Scammed On Ebay

[Lollies]

So in 2008 I was dumb enough to buy some item to use in-game with World of Warcraft off Ebay. I made sure the people were verified and had atleast 5+ rep. But even after doing so I still go jiped. I paid for the item from someone who looked legit, they received a large sum of money and after probably a day I decided to reverse the payment since I had not heard back. After doing so this happens:


Original Transaction
Aug 25, 2008

Payment To April and Justins Stuff Reversed

Payment -----------------> -$***.00 USD
Charge--------------------->$***.00 USD
Reversal-------------------->$***.00 USD
Credit----------------------->-$***.00 USD
Total Returned------------>-$***.00 USD


I distinctly remember contacting paypal with them eventually saying something along the lines of, "Sorry, we might get it back when they use their account." I let it go thinking it would get figured out (It never did).

So stupidity I gave it another try and long story short it happened again as follows:

Original Transaction
Aug 28, 2008

Payment To Erika Vega Reversed

Payment -----------------> -$***.00 USD
Charge--------------------->$***.00 USD
Reversal-------------------->$**.00 USD
Credit----------------------->-$**.00 USD
Total Returned------------>-$***.00 USD

Eventually I did get what I wanted but it definitely was not worth all of this. I probably should have taken some other action at the time but I wasn't sure what else I could do. Unfortunately I thought paypal would handle it but all the times I've contacted them they just sounded clueless and basically told me I was out of luck.

If anyone has any advice on what I could do it would be much appreciated.
-Lollies

 

[michelle22]

If you use PayPal to pay for an item on eBay, if you don't receive your item within 10 days, you can file a claim with PayPal. It is then up to the person who sold the item to prove you have received it. If they can't, PayPal is supposed to refund your money. What's even better is if you use a credit card to pay for the item through PayPal. Then if you don't have the item within 10 days, your credit card company with return your money, called a chargeback, and your bank will go after PayPal.

 

[Austin8868]

Paypal wont do shit if your scammed. They poke ass just long enough to where they can go over there 60 day limit and tell you its not there problem any longer.

Also if you guys happen to run across a man named Allen Otte in Georgia and his wife "works for" Unicef in Nigeria give him a friendly hello for me.

 

[Sub Styler]

Often people create disposable paypal accounts and to get the money without varifying bank details they just gift it to another disposable account, this makes it less personally tracable. Of course you would expect more vigilance from paypal to prevent this type of abuse but as long as they get their money

 

[NTFSStream]

there have been a LOT of wow ebay scams, I think it started out legitly, people actually selling characters etc...but ofcourse it ended up probably nothin but scams now adays. I haven't played wow for many years but I heard it's incredibly easy now adays, so why do you need to buy ingame items?

 

[SIW2]

If you use a credit card directly with the seller - then yes, in many countries the credit card co. is the credit broker and jointly liable.

BUT - if you use your credit card via Paypal - there is no protection - you are buying money from paypal - which they provided. That is the end of the line for the credit card company.

If that paypal money is then used to pay for something - it is nothing to do with your credit card co.

You have to rely on whatever paypal offers as protection - like this one small example site :

http://boards.thisismoney.co.uk/tim/threadnonInd.jsp?forum=104&thread=97849&message=435258

PayPal Hell | This is Money

If you are very lucky - you might find your credit card co. will be helpful - but they are not obliged to be.

If you use PayPal to pay for an item on eBay, if you don't receive your item within 10 days, you can file a claim with PayPal. It is then up to the person who sold the item to prove you have received it. If they can't, PayPal is supposed to refund your money. What's even better is if you use a credit card to pay for the item through PayPal. Then if you don't have the item within 10 days, your credit card company with return your money, called a chargeback, and your bank will go after PayPal.

 

[Lollies]

If you use PayPal to pay for an item on eBay, if you don't receive your item within 10 days, you can file a claim with PayPal. It is then up to the person who sold the item to prove you have received it. If they can't, PayPal is supposed to refund your money. What's even better is if you use a credit card to pay for the item through PayPal. Then if you don't have the item within 10 days, your credit card company with return your money, called a chargeback, and your bank will go after PayPal.

Originally there was a case open pending on the two cases but it was closed after a long time. I called them earlier today and the rep said, "The cases are closed but they are kinda open in the fact if they ever use Paypal again they will have a negative fee." It was related to Ebay so I assumed I would be covered and Paypal would be held responsible but they just kinda lol'd.

I'm pretty sure the two accounts were fake, most likely behind proxies. One of the accounts is verified so they would have some type of information linked to but from what Paypal told me is that they can't do anything, or that its probably fake. One of the phone numbers was disconnected listed to the persons info. I thought Paypal would refund me either way but they said they did their "best possible outcome" scenario.

It was taken from my bank account to paypal to the "seller". At the time I would have done a charge back but unfortunately I put too much faith in Paypal thinking they would get the money but of course, they probably haven't ever tried.

Would it be too late to try a chargeback? I'm assuming its 30 days, so 3 years later I don't know.

Paypal wont do shit if your scammed. They poke ass just long enough to where they can go over there 60 day limit and tell you its not there problem any longer.

Also if you guys happen to run across a man named Allen Otte in Georgia and his wife "works for" Unicef in Nigeria give him a friendly hello for me.

Unfortunately I learned that the hard way I guess. Legally aren't they suppose to do something?

Often people create disposable paypal accounts and to get the money without varifying bank details they just gift it to another disposable account, this makes it less personally tracable. Of course you would expect more vigilance from paypal to prevent this type of abuse but as long as they get their money

The thing I don't get is how they got rid of it. Most businesses won't take anything unless they are verified, I'm sure you could find some that would but most won't. They have not hesitated to freeze money in my account that was sent from one account to another to mine. Then reverse it back to the original account because they were "suspicious".

If you use a credit card directly with the seller - then yes, in many countries the credit card co. is the credit broker and jointly liable.

BUT - if you use your credit card via Paypal - there is no protection - you are buying money from paypal - which they provided. That is the end of the line for the credit card company.

If that paypal money is then used to pay for something - it is nothing to do with your credit card co.

You have to rely on whatever paypal offers as protection - like this one small example site :

I lost £1500 with PayPal | This is Money

PayPal Hell | This is Money

If you are very lucky - you might find your credit card co. will be helpful - but they are not obliged to be.

I'll give them a call in the morning I guess and see if they would be able to help in anyway. when I called they said, "Our policies are not the same as they were back then (2008). Everything is covered now where as then only the seller was covered." As far as I can tell its a big F you from Paypal. They have a verified account which is in a negative balance so they could get info on them or something.

 

[Britton30]

Most likely it is too late, but eBay has buyer protection for most items, some buyer protection guarantee. They went to bat for me when a seller did not anser emails and I received a broken item. Price AND shipiing were refunded through eBay>through Paypal.
For those who are unaware, Paypal was acquired by eBay 2-3 years ago.

 

[Lollies]

Most likely it is too late, but eBay has buyer protection for most items, some buyer protection guarantee. They went to bat for me when a seller did not anser emails and I received a broken item. Price AND shipiing were refunded through eBay>through Paypal.
For those who are unaware, Paypal was acquired by eBay 2-3 years ago.

When was this? I have yet to call again but from what I was told when I called Paypal she said that I wouldn't have protection. I have no clue whether this is correct or not but I'd imagine they would be obligated to do something.

I can not look that far back on Ebay to see the transaction unless it tells you somewhere else.

 

[Britton30]

PayPal Buyer Protection on eBay existed only for eBay customers who paid for their purchases through a PayPal account. Now purchase protection and issue resolution for your eBay purchases will be managed by eBay, for all eligible payment methods.
With eBay Buyer Protection, buyers will receive coverage for the full purchase price of the item, plus original shipping. eBay Buyer Protection also introduces a new, streamlined process for customer service, so you can get help quickly either on the phone or online.

eBay
You'd need to check with them, they will have a list of your transactions. I checked in my account and it goes back two years only. Three years is pushing it I think though, but they do want to make themselves look good. Good luck.
Gary

 

[Imperfect1]

Slightly different story. . . I had my bank account hacked into by a PayPal user. I was not aware of this until I was notified by PayPal that my "transaction" had cleared and $780 had been transferred to the "seller" --- I was NOT buying anything through PayPal --- someone had hacked into my account and made the purchase. The fraud department of PayPal told me they would stop the transaction and return my money but they DID NOTHING. Fortunately, I took matters into my own hands, went to my bank, and stopped payment of the $780 at the bank --- and even that was very hard to do because I didn't have enough information about the hacker's PayPal transaction --- It was a mess, but the bank did finally honor my request and stopped payment of the $780.

 

[outlawed]

I'm surprised Blizzard Entertainment didn't ban your WoW account. Buying digital items (such as gold) breaches their ToS and EULA.

But the first golden rule, never buy digital items off eBay for any game. Most of the time it is a scam, and usually breaches your contracts/agreements with such games.

And then on the other hand, PayPal has been known to be...some words that I can't say on here. :S

 

[Lollies]

PayPal Buyer Protection on eBay existed only for eBay customers who paid for their purchases through a PayPal account. Now purchase protection and issue resolution for your eBay purchases will be managed by eBay, for all eligible payment methods.
With eBay Buyer Protection, buyers will receive coverage for the full purchase price of the item, plus original shipping. eBay Buyer Protection also introduces a new, streamlined process for customer service, so you can get help quickly either on the phone or online.

eBay
You'd need to check with them, they will have a list of your transactions. I checked in my account and it goes back two years only. Three years is pushing it I think though, but they do want to make themselves look good. Good luck.
Gary

I checked my Ebay as well, so yeah there is no record of it. I gave them both a call, the women at PayPal said there at the time they did what they could (lose most my money) and they now the policies are different. One account is verified so they have at least a credit card number or something but when I asked about it she continued to say, "Sir I can not share that information with you" regardless of whether it had to do with it or not. Such as when I asked, "What are you guys doing with it?" she said the same thing over and over. And when I asked, "So essentially I was gutted out of 300$+, right" she said, "Yes, essentially".

When I called EBay I talked to someone who was basically trying to calm when down when I already was (it was kinda awkward). He said he would send an e-mail to their claims department and I would hear back in 24 hrs...its been 4 days plus the weekend. He also so that after 3 years its kinda pointless but I've he didn't seem to understand I've been pursuing it on and off for that 3 year period.

Essentially the whole thing is derp. I'm just kicking myself now because I could have done a charge back but stupidly I thought PayPal would deal with it.

Slightly different story. . . I had my bank account hacked into by a PayPal user. I was not aware of this until I was notified by PayPal that my "transaction" had cleared and $780 had been transferred to the "seller" --- I was NOT buying anything through PayPal --- someone had hacked into my account and made the purchase. The fraud department of PayPal told me they would stop the transaction and return my money but they DID NOTHING. Fortunately, I took matters into my own hands, went to my bank, and stopped payment of the $780 at the bank --- and even that was very hard to do because I didn't have enough information about the hacker's PayPal transaction --- It was a mess, but the bank did finally honor my request and stopped payment of the $780.

Yeah PayPal should be shut down ultimately in my opinion, if they don't have the capability to protect their users why do they even try? I wish I had at least done the same but in my young age I was more naive than I am now unfortunately.

I'm surprised Blizzard Entertainment didn't ban your WoW account. Buying digital items (such as gold) breaches their ToS and EULA.

But the first golden rule, never buy digital items off eBay for any game. Most of the time it is a scam, and usually breaches your contracts/agreements with such games.

And then on the other hand, PayPal has been known to be...some words that I can't say on here. :S

It wasn't a digital item, it was a card with a code on it for an in-game item. I don't think buying it from someone reselling it breaches their ToS. That was the first argument Ebay back me back in 2008, was that they could not cover an item which was considered virtual but its an actual card you can hold. After talking to the Ebay rep he told me to reverse it.

I several times have wanted to say very hateful things to them when on the phone but its the company at large more so than the individuals that I dislike even thought they have been somewhat rude over the phone.

The thing I'm sill wondering is how can someone get almost 200$ out of the PayPal system in one day? I've had similar things happen to me for no reason when selling on Ebay but at least I got my items back. Don't you have to be verified to spend it? and doesn't it take more than a day to get into a bank account?

The women said that once it is out of the Paypal system they have no control of it but they have taken money back from me when it was scammed from one account, sent to another, then sent to mine. She would not share where the money was sent after they had a hold of it as well.

 

[Lordbob75]

Why the hell would you spend this sort of money on an item for a game?

Sounds like this might be a lesson to take to heart.

~Lordbob

 

[seekermeister]

Though I have had to file a number of cases, only once did I have to escalate that to a claim. In that event, I was quite satisfied with the outcome, because my purchase price was refunded in full, and it didn't take too long for that to happen. However, it should be remembered that filing a case is not enough for a refund from PayPal, it must be escalated to a claim. I know that when they determine a case in favor of the purchaser, they deduct the refund from the account balance of the vendor. If the vendor doesn't have a balance, PayPal is supposed to pay the claim themselves, but I suspect that may not always happen, so when buying on eBay, I always look at the vendor's longevity and track record.

 

[Lollies]

Why the hell would you spend this sort of money on an item for a game?

Sounds like this might be a lesson to take to heart.

~Lordbob

No offense but I wasn't looking for an opinion. Whether it was an intelligent thing to do or not is irrelevant, either way it happened unfortunately and I'm looking for a way to make it right.

 

[Lordbob75]

Why the hell would you spend this sort of money on an item for a game?

Sounds like this might be a lesson to take to heart.

~Lordbob

No offense but I wasn't looking for an opinion. Whether it was an intelligent thing to do or not is irrelevant, either way it happened unfortunately and I'm looking for a way to make it right.

Perhaps, but game items tend to be scams more than legit in my experience.

~Lordbob