Scammed & PayPal will not help!

[Avo1987]

Recently I sold my iphone via paypal.

The buyer paid via paypal and the money hit my account, I withdrew the funds to my bank and sent the phone no problems.... However....

Today I find out that the 'buyer' has requested a refund because they did not buy the phone, thier account has been hacked by a 3rd party who paid for the phone with their account, provided me with the 3rd party address which I shipped the phone to. So the person whos account it is was £435 down until they realised and reported this. Paypal opened and closed the case within 23 minutes and issued them a refund.

Now I am down a phone and £435 and Paypal have just told me to contact the Police. ( I have reported this to the Police )

This is theft and fraud and Paypal will not help me!

Can anyone offere any suggestions?

I refuse to pay the negative balace on my account. what will happen?

FYI the details of the fraudster are below

[Removed due to privacy concerns]

[kernowlass]

@Avo1987

If you get a dispute for unauthorised purchase then of course the innocent account holder who's account was hacked needs their money back.

However paypal would help you as well and reimburse you if you met all the requirements of seller protection.

The fact they have not meant that you lost that protection in some way, best read up on seller protection and see how you missed out.

If you don't clear the neg balance then you won't be able to use your paypal account.

Also after a period of time paypal will sell on your ''debt'' to a collection agency.

[Avo1987]

Why are not all items no protected when selling? It's stupid. It's not like it's a small amount either. PayPal just said you ain't protected on this item, surely due to the value I would be protected. It's an absolute joke.

[kernowlass]

@Avo1987

All ''items'' are protected, however its up to you to make sure you qualify for that protection by reading up on it and making sure you met all the criteria.

[ShiraYuki]

you should read up seller's protection first under the user agreement to verify why you lost your seller protection eligibility.

[Avo1987]

So according to PayPal terms no digital goods are covered. So an account gets hacked, buys a phone, then the innocent person gets the money back while the seller is down a phone and £400+?

[ShiraYuki]

phone is not digital goods ( digital goods are more like downloadable files like mp3s )

I think the part where you lost you eligibility is by sending it to an address not registered on their paypal account.

9.5 Items/Transactions not Eligible for PayPal Seller Protection.

Items that are not shipped to the recipient address. If you originally ship the item to the recipient address but the item is later redirected to a different address, you will not be eligible for PayPal Seller Protection. We therefore recommend not using a shipping service that is arranged by the buyer, so that you will be able to provide valid proof of shipping and delivery.

[Avo1987]

There was no address provided via PayPal only the one they said. PayPal even delayed the payment from the 'buyers' account to going into my account. I've gone to the police over this, I am going to ring PayPal once again and get them to support. If they decided not to support I will ask them to supply me with a court date to decide what will happen

[DPCreations]

If no address was provided by PayPal, the appropriate decision should have been to NOT ship. 

PayPal indicates on the transaction detail page what protection is provided and what you need to do BEFORE you ship.

[lancelotme]

You did not lose the phone and money,you lost the phone,you cannot lose both.

if PAYPAL did not give you an address,how do you know where to ship the phone to?