WARNING! E-BAY and PAYPAL USERS.

[*JG* 2]

Hi all,

I just want to share this experience to you. I've been using e-bay for almost 3 years now and I bought few items from them and had no problem. I've been using pay pal to pay the items that I bought in e-bay because according to them Pay Pal is the safer, easier way to pay and get paid online.

I bought an item on July 13, 08 and paid it right away thru pay pal the item was describe as brand new, never been used. I paid little less than $100 for the item. I got the item on July 26, 08 and was very upset because the item was not brand new at all, you can see dirty finger prints on it, scrape etc. So I contacted the seller right away I told him that I am not happy with the purchase because the item is not as what he describe in his auction. I e-mailed him few times and didn't hear from him so I decided to file a dispute to pay pal and then waited for few days and escalated the case. He then replied to me in one of my e-mails to him saying " if you don't like the item I'll be happy to refund you." And then e-bay sent me an e-mail that the seller requested for me to send back the item and he will refund me. So I sent the item back to the seller on July 29th and gave both pay pal and seller the tracking number. I had checked the tracking number a week after I sent the package and it says " Status: Arrival at unit, Your item arrived at 7:15 am on July 31,08". I was wondering why it's still in the unit when It's over a week now. What happened was the post man was trying to send it to the seller but then he wasn't home that is why they keep the package in the post office and wait till the guy come and pick up the item. On August 15, 08 pay pal sent me an e-mail saying that they needed more time to investigate the case and I was so surprised because on August 16, 08 pay pal sent me an e-mail again saying " They closed the case because I had given them an invalid tracking number and there is no confirmation of delivery that's why we can't give you a refund." I was furious! I sent them an e-mail telling them that I have the confirmation receipt/tracking number here with me from the USPS and as far as confirmation of delivery is concern the guy didn't want to pick up the item because he know full well that he was lying about his auction. Now, the guy has the money and I bet he's going to pick up the item soon now that the case is closed.

And I check his name in Google and I was surprised because the guy has TV program in Florida. Pay pal gave me his phone number and e-mail address. At first I was thinking maybe somebody is using his name but Can't be because the e-mail add in his sites and e-mail add in pay pal and e-bay is the same so that means it's the same person.

I just give you a heads up people, I know e-bay is a nice place to shop but be extra careful specially when it's payment time. I thought I was covered with pay pal so called "buyers protection" but I wasn't, it's too bad.

I feel bad because I paid for nothing, I was thinking to report the seller for postal fraud and let the post office know that pay pal closed my case because according to them I gave them invalid tracking number (sigh) - I don't know - .

NOTE: I post this because I want to give everybody a warning when buying things online, thank you

I had this happen to me almost 7 years ago now. I bought a "genuine Dooney & Bourke purse". When I got it, it wasn't. I fought that guy for over a year. I filed a complaint with:

Ebay

Paypal

The Missouri State Attorney General's Office

and the US Postal Service

In the end, they all gave me the runaround. I contacted my credit card company last. They took the charge off my bill. Had a change of heart and put it back on. I crabbed and had so much documentation that they took it back off.

Those fools at PayPal got angry with me and demanded their money back. I have refused to this day. They say I can't use my account until I pay it back. So, I don't use the account.

I hope that helps you figure something out. Been there done that and I do know how you feel.

DO NOT believe any of that ####### they feed you about protecting you. They are only interested in making a profit in the end.

[NYGirl 0]

Again, I post my experience here to give everybody a heads up, it's hard to earn money ya know.

I hope some people here give some respect and don't make fun of the post. I know this is a forum you can say whatever you want BUT then again please have some respect. I didn't post this JUST BECAUSE I post this to warn people. Thank you.

Just call your credit card company and dispute the charge. Recently I bought something from amazon.com and it came broken and when I called my credit card company they refunded me without any questions. Credit card is always on your side!!!

[I luv my chappara 0]

someone tried to scam me too in Craigslist

I posted an ad in Craigslist's classified - selling my pocket pc. This guy replied me and told me that he is local but can't pick up the item because he was in business conference blah blah and the unit that he will buy from me is a gift for his son that living in Africa. I gave it a try but cautious

He asked me my paypal email because he will pay me through paypal, so I gave it, 1 hour later, I received a notification payment for my item and then payment confirmation from Paypal.

It looks real, but when I checked the details of the email, paypal email should be mailed and signed by PAYPAL.COM no other than that.

Paypal warn about phishing email, they said, original paypal email should address your name and last name,,, but the phishing email that I received addressed me by my name because they saw it in email.

I verified it from Paypal and the said it was a phishing email.

6 hours later, I received another email:

========================================================

Investigation into Recent Transaction: Case PP-304-718-247(Respond by 30/07/2008)

service@paypal.com

Dear Primie Romano,

One of the benefits of using PayPal is that we make every effort to alert you to potentially problematic transactions. Our goal is to help you make sound business decisions.

A review of recent transactions indicates that you entered into an agreement with Larry Hased (larryhased@yahoo.com) by requesting money through PayPal , which shows that the PayPal account holder have authorized the payment you received.

We would like to learn more about this transaction. It is important we know the status of the item bought concerning the information we requested from you, otherwise, legal action may be taken against you since you have not replied to the confirmation of payment made to your account by her over time.

However the buyer has already contacted us in other to make report about your non response. We are ensuring to make PayPal a safer place, therefore we need to set confidence on our users. We use proprietary technology - and constantly innovation - to help ensure every transactions are safe.

We strongly advice that you to ship the item and send the scanned receipt and the reference/tracking number to prove postage of the item in less than 24hours so that we can credit your account or you face the consequences of LEGAL ACTION.

We have placed a temporary hold on the funds until the verification is complete.

------------------------------ -----

Transaction Details

------------------------------ -----

Case Number : PP-304-718-247

Transaction ID : 35428630DM418481W

Response deadline : 30/07/2008

------------------------------ ---

Sincerely,

PayPal Team

------------------------------ ---

PayPal Email ID PP943

I just replied to him: BAD KARMA will find you,, )

beware of buying and selling online,,, lots of scammers everywhere..

To the OP, hope you can get your money back..

[Peikko 1,575]

Paypal has its uses, but they are definitely guilty of some dubious practices.

[almaty 19]

I had a different kind of scam happen with ebay and paypal.

I set up a paypal account 100 years ago under an email account that is closed. I never used paypal and never bought anything from ebay.

I moderately searched the ebay sight on various computers but I never bid on anything!

One day in my "student email" I have a message from what looks like ebay and some guy contacting me telling me I need to pay for these star wars socks that I never bought. I thought this is strange I was just looking at ebay the other days and I never bid on anything. Then I wondered if I looked as some star wars socks but I couldn't remember if I did. How often do really visit ebay though?

I figured since I didn't have an account on ebay through my school email it must be a scam. I didn't reply back. Then it escalated and the man said he reported me to Ebay and was going to get funds transfered through my paypal account if I didn't contact him and pay him for the socks. First I never bid on any star wars socks nor did I ever recieve star wars socks. I'm thinking this is a phishing scam so I still don't reply to him and I report the email for phishing. I consider contacting ebay but I didn't do anything about it because I couldn't even remember the email or information I had used to sign up with them a long time ago and the email this man is sending this to isn't even related to all that. No money was ever taken from bank account even though he threaten it.

I still dunno what to think of all that?

should have paid him..dean proudly sporting some star wars socks..scammed off of ebay

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I had a different kind of scam happen with ebay and paypal.

I set up a paypal account 100 years ago under an email account that is closed. I never used paypal and never bought anything from ebay.

I moderately searched the ebay sight on various computers but I never bid on anything!

One day in my "student email" I have a message from what looks like ebay and some guy contacting me telling me I need to pay for these star wars socks that I never bought. I thought this is strange I was just looking at ebay the other days and I never bid on anything. Then I wondered if I looked as some star wars socks but I couldn't remember if I did. How often do really visit ebay though?

I figured since I didn't have an account on ebay through my school email it must be a scam. I didn't reply back. Then it escalated and the man said he reported me to Ebay and was going to get funds transfered through my paypal account if I didn't contact him and pay him for the socks. First I never bid on any star wars socks nor did I ever recieve star wars socks. I'm thinking this is a phishing scam so I still don't reply to him and I report the email for phishing. I consider contacting ebay but I didn't do anything about it because I couldn't even remember the email or information I had used to sign up with them a long time ago and the email this man is sending this to isn't even related to all that. No money was ever taken from bank account even though he threaten it.

I still dunno what to think of all that?

should have paid him..dean proudly sporting some star wars socks..scammed off of ebay

[Yiyi and Chris 0]

Definetly we need the USER names of those E-bay "scammers"

[Niels Bohr 72]

In today world, you can't complain without an attorney doing the complaints. Translate to investing thousands to solve a 100 dollar scam. It's ridiculous isn't it?

[PlatyPius 5]

re: dubious eBay or PayPal emails.....

2 very important email addresses is you aren't completely sure that an email IS from eBay or PayPal.

spoof@ebay.com

spoof@paypal.com

forward the complete email to either of those addresses. They'll send an email identifying the email as either real or a spoof/phishing.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I agree that you should report dubious communications to ebay using the information from ebay's site and not from the received information. I have an ebay account that is not linked to any payment scheme and I have never used. I considered bidding on something some time but never did. I have received emails telling me that my account is suspended for non-payment for items I have never bought nor bid on - since I have never bid on any I have no doubts about the matter. I forwarded them directly to the spoof ebay address and received acknowledgment that they did not send out the emails and would follow up. I never heard anything back. I have done this for every suspicious email I have received purporting to come from a business to which I might have ties. The giveaway is when they are threatening you with action for an account that you don't even have - such as many of the different bank ones. I have forwarded those to the fraud departments of the various organizations as they come in and have always received a response that this is indeed a fraud and not to respond.

That being said, my husband has bid successfully a number of times on ebay and he has never had a problem with an item being fraudulent, nor with non-delivery or different than it was advertised.

[trailmix 77]

This is kind of an aside - but an ebay story none-the-less.

A few months ago I got an email from ebay - it was a 'won an auction' email or 'you have requested to change your ebay email address' email - can't remember.

I don't think I paid too much attention to it at first, i've had phishing email for ebay and paypal before - delete - no big deal.

Shortly after that I got an email saying I had won an auction on a cell phone.

I then logged in to my ebay account and found 'I' was bidding on many cell phones!

Someone had gained access to my account and bid on 15-20 cell phones.

I sorted it all out with ebay immediately - contacting them and they in turn contacted the vendors. The thing is, if you do get an email from ebay, which doesn't make sense, be sure to log in to your ebay account to check it out.

[BUHOK 0]

I thank you ALL for paying attention to this posting and I'm glad that you are sharing your experiences too. I had contacted my credit card company and they credited the money that I had paid for my next bill. I got a letter from them stating that " At this time, we consider your dispute resolved. Please be aware that the merchant could present new information to counter our claim. If the merchant provides information that proves the charges are valid, we will be unble to maintain the credit and your account will be rebilled."

I'm just concern though because the item that I sent back is still in the arrival unit and it's been almost a month now. I know that after a period of time they will return the item to me. I dont know if that will work against me since I filed for a dispute. The thing is I DONT NEED the item because that is not what was being advertised on his listing that's why I'm returning it, all I need is my money back - period-.

Thank you ya'll....