New scam on eBay

[daban-22]

I bought an iPhone on eBay and received an alert stating that the item would be delivered the next day. The next day, I received another alert to confirm that it had been delivered. I was at home all day, and I never received anything. I called Royal Mail to find out what had happened, and they told me I would need to call back the next day. I then called eBay, and they opened an INR case for me.

I called RM this morning, and they said the item was delivered to another address, and they don't know why. The agent then gave the name of the business where it was delivered. I googled the company and decided to visit to see what had happened. On arrival at the industry, I was shown the parcel that had arrived.

It wasn't the phone, but a large envelope with a red bedsheet inside. 

Now, this is where it gets strange: the tracking number on the packaging matches the one on my item (see picture below). The name on the parcel isn't my name, but the business name. It's a scam, but I don't know how they were able to change the address and name with a different tracking number.

It appears to be a new scam circulating on eBay, as I can still see numerous iPhones matching the exact details of the one I purchased. The phones are mainly brand new and at a lower price than usual.

The picture is the actual item that was delivered to an address that didn't match mine. As soon as the item was posted, I received an alert from eBay to confirm it had been posted. Then, when it was delivered, I received another alert to confirm it had been delivered.

[style_wise]

Did you contact eBay for a refund? The main point is that the 'delivered' postcode doesn't match yours. Keep it simple and factual for them ; )

[eburtonlab]

@daban-22 

If tracking shows delivery, but nothing arrives, contact the shipping service to determine if the tracking corresponds to a delivery to your address.

If you can obtain hard copy documentation that the tracking does not correspond to a delivery to your address, contact eBay via social media and explain that you have a case of "false tracking" and you should be given the opportunity to provide your documentation to eBay via direct message. This is different than the usual "item not received" case which is handled automatically and which allows the seller to win by providing tracking that shows delivery.

https://x.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/ebay

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

You can avoid many issues entirely by choosing to only do business with experienced sellers that have a proven track record of delivering similar items as seen by examining the seller's feedback page, and by avoiding inexperienced sellers, sellers with patterns of negative feedback indicating serious problems, or sellers with large gaps in the selling history or recent drastic changes of seller behavior.

[papso22]

Sophisticated scammers know how to do this, I am obviously not going to explain how on here.

All you need to do is open a case for item not as described and, if provided with a return label, send back what you collected.  The scammer will not want their actions under scrutiny so are likely to just agree the refund and write this one off as a failure, hoping to catch others.

Don't open a case for item not received, you will lose and then need to appeal, which won't be necessary if you open the not as described case.  The scammers will be hoping this is the case you open, which you would have done if you had not been able to collect the parcel.  To be honest you were lucky RM gave you the address, that was actually against the rules.

You could let ebay customer service know what has happened separately to the case, but you won't know what action, if any  they take.

[dontworrybehappyalways]

Exactly same thing happen to me and I was lucky to immediately walk out and found the door from the proof of delivery photo from RM. It was sent to an address on the same street with one missing door number and addressed to home owner. The old couple were baffled to have received a special delivery packet with strips of paper in it.

Obviously the Ebay system says delivered. You claim and then you have to chase RM/courier for details and they may or may not give you where it was delivered. in the meantime, the scammer gets his money from Ebay and spoof - they are gone! I have been trying to buy an iphone for last 3 weeks and 90% of the listings are fake and the one I thought was genuine, I was scammed. I have been on ebay for more than 22 years and recently the scamming has become a real issue, even when ebay has made things better and difficult, scammers are always a step ahead.

[pegr-834437]

The issue with scams now is the scammers cant just be lazy and obvious. Like you say they are 1 step ahead and it takes time to catch them out, especially if they are not doing anything illegal or scammy at first, people buy accounts with history so you cant even just say dont buy from new accounts. Once an account gets enough reports eBay will close them down (depending on the report lets be fair) but the scammers will have 5 more lined up.

I used to work for a high street store in head office, we knew who were using stolen credit cards but once you blocked that card and IP another would pop up the next day, you were basically playing whack a mole hoping you didnt miss a few before catching them.

[sml192]

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@dontworrybehappyalways wrote:

Exactly same thing happen to me and I was lucky to immediately walk out and found the door from the proof of delivery photo from RM. It was sent to an address on the same street with one missing door number and addressed to home owner. The old couple were baffled to have received a special delivery packet with strips of paper in it.

Obviously the Ebay system says delivered. You claim and then you have to chase RM/courier for details and they may or may not give you where it was delivered. in the meantime, the scammer gets his money from Ebay and spoof - they are gone! I have been trying to buy an iphone for last 3 weeks and 90% of the listings are fake and the one I thought was genuine, I was scammed. I have been on ebay for more than 22 years and recently the scamming has become a real issue, even when ebay has made things better and difficult, scammers are always a step ahead.

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As you did receive something, albeit not actually delivered to your address, you need to open an 'item doesn't match description or photos' return request.  The seller will then have to either refund you or issue a prepaid label for you to return what you received.  If they don't do either then you will be able to 'Ask eBay to step in and help' after 3 full business days and they will force the refund.

I would also report what's happened to Action Fraud.

[dontworrybehappyalways]

Thats a new information for me that they buy accounts with history. It now explains why some people wont respond, or the moment I ask questions, the listing ends. Either because the account was hacked and the actual owner sees the messages, or ebay catches it or something else. 

I am actually now very nervous buying from Ebay. Gumtree is another scam tree with deep roots! There are also scams I get to see where you sell stuff and then the scammers open a case against you. Its just getting ridiculous now.

[lucy_farmer]

'Gumtree is another scam tree with deep roots!'

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At least on gumtree you have the option of 'cash on collection' and inspecting the item first!

[bonzo622]

I'm not sure if this is a "new" scam. I had something similar over a year ago. It was an expensive item, not a phone. I had it delivered click and collect to an Argos. The tracking says it had been delivered but Argos swore that they didn't have it. I called Royal Mail and found that it had been delivered to the wrong address but very close the the Argos so the tracking GPS showed approximately the right location. Royal Mail wouldn't tell me the actual address. I thought it was a mistake at first until I twigged that it was deliberate. An empty box was probably sent out or something not worth very much. As far as ebay is concerned they have proof of delivery and correct location. The flaw in the scam was that I had it delivered click and collect so Argos never notified ebay because they didn't have it. Ebay ended up refunding me.

[renzolondon]

I was scammed to with this method

While I don't want to portray myself as the most advanced shopper, I am 46, been buying online for ages and was never scammed before. Bought iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and other expensive items. I tend to be able to tell a scammer from a normal seller.

Account seemed legit. Long enough history, sold and bought before. not 100% positive, but reasons for the negative seemed lame. i.e. not a scammer

The iPhone Pro Max was brand new, cheaper than other sellers, but not crazy cheap to be obviously a scam. 

RM said it was delivered. I went outside, no parcel (it was the Royal Mail Tracked 48™ service). 
I go on RM website, I try to see proof of delivery, but it says it doesn't match when I add my post code. I start getting suspicious.  

Ebay updates the status to received. so I start getting nervous. 

I phone RM, and they say they can see the parcel has been delivered to what seems to be a shop. I confirm that's not my address. They can't tell me what shop. Just that the location is not too far. 

I phone again, they tell me to wait, the postie will go back to pick it up. 

in the meantime the buyer is acting all normal, seems worried. 
One red flag is that the account is registered from a buyer in Bristol, but the parcel comes from a post office in Kent. I ask, he says it's his brother (he had told me already he was selling for his brother previously - which was already a bit fishy). 

But he starts looking at my account. At that point I had my phone and my son's phone on sale, as I wanted to see which one would sell first, and If it was my son's, he would have upgraded to mine. He starts questioning why the two phones, if I do that as a job to buy and sell. I got the feeling he was worried he was dealing with a scammer!!!

I end up going to the delivery office, the man working there tells be it's at a hardware store near me. I go, they don't have any parcel under my name.  They say the postie has been too, but same answer to him. 
The parcel is gone! A few days later they call me from the shop, as I had left my number. Apparently they HAD received a parcel under their name (name printed on the front), with some candy and rubbish inside. They only found parts of the parcel, and it had the details of my same tracking number. It was that parcel! They had opened, thought it was a joke, and had disposed of it. But they had a picture they shared with me. 

This scamming method is VERY smart, as 

1) Ebay sees delivered

2) the buyer potentially NEVER receives the parcel. So both the buyer and Ebay do NOT suspect the seller. Of course if they do it often enough they can eventually get caught. 

Ebay at first told me to open the case (before I knew what had happened) - while on the phone as "item not received". 
They then closed it in their favour the next day, as... RM said I had received it. 

I phoned and was so upset and described things in such a clear way, that must have convinced them to the point they refunded it straight away.  I think it was  goodwill gesture from Ebay rather than the seller losing money!!!

I have since reached out to Ebay and provided all the info and they must have banned the person, as it's gone. At that point he had stopped replying to messages and had a new phone - similar - for sale. 

I am sure they will just move on - with the money in their account - buy a new Ebay account that looks legit - and do the same... 

[ahmahme.qulzzuzzf]

Ive Just had the same experience as you bought an iPhone 17 pro max 1tb for £680 realised after its a scam and I was right, delivery time 8.55am till 12.55pm so I waited at around half 11 got notification from royal mail saying parcel delivered but  nothing arrived to my address rushed outside to see the royal mail person. Once delivered the tracking you can see the pinpoint location on the map. The package was delivered to the last house on my street upon speaking to the Royal mail person that's the only house he had delivered so I went over spoke to the house owner who said she recieved a strange parcel with just plain paper. When I looked at the delivery label it was the same tracking as mine with house number changed to 99 it should of been 73 my actual address. So I took the letter and set up a refund/return should get refund in 3 days, seller has not replied after numerous messages my theory is they tamper with the house number on the delivery label. Item shows delivered GPS tracking proves it was delivered as its near your actual address when you open item not recieved case ebay checks and sees it being delivered they dont care if it's to diffrent address as long as the GPS is close to your address  postman shows proof of delivery by taking photo of doorway very hard to prove if it's your door or someone else. so ebay sides with seller and clears the funds the buyer looses out if you have been a victim of this you need to get the original parcel and open item dont match description case and send it back i was very lucky I was home.

[renzolondon]

Interesting thanks for sharing.

as mentioned, in my case it was a shop about a kilometre away, and Royal Mail website would not allow me to see the proof of Delivery, so harder for me to find where it had been delivered.

I think for expensive items ebay should introduce a system like Amazon, where the buyer needs to share a code with whoever is doing the Delivery, to confirm it’s been delivered to the right person.

[palj41]

I’ve now had 4 attempts at purchasing an iPhone 17 Pro Max, have been buying new mobiles for years through eBay without any issues but this year Wow!! 😮 I can’t believe I have had every experience aforementioned the last one being misaddressed within the same gps area (shop 100 yards away) each time eBay have been very helpful in sorting out the problem (thank god for buyer protection) however it is concerning that scammers are able to buy eBay accounts with 100% feedback as this is the only test you can do in order to determine whether you’re buying from a legitimate seller, have decided to keep my 15 Pro Max another year & buy from an Apple Store next October when the 18 arrives, the 17 is no longer a number I need in my life!!!

[papso22]

Are you buying from registered business accounts as most scams originate from private ones.