FAO Ethel - paypal theif queery

[scared51]

I was told to post in here to you, in regards of a paypal problem.

I will paste what i posted in chatterbank below.

Hello

I have a problem here, which i do not know what to do. I sold an item on ebay, for �3800 and was paid in via paypal. I sent the item special delivery next day.

last week (1 week after i post the item) paypal told me that the funds have been withdrawn from my account and not to send the item. The ebay account that bought the item had alot of possitive feedback on it, but is now closed. When i looked at the rest of the feedback on this account, i noticed it is for low value items and has not been used for around 4 weeks. And the items that has been bought were items like clothes and stuff. nothing technological.

I tried to phone the number of the buyer but i got a dead tone, so i wrote to him asking for my item back and it was sent back back to me marked "moved away"

So, all i have is a name, tracking number (he did sign for it, i have proof of this)

What can i do to get my money or item back?

[Ethel]

The account was hijacked and the goods paid for by a stolen credit card, probably.

PayPal seller protection covers the seller for up to �3250 in the event of chargebacks - which is exactly your scenario provided you meet the eligibility requirements. Read para 11.6 here:

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_pbp-outside#spp-policy


Can you confirm you satisfy the conditions?

[GoWest]

This happened to a friend of mine, but for a much smaller amount of money.
Now if i receive a paypal payment i will not send the item until the funds have actually gone into my bank account.

[Ethel]

GoWest - that can easily take 10 days, by which time the buyer has filed an item not received and the money is returned to the seller.

PayPal conditions stipulate goods must be posted within 7 days to qualifty for seller's protection

[Ethel]

And taking money out of your PayPal account doesn't stop PayPal retrieving the money if things go wrong, so that is a pointless exercise.

[Ethel]

scared51 - check your PayPal account.

You should be able to see if the transaction was eligible for seller's protection.

You absolutely must report this to the police as well - this is fraud.

[scared51]

The buyer had a verified account.

When i contacted the police, they brushed me off and said that they were busy! Maybe they just cant be bothered to help out as they wont make money themself out of it

[Ethel]

Go back to the police - this is a crime and should be dealt with properly.

Did you look at your PayPal account? Does it say the transaction is eligible for seller's protection?

What was it, by the way?

[dot.hawkes]

since when did the police make money out of investigating crimes, are you from the UK?

[scared51]

Yes im in the UK but if its not a parking ticket or speeding ticket, they dont seem to be bothered.

I am eleable though for seller protection according to paypal as it had a confirmed address and vertified account. But if it was a hijacked account, will that make it invalid?

[scared51]

Oh, and it was a camera lens that i sold.

[Ethel]

No! That is what we pay PayPal for - seller's protection.

Right - it was an eligible transaction.

You sent it trackable, to the proper address, within 7 days.

You should get �3250 back - still a big loss, but better than nothing.

What is happening with PayPal at the moment? When did this happen?

[scared51]

I sold it 2 weeks ago, and posted it 2 weeks ago (via RMSD) and it was around 7 days after i got the email to tell me not to send it. So i phoned him (got please check, and try again message) and then i wrote a letter which was returned to me as moved away.

I phoned paypal and they informed me that they are "investigating" it and will get back to me "as soon as they can" but that does not put much faith in me right now.

If they pay out �3250 that you say, what do you recomend i do next? The police are still "too busy" (phoned them up around half hour ago).

[scared51]

Oh, and i did leave negitive feedback, which was REMOVED! I put "Buyer is a theif, got item and done chargeback. Do not trust!" - yet this was removed which does not put any faith in the ebay system either! (tho i still have 100% possitive on my account)

[dot.hawkes]

It's a saturday night, what do you expect the police are doing? sitting artound waiting for juicy ebay caper to solve? try again Mondat morning and don't write things like that anywhere, it could cause trouble for ebay!

[scared51]

Does it really matter if it is a saturday night? when i went in, it was Friday Morning (when i received the letter saying moved away). As for writing things that could get ebay in to trouble, waht did i write that would do such a thing? the fact I (personal opinion) do not have faith in the feedback system (they REMOVED my feedback)

[Ethel]

You will get the money back but it will take time.

Don't phone the police, go in person with the paper evidence and tell them you have been scammed out of nearly �4000 by a thief.

[scared51]

i walked in on a Friday and told them and they said that they were "too busy" - and i phoned yesterday.

Ill go in tomorow and see waht they say this time though

[Rollo]

If the policeman at the desk refuses to deal with it you need to insist on speaking to a senior officer [inspector or above].

[scared51]

I am actually just back from there. Thought since i was in the area i'd try. I spoke to an officer who took a statement and i got a crime ref number. He said that chances were not great at getting my lens back, but he will contact me again if they get any more information.

[GoWest]

It only takes 5 days to go to my paypal account and i always state in the auction that those are my terms of sale.