Scammed on eBay - Another fake tracking number used to scam me

[Outcome]

1. Purchased item on eBay
2. Item was an iRobot Roomba vacuum. Item was used. Shipping from Germany to Kentucky.
3. Paid via my Paypal.com Credit account.
4. Emailed seller as he updated the amount of time it would take for the package to get to my house to over a month out in October (had previously been much sooner). Items over 30 days out from the time they are purchased are no longer eligible for reimbursement from eBay (their anti-scam policy).
5. Seller never responded regarding this issue, but did finally provide a tracking number to eBay and Paypal, which ended up having an estimated delivery of September 10th.
6. Noticed that the tracking number stated it was being shipped via USPS "First-Class Package International Service Small Packet", instead of Priority International Box (which is for larger boxes like robot vacuums).
7. Another package was delivered to me that morning from Amazon at 9:26 AM. My mail carrier only had that one package from Amazon, and not my Roomba, yet the Roomba tracking number said it was out for delivery.
8. The eBay tracking number finally updated at 10:26 AM and stated that it was "Delivered, In/At Mailbox", which is suspect, because a Roomba would definitely not fit in my tiny mailbox.
9. Went to the local Post Office. The post master stated that USPS takes pictures of international packages and that the package with the eBay tracking number I have did not have my name nor my address written on it.
10. I was also told by the post master that I was correct and that the package shipped was a small envelope, not a large Roomba-sized box.
11. I was not told who was on the package, but was given the address of someone else (not my address that Paypal has verified).
12. I have not been contacted by the postal service about whether the person at the other address returned the package.
13. It was not a Roomba vacuum that the seller shipped. It was something small.
14. The seller's Paypal address is not in Germany where the package originated. Per Paypal, it is instead in Los Angeles, California.

Paypal keeps denying my claim saying "Tough. The seller says he shipped it. It shows it shipped and was delivered."

I've seen this has happened to other people in this forum, and it is with Paypal credit and no one gets it resolved.  They always side with the scammers.

What do I do?

[Athenaa21]

Yes. Write your Cellar now, ask them to restate the address that they put on the package, as well as how they packaged it. Come off as though you are concerned on how it was wrapped how large of a box you should be looking out for excetera excetera. 90% of the time they are either going to supply the same routine information, nothing personal eyes and just restate the tracking number. The reason why you are doing this is to show Ebay that you've reached out to the seller and are trying to communicate. When they do not respond, contact eBay act concerned as though of course you've tried to reach out to them and they have not responded back to you. This will allow eBay to give you their email address and phone number. Call them as I'm sure the phone number will be disconnected or fictitious. Right to that email address the same questions and plead with them to return your email message and to give you the information that you are specifically asking for. This is just one more layer of proof you can give to eBay. When it comes down to determining this eBay is going to look to see if you try to reach out to the seller, if the seller is actually responding to you, that the seller also provide it legit information, and they're going to look for your proof to prove that it was not sent to you. Understand these people are very good, they get information from public record. And my case my package was delivered to a man who has been dead for 8 years. This man lived in my same neighborhood same city same state same zip code. They do this purposely so they can claim the package was sent to you directly because eBay only looks at the city and the state as that's all USPS provides with the tracking number. As long as that city and state and zip matches yours then they determine you have the package. Although we know this is not the case and they should be looking at street address, this is the flaw that these scammers capitalize on. It is a very hard thing to fight as a package that is not addressed to you is not something you can just received information on. These people know this. They also know sending it to a dead recipient most likely does not reside in that house anymore therefore the other people are going to see the little small package realize it's empty and throw it in the garbage. If a friend or relative resides in that home since that person has been deceased it's going to take them a long time to piece everything together themselves to and most of the time it goes unnoticed and unreported. This works in their favor is no one's bringing any attention to the fact that this could be a fictitious package the still sending you chasing your tail trying to get information on a package that has a tracking number that belongs to you but it's actually address to somebody else and puts the USPS in a gray area. You're going to have to build a rapport with that postmaster or a supervisor at your post office. This is imperative! The reason being is they're the only ones that are going to be able to supply to you any solid proof that that was not delivered it to your home. And I'm going to tell you it's going to be a fight in a battle to get that. Some people as stated in this very thread that they received an affidavit. My postmaster was not going to give me that they even fought with us to give us the information that they gave us and trust me I want in there with my 12 year old daughter and pled in tears because like you this is the most money I've spent on a gift and it was a lot of Blood Sweat and Tears to get that money. From here you are going to write to the seller get that information contact eBay get that phone number and email right that sell her again asking the same questions as that the responder your specific questions if they give you the same tracking number information in aren't giving you a personal response. You are going to call that phone number in the minute you realize that it is fake you are going to report the seller for fraud to eBay. You're going to ask eBay to step in and try to contact the seller on your behalf of to actually call that phone number and have a supervisor call it and notate it on your account that the number that the seller provided is fictitious. Trust me you are building a case and you need all this information. When you go to the USPS they do have tracking information that pinpoints to the street you're really going to want to ask them and explain your situation and plead with them if they could please give you something that helps to pinpoint the package to determine that it was not coming to your address. You can bring your information from eBay show them how the seller give you a tracking number that states that it's being delivered to your street address and to your city and state, but it is actually not addressed to your home that this is a known scam and you need that other proof because eBay will close the case in the seller's favor unless you can prove it did not come to your address. That you understand that it may not be addressed to you it may not have a name, but you can show them that tracking number in eBay and PayPal and show that you were the intended recipient. In the interim of this you will want to open up a case with your Postal Inspector even if the postmaster is helping you please still perform this task. Don't expect the Postal Inspector to resolve this at all or force your postmaster to give you any information. You'll be lucky if you even hear back from them. But what you want is that number they assigned to your case as one more layer to give to Ebay that you are seriously trying to track down this package and find out what happened to it. You are going to write that number in your responses to eBay as well as call eBay customer service and make sure their documenting it as well you want to call customer service a few times throughout this process it will help you. Do not wait until it's time to open your case to start all this you need to be working on some of this now. Just trust me I've read horror stories of people not getting refunds and I can only tell you what work in order for me to get mine. The other thing you want to pay attention to is a fact that this package is probably being sent first class international. Unless your item weighs the weight of a paperclip or less this is not containing your item this also helps to prove your case. Make sure your Post Master calls this out as well and any notes or documentation they give you. Because if you ordered something that's a ways in my case 6 to 10 pounds obviously it's not going to go first class international. This is also a very important step of this scam. Because anything sent first class typically does not need to be signed for, therefore the contents don't need to be verified and they don't have to prove where it was delivered to. It's a completely different protocol that's why these people who run this scam rely on that. That will help determine that the weight is wrong for the item you are to be receiving and you want to point that out in your letter that you will inevitably give to eBay. The minute you can file a claim file a claim but I'm going to tell you now be prepared when they close your claim because as long as that tracking number says delivered to your same city and state they will close it and they will side with the seller. When this happened to me I was sick to my stomach but I called customer service right away and they told me the automatic system does that. So the minute you file it's going to close within an hour or so jump right on it this sucking it closes and call their customer service and request an appeal. At this point is when you're going to be able to upload all your proof including that the postmaster gives you and the letter you write that explains the weights from the different packages and calls that out and you can even print that off in the tracking and see it went first class and circle that and give it back to eBay, you will then be able to attach / upload documents. They will not give you that option until you appeal. In the meantime you want to download the free app called informed delivery from the United States Postal Service. You can find this in the in the Apple store or the Play Store whatever type phone you have. It is a free service cost you nothing what it does is show you an actual picture of photo of the package as long as it is coming to your address. Just in case they are truly sending this little small package to your address you want to sign up for this. You want to do this right now as you can only get the picture beforehand if it's after it was delivered it's too late. I didn't know this stuff until after the fact so I could not get this information. If it does not show you a picture after you put in your tracking number and refuses to give you the information print that screen. It is one more layer of proof that this package was not sent to you as this app will not show you any package that does not bear your name or is coming to your exact street address. If it is address you it's going to show you a picture and if a package is 1 inch by 1 inch then you know right away this is not your item and you can also use that as proof. Best of luck to you! Make sure you hound eBay and stay in constant contact with them and keep trying that seller even if you know they're just going to either ignore you or give you wrong information, just keep contacting them over and over it helps your case

[Athenaa21]

Yes. Write your sellar now, ask them to restate the address that they put on the package, as well as how they packaged it. Come off as though you are concerned on how it was wrapped how large of a box you should be looking out for excetera excetera. 90% of the time they are either going to supply the same routine information, nothing personal eyes and just restate the tracking number. The reason why you are doing this is to show Ebay that you've reached out to the seller and are trying to communicate. When they do not respond, contact eBay act concerned as though of course you've tried to reach out to them and they have not responded back to you. This will allow eBay to give you their email address and phone number. Call them as I'm sure the phone number will be disconnected or fictitious. Right to that email address the same questions and plead with them to return your email message and to give you the information that you are specifically asking for. This is just one more layer of proof you can give to eBay. When it comes down to determining this eBay is going to look to see if you try to reach out to the seller, if the seller is actually responding to you, that the seller also provide it legit information, and they're going to look for your proof to prove that it was not sent to you. Understand these people are very good, they get information from public record. And my case my package was delivered to a man who has been dead for 8 years. This man lived in my same neighborhood same city same state same zip code. They do this purposely so they can claim the package was sent to you directly because eBay only looks at the city and the state as that's all USPS provides with the tracking number. As long as that city and state and zip matches yours then they determine you have the package. Although we know this is not the case and they should be looking at street address, this is the flaw that these scammers capitalize on. It is a very hard thing to fight as a package that is not addressed to you is not something you can just received information on. These people know this. They also know sending it to a dead recipient most likely does not reside in that house anymore therefore the other people are going to see the little small package realize it's empty and throw it in the garbage. If a friend or relative resides in that home since that person has been deceased it's going to take them a long time to piece everything together themselves to and most of the time it goes unnoticed and unreported. This works in their favor is no one's bringing any attention to the fact that this could be a fictitious package the still sending you chasing your tail trying to get information on a package that has a tracking number that belongs to you but it's actually address to somebody else and puts the USPS in a gray area. You're going to have to build a rapport with that postmaster or a supervisor at your post office. This is imperative! The reason being is they're the only ones that are going to be able to supply to you any solid proof that that was not delivered it to your home. And I'm going to tell you it's going to be a fight in a battle to get that. Some people as stated in this very thread that they received an affidavit. My postmaster was not going to give me that they even fought with us to give us the information that they gave us and trust me I want in there with my 12 year old daughter and pled in tears because like you this is the most money I've spent on a gift and it was a lot of Blood Sweat and Tears to get that money. From here you are going to write to the seller get that information contact eBay get that phone number and email right that sell her again asking the same questions as that the responder your specific questions if they give you the same tracking number information in aren't giving you a personal response. You are going to call that phone number in the minute you realize that it is fake you are going to report the seller for fraud to eBay. You're going to ask eBay to step in and try to contact the seller on your behalf of to actually call that phone number and have a supervisor call it and notate it on your account that the number that the seller provided is fictitious. Trust me you are building a case and you need all this information. When you go to the USPS they do have tracking information that pinpoints to the street you're really going to want to ask them and explain your situation and plead with them if they could please give you something that helps to pinpoint the package to determine that it was not coming to your address. You can bring your information from eBay show them how the seller give you a tracking number that states that it's being delivered to your street address and to your city and state, but it is actually not addressed to your home that this is a known scam and you need that other proof because eBay will close the case in the seller's favor unless you can prove it did not come to your address. That you understand that it may not be addressed to you it may not have a name, but you can show them that tracking number in eBay and PayPal and show that you were the intended recipient. In the interim of this you will want to open up a case with your Postal Inspector even if the postmaster is helping you please still perform this task. Don't expect the Postal Inspector to resolve this at all or force your postmaster to give you any information. You'll be lucky if you even hear back from them. But what you want is that number they assigned to your case as one more layer to give to Ebay that you are seriously trying to track down this package and find out what happened to it. You are going to write that number in your responses to eBay as well as call eBay customer service and make sure their documenting it as well you want to call customer service a few times throughout this process it will help you. Do not wait until it's time to open your case to start all this you need to be working on some of this now. Just trust me I've read horror stories of people not getting refunds and I can only tell you what work in order for me to get mine. The other thing you want to pay attention to is a fact that this package is probably being sent first class international. Unless your item weighs the weight of a paperclip or less this is not containing your item this also helps to prove your case. Make sure your Post Master calls this out as well and any notes or documentation they give you. Because if you ordered something that's a ways in my case 6 to 10 pounds obviously it's not going to go first class international. This is also a very important step of this scam. Because anything sent first class typically does not need to be signed for, therefore the contents don't need to be verified and they don't have to prove where it was delivered to. It's a completely different protocol that's why these people who run this scam rely on that. That will help determine that the weight is wrong for the item you are to be receiving and you want to point that out in your letter that you will inevitably give to eBay. The minute you can file a claim file a claim but I'm going to tell you now be prepared when they close your claim because as long as that tracking number says delivered to your same city and state they will close it and they will side with the seller. When this happened to me I was sick to my stomach but I called customer service right away and they told me the automatic system does that. So the minute you file it's going to close within an hour or so jump right on it this sucking it closes and call their customer service and request an appeal. At this point is when you're going to be able to upload all your proof including that the postmaster gives you and the letter you write that explains the weights from the different packages and calls that out and you can even print that off in the tracking and see it went first class and circle that and give it back to eBay, you will then be able to attach / upload documents. They will not give you that option until you appeal. In the meantime you want to download the free app called informed delivery from the United States Postal Service. You can find this in the in the Apple store or the Play Store whatever type phone you have. It is a free service cost you nothing what it does is show you an actual picture of photo of the package as long as it is coming to your address. Just in case they are truly sending this little small package to your address you want to sign up for this. You want to do this right now as you can only get the picture beforehand if it's after it was delivered it's too late. I didn't know this stuff until after the fact so I could not get this information. If it does not show you a picture after you put in your tracking number and refuses to give you the information print that screen. It is one more layer of proof that this package was not sent to you as this app will not show you any package that does not bear your name or is coming to your exact street address. If it is address you it's going to show you a picture and if a package is 1 inch by 1 inch then you know right away this is not your item and you can also use that as proof. Best of luck to you! Make sure you hound eBay and stay in constant contact with them and keep trying that seller even if you know they're just going to either ignore you or give you wrong information, just keep contacting them over and over it helps your case

[Athenaa21]

Yes. Write your seller now, ask them to restate the address that they put on the package, as well as how they packaged it. Come off as though you are concerned on how it was wrapped, how large of a box you should be looking out for, excetera, excetera. 90% of the time they are either going to supply the same routine information, nothing personal, and just restate the tracking number. The reason why you are doing this is to show Ebay that you've reached out to the seller and are trying to communicate. When they do not respond, contact eBay, act concerned as though of course you've tried to reach out to them, and they have not responded back to you. This will allow eBay to give you their email address and phone number. Call them as I'm sure the phone number will be disconnected or fictitious. Write to that email address, the same questions, and plead with them to return your email message and to give you the information that you are specifically asking for. This is just one more layer of proof you can give to eBay. When it comes down to determining this, eBay is going to look to see if you tried to reach out to the seller, if the seller is actually responding to you, that the seller also provide it legit information, and they're going to look for your proof to prove that it was not sent to you. Understand these people are very good, they get information from public record. In my case my package was delivered to a man who has been dead for 8 years. This man lived in my same neighborhood, same city, same state, same zip code. They do this purposely so they can claim the package was sent to you directly, because eBay only looks at the city, and the state, as that's all USPS provides with the tracking number. As long as that city, state, and zip matches yours, they determine you have the package. Although we know this is not the case and they should be looking at street address, this is the flaw that these scammers capitalize on. It is a very hard thing to fight as a package that is not addressed to you is not something you can just received information on. These people know this. They also know sending it to a dead recipient, who does not reside in that house anymore is a good idea. The other people are going to see the little small package realize it's empty, and throw it in the garbage. If a friend or relative resides in that home since that person has been deceased, they will be confused, and it's going to take them a long time to piece everything together themselves. Most of the time it goes unnoticed and unreported. This works in their favor as no one is bringing any attention to the fact that this could be a fictitious package, and still sending you chasing your tail. You are bust trying to get information on a package that has a tracking number that belongs to you, but it's actually address to somebody else, and puts the USPS in a gray area. You're going to have to build a rapport with that Post Master or a supervisor at your post office. This is imperative! The reason being is they're the only ones that are going to be able to supply to you any solid proof that that was not delivered it to your home. I am going to tell you it's going to be a fight in a battle to get that!! Some people as stated in this very thread, eceived an affidavit. My Post Master was not going to give me that.... they even fought with us to give us the information that they gave us! Trust me, I went in there with my 12 year old daughte,r and pled in tears, because like you, this is the most money I've spent on a gift!! It was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get that money. From here you are going to write to the seller, get that information, contact eBayget that phone number and email, write that seller again asking the same questions, ask that they respond to your specific questions. You are going to call that phone number, and the minute you realize that it is fake, you are going to report the seller for fraud to eBay. You're going to ask eBay to step in and try to contact the seller on your behalf, and ask them to have a supervisor actually call that phone number and notate it on your account that the number the seller provided is fictitious. Trust me you are building a case and you need all this information. When you go to the USPS they do have tracking information that pinpoints to the street. You're really going to want to ask them, explain your situation, and plead with them if they could please give you something that helps to pinpoint the package. This is to determine that it was not coming to your address. You can bring your information from eBay to show them how the seller gave you a tracking number that states that it's being delivered to your street address and to your city and state, but it is actually not addressed to your home. You can show them this thread, and explain that this is a known scam and you need that other proof because eBay will close the case in the seller's favor unless you can prove it did not come to your address. That you understand that it may not be addressed to you, it may not have a name, but you can show them that tracking number in eBay and PayPal and show that you were the intended recipient. In the interim of this you will want to open up a case with your Postal Inspector even if the Post Master is helping you. Please still perform this task. Don't expect the Postal Inspector to resolve this at all, or force your Post Master to give you any information. You'll be lucky if you even hear back from them. You do this because you want that number they assigned to your case, as it is one more layer to give to Ebay that you are seriously trying to track down this package and find out what happened to it. You are going to write that number in your responses to eBay, as well as call eBay customer service and make sure their documenting it as well. You will want to call customer service a few times throughout this process, as it will help you. Do not wait until it's time to open your case to start all this, you need to be working on some of this now. Just trust, me I've read horror stories of people not getting refunds, and I can only tell you what worked in order for me to get mine. The other thing you want to pay attention to is a fact that this package is probably being sent first class international. Unless your item weighs the weight of a paperclip or less, this is not containing your item. This also helps to prove your case. Make sure your Post Master calls this out as well on any notes or documentation they give you. Because if you ordered something, like in my case, weighs 6 to 10 pounds, obviously it's not going to go first class international. This is also a very important step of this scam. Because anything sent first class typically does not need to be signed for, therefore the contents don't need to be verified and they don't have to prove where it was delivered to. It's a completely different protocol, that's why these people who run this scam rely on that. That will help determine that the weight is wrong for the item you are to be receiving, and you want to point that out in your letter that you will inevitably give to eBay. The minute you can file a claim, file a claim, but I'm going to tell you now be prepared they will close your claim, and side with seller. This is because as long as that tracking number says delivered, to your same city, and state they will close it, and they will side with the seller. When this happened to me I was sick to my stomach, but I called customer service right away, and they told me the automatic system does that. So the minute you file it's going to close within an hour or so, jump right on it when it closes and call their customer service and request an appeal. At this point, is when you're going to be able to upload all your proof including that the post master gives you, and the letter you write that explains the weights from the different packages. You can even print that off in the tracking and see it went first class and circle that and give it back to eBay, you will then be able to attach / upload documents.

[Mattdrc]

Thank you so much for your help. It makes me feel a lot better knowing someone is on my side helping me out with this. I’ve messaged the seller a few times over the past week but there’s never been a response. I messaged them again today asking about what address they used etc. I’ll wait 2 more days until ebays estimated delivery day has passed and then I’ll contact eBay and see what they do. Seriously thank you so much for your help. After being extremely frustrated that someone did this to me, you’ve restored my faith in humanity

[Athenaa21]

No problem. My apologies for this posting so many times in this thread, my phone was having issues and kept timing out when I was trying to submit it and it looked like it was not posting, but apparently it was lol :-). Best of luck to you!

[Athenaa21]

Also, I was using talk-to-text, and just went back and revised it. If there was any parts you were unclear of.

[Mattdrc]

Haha it’s okay. And I figured you were using talk to text when I saw it said cellar instead of seller:P and but thanks for everything!