Have I just been scammed on Ebay?

[Throatwarbler_Mangrove]

So I was shopping for a memory stick for my camera on Ebay, I bid one one, win it and pay for it via paypal. During the process, I notice that the seller of the item has 0 feedback and is located in China. Hmm, I think, sounds fishy, but it’s a $30 item, and Paypal has me covered for items up to $200, so let’s give it a shot.

A day or so passes, then I receive a bunch of emails from Ebay, indicating the name of the item, and telling me the seller has been suspended and his items removed. Aha! I think, so it was fishy after all. I dutifully file a claim via paypal.

Then, I receive an email from the seller saying that my item has been shipped. Bwuh? I go back and look more closely at the emails from Ebay, and I note that:

While they refer to the name of the item exactly, the item NUMBER doesn’t match the item number of the item I had won.

Nowhere on the email does it refer to the seller by name.

The seller’s account has not been suspended, nor has his items been pulled, as far as I can tell.

So what the hell just happened? Should I withdraw my claim with Paypal? Was this email some kind of scam?

Here is the full text of the email I received:

Dear Throatwarbler Mangrove(address@email.com),
The following is a notice from eBay Trust & Safety regarding:

Item Number - 330213117856 NOTE: Item number does NOT match the item I bought.

Item Title - 4GB SONY MEMORY STICK PRO DUO CARD FOR PSP AND CAMERAS NOTE: This item title, however, matches exactly.

Our records show that you were a bidder or buyer of one or more of this seller’s items. We recently removed this seller’s active listings and suspended the seller’s trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we cannot share further details about 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. 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. For more information on Offers to Buy or Sell Outside of eBay, copy and past the following Help Page link into your browser: Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay policy | eBay.

If you have already paid for this item but have not received it, you should take all possible steps to receive reimbursement.

1. If an amicable resolution cannot be reached, the buyer can close their Item Not Received dispute and escalate it to a claim. If the transaction was paid for using PayPal and qualifies for PayPal Buyer Protection the claim will be routed to PayPal for review typically within 30 days. (Resolving issues with sellers | eBay)
2. Stop payment with your bank if you paid by check.
3. Contact the Security Department of your credit card company to file a chargeback if you paid via credit card.
4. If you paid via Western Union or MoneyGram, contact the company directly (Western Union 800-325-6000 or MoneyGram 800-926-9400). eBay does not protect payments made via Western Union or MoneyGram per our Acceptable Payments Policy (Payment methods policy | eBay).
5. If you paid with PayPal, eligible transactions will receive coverage up to $200 at no additional cost. However, the majority of transactions may be covered up to $2,000. To file a claim with PayPal, login to your PayPal account and copy and paste the following link into your web browser: PayPal Purchase Protection for Buyers | PayPal US. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the File a Claim link. PayPal claims must be filed within 45 days of the close of the listing. It may take at least 30 days to complete the investigation and resolve the dispute.

Please do not respond to this email, as your reply will not be received.

Regards,

eBay Trust & Safety

[Giles]

You may not have been scammed. The seller may indeed be genuine and may have shipped you the item. Only time will tell. I’d log into eBay and go to “My eBay”. There you can see if the item is still listed as a recent auction won by you: if it is, then eBay has not cancelled the auction. In addition, on “My eBay”, check all recent messages to you from eBay to see if there is any problem that eBay is officially telling you. If the messages you got are not also on “My eBay”, then they are scams of some sort.

[Throatwarbler_Mangrove]

I checked on ebay - I did indeed receive the messages on My Ebay, but at the same time, it does not appear that the seller’s auctions have been cancelled, either. I thought maybe it had been some other item that I had bid on but did not win, but the title of the item matched the item I DID win exactly.

[Yag_Rannavach]

Check the links in the message…could be a phising attempt if they don’t link to an ebay page…

[ZipperJJ]

Have you ever used “Live Help” on eBay? (there’s a link at the very top right on the homepage) I used it the one time my account got hacked and it was a really good experience. They might be able to tell you how to proceed.

[Mangetout]

Forward a copy of the email to spoof@ebay.com - they’ll tell you whether it was genuine or not. If the transaction hasn’t disappeared from your ‘my eBay’ page, I’d say the email is a malicious hoax or a phishing attempt.