He purchased a $1000 item from me on Friday, no red flags. He contacted me last Tues to ask if the item has been shipped. I tell him that it was shipped on Monday (I did email him on Monday when it was shipped), about 3 hours later, I get a chargeback from PAYPAL (not from the customer). Genetic email stating that they believe that this sale was not authorized by the buyer, they are investigating, funds will be temp. hold, and that I need to hold shipping or provide shipping info. So I provided the shipping info (as the item has been shipped) to Paypal and contact the buyer regarding this matter. He tells me he has nothing to do with it. So I do some more research and find that in the last 30 days, he has purchased $15,000 of items (I can only see purchases that are not "private". My item was not in the search as I only list my items "private"). In the next few days, I started seeing "negative" feedbacks in his account for not shipping out items. These items range from $200 to $6000.  More negative feedbacks coming in daily.

So here are my questions:

1) Am I hooped? He has received my item and has signed for it. I am sure he used the $$$ he scammed from others to purchased my item. His address is confirmed, and I shipped Canada Post insured with signature service.

2) Is my account going to be affected?

3) Realistically, can his buyers go after him?

4) Are his buyers hooped or are they protected by Ebay/Paypal?  I am sure people using credit cards will have some protection.

5) What does Ebay/Paypal do in cases like this? Let's face it, we know that Ebay/Paypal will try to deflect this as much as they can. They will not be the ones losing money on this scam, but their system has allowed this to happen

6)  Scam like this must be somewhat common, right?

[pjcdn2005]

As long as the item was eligible for Paypal protection you should be fine. If you're not sure if it was eligible, it will tell you on the Paypal item detail page. For unauthorized credit card chargebacks, Paypal requires proof of shipping or proof of delivery and you do have that.

2) Is my account going to be affected? 

No, I can't think of a reason why it would be

4) Are his buyers hooped or are they protected by Ebay/Paypal?  I am sure people using credit cards will have some protection.

If they paid with credit card they should be ok.  I don't know if he sold Industrial machinery used in manufacturing but that category isn't covered by Paypal. But it may be eligible for ebay buyers protection

5) What does Ebay/Paypal do in cases like this?

It would be handled like any item not received case. If the buyer opens a claim and the seller can't provide proof of delivery, the buyer gets their money back. Depending on his selling status, Paypal may have been holding the sellers funds for 21 days. If that's the case that money would still be in his PP account.

6)  Scam like this must be somewhat common, right?

Stuff like this does happen but I wouldn't say that it is common.

[nuvistors]

Sellers who make their auctions private  sometimes do so because they are running a scam.

[tazziee789]

You can't sell anything private.  Private as in the identity of the buyer is hidden from everyone except for the seller.  There is no one running a scam here.

[nazthor]

Ha!  Paypal protection, what a joke.

[ypdc_dennis]

ZOMBIE thread from 2013.

tyler@ebay 

[kh-leslie]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies.  Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!