PayPal wants me to send back counterfeit item

[DanielOosterhui]

I am beyond annoyed with PayPal. After being a loyal user for years without having had to use their protection, it finally happened: I got duped. I bought a graphics card from eBay, which ended up being a way older graphics card, modified to make it seem like the real deal. In other words, I have been sent a counterfeit item. The seller managed to dodge the eBay Customer Protection somehow, every step I've tried to take ends up with eBay telling me to just email the seller, who is just sending me canned messages offering less than a 5% refund, and just telling me to give it to someone else or something like that.

So, I have PayPal on my side, right? I mean, the whole thing PayPal keeps drumming up about is how great and secure their buyer protections is, right? ....Right, until you figure out their customer support is lousy, and that's putting it VERY kindly. After opening a dispute, and waiting several days for the seller to respond (Hint: They never did), I opened the claim. Within literally an hour PayPal closed the case in my favour... as long as I'm sending back the counterfeited item, something that would be illegal for me to do, and would bring the item back into circulation for someone else to get stuck with. 

I figured asking PayPal's customer support about it.... Canned message through the message center, another canned message, and silence on both Facebook and Twitter personal messages where I asked as well. Finally today I got a message from a real person... but it's just another canned message about how I have to send back the item, not even addressing the fact the item is counterfeit, meaning the CS rep just glanced at my message for three seconds and pushed a button to send me back that canned message. A job that a monkey could do, basically. 

Anyways, I've got about a week to send it back or I'm not getting my money back. Out of sheer principle, I can say with 100% guarantee that that counterfeit item is NOT going back to the seller for them to sell it on again, and break the law myself doing so. How can I finally get to someone at PayPal that won't just send me another useless canned message? I'm too busy during the day to call, so please don't suggest that. And yes, like I said, I tried Twitter, Facebook, and the Message Center, so telling me to go there won't help me in the slightest either. I'm just beyond frustrated at this point, PayPal Protection is not what I thought it would be!

[kernowlass]

@DanielOosterhui

Yes you have to return items back to a seller if you win an item received but not as described dispute, that is only fair.

BUT if the item is fake then you would need to get written company headed proof from a shop or company that sold / made the item OR from trading standards and supply it to Paypal, then you would not have to return it. You have up to 180 days to open a dispute so you have plenty of time to get that proof.

If paypal accepted the word of buyers that the item was fake, then whats to stop every buyer just saying 'fake' to save themselves the cost of returning the item and keeping item and refund?

You did not presumably supply that proof so paypal are dealing with it as a SNAD dispute and as such you have to return the item.