The PayPal refund scam
DON’T RISK IT
I got stung by this clever little trick once when our normal courier let us down and I used someone new, but didn’t check their delivery terms and conditions properly. They’ll never dupe me again.
‘It never arrived mate’
We sell a lot of accessories and spare parts on eBay, and a pretty hefty proportion of the sales we make are paid for through PayPal. Nothing wrong with that: it’s a pretty reliable service, and we very rarely have any issues. But snide buyers have clocked a sneaky little trick to get items and keep their money. And if you’ve left the door open to them, then you’re going to get properly stitched up.
The sneaky scammers buy loads of stuff and pay using PayPal. They will be actively targeting sellers who don’t stipulate that they only send items recorded delivery. If there’s an option to pay extra for recorded delivery, they don’t take the option. When items arrive in the post with proof of delivery they often just get returned for a refund with some bollocks sob story.
The clever bit is that items which arrive without proof of delivery are kept, but the buyer informs PayPal that the item didn’t arrive. Now you’re in trouble. You can’t prove it was delivered if you didn’t sent it with proof of delivery so PayPal refund the buyer, and take the money back off you. The scammer often then sells the item that ‘never arrived’. B ***** ds.