It appears I have been scammed (NOT here)

apc

Hope you do not mind a vent:

On a photo forum, I 'bought' a camera lens; however, today someone posted a 'don't buy from ****, they are scammer' thread. It's the same person. Great. Out money and merchandise.

Anyone have this experience? I contacted paypal and they cannot do anything as it was not ebay. I'll call my VISA bank/debit card people Monday to see if any help. Live and learn I suppose...

hearingimpared

Sorry to hear! I really despise scammers. I was almost scammed out of a Mark Levinson amp on ebay. Had it not been for the members there looking out for such, I would have been out $3K. BTW that same scammer is still lurking on ebay. He works out of the UK.

apc

Glad to hear you avoided it! I'm mad, but more diappointed in myself.

nooshinjohn

Scammers should be shot on sight....

hearingimpared

apc wrote: »

Glad to hear you avoided it! I'm mad, but more diappointed in myself.

Nah, don't go there, those POS are very good at what they do and can beat the best of us. I agree to a degree with John.:eek:

leroyjr1

I've been scammed out of $500 a few years back, you live and you learn. Love craigslist it's local and you can see the item before you buy it.


Paypal is a joke.

gdb

Just leave it to your credit card co., they will retrieve your funds for you, especially if you refuse to pay them. Mentioning that it was fraud and a scam shouldn't hurt your case either.

grimmace19

Best scam I have seen happened to my buddies trying to make a quick buck when the PS3 came out. They posted it on Craigslist and sold it to a guy who used paypal before the pickup. They saw the money in the account and went to meet him. After the exchange they thought everything was A-OK until they received emails from the person who paid their email with paypal asking why they didn't show up for the ps3 exchange... the guy "sold" the ps3 himself that he didn't have... so essentially made a stranger pay for the ps3 for him to pick up disappeared and then my friends had to refund the paypal payment to the back end of the scam... no ps3 no money OUCH!

madmax

Are you sure he is going to scam you?
madmax

Jer.War

As long as you used your credit card, and don't wait longer than 30 days after you receive the statment (w/ fraudulent charge) to notify them that you "paid for goods, but did not receive them" you shoudnt have any trouble. I have had to do this a couple of times. Often times credit card companies include this charge dispute form with your monthly statement. Fill out the particulars, fax or snail mail, and then continue spamming the guys email with everything you can think of from different addresses (or some other fitting revenge, use your imagination

Kex

....

Kex

apc wrote: »

... I'll call my VISA bank/debit card people Monday to see if any help. ...

I'm fairly certain that if you paid by VISA debit card, you will not be able to get your money back (it is considered a cash transaction, I think).

If you paid by VISA credit card, I am fairly certain that they will immediately refund you ... but: be extremely diligent about keeping a clear record of everything related to the transaction, such as printing out the item description and any other information you can get or retrieve. You will still have to fill out a claim form that you will receive in the mail, and if there is something they do not like about the information related to the transaction that you supply, they will simply charge the amount back to you afterwards. If you go to their website (the credit card, that is) you should be able to find a section about disputed transactions and how they are handled.

So, in the case of a credit card, all hope is not lost by any means. Just don't get too happy when you initially see the sum credited back to your account: it will only last if you can supply the right information.

cstmar01

Normally if you paid by debit then you would have to open a dispute with the bank that you have the debit card through. For us there are forms you would fill out ect and then they would research it and what not. In this case they would have to contact the person that was selling and he would have to prove he sent the item, otherwise they'll pull the funds back from the account it was paid (either electronically pull it back, or they will send a notice to the other bank/company stating they have such and such a time and date to resend the funds to us and to charge X otherwise there will be legal consequenses). That is at least what SOME banks do. Others you may not be so lucky.

Credit cards would work the same way, ect.

A few months ago when I bought my BDP-05FD from videogon, I was taken for a bit. Took the guy over a month to get me the player after emails and phone calls. Finally took the police to show up to his door before he finally decided to send the item. I paid mine with money order, which is even worse because theres not really a way to dispute those.

good luck

Radridd

Been there and hope it works out for you. I got stung twice on car audio equipment. One worked out the other did not.

howardru

Most Gold and Platinum charge cards provide the buyer protection service. Standard cards may not, so you should check. I've used this service a dozen times around the world and I haven't paid a dime for this fraudulent activity.

The credit card agency WON'T do anything until the end of the billing cycle and until you receive a bill in the mail. However you should immediately call your credit card agency and have them make note that you called about this problem (so it's on file) in case your miss the billing cycle by a day or two and you fall outside the 30 day dispute window.

howardru

Keiko wrote: »

So am I to understand if you buy goods outside of ebay using PayPal you have no PayPal protection?

Correct!


eBay is a 3rd party billing system. If you don't use them, you don't get to take advantage of their faud protection and problem resolution.

packetjones

i hate scammers. This is the reason I have a completely separate credit card that I only use for purchases online. The cc protection has saved me a few times.

heiney9

Paypal should offer *some* recourse outside of an e-bay transaction. Read the user agreements. I did this before I spent $1K on an amp outside e-bay. Read the fine print on your credit card as to what specific's they cover for out of state internet purchases.

AGUERRA

i hate scammers why cant people just be honest or if they need money get a job and not try to screw honest people out of their hard earned money

John30_30

packetjones wrote: »

i hate scammers. This is the reason I have a completely separate credit card that I only use for purchases online. The cc protection has saved me a few times.

Good stragety, as we used to say.

madmax

packetjones wrote: »

i hate scammers. This is the reason I have a completely separate credit card that I only use for purchases online. The cc protection has saved me a few times.

Yep, saved me a few times too. I'll never have a debit card, too dangerous for me. If someone gets the number they can clean out your checking. And, if you have overdraft provided by your savings account then it can be drained as well.
madmax

reeltrouble1

heiney9 wrote: »

Paypal should offer *some* recourse outside of an e-bay transaction.

yea,, Paypal is your friend.....maybe you could post a link;)

RT1

heiney9

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

yea,, Paypal is your friend.....maybe you could post a link;)

RT1

Paypal is not a friend, but if one is going to use it; one should know what the limitations are. There are specifics in the user agreements and I strongly suggest if the OP wants recourse he read and understand them.

Not nec to post a link .

The best transaction is face to face with cash exchanging hands but this is the 21st Century and that's just not an economical way to transact many types of business transactions anymore.

Always know what your recourse path is (before hand) and then weigh the risks involved if you choose to do the transaction. Knowing full well it may go south and based on risk/reward was it worth it and can you afford it.

Also be aware that buying from an individual over the internet, buying used merchandise, etc. is not handled the same way with your credit card as it is if you are buying new merchandise from a B&M incorporated business. So read the very fine, fine print on your credit card agreement. Many (not all) are limiting recourse over the internet to the above described transaction to $50 and/or purchases made in the same state you reside within 50 miles of your billing address.

H9

gdb

apc wrote: »

Hope you do not mind a vent:

On a photo forum, I 'bought' a camera lens; however, today someone posted a 'don't buy from ****, they are scammer' thread. It's the same person. Great. Out money and merchandise.

Anyone have this experience? I contacted paypal and they cannot do anything as it was not ebay. I'll call my VISA bank/debit card people Monday to see if any help. Live and learn I suppose...

Paypal should provide you with this scammer's street address if you request it. Are there any thoughts or imaginings you might come up with with that info in hand??? Any photographer, (you !!) could post this guy's face and home all over the web,forums, craigslist etc., etc.:cool:

apc

Paypal only gave me a phone # (see related thread by me dated today). I'm not in the same town (or state) or this never would've happened.

dee1949

....anybody know if a USPS money order is safer? If you cash it before sending item, can you be held responsible.

NotaSuv

Keiko wrote: »

So am I to understand if you buy goods outside of ebay using PayPal you have no PayPal protection?

yup Ebay owns paypal...paypal protects only when ebay (the owner) is used. I have over 250 transactions using paypal..have disputed and been refunded 100% in full 4 times and never screwed.
I have no credit cards associated with the pp account and use a dedicated bank account in which funds are only put in to cover a transaction...cash is taken out of pp via debit card.

heiney9

Keiko wrote: »

So am I to understand if you buy goods outside of ebay using PayPal you have no PayPal protection?

Mike, you need to read the user agreements with a fine tooth comb. You do have some recourse outside e-bay, but not anything near what you have thru Ebay.

H9

heiney9

Keiko wrote: »

It's been awhile since I've read through that stuff and they're always updating and making changes. I was looking for a quick answer, but will be putting this on my short list and read up on their policies.

Hey bro, I'd give you the short answer if there was one. I had to read it 3-4 times before it really sank in.

apc

Happy ending after all. I spoke to PayPal and they credited back all of my money. Still not sure what broke the camel's back, but I suspect the link to the USPS tracking number on the PayPal transaction page and resulted on a shipment being undeliverable to the wrong state may have been a factor.

jinjuku

Kex wrote: »

I'm fairly certain that if you paid by VISA debit card, you will not be able to get your money back (it is considered a cash transaction, I think).

If you paid by VISA credit card, I am fairly certain that they will immediately refund you ... but: be extremely diligent about keeping a clear record of everything related to the transaction, such as printing out the item description and any other information you can get or retrieve. You will still have to fill out a claim form that you will receive in the mail, and if there is something they do not like about the information related to the transaction that you supply, they will simply charge the amount back to you afterwards. If you go to their website (the credit card, that is) you should be able to find a section about disputed transactions and how they are handled.

So, in the case of a credit card, all hope is not lost by any means. Just don't get too happy when you initially see the sum credited back to your account: it will only last if you can supply the right information.

I believe if you use a card bearing the Visa/MC logo you are afforded the same protections.