Am I SOL? (Ebay)

Myriad_Rocker

Myriad_Rocker

New member
I've been a member of eBay for quite a while and have never had a problem. Yeah, I've heard horror stories and various problems. And it's not like I didn't ever expect it to happen to me. But, it's just a little different when it actually does.

I got an email from eBay earlier today saying the following:

Our records show that you placed a bid on this item. We removed this item from the Site and cancelled your bid because it appears that the seller's account has been compromised and used by an unauthorized third party. The seller's privileges to trade on eBay may be temporarily suspended while we investigate this matter further. Due to privacy concerns we will not be able to share further details related to this seller.

If the seller asks you to complete this transaction outside of eBay, we strongly recommend that you do not proceed with the transaction and do not respond to the seller. Transactions for items listed on eBay but then completed off of the eBay platform are not covered by buyer protection programs offered by eBay and can be highly indicative of fraud.

It goes on to explain what I should do to get my money back, blah, blah...I just don't see that happening. I emailed the guy that had the account and the email address that I had been using to correspond with him....which were both different. Thought that was strange but I know a bunch of people that have multiple email addresses. I haven't heard back from him but I just emailed him this morning.

Anyway, I was just looking for some advice on what I should do about this...
 
Best bet would be to give it some time. If you already paid the guy and you think you'll have the patience, tell him to send it to you ASAP and demand a tracking number. But if you just plain want your money back hopefully you used paypal. If you did the chances of you getting your money back from a scammer/fraud are very good. You just have to file a claim and wait a while. But on the other hand ebay did warn you not to complete the transaction so heeding their advice could be a good idea. They may know something you don't know about the seller.

~So if you paid money order/check etc. I would send a message or two to the seller saying "Hey ! Something shady is goin on, contact me asap." That is a seller's responsibility anyways. Give him your phone # and e-mail etc. If you don't hear from him/her after a few days, the only thing you can really do is maybe contact ebay and see if they can help. I've never dealt directly with ebay about a seller so I don't know how cooperative/helpful they are gonna be. It's a good possibility they won't be able to do squat.

~ If you paid with pay pal, the quicker you file a claim the quicker it will be resolved. So if you decide not to wait on the seller/item, Just tell paypal what happened and I don't see why you wouldn't get your money back.

I love ebay and all but it can and will bite you in the ass. I bought a used interface and it was described as "slightly scratched on top". When it got here it looked like someone was cracking walnuts with it. Busted open and the knobs were faulty. And just this morning I am finding out that 2 of the a/d converters and phantom power features don't work. It's basically Russian Roulette with audio gear on ebay. You'll find those who have never had a problem and others who have nothing but bad experiences.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.
 
thedude400 said:
But on the other hand ebay did warn you not to complete the transaction so heeding their advice could be a good idea. They may know something you don't know about the seller.
Click to expand...

I paid with a money order because the person required cashier's check or money order.

By the time eBay sent that email (this morning, Thursday), I had already sent payment on Monday! How could I heed their warning? They sent the message well after the auction was over....
 
Best suggestion would be to check with the service that issued your money order (if you still have the receipt) to see if there are any actions you can take similar to a stop payment so you can get a refund on your money order before its cashed.
 
If it's a USPS money order, I think they've got protection against fraud to. If I have to do money order (Paypal has made me lazy) I always geta post office one.
 
Get the address you sent it to and call their local Police Department (non-emergency) and inform them of possible mailfraud due to eBays notice.
eBay generally doesn't cancel peoples account for no reason in my experience.
 
It was a postal MO. So I'll probably see if they can put a stop payment on it or something.

EDIT: I may have jumped the gun. The guy that's selling the item I bought just emailed back and said he doesn't know why I got that email. He said he's looking into it. He also said that the package has already been shipped.

I guess that email from eBay got me worried that I'd been ripped off...

We'll see how this all unfolds.
 
apl said:
Are you sure it's a real eBay email?
Click to expand...

LOL, lookie what I just got...

Of course none of the html goes to ebay! :D :D :D

TKO NOTICE: Suspicious Activity.

Dear eBay Customer,

For the User Agreement, Section 9, we may immediately issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your membership and refuse to provide our services to you if we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us. We may also take these actions if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us.

We regret to inform you that your eBay account could be suspended if you don't re-update your account information. To resolve this problems please use the link below and re-enter your account information. If your problems could not be resolved your account will be suspended for a period of 24 hours, after this period your account will be terminated. .
Due to the suspension of this account, please be advised you are prohibited from using eBay in any way. This includes the registering of a new account. Please note that this suspension does not relieve you of your agreed-upon obligation to pay any fees you may owe to eBay.



To update your record please click here:
It is highly recommended that you right click on the link and select "Open in new window" option
as some mail clients will not allow you to proceed!
https://users.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?OneTimePayment&ssPageName=h:h:sin:US

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you and we would like to thank you for your cooperation as we review this matter.




eBay will request personal data (password, credit card/bank numbers, and so on) in this email.

Thank you for using eBay!
www.ebay.com
 
I forwarded it to spoof@ebay.com and got this back...

Hello,

Thank you for writing to eBay regarding the email you received.

Emails such as this, commonly referred to as "spoof" or "phished"
messages, are sent in an attempt to collect sensitive personal or
financial information from the recipients.

The email you reported was not sent by eBay. We have reported this
email
to the appropriate authorities.

In the future, be very cautious of any email that asks you to submit
information such as your credit card numbers or passwords. If you are
ever concerned about an email you receive from eBay, simply follow
these
steps:

1. Open a new Web browser and type www.ebay.com into your browser
address field to go directly to the eBay site.

2. On eBay, click on the "My eBay" link at the top of the page and sign
into your account.

3. Check the "My Messages" link located on the left side of the My eBay
page. If an email affects your eBay account, it's now in "My Messages."
Any email sent to your registered eBay email address from eBay or from
another eBay member via eBay's member-to-member communication system
will also appear in "My Messages."

Just remember, if you get an email regarding a problem with your
account
or that is requesting personal information, and the email looks like it
is from eBay, please check My Messages first. If it's not there, it's a
fake email.

If you still have any doubt about whether an email message is from
eBay,
please forward it to spoof@ebay.com immediately. Do not respond to it
or
click any of the links. Do not remove the original subject line or
change the email in any way when you forward it to eBay.

If you have already entered sensitive personal information, financial
information, or your password into a Web site based on a request from a
spoofed email, you should take immediate action to protect your
identity
and all of your online accounts. We have developed an eBay Help page
with valuable information regarding the steps you should take to
protect
yourself.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-account-theft-reporting.html

To review eBay's new tutorial about Spoof Emails, please see the
following Web page:

http://pages.ebay.com/education/spooftutorial/

To help you better protect yourself from fake eBay and PayPal Web
sites,
we have developed a feature for the eBay Toolbar called "Account
Guard."
Account Guard includes an indicator of when you are on an eBay or
PayPal
Web site or a known spoof (or "phishing") site, buttons to report fake
eBay Web sites, and a password notification feature that warns you when
you may be entering your eBay password on an unverified site.

To learn more about the eBay Toolbar with Account Guard, please go to
www.ebay.com, click on "Downloads" at the bottom of the page, and then
click on the "eBay Toolbar" link.

We also recommend that you keep your browser, operating system, and
virus protection software up to date. Check for updates at the "Windows
Update" link on www.microsoft.com and scan your computer for viruses
often.

Once again, thank you for alerting us to the spoof email you received.
Your efforts help keep eBay a safe and fair place to trade.

Regards,

Ande
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team
______________________________
eBay
The World's Online Marketplace! ®
*******************************************

Important: eBay will not ask you for sensitive personal information
(such as your password, credit card and bank account numbers, Social
Security numbers, etc.) in an email. Learn more account protection tips
at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/isgw-account-theft-protection.html
 
How long ago did you mail the money order? This seller claims you package is in the mail already? Isn't that kind of fast?

I would put a stop payment on it. Tell him eBay pulled his account and you are sorry but its too risky for you.

Obviously he is giong to say that he doesn't know why it was pulled. He isnt' stupid.

This happend once to me and I told the guy I would skin him alive since I had his actual adress and I emailed him a picture from terraserver and a pic of my knife I was gonna use. Next thing you know my PayPal payment was sent back. :D (stupid kids. Though I don't suggest those threats cause I could have gotten in a lot of trouble too) :cool:
 
apl said:
LOL, lookie what I just got...

Of course none of the html goes to ebay! :D :D :D
Click to expand...

I checked the links in the email and they looked legit. That's one of the first things I check when I get weird ebay emails.
 
Outlaws said:
How long ago did you mail the money order? This seller claims you package is in the mail already? Isn't that kind of fast?

I would put a stop payment on it. Tell him eBay pulled his account and you are sorry but its too risky for you.

Obviously he is giong to say that he doesn't know why it was pulled. He isnt' stupid.

This happend once to me and I told the guy I would skin him alive since I had his actual adress and I emailed him a picture from terraserver and a pic of my knife I was gonna use. Next thing you know my PayPal payment was sent back. :D (stupid kids. Though I don't suggest those threats cause I could have gotten in a lot of trouble too) :cool:
Click to expand...

Yeah that might be a little bold of you. If he says he shipped it just ask him for a tracking number and see what shows up when you look it up. That should tell you right there if youre getting scammed or not. Its pretty hard to make up tracking numbers, especially since most of them tell you the originating address and destination
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
I checked the links in the email and they looked legit. That's one of the first things I check when I get weird ebay emails.
Click to expand...

The copy and paste didn't bring the original links, this bbs reformatted the text!
 
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