Scam ad with Paypal payment option

[dvd_whitehead]

Hi. i was browsing Facebook and came across an advert for an item called an Orba. its a hand held musical instrument. The item is yet to become avaiable by the manufacturer Artiphon. yet, on Facebook, a company called Gehuyn is selling the item for $19.99. and has attached a Paypal payment option to the ad. I have just communicated with the manufacturer Artiphon and they have confirmed the item is not available anywhere else nor is it due to be distributed by anyone else. The Gehuyn site is a scam. but thought Paypal should know as they are using Paypal to obtain monies fraudently.. 

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@dvd_whitehead 

You have the option to report any violations of paypals policy via legal bottom right of this page > acceptable use policy > there is a link on the word report to report any violations.

[JonCanfield]

We were also scammed by this seller. Bought 2 of them for 45.97, received 2 extremely cheap speakers (total value on the customs form - $10.

I can't get PayPal to acknowledge the fraud. Only way I can get a refund is to ship the junk back to the seller. Even if I wanted to pay the shipping charges to China (which I don't feel I should be responsible for), with the Covid-19 lockdown, I can't return within the authorized time window. 

Paypal just keeps responding with the same copy/paste solution.

Very frustrating

[kmw59622]

I came here for a similar situation. I saw an ad on Facebook for Clorox wipes. They were supposed to be coming from Canada. I purchased them using Paypal like the seller suggested. Immediately after paying the website disappeared and didn't provide me with a confirmation or tracking number. I contacted the Facebook page and it was gone 12 hours later. Paypal says not to worry about it that they will take care of it. However while I have it in dispute the "seller" just put up a "tracking number" from China. They also listed it as a clothing item not Clorox wipes. I did a chat with Paypal to update my case with these details. They told me to send the details with my dispute case number to the email complaint-response for Paypal . I received an email back from Paypal almost immediately with instructions on "How to Open a Paypal Account". Obviously useless. Has anyone else found an option?

[dvd_whitehead]

Hi,

yes, it's the same tyope of scam

 Seller advertises an item which the buyer then pays for. But thou receive a completely different (and cheap) item. 

I like you, reported this to PayPal as I'm sure may others have. The loophole is exploited because you then have to return the item within a given timescale which is invariably exceeded due to the distance involved. PayPal need to improve this process as their subscribers will soon tire of the disappointing outcome.  Of course, the other option is to avoid advertisements like this altogether.  You live and learn. I won't be using PayPal for anything other than trusted sites in te UK. Maybe that is the way forward for PayPal. Having some sort of feedback from a seller before allowing them to use the application. I guess there may be something like that already, I'm not sure.

good luck 

david

[kmw59622]

Thank you David. I do believe that based on the number of posts I have seen on these forums with Chinese scammers and Paypal's unwillingness to assist I will just use my CC instead of Paypal moving forward. You would think that Paypal would be stricter since the scammers request that we utilize Paypal for "safer transactions". This transaction was supposed to come out of Canada not China so I thought it was safer. I just disputed it with my bank. This is certainly a lesson on Paypal.