The MLP Arena
TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: WingsOfMasquerade on June 15, 2020, 02:21:06 PM
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Editing post for Happy Ending!
Happy ending posted in a response to this post below...no more rage-reading, the situation got fixed, hooray!
Ok so I am SO ANGRY right now.
And all at MYSELF. I feel SO STUPID and full of rage. But, instead, I will type things into this message board to try to help others avoid my situation instead and maybe that's a better way to do it. It's a very easy scam to do, and it's also very easy to fall for-----however, it is also just as easy to avoid. Don't be horrible and stupid like me. Because if there's one of these jerks there's bound to be like 50 more. And banning them is like stomping on mushrooms, it gets rid of 1 but makes another pop up somewhere else.
What happens in the scam:
An ebay user will send you a message RIGHT AFTER your item ends
It's "grandma" or so, who is buying the thing "as a gift" and so needs the address "corrected" before you send it out
But it's not the real buyer!
They're COUNTING on you NOT LOOKING at who the real buyer of the item was, and just correcting the address to that of the thief because they are in such a rush to get the item/such an important gift that you don't double check before you change the address.
Now you can see why I feel so stupid.
Like, who falls for that?
Who doesn't check that the message sender is the same person that bought?
Of course it ended up being some account with a single feedback only active since January.
And you KNOW they have absolutely been doing this "OMG ADDRESS" thing since they started on ebay, just doing it to every seller who had an item they wanted for free that already sold that item.
What did they get?
A pristine condition, with necklace white big talking princess celestia who I had spent good time on fixing up.
What is their fate?
I got them banned. I got on an ebay live-chat with a moderator there and they went through my transactions and messages to see exactly what all happened and the bad person got banned from ebay/unable* to make more accounts. (*Unable to....easily....there are always ways to make more accounts on ebay, they don't get your SS# or your bank account when you join, so these people will just keep doing it forever because free things!)
So anyway, this is a pretty obvious scam.
But when you get a message about an item that's been won CHECK IF ITS FROM THE PERSON WHO WON IT!
That's basically all you have to do to avoid it.
It's easy.
And if someone has a message like that, 100% report them right away via the live chat to ban them because a ban WILL happen. If anyone who didn't win an item asks you for a change of address on that item, report them, allow the ebay mod into your ebay messages when they ask and it's an insta-ban for the person. Just asking something like that makes the ban happen, which is really nice.
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i am so sorry you had to go through all that!
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Actually, you shouldn't send the package to anywhere else but what is listed by paypal (or whatever ebay's internal pay thing is).. even if the real buyer asks.
*if you send it anywhere else -- you give up any seller protection*
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Poor thing. I'm sorry you got screwed over. :hug:
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Awww, I’m really sorry that happened to you. :( It’s an easy enough mistake I think, so don’t beat yourself up about it. :hugs:
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Actually, you shouldn't send the package to anywhere else but what is listed by paypal (or whatever ebay's internal pay thing is).. even if the real buyer asks.
*if you send it anywhere else -- you give up any seller protection*
Echoing this-it's like this on Depop as well and I've heard of lots of sellers fall victim to it because they're new to internet selling.
When I read "grandma", I thought it was going to be one of the "sickly child in hospital wants pony but no money" scams. It's good to hear there's a way to get live chat in to ban them!
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I'm sorry, I know how much work goes into selling but things like this are easily done sometimes. On the up-side I think trading on Ebay is a good way to get into good habits for when you have to make bigger purchases/decisions in life. I think I'm a lot more savvy in general compared to when I first started. So I would say don't let it put you off. The only thing I'd say is that the more money there is involved the more careful I am to check every detail.
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Happy Ending Alert!
Celestia must be in the clouds today! WOW!
The scam has been undone! I am shocked and amazed but the toy is BACK...with a note...It said something like sorry this came to the wrong address we're returning it with the original address label and then she was in there unharmed. And it's written in cursive. Time to put on the Pinkie Pie Sherlock hat from the train episode and go to town with clues.
Sooooo it was a kid scammer.
Kid using mommy's ebay name to send out bogus messages
I report and ebay comes in with a ban for sending illegal messages/thieving
Mommy doesn't want trouble or bans and sends the item back on their own dime with a note
Nobody ordinary would send back a package and pay out of their own pocket to do it for someone else's' random mistake
No kid writes cursive that nice because they don't teach it in schools and even when they did most were lousy
The toy wasn't damaged so the kid never got hands on it before someone forced the return (otherwise they would cut hair/destroy)
A consequence (ebay attack) actually happened for the behavior and frighten them into doing right
Thank you for all these well wishes and tips!
If it can warn or prevent even 1 person then it is worth while to post.
I am absolutely from then on out an absolute hound for checking every detail, and also about the 'seller protections' clause too, I take each post here to heart with thanks!
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Nice!! I'm glad to hear this ended with good news :)
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Yes, very good to hear about a happy ending