posted on November 29, 2001 01:52:42 PM new
I used Paypal's service to pay for an item I won on an auction. Well the guy disappeared with my money. I filed a complaint with Paypal and they said that the seeler was at fault but had no money in his account so I was out of luck. They said that I should be more carefull next time and verify that the seller is who he says he is. I thought Paypal did that. They have his banking info and know who he is. The guy lives in Houston and I live in Oregon. The Houston police say that the have gotten complaints about the guy but there is a juristdiction problem since they don't know where the money was actually stolen. I know where the money was stolen from and I know who facilitated the illegal transaction. Paypal took my money and gave it to a thief. They have done this same transaction for other people too. Their service allows a thief to get money from a victim and then for good measure, they sweep away the thieves footprints so you can't follow him, all the while saying there is nothing they can do about it. Pay PAL? your days are numbered.
posted on November 29, 2001 02:37:04 PM new
Hi gurista,
PayPal can't guarantee that a party will send a product. We are a payment service, not the place where the items are listed. You could have been defrauded using any medium with this user.
Our verification methods are in place to identify individuals to the strongest degree possible. It does not, however, verify the moral integrity of the party.
I believe that you will find the same information about any payment service you utilize.
Protection Policies
What is the Buyer Complaint Process?
PayPal's Buyer Complaint Process helps protect PayPal members when a merchant does not deliver goods as promised. If you have been unable to resolve a dispute with a seller, you may file a Buyer Complaint Form (go to the Security Center link in the footer of any PayPal page) to initiate an investigation. PayPal will investigate your complaint and attempt to recover any funds you are owed. You will be entitled to the return of any funds PayPal is able to collect on your behalf. However, fund recovery is not guaranteed.
Additionally, buyers who qualify for eBay's insurance policy (currently limited to $200) may recover up to an additional $200 of protection from PayPal if their purchase was made from a verified PayPal seller.
Please review the Consumer Protections section of our Terms of Use to learn the specific terms and conditions of the Buyer Complaint Process.
Did you find this answer helpful?
Other questions in this section
What is the Chargeback Settlement Fee?
Why am I charged a $10 fee for chargeback settlement?
posted on November 29, 2001 02:43:39 PM new
Paypal is actually making money from theft. Why should they car whether a seller is legitimate or not. It is not to their benefit to screen sellers and to do so would mean that they couldn't skim off the 3% they charge the seller for the transaction. But when the list of people cheated grows large enough for someone in Washington to care, or if a Congressman or Senator gets taken, Paypal will be shutdown.
posted on November 29, 2001 04:03:02 PM new
there is really no way to know ahead of time if any seller will honor his sale??
you could have someone in good standing for years decide he needs money bad enough and start posting nice pictures of products he does not own or have been sold already.
venue providers are the ones you should go after -why are these sellers allowed to sell,or is there anyway to make sure he will honor his sales??
i think the days of person to person buy and sell days are numbered-every law enforcement agency in this country is fed up with complaints of cyberfrauds.
posted on November 29, 2001 04:17:08 PM new
The guy who pipped me off lives in Houston. I have talked to many officers at the Houston PD. It has been many because everyone who has gotten a call from me or has been given my file by another officer has just tried to pass me on to somebody else. They keep telling me that they really don't have jurisdiction over internet fraud and even if they caught the guy, I couldn't ID him anyway. So they aren't doing anything. I know of several people who have been ripped of by the same guy and it would be easy for the police to find him but I think it would be too much work so they just blow me off. I have learned a lot in the past several weeks. Robbing "Seven Elevens" is stupid, internet fraud is where it's at. It is quick, easy, has huge potential earning, and the police don't do anything about it. Amazon.com where I purchased the item, Paypal, and now even VISA say I am out of luck (they have told me they can't do a chargeback to items bought using Paypal but that is a lie!). The only ones who care about me getting ripped off are my fellow ripped off compadres.
posted on November 29, 2001 06:25:34 PM new
amzn has an A to Z buyer protection program,but i am not sure it covers auction.
may be you should buy your items from reputable stores in the future.
there are some websites for reporting internet fraud,one is FBI,did you look into it?
posted on November 29, 2001 07:26:54 PM new
Ah...Duh!
If ya paid the bozo with a check, would your bank reimburse you because ya got "pipped-off?" Hardly! Why should PayPal be liable for the same situation?
posted on November 30, 2001 06:21:57 AM new
the reasons why there are reqirements for setting up a retail business such as DBA,state registration,merchant account etc is to protect the consumers.
when consumer decides to bypass a legitimate store and buy from a stranger in cyberspace who operates out of his home or ?? she should be aware ahead of time of the risk involved.
it is kind of late to cry over spilt milk,imagine yourself as houston cop listening to some one from out of state complaining that she forked over money willingly in cyberspace.
what should and what can he do,this poor cop is probably overworked chasing after family quabbles,drug dealers,so if he files a report for you,what does he really have as proof to go after this guy.
you should go after the auctioneer for allowing him to sell.
posted on November 30, 2001 10:09:34 AM new
Ah Duh? If I sent a check, or cash for that matter, in the mail I could go to the USPS and he would be in trouble for mail fraud. If I paid him directly by credit card then the credit card company would be more interested in going after him and at least he couldn't set up a credit card account again. But if Paypal shuts him down today, tommorrow morning he can open a Bank account and get another "clean" Paypal account. I am not asking for 100% security but Paypal is giving me no security at all. They are the perfect conduit for a thief to receive money. I don't know who the guy really is, I don't really know where he is, the Police don't know anything either. But Paypal does know who he is and where his bank is. But Paypal chooses to honor their agreement with the seller and "can't" give me any information.
Amazon.com auctions has a pretty good, guarantee, up to $2500, if you use their payment service. If you don't, they guarantee up to $250. But unfortunately, the programmer who set up their system also set the limit price for use of the payment system to be $2500. If your item is $2501 the system kicks you out and says the price is too high. If I could have made even a partial payment using their system I would have (I tried). They told me the same thing everybody tells me nowdays "we can't do anything about it!" It was a stupid way to set up the system and it will probably change but it will be too late for me.
posted on November 30, 2001 03:58:54 PM new
some one at amzn has the good business sense to tell the programmer to place a limit of 2500,thats very generous already,ebay is less than that,a lot less.
there are some websites for you to report cyberscams,i know one is fbi and the other i dont recall,it used to be called internet fraud prevention centre.
i think givt will eventually put so much restrictions and requirements on person to person buy/sell that auction will disappear.
why do you buy at auction instead of zshop,ebay shop or yahoo shops??
posted on December 1, 2001 06:33:11 AM newAh Duh? If I sent a check, or cash for that matter, in the mail I could go to the USPS and he would be in trouble for mail fraud.
Ah Duh?
Have you ever looked at a USPS fraud report? You can file one even if the transaction was over the phone or computer, if it doesn't fall under their jurisdiction they forward it to the proper agency. Does the term "wire fraud" ring a bell? Do you think if you wired funds from your bank or via Western Union to a seller that is unresponsive that your bank or Western Union should be shut down? I'm guessing you don't waste a lot of time thinking, unless you consider looking for a fall guy as thinking.
posted on December 1, 2001 07:57:21 AM new
the problem is it takes a long time to get your money back,if you get it at all.
all these agencies are not going to hire more staff ,they will tell amzn,ebay etc to clean up their acts first.
selling in cyberspace can be quite lucrative,i wont be surprised that the stakes of selling in cyberspace will rise and rise until marginal sellers are squeezed out.
