Scammed. "Unauthorized Claim" - Virtual Sales. Any Advice/Tips? Help Please! Dispute Still Underway.

[aidenn]

I have an unfortunate story, but I would like to ask for any information that anyone can give to help aid in my attempt to win the criminally filed dispute/unauthorized claim that these people filed against me.

I was scammed, yesterday.

The buyer of my WoW account sent the money, and I traded over the account completely to him. I changed the E-mail, the password, and everything. I was so excited to have just sold the account, no longer would I have to play WoW and I just got paid!

Unfortunately, an hour later, I check my account, and BAM! Paypal hits me with a big "HELD" next to that $250.00 I just earned.

It's truly criminal to steal back money that one has already paid. What if all of these Paypal execs just got all of the small fees that everyone paid them STOLEN BACK because someone knows how to utilize a proxy server, keylogger, or just simple tactics to TRICK Paypal reviewers into thinking the payment was "Unauthorized."

P.S. On top of that, I sold Virtual Gold for $340.00, to a DIFFERENT BUYER. SAME THING HAPPENED. "Unauthorized" EVERYONE KNOWS HOW TO SCAM AND GET THROUGH THE LOOPS PAYPAL. HELP PLEASE!!!!

P.S.S. The scammers trick you by sending the payment as a GIFT. One sees the money and doesn't think twice about payment form. Please HELP. I'VE READ TOO MANY HORROR STORIES ABOUT LOSING MONEY TO E-SCAMMERS!!!!!

Does anyone agree?

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi aidenn,

The situation you describe is a really tough one. The reason why virtual items are not covered by Seller Protection is because of just the type of situation that you describe. Intangible items carry with them a much higher risk.

Think about it this way - a fraudster has a stolen credit card. Does he use it to buy a physical item that has to be shipped to him, or does he try to get as much immediate value out of that credit card as swiftly as possible? The latter, of course! When the rightful owner of that credit card discovers the fraud and reports it, the fraudster is long gone. As a best practice, sellers of virtual items may consider examining their risk to decide how and if to proceed.

Many game companies recognize that the gaming environment is a haven for this kind of activity, and have rules within their own Terms of Service to prohibit the buying and selling of accounts or in-game currency. You may want to check those rules as well.

Olivia

[JoelMachado]

Hi,

I also sell digital goods and have the same problem like 5 times or more per week. I'm getting tired of using Paypal.

I read the User Agreement and found this: 

13.3 Ineligible Items. PayPal Purchase Protection only applies to PayPal payments for certain tangible, physical goods. Payments for the following are not eligible for reimbursement under PayPal Purchase Protection:

• Intangible items, including Digital Goods
• Services
• Real estate, including residential property
• Businesses
• Vehicles, including motor vehicles, motorcycles, caravans, aircraft and boats
• Custom made items
• Travel tickets, including airline flight tickets
• Items prohibited by the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy
• Items which you collect in person, or arrange to be collected on your behalf
• Items that violate eBay’s Prohibited or Restricted Items Policy
• Industrial machinery used in manufacturing
• Items equivalent to cash, including prepaid or gift cards
• PayPal Direct Payments
• Virtual Terminal Payments
• Personal Payments

Even if your payment is not eligible for PayPal Purchase Protection, you can file a Dispute and to try to resolve the issue directly with the seller, however, PayPal will generally not find in your favor if you escalate a Dispute to a Claim for an item which is not eligible for PayPal Purchase Protection. 

As I understand, sellers should keep the money as the Ineligible Items payments are not eligible for reimbursement under PayPal Purchase Protection.

Why doesn't Paypal follow their own rules?

Thanks

Joel

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi JoelMachado, and welcome to the forums!

You ask a great question, and it's a topic that a lot of people find confusing. Why, if buyers aren't protected for virtual items, can a seller lose an unauthorized claim over a virtual item?

The easiest way to understand it is this - in a claim of unauthorized use or stolen credit card, the person making the claim is not the actual buyer. The person making the claim is a victim of identity theft. The person who was the "buyer" in the transaction was actually a thief who stole the claimant's money in order to buy the virtual item. That is a very different situation than a buyer complaint, which involves a claim of non-receipt or not-as-described from a person who actually did make a purchase.

I hope this helps clarify!

Olivia

[JoelMachado]

Hi Olivia,

Thank you for replying.

About this issue, I have read lots of postings through the web and all I see is people complaining that Paypal always protects buyers, even if these buyers are scammers. I can give you an example, someone bought a digital good from my website, sent me emails from the same email address as the Paypal account ID and only after a week she open an unauthorized claim on Paypal. Even if it was someone else (I don't believe it), it's not my fault that someone else used her Paypal account and Email account.

On this situations, I think Paypal should have another kind of action because it 's always the buyer side, never the seller side...it's going against it's own rules and forgetting that without sellers, Paypal is nothing.

Thank you

Joel

[redpower]

---

@JoelMachado wrote:

Hi Olivia,

Thank you for replying.

About this issue, I have read lots of postings through the web and all I see is people complaining that Paypal always protects buyers, even if these buyers are scammers. I can give you an example, someone bought a digital good from my website, sent me emails from the same email address as the Paypal account ID and only after a week she open an unauthorized claim on Paypal. Even if it was someone else (I don't believe it), it's not my fault that someone else used her Paypal account and Email account.

On this situations, I think Paypal should have another kind of action because it 's always the buyer side, never the seller side..It's going against it's own rules and forgetting that without sellers, Paypal is nothing.

Thank you

Joel

---

You're right, its not your fault, but you're acting as a business when you sell online and things will happen.  If you want to be protected against most of the things, stay within the terms of use, otherwise you are liable for anything that happens, and its not PayPals fault.

[managetask]

Hey Joel,

I am currently fighting a Unauthorized Claim made by a buyer of 10 bitcoins on Ebay.  The buyer did a buy-it now for $350, I waited for papal to confirm the transaction and then I sent the 10 bitcoins to the bitcoin address 1EvHqBYWTcSSQV9thg1cJjmqD7urB8DaP3 I received from their Ebay Account.  Sure enough right after the Bitcoins were sent *BOOM* Unauthorized Claim.

I know the address received the coins because every bitcoin transaction is kept on a public log for everyone to see. 

http://blockexplorer.com/address/1EvHqBYWTcSSQV9thg1cJjmqD7urB8DaP3

(It says received 8 and 2 bitcoins separately because they did two separate buy-it now's)

Someone has even spent the bitcoins I sent.

All a scammer has to do is buy digital goods from a local starbucks wifi and claim "I was hacked". 

[readuseragreeme]

Digital items not covered for Paypal Seller Protection

You will not get your money back, dont sell any intangible items through Paypal.

[managetask]

Thank You for posting the obvious.....feel better?

I found out about the User Agreement Clause after the fact, like 99% of sellers who have been scammed by people buying digital objects.

Why does paypal even allow the sale of digital items?  Seems like they want their cake and eat it too.  I just can't believe that after using the same paypal account for 15 years to sell on ebay, this happens.  Now I know AVOID PAYPAL.....unless you are a scammer. I even have proof that the address sent to me by the buyer/scammer received the funds, its no different than if I sent a t-shirt to a address given to me by a buyer/scammer.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi managetask,

You ask a good question - why does PayPal even allow the sale of digital items?

Digital items represent a significant segment of all transactions conducted online, whether through PayPal or another money transfer service. We're in an exciting time, and people's ideas, art, music, etc. can be transferred more rapidly and to more people. Sellers who deal in digital goods have a great opportunity to make profit, even considering the risks inherent in the sale of intangible items. Successful digital goods sellers understand that those risks are present whether they accept credit cards directly, or use PayPal, or use any other money transfer service, and they still see the opportunity to profit in this market based on volume of successful transactions.

The reduction of risk is not as profound as with tangible items that must be shipped with tracking, but use of PayPal to accept payments - even those not covered by Seller Protection - is still safer than many other methods. Our security models observe transactions in the system as they're being attempted and prevent many that have a higher risk of being problematic. PayPal does also review buyer behavior, and cooperates fully with law enforcement when cybercrime is detected.

Olivia