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Hi there, just wondering if there are any ebay experts who can advise me?
I've tried to sell two things on eBay in the last two weeks. The first item sold to a newly registered account and I then received a fake Paypal message telling me I'd been paid. I noticed the scam, reported it to eBay who have so far taken no action - the user has since deleted their account.
The second item is where I need some advice. Again, the item was sold to a user who was a new account on eBay and has no feedback. The buyer had a verified paypal account set up which seems odd - it takes a few days to verify yet the ebay account was created on the day of the auction bid.
The buyer paid immediately through paypal - before I'd even raised an invoice. Several hours after the auction I received a paypal payment email which I've only just noticed originated from the buyers hotmail address, not from paypal or ebay.
I'm now a bit confused. I've been paid in full but have received a spoof email from the buyer. Is this likely to be part of a cunning scam or am I safe to send to the goods to the address listed on the paypal details after I've logged in to paypal?
as long as you get the money in your bank first?
i generally only bid on things im at computer when it finishes so i can pay straight away also before an invoice comes to me.
i like to sort it all out there and then so i can pay and get my bits sent faster rather than waiting a week or money to send and another week for the bits to be sent.
nick
Email/call Paypal and ask them to verify it?
If money is in your PayPal account and cleared then will be fine, also check if you have seller protection for this item. Generally when you log into account and look at details for the sale it will say if you have protection or requirements to receive.
The buyer paid immediately through paypal - before I'd even raised an invoice. Several hours after the auction I received a paypal payment email which I've only just noticed originated from the buyers hotmail address
as someone above said i usually do this - like i've bought it i'll pay for it bish bosh job done
not sure understand above presume you know paid immediately as you did get a "real" paypal email or you checked transactions?
buyer might and i say might have just emailed you a copy of the paypal payment to confirm payment made some sellers using multiple email addresses might not have seen the payment notification
As above really, just check that the funds have cleared and not pending.I have been dealing with ebay for a few years now with no probs.
Hi all, thanks for the useful advice.
I forwarded the "spoof" email to the eBay Spoof emailbox and received a reply back confirming that yes, it was a spoof. I subsequently asked by them by email to confirm whether I should send the goods or not - although I've been paid there appear to be a number of chargeback scams that result in paypal debitting your account after the goods have been sent.
eBay promise a 1 hour response time to emails regarding fraud but 48 hours later there's no response from them and no phone number to call them on.
So given that I've been paid but the person who paid me has already sent me a fake email, do you all still reckon I'm safe to send the goods?
Thanks,
Mr _John
Contact them directly? As k for a phone number? As you have an address to send it to you have something to work with if it all goes pear shaped.
As I said earlier - call Paypal
Logon to your account & click 'contact us'
you'll then get a security PIN number & a phone number to call
Maybe wait untill he chases you..
you have a fake e-mail from them and you are asking if they are honest? No they sent you a fake e-mail. Just sit and wait ...do nothing till ebay /Paypal have spoken or buyer complains.
"clearing" in this context is meaningless, Paypal can easily take it back if they see fit 🙁 The buyer might pretend the item had never been delivered, or was faulty or misdescribed etc
As Simon mentions, there is nothing to stop the buyer putting in a dispute with paypal for whatever reason.
One thing I am not sure on though, is if you transfer the all your paypal funds to your bank account and leave nothing in your paypal account, if the buy then disputes it and paypal agrees to refund, can paypal pull funds back from your bank account?
Does anyone know?
OK, I called and spoke to paypal (thanks uplink!) who have advised that I should send it even though the buyer sent me a fake paypal email. I find it very odd that any business would require customers to transact with shady characters but there you go.
I'm sure I'll be along to confirm a chargeback attempt in due course.
Thanks for your advice everyone.
DO NOT send it,and I think you are daft to even think about doing that,without getting it signed for.
Paypal have told me I'm contracted to send it - I said to them I'd rather reverse the transaction but they assured me it's covered by seller protection even if the buyer tries to reverse the transaction.
Ski - eBay changed their T&Cs some time ago and can take money out of your bank account to settle any outstanding debts. If you have a very old Paypal account (if I recall around 6 years) and haven't changed your bank details they can't take the money out.
If money is in your PayPal account and cleared then will be fine,
not quite true, they can still cancel the payment, so unless its in your bank its not safe!
Spankmonkey, I disagree. If you get the money, transfer it to your bank account, and then the purchaser turns out to be dodgy, paypal will deduct the money from your paypal account, giving you a negative balance.
The only way to avoid this is to ensure that you comply with Paypal's guidance to the letter. In particular, you MUST post to the paypal buyer's registered address. I think they also only cover this for user in certain countries. Worth checking if you are being asked to send outwith the UK.
+1 on pixelmix.
I sold a camera to an American who didn't have enough funds on her credit card to cover the payment. It all went through, but then her CC company recalled the payment - paypal then sucked the money out of my PP account, leaving me with a negative balance and a frozen PP account.
It was a bl00dy nightmare - I couldn't pay for stuff I'd bought and PP treated me like a criminal for having a negative balance....
Sellers are 2nd class citizens in any dispute.
what's the problem? the auction finished, the buyer paid immediately, as many do, you've confirmed you've been paid.
the buyer is new to ebay, could it be that he/she has forwarded you their email confirming payment as they didn't realise you'd get one?
also, although paypal is owned by ebay, using paypal is not exclusive to ebay so they could have an account for other reasons.
the only problem i can see is that you've been paid and are withholding the goods!
contact ebay, also
email the buyer:
"thanks for paying so promptly, i nearly got scammed last week, so am a bit twitchy, i will send the item once the payment has cleared.
hope you understand, sorry for the delay"
Why not ask on here for a verification of the address? If it was within a few miles of me I would do a drive by to see if it was derelict house, non- existant etc.
How much are we talking about in terms of £££'s £20 or £200. I would sit on the item and do some checking first. If they are genuine thn ask them to ring you. Make some bull about going to their town with work, so you can drop it round to save damage in post / time / costs .
If they are fo real then they will be happy to let you do this is. If they are from Nigeria, then most likely not. I once asked to pick up a set of wheels which looked abit dodgy. seller replied his mum didnt want people coming round 'are house' . Enough said , so i didnt bid.