Is PayPal supporting scammers now? Beware of the SCAMS

[Munduscura]

I have used PayPal since it was first release to Australia this is the first time my scammer has gotten protection

I'm a pretty seasoned online shopper normally buy through reparable online outlets this time however I clicked on a Facebook advert for a product. I always double check details make sure images and description match my intended purchase which they did, the received Item however is not even close. The received Item (nothing like the intended purchase) I paid approximately $50 AUD for is listed regularly on other sites for around $10. Its cheap sub par and doesn't even fit its intended purchase.
The seller has now made an offer for full refund if I send the item back at my expense (if they were not scamming I wouldn't need to send anything back) seller has provided only Chinese character return details and the cost of return quoted thus far is approximately %30 but no guarantee from Australian postal services it will ever get their due to being in Chinese characters. The seller has attempted to scam me and I expect they wish to utilise Paypal to drag this out. Paypal use to be good dealing with this what has changed? why are they now supporting scammers to such an extent? This is the first attempt to get paypals attention to this issue before I start paying fiverr to repost my **bleep** off review of paypals decline.

the seller is parading as Shenzhen Yifan Technology Co., Ltd. (insert the Chinese characters paypal does not permit in this community) Scam scam

[LynnN1]

I'm having the same problem! Paypal won't reimburse me for a product I bought from China, even though it was not as described and the company was definitely scamming buyers. I only purchased in the first place because I trusted the Paypal buyer protection. This is unacceptable!

[kernowlass]

@LynnN1 

You can only 'trust' paypals protection once you have read up on it and seen what cover it does and does NOT give you..

Sadly its not an insurance policy or 100% guarantee of security, you choose your sellers but paypal does sometimes bail you out when things go wrong, but they work to their terms and conditions in that buyer protection (same as credit cards do).

[Munduscura]

I also trusted paypal buyer protection have always made purchases online with paypal for this reason looking to migrate to another platform. 

[Silver61]

Me too!!!!

[kernowlass]

@Munduscura 

Have you opened a paypal dispute?

Have you escalated to a claim?

Has paypal told you to return the item yet?

Have you activated the below link to get help with those return costs ...

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/returns

Sadly you needed to have avoided these.....

Chinese Web Sites or on Social Media ads easy to spot (once you know the below signs) so buyer beware.

1. No return address on the returns policy............thats because the site will look as if its in your country (where they despatch goods from) BUT they will ask for returns to go back to China (returns depot) at a shipping cost nearly always more than the item is worth.
2. No contact telephone number............if you click on contact the most you will get is webmail or an email address.
3. No company address information.
4. Great looking items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.

[ojs4]

I have a VERY similar story. I just saw an article about this in the news and thought of looking here. In my case, PayPal sided with a knock-off producer that was fraudulently advertising on Instagram. Their website disappeared and they were not even responding to PayPal itself by the time PayPal decided in their favor.

I'm here to say that my solution was to replace my PayPal Plus Mastercard with a bank that still has humans working for it. I soon discovered that just replacing my preferred card did not keep my PayPal Mastercard from being charged when clicking the PayPal button on sites where I had already used PayPal in the past, when my PayPal Plus card had been my preferred card. I had to go into the place on the PayPal site where you change cards you've set for recurring payments (like subscriptions) and de-couple my card from every single vender I had ever used PayPal with before. Took some time but worth it to know that at least PayPal will not be collecting on that part of their business with me ever again!

@kernowlass 

I followed all of your steps except that I shipped the fake item back to the distributor's address that was on the package instead of the factory in China as they requested. (I questioned PayPal if that was OK, but didn't hear back from PayPal before the deadline to ship) PayPal didn't even get a response from the vendor as to whether they received it before siding with the seller, telling me too late that the $17 shipping fee was reimbursable. No one at PayPal ever answered my question: "Can a seller request you return an item anywhere in the world, and PayPal will pay for it?" Apparently, their policy is YES. It was particularly maddening because the item had ads with actors saying that the factory is "right here in the good old USA!" 

[EDMAYA]

Paypal is worthless against scammers - I was scammed reported same day and they refused to reverse charges.... beware they dont support their customers

[HomaidurRahman]

I am also scammed by seller from china and PayPal close my case without any investigation.