Beware of eBay scams with high value items

[Pondy]

I was reading a thread on another forum which I found worrying, so thought I would share the scenario.

Someone ordered a phone from a seller on eBay. It was an expensive iPhone and the seller looked legit, with feedback, length of account, etc.
The scam is that the seller made eBay think the item had been posted and delivered, via the Royal Mail tracking service. But it wasn't delivered. A parcel containing junk was delivered to a similar postcode but not the buyer's.

The details from RM tracking service showed the correct details (which eBay use as proof) bu the address had been altered somewhere before it got into the RM physical system.

Luckily the buyer went to his local RM office and they were really helpful and found out what had happened. EBay initially refused a refund, as, as far as they were concerned the item was sent to the correct address and was received. Thanks to the RM information the buyer proved that the item had not been delivered. In fact the item was never sent.

So beware. The scammers are getting better and seem to have RM employees on their payroll aswell!!

 

[Pondy]

A little update to this.....
The 'victim' dug deeper on this scam and managed to find out who the scammer was (a 17 year old schoolgirl!), her name and address.
He passed the information to action fraud and the police. Neither was interested. So, basically, fraudsters in the UK are free to do whatever they like with no comeback from the authorities.

Yet, if you say anything controversial or non-woke on social media the Police are interested in that. I love the UK in the 21st century.

 

[mmm-five]

Have been reading that on PH too.

It's amazing that eBay - well not really as I know eBay aren't really bothered - can't even see that the delivery address is not the same as the buyer's address...and should simply be a refund to the buyer and a fraud charge / strike against the seller.

You can't even threaten to 'go down and sort them out' as that will get you arrested/cautioned...so I'd just bid up every sale on that account and then refuse to pay.

 

[john-e89]

A little update to this.....
The 'victim' dug deeper on this scam and managed to find out who the scammer was (a 17 year old schoolgirl!), her name and address.
He passed the information to action fraud and the police. Neither was interested. So, basically, fraudsters in the UK are free to do whatever they like with no comeback from the authorities.

Yet, if you say anything controversial or non-woke on social media the Police are interested in that. I love the UK in the 21st century.

Are you surprised…?

 

[JonVR46]

I almost got scammed on instagram in November. I kept seeing adverts for 'canyon.com' bikes at 65% off sale! I clicked on the link out of curiosity, and the fact it was a Friday night, and I'd had a beer or 5.......all looked legit, links to Canyon.com the official store, official photos and links, loads of feedback and comments etc.

I even got all the way to the checkout on PayPal, then realised the payment was going to a random email....something like [email protected] then I smelt a scam.

I went back on the comments, and scrolled down a bit further, and noticed lots of warning messages. They're probably using Ai now to scam people

 

[tiglon]

A little update to this.....
The 'victim' dug deeper on this scam and managed to find out who the scammer was (a 17 year old schoolgirl!), her name and address.
He passed the information to action fraud and the police. Neither was interested. So, basically, fraudsters in the UK are free to do whatever they like with no comeback from the authorities.

Yet, if you say anything controversial or non-woke on social media the Police are interested in that. I love the UK in the 21st century.

The only way to get the Police interested in fraud or crime is to get it into the media. Until that point either "it's a civil matter" or "you haven't given us enough evidence (and we can't be bothered to try to find any ourselves)".

The only thing preventing anyone from committing mild to moderate theft or fraud is their own conscience, because there is zero chance of being prosecuted for it. Even non-serious violence is generally considered "not our problem" by the police.

Crazy to pin this on Starmer, it's been going on for years.