Scammers

[anothayear55]

I have lost all trust in eBay & wanted to warn sellers of a scam I have been subjected to, and eBay have been no help at all!! I recently sold a ring, whereas I was contacted immediately,  from a person I thought was the buyer, asking me to change the address to his mums as it was for her birthday, I didn’t want to be mean & say no, so after much delving into the editing of the address label I’d already purchased, I managed to do it. I posted the ring & informed the buyer ( the real one this time) sending the proof of purchase. They messaged saying they’d not asked for address & didn’t know what I was talking about! I was horrified at what I’d done & immediately informed eBay, who told me to contact police, this I didn’t & action fraud, both didn’t want to help as it wasn’t important enough! EBay had said leave it up  to them to sort & not to worry, I offered to put the money back into PayPal ( which I’d transferred to my bank) & was told no, to leave it in my bank & to tell the REAL seller to open a case of item not received, after a week of  trying the post office to stop & return the  ring, I only managed to delay the delivery for 5 days, & asked the police to step in to retrieve it. They wouldn’t…It was delivered to the scammers address, proof of delivery (a pic) sent & a signature. I have been powerless through all this as NOBODY wanted to help, the buyer got his money back, deducted from my bank account & I’ve lost a £200 ring! The scammers won.. eBay said it was against company policy to change the address of a buyer & to only send to the one on their eBay page. So seller protection was voided in my case!… I can’t believe I’ve been that naive, as it happened that quickly. Just making sellers aware, to keep up to date with eBay policies, & hopefully it won’t happen to anyone else. I’ve learnt the hard way 🙁, traumatised & upset is the least of it . 

[dottytheduck]

It very disappointing to hear this but I am not surprised eBay or the police would would not help. It happened to me last year and eBay said the same thing - only send it to the address they give you. Now when I get a request to change the address I message the buyer and so no and tell them that if they want it sent to a new address and the I will cancel the sale and they can update there detail and repurchase the it and inform eBay.

If I do not hear back I from them within 48 hours I send it to the address eBay gave me with using a trackable service and then if there is a issue I am covered by eBay.

[*vyolla*]

Sadly there are a lot of chancers out there looking for somebody to fall for their scams, they do make the whole thing sound very realistic too. They prey on the kindness of strangers, really, there's always some story about it being for somebody's birthday etc. 

Such a shame that you didn't come here first when you received a message asking you to change the delivery address.

Moving forward, there isn't any to get your ring or money back here. If you have social media then tell everybody about the change of delivery address scam, the more people that are aware of it, the better.

[dottytheduck]

Not sure if this would work but you could try the small claims court to get your money /or ring back. You might even find that the original buyer is in on the fraud.

[plpmr]

Who would OP sue?

courts would required factual names and IDs and addresses.

[millcottage]

Small claims court might be an option.

[department28]

A very upsetting experience. I wish eBay would put a warning message/pop-up box or something, after an item is sold, to remind sellers to only post to the address given. 

And a reminder not to issue a refund before a buyer has opened a case, could also help to prevent many of those instances where a seller refunds too hastily, then realises too late they are not covered for the refund.

Unfortunately, selling anything pricey is a risk, and it is very easy to fall victim to some sort of scam or dishonesty. ☹️

[dottytheduck]

It would depend on how anothayear55 was told about the change of address,  if it came through a eBay message then did it come from the original buyers account? if so then how did the scammer get access to their account to send the change of address.

[*vyolla*]

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@dottytheduck wrote:

It would depend on how anothayear55 was told about the change of address,  if it came through a eBay message then did it come from the original buyers account? if so then how did the scammer get access to their account to send the change of address.

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A common scam is that the scammer watches an expensive item sell and then contacts the seller asking for a delivery address change, the seller often doesn't notice that the message isn't from the actual buyer and obliges. 

[dottytheduck]

The best way around this issue of another person contacting the seller after the item has sold is for eBay to stop all other eBay ID from contacting the seller except the buyer at least this way sellers would know it came from the buyer.

[plpmr]

unfortunately impossible as there's a 'general' contact seller button.

[*vyolla*]

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@dottytheduck wrote:

The best way around this issue of another person contacting the seller after the item has sold is for eBay to stop all other eBay ID from contacting the seller except the buyer at least this way sellers would know it came from the buyer.

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How would you do that? There are numerous routes to contact a seller.

Best way round is for buyers to glance at who a message is from and to only ship to the delivery address showing on the order details. 

[dottytheduck]

"Best way round is for buyers to glance at who a message is from and to only ship to the delivery address showing on the order details. "

I totally agree with that, but I still think eBay could find a way to stop anyone from contacting the seller once the sale has happened, except the buyer and it must then be on the eBay ID the buyer used to buy the item with. After all eBay say they want safe place to buy and sell items, this would make it a bit safer.

[suelel1968]

Hi @anothayear55 thank you so much for the heads up on this. It is so upsetting to get scammed and I can only imagine how angry and upset with myself i would be. 

I didn't think ebay let the passing of addresses through on the messaging system to avoid off platform selling. 

Anyway, I have sent you a private message on this board which might help you - Yes, I do realise the irony of what i just wrote. Have a read anyway.

[*vyolla*]

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@dottytheduck wrote:

"Best way round is for buyers to glance at who a message is from and to only ship to the delivery address showing on the order details. "

I totally agree with that, but I still think eBay could find a way to stop anyone from contacting the seller once the sale has happened, except the buyer and it must then be on the eBay ID the buyer used to buy the item with. After all eBay say they want safe place to buy and sell items, this would make it a bit safer.

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That's just not possible though. As well as a contact seller link on feedback profile pages, a seller can be contacted via any of their listings. If a seller doesn't notice that they're not being contacted by the original buyer via the original sold listing or order details, then they're not going to notice and will be ripe for a scam, no matter what. Sometimes it's just an unfortunate and expensive learning curve. 

[anothayear55]

Thank you, I think I’ve replied to you?

[_localhost_]

thats a lousy way to be treated after you've just been scammed.

surely ebay can see the message from the scammer too you from their side?

did their system give you any warning when you tried to change the delivery address?

[cobwebcottage]

There is a warning message if you buy the postage from Ebay and change any address details but if you bought a label direct from a courier or were to hand write the address then it needs to be the address on the order or you can lose your protection.

'Edit Send to

You may not be covered by the eBay Seller Protection Policy if you send to a different address'

[gnosemalf]

Probably not at all helpful but when I read the OP, it concerned me that this is something I often do as I live a few hundred miles from some of my family and it saves postage when buying gifts on eBay. However, I have all their addresses saved on my account and when I buy, I usually select the appropriate address at checkout. That said, I have sometimes forgotten and contacted the seller afterwards. It's also useful for buying stuff when I'm not at home.

Perhaps the way out of such a situation could be to cancel the sale and suggest that the buyer adds their mother's (or whoever's) address to their account and then relist it.