Just got scammed with fake PayPal and EBay emails :,(

Word of advice: People are dicks. (The main reason why I have the social skills of a rock)

 

I'm so sorry this happened to you. :/ Honestly, when you're dealing with stuff like this, you have to be EXTREMELY careful because there are so many people who are out there to just steal your stuff, and the problem is that, if this is done online, it's so easy for them to get away with. Whenever you're trying to do something like this, it is imperative that you check their account and make sure that they are a trustworthy person.

That's why I don't do stuff like that, it's too much to risk. :/ Once again, I'm so sorry, but this just goes to show you that people are honestly just savages.

 

Ouch.... Ya, that really sucks.

Aren't emails from them signed?

 

Hey, have you gotten in touch with EBay? eBay and PayPal are now separate companies so it may be worth getting in touch with EBay to see if they can help you track down the buyer and at least get some compensation.

If that fails, I'd report them to the FTC or any other online reporting sites.

 

This is terrible, sorry it happened.

I hope you don't lose complete faith in people's honesty. I've used PayPal once (to get paid) and have been tempted but haven't actually bought anything from ebay yet (usually I can find it somewhere else). I'm sure if it were at all possible you'd have a bunch of people here pitching in to help you recoup the loss.

Thanks for sharing your story. Are you completely done with using those online services forever? Any tips for us on what you learned to help spot scammers in the future?

 

Another example to add to my never-ending list of reasons why this world sucks.

To avoid being scammed like this in the future, if you receive an email saying you've been paid then check your account to see if this is actually the case. Also, check the email account name, if it looks fake, (and if it has common domain such as hotmail or gmail then it definitely is fake), either contact eBay and/or PayPal and sort it out.

 

How long ago did you send it? Can you not ask the courier to recall the delivery?

 

That was smart of them. Consider this a learning experience. Don't be afraid to try selling stuff on Ebay again, just remember what you learned from this experience. Sometimes we just have to learn things the hard way.

What I learned: Make sure you got the money from the customer, then send.

 

Don't be afraid of selling stuff in the future, just be sure to check your paypal account yourself first before sending

 

Wow. sorry to hear that

When selling stuff on eBay, I always check on eBay and PayPal's sites themselves just to make sure before shipping. I never click on links within emails from either.

 

Hello,

As SimplyJay said, I do the same... I usually check the PayPal website directly to make sure that it all went through. When selling, I do not ship until the payment has actually cleared. I also make that clear in my listings. I tend to sell old / used electronics, like computers I no longer use, phones, and so on. I know the buyer of the iPhone 4 I sold wasnt pleased, being that the buyer was someone who would repair them and resell them, but I make it clear in my listings that I do not ship until PayPal has confirmed the payment. When buying, I always pay immediately. I've bought things at times where the seller actually requires that you email them with the PayPal confirmation number to confirm payment.

I hope this doesnt make you swear off eBay completely... there are lots of things to have bought there. I import things there, I got some really nice aluminum pens for example that doubled as a laser pointer and a stylus, back when I was using a PocketPC (PDA). I also got a really cool sleeve for my MacBook, for example. I also got my mother hand-made jewelry one year on there.

People at times take advantage when they can.

Another tip I have is to make sure that the PayPal buyer is confirmed and verified. I personally require on my listings that I only ship to confirmed PayPal addresses. Sure, it gets less people looking at it, but it gives peace of mind.

I typically have my father mail things out at his office when he goes in, too... I make extra money that way, considering typically they just ship it out with other stuff, and I dont get charged, but the buyer still sends me the like $5 or $7 for shipping (depending on the item)...

When I have the money I want to go on eBay to look for a laptop.. something like a dual core with 4GB of RAM to run SUSE Linux. I want another computer just to run linux again. I ended up throwing away a bunch of computers, but they were outdated anyway.

 

Haven't bought anything on e-bay yet but the "waiting for payment verification" seems perfectly understandable. Silly question maybe but why would anyone be upset with a seller wanting to have their payment verified? Does it add much time and waiting to the process? Or is it something else?

 

I am sorry this happened to you.

If you haven't yet, I would also file a complaint at the Police

 

Yeah.. it takes a little bit of time. Many people want their orders... and they want them NOW. It takes an extra day or so to wait for it all to be verified / confirmed or what not.

When selling, I just wait for PayPal to confirm the payment went through, and I make sure that I ship to the address (and only the address) that PayPal lists as the "verified address" for the buyer. Everyone is different. A great deal of sellers I have bought to will ONLY ship to the address that is confirmed with PayPal as being verified, being that the address is the address used with the payment method / credit card / bank / what not where the funds come from.

 

Oh okay, that answers that. Thanks!

 

I agree on this, but note.. not the police in your town, the police where the buyer is (as that is where the crime occurred)

I do the same.

 

Have you checked with eBay/paypal if they can return your money ? i know eBay has 'buyer protection' not sure about seller, but worth checking this out.

Money come and goes, its unfortunate but the good side is next time u'll be more careful (*hug*)