Ebay Scam: Local Pick-Up and PayPal

Thought I would share something that happened to me last year as a warning to others.

About a year ago, I sold a piece of furniture on eBay for a couple hundred dollars. I accepted PayPal did local pick-up. It sold it, and it was picked up.

Three months later we got a notice from PayPal that the charge had been rejected as fraudulent. It turns out my item had been purchased with a stolen credit card. PayPal wanted to be reimbursed and it didn’t matter to them that I was out my item.

Additionally, PayPal wouldn’t provide much information. The only thing we had to go by was a dispute page in the PayPal file. After trying to play by the rules of eBay and PayPal, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I noticed a name on the report I didn’t recognize. I figured it was the person whose credit card was stolen. So I googled and actually found the person! (God Bless Google).

It turned out there was a police report on this woman and I was able to join forces with others and she was eventually caught and ordered to pay restitution to everyone. It took about a year to get it resolved. In the end, I got paid the money I was owed because I was my own advocate.

Couple of kickers here:

1. PayPal tried to get that money TWICE. They insisted I repay it and also made the guy whose credit card was stolen pay it – or it would be turned over to collections after so many days.  I ended up helping him prove to PayPal that they had been paid twice. He was successful and got his money back. What a company, huh? Oh, and after this was ruled as fraudulent, PayPal charged me $10 for taking time to talk to me about the dispute. Naturally, I went apoplectic and got that money refunded, but still…the nerve!

2. At one point I saw my stolen item for sale on Craigslist. I reported it, because trafficking in stolen goods is yet another illegal act, but the police told me to just stay the course.  In the end, it worked out.

3. There are people online telling each other how to scam people through eBay/PayPal.  Unbelievable.

4. This is the worst one. The lady who stole the credit card is a mom and the organization she stole the card from catches child internet predators! (There are no words).

So, the lesson here is in general you are better off dealing locally with CASH. If you are using eBay, you better do your homework on the other person. Low value goods aren’t as likely to involve fraud, but high-value goods should never be done with local pick-up and PayPal. Also, be aware of anyone in a hurry or who has no or a low number of eBay transactions.  (Those were clues I missed).

I wonder what the lady did to come up with all that money to pay everyone back. I guess I should be glad I don’t know.

I learned a lot through this process, but the worst part about it is the child of the thief. I also wonder what that child is learning from her mother. Will she be okay? Or one day will she be scamming our kids?

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10 Responses to Ebay Scam: Local Pick-Up and PayPal

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