Digital Deception

[Kim-Ying]

You should probably grab a popcorn before reading ahead. Advice / help desperately needed.

This is my story: My boyfriend and I have been selling in-game gold in exchange for real life money. For instance, we sell 100millions in-game gold for 30€.

Spoiler

Our procedure is that the buyer will list an item inside the "auction house" of the game and we (the seller) will purchase that said item with the exact amount we're supposed to deal.

We advertised our gold selling service on a website which specialized in selling game-related items. We were approached by a guy, let's call him Eric, who was interested in buying our in-game gold. On 28 August, we did our first exchange/deal through a middle man (whom he sought from the same website we advertised in) and it went well, without a hitch. 

For the following weeks, Eric has been in contact with us through Skype chats and buying in-game gold/game accounts from us on three separate occassions:- (1) On 3 September, he purchased 600millions in-game gold for 210€ and it was a smooth trade, he even thanked us on Skype chat after the trade. (2) On 6 September, he approached us again, wanted to purchase 100millions in-game gold for 35€ and needless to say, it was a fast and successful trade. He also thanked us afterwards as well. (3) On 22 September, Eric - knowing that he could trust us very well by now - has decided to purchase game accounts from us for 120€. Of course, he got what he wanted. I even checked in with him the next day, to make sure that the game accounts were alright.

On 15 November, Paypal sent my boyfriend 3 x emails (that's the email Eric always send his money to), saying that Eric has filed disputes on three cases (the deals I've mentioned above) against my boyfriend. Few minutes later, another wave of emails from Paypal come flooding in, saying those disputes have been escalated to claims and that we have 10 calendar days to provide additional information - which would mean that the due date is on 25 November.

My boyfriend has responded the moment he got the first email, which was on 15 November. However, the "Respond" button only offered him 3 options:- (1) to issue refund, (2) to provide tracking info, and (3) to provide proof that the buyer has been refunded. None of which helped our case; but, he chose option 2 and wrote in that he has Skype chat evidence.

On 18 November, my boyfriend then saw there was a platform where he could upload Supporting Documents / Fax / Notes, so he did. He screenshotted every detail of the conversation (til the part where Eric thanked him) and made an elaborated presentation about it. He even gave video recording of his Skype chat screen - to prove that he did not manipulate the screenshots in any way or form.

On 20 November, my boyfriend received emails from Paypal, saying they have decided to side with the buyer on case 1 & 2. However, they requested for additional information on case 3. Feeling frustrated and angry, my boyfriend called up Paypal (1800-948-510) and spoke to a guy whom identified himself as the Head of Support. Even the guy believed that the Eric guy has done this before, since Eric has deleted us from Skype. So, he told my boyfriend to email additional information to complaint-response@..., in which my boyfriend did - on the same exact day.

For the next following days, it has been different staff members who have been replying to my boyfriend's emails/messages. On 21 November, Indrah, said that they are unable to grant us appeal because we did not provide evidence in time and she listed out the types of Digital Evidence that will work. advised us that they do not accept files via email attachments, and she told us to upload the documents on Paypal website via "Appeal" button. However, the Appeal button only offered 2 options:- (1) to provide tracking info, (2) to proof the buyer has been refunded before; none of which allowed my boyfriend to upload our supporting documents. But, we complied to Paypal's guideline and submitted all the evidence.

Spoiler

Digital evidence which includes the buyer has indeeed accessed the game accounts, after payment was made. The matching timestamp and everything.

On 22 November, Premnath, replied my boyfriend, saying once again they are unable to grant our appeal because the evidence we provided was not received within the specified timeframe, and he suggested us to resolve with the buyer. That will be impossible since the buyer has been long gone and deleted us off Skype. Our last conversation wasn't even hostile or rude in any way; in fact, the whole conversation between us and Eric has always been nice and friendly. Most of all, we kept our own words and deliver a promising service - which explains why he kept coming back and do deals with us. Majority of online transactions happen almost instantly, especially in gold selling service in game. If he hadn't got his gold the first time on 3 September, he would've have come back to us on 6 September and 22 September. 

Also, why did Paypal keep saying we did not send our evidence in time? Was it because they CLOSED 2 out of 3 cases (on 20 November) and refunded the buyer? Why did Paypal requested for more information on case 3, but not case 1 & 2? Why did Paypal not just delegate one person to be in-charge of the cases, after seeing our coorperativeness? Fyi, we have responded to each and every Paypal's message in less than 24 hours.

Me and my boyfriend started the whole in-game gold selling service was because we both have full time jobs and we barely have time or interest to play games. We are not scammers or liers. We simply do not have the time to cheat off people's money and hog all the in-game gold for ourselves if we barely touch our laptop. The buyer could've yelled at us if he did not get his in-game gold; and if we were to delete messages on Skype, it would show as well. We can prove that none of the messages have been altered or deleted and that there has not been one single conflict between us and the buyer. 

I was so convinced we could win back our case since we have provided evidence that the buyer has accessed the game accounts we sold him (which proved that goods are delivered). Of course, Paypal have to prolong and complicate the process by sending various staff members (or bots) to reply to our messages AND not providing a platform for us to upload our additional information (since the closed cases only offered the "Appeal" button). 

On 24 November, I've wrote in to Paypal, under "File a complaint to Paypal", voicing all my concerns and what could have been done right. After I hit "Send", the automated message said Paypal will get back to me in 24 hours. It's been almost 48 hours now, and there's still nobody from Paypal who reached out. Where's the justice in this?

[Kim-Ying]

Bump