A Widespread Fraud / Scam that Needs Urgent Attenion by PayPal

[nicholas_jo]

PayPal and moderators take note this requires urgent and decisive action for many users of your service!
 
In using PayPal as a payment method for online shopping I have recently fallen victim to fraud for the amount of £144. I sought Resolution through PayPal customer service but have to date received no real help. I turned to the community and I see now that exactly what happened to me has happened to many others. The scam relies on loopholes in PayPal's Claims system via their Resolution Center and exploits PayPal's lack of Customer Service and Buyer Protection.
 
Here are a few links to PayPal community threads of well written accounts by others who have fallen victim to the same scam in recent weeks. Here and here. Pertaining users and solution attempts are: @kernowlass and @jajm2015 Neither of these seem to have been addressed or resolved by PayPal with users turning to their banks where applicable for any real help.
 
This is how it works: A fake website is set up, fake contact details - email and phone - are provided on the website which appears to be located in the UK (this differs of course for other users in the US e.g. but who still believe they are buying from a domestic business). The website appears to be a domestic business, when you check out you pay with card or PayPal, if you choose PayPal they take the payment directly. No receipt or confirmation email is issued and it is not possible to contact the fraudulent seller. The PayPal account the money was transferred to is Chinese or abroad, i.e. not a domestic business, and not who you thought you were ordering from. In my case it was a Chinese PayPal account connected to a website that appeared to be based in the UK.

This is the security loophole on PayPal's end: Following the 'purchase' once you realise it is not legitimate the next step is to raise a fraud claim with PayPal via their Resolution Center. Here you are given several options as to the nature of the claim 1) The Item Was Never Received 2) The Item Received but Was Not as Described 3) Unauthorised Transaction. In my case I chose Unauthorised Transaction because neither of the other options applied. Asked to explain the details I explained: I placed an order, the money was taken, and I received no communication from the seller. PayPal then makes a decision to Close the Case, because in essence the transaction was 'authorised' by you but never completed by the seller. I.E. they take your money, the IPs and logins check out and PayPal closes the case. You can not then reopen the case, and PayPal Customer Service is only accessible by a frustrating Chat Bot, to date I have received no real response from PayPal.
 
It seems possible that there is a bot checking these claims by looking over IPs, account activity, and making the decision, not an actual person reading the details of the claim, please correct me if you know better. 



If you choose one of the other options 'Item Not Received' the seller provides a Tracking Number to PayPal, literally any tracking number to any address and PayPal Closes the Case in favour of the seller because they provided what appears to be a legitimate tracking number. What the fraudster then does is to post a paper face mask, or sticker or some other essentially valueless item, from China with a tracking number they provide to PayPal, the buyer does not receive what they paid for PayPal closes the case, the fraudster keeps your money.

In my case specifically: I attempted to purchase some shoes from the website cozxs.com DO NOT BUY FROM THIS WEBSITE IT IS A SCAM. The link to cozxs.com was provided through Google Shopping and the business name listed as 'Fashion Products' in the Google Shopping interface, so it appeared to be legitimate. On looking them up, after I realised I had been cheated, ALL reviewers on TrustPilot have fallen victim to the same scam. The link to TrustPilot profile is here for the fraudulent business cozxs.com
 
This business and connected PayPal account are clearly, demonstrably, fraudulent but PayPal has closed my claim and I have no recourse apart from the non-responsive chat bot. In my case I paid out of my PayPal balance so very likely have no recourse to my bank - which I have transacted back and forth between for the better part of a decade - and my money has been stolen.
 
Some users who use their credit cards via the PayPal payment interface have managed to get their banks to cover the stolen payment. So one lesson learned is not to pay directly out of your PayPal balance, as PayPal's Buyer Protection will do nothing for you. But that lesson is too little too late, I have transferred the remainder of my balance to my bank and will be very wary of using PayPal again if at all. Unless I receive some satisfactory solution from PayPal - and many other users who have fallen victim - I can't see much need to use PayPal again.
 
<removed>
 
I implore you PayPal to please address this problem for me and other users of your service and to help me get my money back from a fraudulent user of your service.

[nicholas_jo]

Well didn't my trainers just arrive yesterday, exactly as ordered. They are most likely not genuine but they are so close that it really doesn't matter to me. They look good, and I've cancelled the open dispute. Feeling very sheepish about my long frustrated and slightly antagonistic campaign with PayPal and via this message thread. PayPal was actually quite responsive and helpful when I finally got through to their team. So I guess cosx.com came through in the end, even if I they misrepresent themselves as a UK company, at least they made good on their order. Thanks for your support in this PayPal even if it wasn't needed in the end.

[Pops1245]

I don't know if this will fall on dead ears or not but my problem is very similar.  I purchased a set of pots and pans, using Pay Pal, right after xmas with a week to ten days delivery schedule.  After a week or so I got concerned because I did not receive proof of purchase or ensuing tracking # from the seller.  However, I did notice that my checking acct. was debited the full amount of the purchase.  It was several weeks into the purchase when I realized that I wasn't going to receive the package and filed a case through the Resolution Center.  Another week went by and Pay Pal received a tracking # from the seller.  I had previously Googled the sellers name and no results.  Along with the tracking # was a date of delivery which was approximately two days before I received my resolution results from PP.  It also had an email address to contact the seller.  I straight way emailed the seller to tell them I didn't receive the package and did not get a response.  I honestly did not have faith that I would.  I messaged PP and let them know I have cameras, two pit bulls, that bark at a drop of a hat and that either my daughter or myself are home all the time.  Whoever delivered the package must have been a magician.  PP closed my case because of the tracking # and nothing else.  The package was roughly half of list price and sucked me in big time.  I guess at this point I have to suck it up and chalk it up to experience.