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Victim of Fraud ..OT

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I live in South Africa and buy and sell quite a lot on ebay - thank God no fraud. I'd hate to think that I was regarded as untrustworthy because I dont live in the US. Often it's quite hard to buy things from the US because the thing I want is only sold to US buyers which I find very annoying. If you do your business properly, clear the funds and wait a few days, then one should be fine. But don't brand everyone outside the US as potential con-artists - it's prejudicial!!!!!!

Peter
http://www.imagessouthafrica.co.za
 
hfos said:
When it comes to eBay, I only do business with people with a very
good feedback rating. They're usually very reliable, and don't want
to mess up their reputation as a good eBayer by f* Inga you over.
You could put a warning in your auction description.
Click to expand...
Most scammers work out of "good eBayer"-accounts... they have acquired them by mass-sending "hi this is paypal, please send us your userid and password for account verification" type e-mails to random e-mail addresses (it's probably something like a two % chance that the user has a paypal account and maybe a 0,5 % chance that they will go for it... that would mean that they get 100 working accounts with a million e-mails, and sending a million e-mails is dirt cheap, and fast...

I really always wondered why credit-cards cheques and WU transfers are the main ways of paying in the USA... here "overseas" pretty much no-one uses them... especially not with strangers over the internet... most payments are done with wire-transfers, and most webshops (atleast here in finland) accept e-payment systems that the banks offer for you to pay directly from your account over the net with.
 
To little to late for me. I am sure they will be up and running with a new account in no time.

I also want to mention that the problem is not with selling to other countries, it is that people can't get verified on Ebay. When a request is made to ship to another country it is usually an honest person. I shipped to Belguim with no problem.

I still am seriously thinking I should return my 828. Our budget is strained as is, and now this added expense. My husband say no, but then how selfish am I being.

Thanks for everyones support on this matter.
--
Michele
http://lorcaphotography.smugmug.com
http://www.pbase.com/michelep
 
Actually, Paypal challenged that status in court and won... They are not classified as a bank.
Ed Shropshire said:
Remember PayPal is a bank. If they mess up it is their fault not
your fault. They should have verified the funds before you were
given the funds. If you pulled the money out I don't think you are
obligated to return the money.

Ed
MicheleP said:
safe to have the wire transfer done into my mother's and my joint
account, but I decided against it.

I am now to afraid. Eating $700 is hard to swallow, but I know it
could get worse.

Thanks for all the words of support and kindness.

Michele
http://lorcaphotography.smugmug.com
http://www.pbase.com/michelep
Click to expand...
--
Ed
http://www.cbrycelea.com/photos/Index.html Old Pictures
Click to expand...
--

'The only real currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with each other when we're being uncool.' -- Cameron Crowe
 
... backwards :-)

I strongly suggest that you contact the secret service and have them contact their russian counterparts ... the mailing address should be an easy clue.

I also suggest that you contact the buyer and tell him/her that you shipped the camera ... realized that you had been had and contacted your uncle who is in the secret service (make this up) ... and with the russians cops are waiting to nab him red-handed ... and that you are very sorry for what is going to happen to him and the pain caused to his family. If you scare him enough ... he will refuse the package .

I have done something similar once ... to a US fraudster ... and I got my speakers back.

Just my 2 cents ... to all the other 2 cents posted ... heck if only that amounted to real $ !

Max
Max Menon said:
You should provide the russian mailing address to your local secret
service office.

Max

--
http://www.imageevent.com/menonfamily
Click to expand...
--
http://www.imageevent.com/menonfamily
 
Use a little psychology! Give him/her an opportunity to avoid the Russian police by refusing the package! Can't hurt. Sad story though.

Rich
Max Menon said:
I strongly suggest that you contact the secret service and have
them contact their russian counterparts ... the mailing address
should be an easy clue.

I also suggest that you contact the buyer and tell him/her that you
shipped the camera ... realized that you had been had and contacted
your uncle who is in the secret service (make this up) ... and with
the russians cops are waiting to nab him red-handed ... and that
you are very sorry for what is going to happen to him and the pain
caused to his family. If you scare him enough ... he will refuse
the package .

I have done something similar once ... to a US fraudster ... and I
got my speakers back.

Just my 2 cents ... to all the other 2 cents posted ... heck if
only that amounted to real $ !

Max
Max Menon said:
You should provide the russian mailing address to your local secret
service office.

Max

--
http://www.imageevent.com/menonfamily
Click to expand...
--
http://www.imageevent.com/menonfamily
Click to expand...
 
I've heard from many people that you shouldn't give your bank account details out to people, otherwise they may clear out your account.

That doesn't sound correct to me! Nobody should be able to withdraw any money from your account, even if they do have your bank account details! Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, other people can only deposit into your account, not withdraw from it.
 
davidkh said:
I've heard from many people that you shouldn't give your bank
account details out to people, otherwise they may clear out your
account.

That doesn't sound correct to me! Nobody should be able to
withdraw any money from your account, even if they do have your
bank account details! Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far
as I know, other people can only deposit into your account, not
withdraw from it.
Click to expand...
Not true. Withdrawals can be made with account details. Many 800 numbers now do "check by phone" for people who buy stuff but don't own a credit card. Your account number can be used for bad purposes. I'd never give it to anyone I didn't trust.
--
Yesi :)
'My border collie is smarter than your honor student.'
 
This is about protecting your own interest and it is extremely tough for an individual to do when dealing with other countries.
Peter Bendheim said:
I live in South Africa and buy and sell quite a lot on ebay - thank
God no fraud. I'd hate to think that I was regarded as
untrustworthy because I dont live in the US. Often it's quite hard
to buy things from the US because the thing I want is only sold to
US buyers which I find very annoying. If you do your business
properly, clear the funds and wait a few days, then one should be
fine. But don't brand everyone outside the US as potential
con-artists - it's prejudicial!!!!!!

Peter
http://www.imagessouthafrica.co.za
Click to expand...
--

'The only real currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with each other when we're being uncool.' -- Cameron Crowe
 
It's not personal but in all fairness, there are more gray areas that permit scammers to operate in Canada then there are in the US (my wife is Canadian and she got taken several times up there because of gray areas within the law).

Overall though, I would trust shipping to Canada more then any other country outside of the US and have often included them in my auctions (never had anyone from there buy though).
Jamie said:
Pete Perry said:
Never Ship outside of the US
Click to expand...
Thanks. We Canadians really appreciate that.

jamie
Click to expand...
--

'The only real currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with each other when we're being uncool.' -- Cameron Crowe
 
I mean theres a police-force in russia too... and if i would be you i would probably had taken free from work and taken the first plane to russia and waited for the scammer at the post-office with my baseball-bat :)

Atleast you should give the russian customs a call...
 
Michelle

Remember the Christmas story by O'Henry (Gift of the Magi I think it was called) where the man sold his watch to buy his wife combs for her long hair, and she sold her hair to buy a watch fob for him. Let your husband do this for you.
Husband speaking.
Mel
MicheleP said:
To little to late for me. I am sure they will be up and running
with a new account in no time.

I also want to mention that the problem is not with selling to
other countries, it is that people can't get verified on Ebay.
When a request is made to ship to another country it is usually an
honest person. I shipped to Belguim with no problem.

I still am seriously thinking I should return my 828. Our budget
is strained as is, and now this added expense. My husband say no,
but then how selfish am I being.

Thanks for everyones support on this matter.
--
Michele
http://lorcaphotography.smugmug.com
http://www.pbase.com/michelep
Click to expand...
--
Digital Fan F Seven One Seven, Vee One, F Eight Two Eight(soon)
 
I am confused, it was my understanding that you couldn't transfer the money to your bank until it had cleared, meaning that neither PayPal nor the sender could "reverse" the funds.

This is very alarming. I will have to read the fine print better.

And sadly, you should always be suspicious of sales to Russia. Many of the online "your credit card has expired" fraud schemes come from there. It will be some time before democracy in Russia is sufficiently strong to stamp out the fraud and corruption. Glad my grandparents left when they did 90 years ago.

Thanks,

Barry
 
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