I think I got scammed by selling from here as buyer is reporting they did not get the item. What should I do next?

[MaitriMike]

Hi All,

 

I'm sorry to post another one of these threads but I'm not sure what to do next. I was selling a high value item a few days ago and someone messaged me interested in the item. We go through the price talk and agreed at the price. He sent the payment via paypal and the payment took a week to clear due to high price. When it cleared, I shipped out but I shipped to the location the buyer advised via Text and not the address in paypal. I didn't think anything of it and now realizing, I should have stayed with that address. The buyer advised that was his GF's account and was apologizing for the delay in payment clearing. Anyway, after shipping, the item was received and paypal sends me a message stating item was never received in dispute form. I provided tracking number and information on waiting for payment to clear. I also uploaded the images of text conversation with buyer. I've since emailed the paypal'd gmail account that filed the claim with all this information as well. Now just waiting for a response.

 

Has anyone encountered this? and if so, how did it turn out / how did you protect yourself? I'm really surprised this happened as I've been selling and buying for years using paypal and golfwrx (as well as ebay and other forums). Another red-flag I just saw is the user just created the account a day before he contacted me about purchasing.. I was looking forward to sell the item so I didn't do my due diligence. Any advice would be appreciated.

[cwilk]

Unless you have texts of this person saying they received the items you are probably going to be forced to file a claim with the shipper.  Did you pay extra for insurance and/or signature confirmation?

[MaitriMike]

Yup, I definitely paid for extra insurance on item through UPS. I'm just worried about different address it was sent to and the buyer suddenly is not responding to text now.

[TwistedSister]

Does Ups show it delivered?

Edited February 23, 2021 by dhacker56

[golffeen007]

Do you know if it was a confirmed address you shipped to? I'd call PayPal to discuss with a a representative too , if you haven't already. I've never encountered this because I don't ship to addresses outside of the buyers PayPal account. 

[wobgon]

Does the tracking show it was delivered?   Have you made contact with ups?

[MaitriMike]

Yes UPS showed as delivered. The address sent via UPS was not the same as the paypal once since buyer said to ship it there... (I know, I know.. I shouldn't have done that..)

[kdog25]

Who is the buyer?  Invite him to this thread. Not expecting him to respond as I think you got scammed as well.  Not piling on but as soon as I read the part about the different address I cringed.  
 

We should be made aware of who this is and let a mod know. 
 

Edit - it’s pretty clear it’s the person who posted in your listing. He also posted an offer for the same item someone else was selling. 
 

I think your only hope is that PayPal has mercy on you. Unless the mods can work some magic. 

Edited February 24, 2021 by kdog25

[MaitriMike]

I’ve sent the info the a moderator and the buyer hasn’t signed on since 2/11.... What I don’t get, is if the PayPal account saw the transaction, and the money cleared, wouldn’t you dispute it if you didn’t initiate it? I did wait a week for payment to clear too.

 

Buyer is averageGamer.

 

Btw, thanks for all the insight / advice. Just freaking out about this situation and hope this works out.

Edited February 24, 2021 by MaitriMike

[kdog25]

Just now, MaitriMike said:

I’ve sent the info the a moderator and the buyer hasn’t signed on since 2/11.... What I don’t get, is if the PayPal account saw the transaction, and the money cleared, wouldn’t you dispute it if you didn’t initiate it? I did wait a week for payment to clear too.

 

Btw, thanks for all the insight / advice. Just freaking out about this situation and hope this works out.

I believe it’s this simple. He pays from his account. Or it could have been his girlfriends. He has you deliver to another address. But bottom line it wasn’t sent to the verified address. Claims it was never received. PayPal refunds. 
 

If you have all the exchanges/“evidence” PayPal might investigate but since you sent to a different address they’re under no obligation to refund you. 

[gibbiesmalls]

16 minutes ago, MaitriMike said:

I’ve sent the info the a moderator and the buyer hasn’t signed on since 2/11.... What I don’t get, is if the PayPal account saw the transaction, and the money cleared, wouldn’t you dispute it if you didn’t initiate it? I did wait a week for payment to clear too.

 

Buyer is averageGamer.

 

Btw, thanks for all the insight / advice. Just freaking out about this situation and hope this works out.

He joined the day that he messaged you asking whether you'd take offers.  And it's his only activity.

 

That alone would have given me reservation.  I realize everyone is new at one point, but I wouldn't have sold a Skytrak (I'm assuming that's what he purchased) to a member who joined Golfwrx on the day he reaches out to me.

 

Hope it works out for you.  Hope he didn't scam others (he reached out to someone else for a Skytrak as well).

 

 

[LeoLeo99]

I assume everyone is a scammer until proven otherwise.  Shipping to an alternate address?  No way.  Guy just needs to claim that you shipped to someone else for some reason.  He never received it.  

[TwistedSister]

Does UPS not get signatures for insured items over a certain amount?

[Krt22]

1 hour ago, MaitriMike said:

Yes UPS showed as delivered. The address sent via UPS was not the same as the paypal once since buyer said to ship it there... (I know, I know.. I shouldn't have done that..)

Big mistake, especially on a high dollar item

[wobgon]

I don't want to pile on but i have to just a little....Sold a skytrak  to a guy who just joined with no posts and did not send it to a verified address??...........Ok, now that that is out of the way count me as being in your corner......Wouldn't this be considered premeditated fraud...Seems like paypal would want to get to the bottom of something like this.

[wobgon]

3 minutes ago, dhacker56 said:

Does UPS not get signatures for insured items over a certain amount?

 

3 minutes ago, dhacker56 said:

Does UPS not get signatures for insured items over a certain amount?

I believe that they do.

[MaitriMike]

Yes it requires an adult signature for these type of items, which it was signed for too.

[TwistedSister]

Who signed it?

 

[MaitriMike]

Signature was “Manly”.... no picture at the moment from UPS.

[TwistedSister]

The mods here would know if the person that signed for the package is the same person as the person you were PMing on here.

[TwistedSister]

Was Manly the surname?  The mods can determine if it is the same guy using the moniker you related here earlier.

[TwistedSister]

Heck Paypal can do that too.

[Duffer222]

I hate these stories.

[Olde Maroon]

I've been a victim of this exact scheme. Probably a decade ago selling a pair of jeans on a style forum (feel free to pile on for this admission). If you search a bit, this is a very common scam and rarely does PayPal find in favor of the seller. Because it's been some time and I'm sure PayPal has seen this come up regularly, I'm rooting for you to be successful (and also because I've done business with you and know you to be a stand up guy). 

 

Hopefully the evidence you have will point PayPal in the right direction. Keep us posted and good luck. 

[Skhacker]

This is sadly a well known scamming practice among online forums. Best of luck and hope those text messages vindicate you. 

[MaitriMike]

Thanks for all the kinds words y’all and hoping for the best as well. 

[Bad9]

Oh god.

[llewol007]

How scary is that. Thank goodness you did tracking and insurance. That is one of the biggest mistakes sellers make. 

[jj9000]

A couple of things.

 

First...the dollar amount of the item which was allegedly stolen is important.  It bumps the charge from Misdemeanor Theft, squarely into Felony theft.  It sounds like this fits squarely in the State Felony class...and depending on the State(s) involved, the penalty can carry amywhere from 2-10 years in the State Penetentiary.

 

Second...the WRX site owners and/or Mods can help you identify the IP Address that this guy posted from.  Unless he's using a spoof IP, or a VPN he'll be relatively easy to track down (I highly doubt he was sophisticated enough to think through this...and when he reads this he'll realize it).  I suggest pursuing the normal course of action for the time being.  However, if this doesn't net you your desired outcome, take it to the next level.  Procedurally, you must go through the process, and document all conversations (phone calls/emails/texts/addresses/signatures/etc..).  Once the time comes to escalate to the authorities, you'll have your documentation to support your case.  Frankly, it won't be too difficult to track the guy down.  So, don't beat yourself up too badly.

 

Third... @averageGamer has been on the site within the last hour.  So, there's another data point relative to IP Addressing (not too smart on his part...remember the IP Spoofing comment above... @averageGamer ?  See screenshot below.  Like I said, not too hard to find if you really want to.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2021 by jj9000

[jarederco]

Can you give us the mailing addresses to the PayPal account and the one you shipped to? Would be interested to do some research and identify the real person.