Recently, I have sold lots of digital items on eBay (codes to activate games, also known as CD keys). I diversified to increase sales and to provide my eBay business with plenty of items to sell. However, I soon became a victim of ‘friendly fraud’ (also known as chargeback fraud) whereby the buyer contacts their credit card company and claims the payment for the item is unauthorised. This is a huge flaw in e-commerce. I wasn’t aware of this up until around two weeks ago when the first fraudulent buyer requested a chargeback.
The person bought Mafia III twice over a three day period, which seemed a little suspicious, but I went and sent the second code anyway. Days later they requested a chargeback saying the purchase was unauthorised and I thought this was a genuine claim. However, I checked my eBay page and they left positive feedback. I was fuming. I went ahead and filed a dispute in the Resolution Centre on PayPal and attached plenty of evidence to suggest that this was a false claim. I wait a couple of weeks and, annoyingly, I receive a charge of £14 which was debited from my PayPal account.
Here is some of the email:
In addition, a £14.00 GBP chargeback fee has been debited from your PayPal account.
If the financial institution decides the case in your favour, we'll notify you when the payment is returned to your PayPal account.
We understand that you may not have been expecting this case. If your PayPal account balance now shows an amount owing to us, please restore your balance.
We'll email you if we need any further information from you.
Thank you for your patience.
Yours sincerely,
PayPal
By the time I received this email, I had other chargeback claims made against me.
The second claim related to another unauthorised purchase. Someone bought Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare off me 7, yes seven, times. Little did I know, this buyer was attempting to get almost £200’s worth of games. I was furious when a chargeback came through. At the time when they purchased, the 7 codes they bought were the last ones in stock and I messaged them suggesting whether they would want any more keys and the reply was something like “7 is enough.” I had now received confirmation that they were ready to receive the codes so I gladly proceeded and sent five of them and the buyer asked about the remaining keys; the other two would be sent the following day, and they were. Move on another couple of days and there you have it: another chargeback.
Now the list is growing. The most recent claim was yesterday (2nd December 2016). This person had just bought one Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare code. The purchase was made at around the same time as the person above.
Here’s the shocking email I receive:
The sender of the payment outlined below has requested their financial institution to reverse (part, or all of) this payment. They've cited the following reason:
The buyer stated that they did not authorise this purchase.
Here are the case details:
- Sender's name: []
- Sender's email: []
- Sender's transaction ID: []
- Payment date: 20 November 2016
- Payment amount: £26.75 GBP
- Disputed amount: £26.75 GBP
If you've any information to help us dispute this case, please log in to your PayPal account, go to the Resolution Centre to send it to us within the next 10 calendar days.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Yours sincerely,
PayPal
I have reported this chargeback fraud to the police and expect to receive all the money I should be allowed to have. How is this even legal?! And why do PayPal tolerate such behaviour?
