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HOW TO DEAL WITH SCAM BUYERS
This advice relates to a particular scam carried out by some people living in Nigeria but elements of it may be useful when dealing with other scam buyers.
HOW THE SCAM WORKS
The scammer lives in Nigeria but because they've registered (or hi-jacked an account) in another country they ask for the item to be sent to a relative or friend in Nigeria (really themselves). They target new sellers of relatively expensive items, especially mobile phones and other electronic goods.
They persuade the seller to send the goods on receipt of a fake payment confirmation email, usually from Paypal but also from other payment services. The seller sends the item to Nigeria but the promised payment never materialises.
Some of them will have newly registered IDs with fake addresses in various countries. Some are using hi-jacked accounts. These can be identified by the ID having been dormant for some time and/or a sudden change in items being bought.
As soon as your buyer requests shipping to Nigeria you will know they are scammers. If you want to check out a bidder/buyer before then check the rest of their purchases using Advanced Search (top of any page) > Items by Bidder (include completed items).
Or here:
http://www.goofbay.com/ebay_tools.html
If they have bought a large number of similar expensive items over one or two days then the odds are they're scammers.
HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM
1. The idea is to get the scammer suspended first to make it quicker for you to do the Unpaid Item process in order to get your final value fee back. So first report to eBay using this link:
http://ebay-uk.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ebay_uk.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
Select: (Choose a topic) Selling - after I've sold > Problems with my buyer
and tell eBay that a Nigerian scammer has won your item (using a hi-jacked account - if they have) and ask eBay to suspend their account as soon as possible.
Also report their fake contact details - they will be - using the report link at the bottom of this:
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/identity-false.html
2. After that they should be suspended within a couple of days. Do not bother to reply to their emails. Keep an eye on their ID and when it says "No longer registered with eBay" beside it you will be able to do the Unpaid Item process immediately to get your final value fees back, here's that link:
http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CreateDispute
3. Once you have your final value fee refund you can relist and if it sells the second time your relisting fee will be refunded too. If you relist before completing the Unpaid Item process you will not be eligible for a relisting fee refund. If for some reason the scammer is not suspended quickly you will have to wait four days to start the Unpaid Item process in the usual way.
4. You can make a Second Chance Offer before they're suspended and before doing the Unpaid Item process if that's what you prefer to do as long the underbidder isn't a scammer too.
5. If the scammer has used a hi-jacked account eBay will temporarily suspend the account and the transaction will often be removed from their database. If so your final value fee may automatically be refunded to your seller account and there will be no need to do the Unpaid Item process. Check for your fee refund at My eBay > Seller Account > Balance > View Recent > Fees. If it has not been refunded contact eBay's live help and ask them to do it manually. Here's their link:
https://cschatlb-na.corp.ebay.com/chat.asp?profile=15
and select:
If you have questions about your eBay Seller Account Fees, please click here.
If the transaction has not been removed you will need to do the Unpaid Item process as above to get your final value fee back.
TO PREVENT IT HAPPENING AGAIN
1. Use Immediate (Paypal) Payment on your listing, then the listing cannot end without payment being made. To do that during the listing process select to sell Fixed Price Only and you'll see the link to use Immediate Payment just below the Paypal logo. To use Fixed Price you need to be Paypal verified or have a feedback rating of 5 or more.
2. Other options that help if the scammer has registered a new ID (rather than used a hi-jacked account) are to block - zero or low feedback bidders with no credit card on file, buyers in countries where you don't ship and those without Paypal accounts, all on here:
http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences
3. If you are not using Immediate Payment list as auction then at least you might have the chance to cancel unwanted bids.
Please also be aware of credit card scams, usually (but not only) from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, where they pay using Paypal but use stolen or fake credit cards so the money is withdrawn by Paypal later. Do not accept Paypal payment for expensive items from these and other scam areas. If necessary issue a refund and report to eBay as above.
If in doubt about a buyer please ask for advice on one of the Community boards.
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