Post by snappinnecks on Oct 8, 2010 8:02:58 GMT -5
I sold one of my Nitros on Ebay yesterday. I look at my Pay Pal account and it shows the funds with pending attached, so the account shows $0.00. I have never had this happen before. I have a perfect rating on Ebay and no issues with Pay Pal.
I am an Economic Crimes Detective! I investigate Ebay/Pay Pal fraud! So anyway I'm not liking what I saw and called Pay Pal. I get a not so customer friendly person on the phone to inquire as to why the funds are showing pending. I was thinking that the buyer may have paid with his/her credit card and Pay Pal was waiting for the approval. Well after much non informative pander with Pay Pal it was not an awaiting approval credit card payment deal. Apparently Pay Pal is now holding funds on high priced commonly disputed items according to the customer service person. I advised her I buy a sell amps every 8-12 months to have something fresh in my studio and have never heard of such and just sold an EVHIII I used for a looooooooooong studio session and received the funds immediately. She then advised well actually we hold funds on any high priced items now. Hunh? She stated Pay Pal will hold the funds up to 21 days or until the buyer is satisfied. WHAT A JOKE! I told her most amp purchases are sight unseen and test runs since they don't sell good amps in music stores. I also advised how do they know the buyer is satisfied? Do they call Pay Pal? Does Pay Pal call them? Do they wait for positive feedback on Ebay. Some buyers never leave feedback because they are lazy or don't care. She then tells me I must ship the amp to receive the funds. I politely told her she is nuts and advised I would just refund the buyer.
The most important thing I stressed to her was if this was Pay Pals new policy then it removes all protection from the seller. She then asks how do you figure that. I advised her I have been investigating fraud that occurs on Ebay for over 6 years now. I am on first name basis with their fraud investigators. If funds are sent through Pay Pal, Pay Pal does not have any way of knowing where they originally came from. For instance if the funds were sent using a stolen credit card. When the credit card company sends a charge back to Pay Pal for the fraudulent purchase the seller is then deducted the amount from the sale. You can fight it and probably get refunded since it is ultimately Pay Pal's responsibility to verify the funds. How long will you be waiting for a refund? Also what if the buyer calls Pay Pal and says the item was never received (when he/she actually received the item, but claims they did not) the seller never receives the funds. There are too many scenarios to list, but when the Nigerians figure out Pay Pal is holding funds watch out! You think you see a lot of fraud now just wait until they catch on that the funds sit until the buyer in satisfied. Meaning the whole reshipper scam is going to take off like never before. Fraudulent credit card payments are going to sky rocket!
Reshipper scam defined- Bad guy hires unemployed person via the internet to be an "account rep".
Innocent worker then begins to receive high dollar electronic items at his residence sent from all over the world with it addressed or sent to actual persons he has scammed out of their credit card numbers to this "account reps" address. The "rep" gets paid per package sent via Western Union.
Shipping label looks something like this:
"victims name"
"account reps address"
The bad guy then sells the item while it is in transit on Ebay or some other internet site. It usually has a buyer before it reaches the "account rep", so the "account rep" is then sent a prepaid shipping label to send it to a legitimate buyer. The item gets sent and the bad guy never touches the item and launders his fraudulent money at the same time. The police then get sent to the "account reps" house after about 50 or so packages (victims) get sent there. The "account rep" no longer ships for the bad guy. I then have to find where the items the "account rep" has on hand waiting to be shipped belong and send them back. The bad guy then hires a new "account rep" and we start all over again.
I figured I would share this with you guys since amps move through here like an ex-lax overdose.
Pay Pal does not hold funds that are sent just through Pay Pal outside of Ebay. Pay Pal is covered since it is outside of Ebay and they are one in the same.
All I have to say is wow.
My 2010 Nitro is for sale AGAIN if anyone is interested.
I am an Economic Crimes Detective! I investigate Ebay/Pay Pal fraud! So anyway I'm not liking what I saw and called Pay Pal. I get a not so customer friendly person on the phone to inquire as to why the funds are showing pending. I was thinking that the buyer may have paid with his/her credit card and Pay Pal was waiting for the approval. Well after much non informative pander with Pay Pal it was not an awaiting approval credit card payment deal. Apparently Pay Pal is now holding funds on high priced commonly disputed items according to the customer service person. I advised her I buy a sell amps every 8-12 months to have something fresh in my studio and have never heard of such and just sold an EVHIII I used for a looooooooooong studio session and received the funds immediately. She then advised well actually we hold funds on any high priced items now. Hunh? She stated Pay Pal will hold the funds up to 21 days or until the buyer is satisfied. WHAT A JOKE! I told her most amp purchases are sight unseen and test runs since they don't sell good amps in music stores. I also advised how do they know the buyer is satisfied? Do they call Pay Pal? Does Pay Pal call them? Do they wait for positive feedback on Ebay. Some buyers never leave feedback because they are lazy or don't care. She then tells me I must ship the amp to receive the funds. I politely told her she is nuts and advised I would just refund the buyer.
The most important thing I stressed to her was if this was Pay Pals new policy then it removes all protection from the seller. She then asks how do you figure that. I advised her I have been investigating fraud that occurs on Ebay for over 6 years now. I am on first name basis with their fraud investigators. If funds are sent through Pay Pal, Pay Pal does not have any way of knowing where they originally came from. For instance if the funds were sent using a stolen credit card. When the credit card company sends a charge back to Pay Pal for the fraudulent purchase the seller is then deducted the amount from the sale. You can fight it and probably get refunded since it is ultimately Pay Pal's responsibility to verify the funds. How long will you be waiting for a refund? Also what if the buyer calls Pay Pal and says the item was never received (when he/she actually received the item, but claims they did not) the seller never receives the funds. There are too many scenarios to list, but when the Nigerians figure out Pay Pal is holding funds watch out! You think you see a lot of fraud now just wait until they catch on that the funds sit until the buyer in satisfied. Meaning the whole reshipper scam is going to take off like never before. Fraudulent credit card payments are going to sky rocket!
Reshipper scam defined- Bad guy hires unemployed person via the internet to be an "account rep".
Innocent worker then begins to receive high dollar electronic items at his residence sent from all over the world with it addressed or sent to actual persons he has scammed out of their credit card numbers to this "account reps" address. The "rep" gets paid per package sent via Western Union.
Shipping label looks something like this:
"victims name"
"account reps address"
The bad guy then sells the item while it is in transit on Ebay or some other internet site. It usually has a buyer before it reaches the "account rep", so the "account rep" is then sent a prepaid shipping label to send it to a legitimate buyer. The item gets sent and the bad guy never touches the item and launders his fraudulent money at the same time. The police then get sent to the "account reps" house after about 50 or so packages (victims) get sent there. The "account rep" no longer ships for the bad guy. I then have to find where the items the "account rep" has on hand waiting to be shipped belong and send them back. The bad guy then hires a new "account rep" and we start all over again.
I figured I would share this with you guys since amps move through here like an ex-lax overdose.
Pay Pal does not hold funds that are sent just through Pay Pal outside of Ebay. Pay Pal is covered since it is outside of Ebay and they are one in the same.
All I have to say is wow.
My 2010 Nitro is for sale AGAIN if anyone is interested.
