i have been scammed: fake tracking number fraud and my case was denied by paypal

[AmineH]

I'm hopeless but here is the case, I bought a camera via etsy.com the seller asks to be paid by Paypal only,

He provided a tracking number that is not associated with my name and address. i knew this after calling FEDEX, of course FedEx can't provide 

any proof that the package was not for me. and Paypal denied the case i opened. 

Etsy send me an email stating that the seller is not active anymore and he didn't provided a tracking number on the website

but what to do now? call Paypal,  how to open  a seconde case?

is there anyway to have a proof from Fedex to support my case?

thanks

A

[kernowlass]

@AmineH 

Paypal is just a payment processor that gives you 'some' buyer and 'some' seller protection.
So disputes for non receipt of item are mostly automated. Seller provides tracking that shows delivery = seller wins.
So then its your turn to do some work to assist Paypal in recovering your purchase price from your seller.

Firstly ring Paypal customer services and tell them that the number is fake or that the item was shown as shipped before you purchased it. With that information they may well just issue you a refund.

Secondly if they don't then... APPEAL
To submit an appeal on the dispute that was closed, PayPal asks that you obtain a detailed report from the shipper/courier (on their letterhead or some other form of official stationary) that includes the address the seller gave them for the shipment. Or one that includes a statement mentioning your address and saying the item was delivered to a different address. THEY DON'T HAVE TO SAY WHICH ADDRESS IT WAS SENT TO, JUST THAT IT WAS NOT DELIVERED TO YOUR ADDRESS.

Check tracking in below link to see where it went.
https://www.17track.net/en

When you have that, contact PayPal via phone (log on to your account and click contact at the bottom of the page, or via Facebook (send a Private Message to PayPal) or via Twitter (send a Direct Message to @AskPayPal) and say you want to appeal the denial of the dispute based on the shipper saying the item was delivered to a different address. Once it's submitted (you will be provided with directions on how to do that), the dispute will be reviewed further and a determination will be made.

You also have the option to contact your card issuer if you funded your Paypal payment that way and see if they will do a chargeback for you?

[AmineH]

Thanks for your help, im just wondering what to tell to FEdex exactly , the aypal team responded this morning and said : get in touch with the shipping company and get the intranet form consisting of Tracking ID and stating that this Item was not delivered at your location.

do fedex easily gives this? I'm going to call them and i will let you know

[AmineH]

SO after calling Fedex they are not able to help me because the package is not for me,

they gave me an email [removed] and said this department can help, i emailed them with my Paypal transaction details and i hope they will give me this document Paypal is asking for, otherwise i don't know what to do if this is not working

[kernowlass]

@AmineH 

They do not have to say who the package was for, just state it that the tracking number shows the item was not addressed to you !! 

[AmineH]

This is what i said, but seems like the persons from fedex i have on the phone stopped talking to me or giving me attention from the moment i say that I'm not the recipient of the package its very frustrating, i have send the email they gave me a request twice no answer yet, any ideas about a number to call to speed up the process?

[AmineH]

I finally got by chance the proof that the shipment was not delivered to me by fedex, i went to my message to post it and they answered : 

....... I see that the dispute cannot be reopened as it has been closed on seller's favor because of similar trend of abusive behavior. I also see a limitation has been placed to the account because of the same. Please note that the account will be permanently limited if any such behaviors seen in future.

i can't believe my eyes, what should i do ?

[PayPal_RachelK]

Hi @AmineH,

Thank you for your post, and thank you @kernowlass for the great info as always!

I am sorry to hear what has happened. I know this must be concerning. It sounds like your dispute was denied as our teams have noted that you have opened a high amount of disputes. This would also be why your account is limited. 

If you don't agree with this decision, I would suggest you contact our Customer Support via phone. To contact us, simply click here.

I hope you get this sorted!
 

- Rachel 

[AmineH]

Hi everyone so i finally get a refund from Paypal after several calls and conversations, so I'm trying here to explain what I was going through in order to help other people, it has been a very frustrating 2 weeks due to the fact that Paypal is asking for a proof of shipment that can prove that you are not the recipient of the package, but it is a confidential information that the shipping company will not give you because well, simply you are not the recipient.

so :

1- before opening a dispute, first thing just go call the shipping company and explain that you are a victim of abuse (fake tracking number scam) and that you need a screenshot from their system that states that you are not the recipient of the package related to the tracking number that the seller gave you. Insist on the phone and ask to speak with a manager or someone in the fraud, because the first ones will not be able to help a lot. in my case a woman was nice enough to send me an email with proof of shipment that stats the real recipient of the package.

2- open a dispute and add this proof as an email. just a quick note, mine was a little bit not clear but if you zoom you can see clearly the info, but of course, Paypal agents will ask you to give a clearer file, which i found really really frustrating, you are fighting to get your right and it seems like nobody in Paypal really care. by the way PayPal_RachelK thx for your note and i did opened several cases because i was hopless and nobody was...

3- If things get complicated as in my case you stop doing chats because Paypal will be more listening to you when you have them on the phone. so in my case after few calls, finally someone proposed to do the most logical thing ever which is holding me on the phone and call FedEx themselves, I really don't know why nobody do this because it will fix quickly the situation. so the Paypal agent called the shipping company and confirmed that I'm a victim of a scam

4-48H later I discover that my account is limited 

5- I called back the Paypal hotline and spoke with someone he confirmed that the Paypal agent who called FedEx put a note on the system but he didn't want to give me any information

6-the day after i receive an email saying the dispute is closed and I'm no longer under buyer protection, is this insane ?

7-I called back Paypal, and another agent put me on hold and recalled FedEx ( why call twice like they have the information already on the system) meanwhile i contacted a consumer protection decision in my city and informed PayPal.

8- the Paypal person explained well to me situation he said he reopened the case and it should be fine but i needed to send an email to b c - i n f o @ paypal . c o m  to ask to reinitiate my protection, which i did. in the meantime, someone answered my last conversation on the chat and says the case is closed in my favor and that I should receive my refund in 5 days.

In conclusion, don't stop to fight, and reach Paypal on the phone, i think a big part of this problem is that you have scammers that are using Paypal system holes, they just find a tracking number that is going to your area ( Zip code) and the system just accept that as a proof.  Also, the fact that the system itself is very automatized, the scammer can just resend the same tracking number and the system will close the case in his favor.  Paypal also stays very unclear on what they want as proof and asks for something the shipping companies will not give you ( the real delivery address) instead of just calling the shipping companies themselves, they have more credits because they need to say that they work at PayPal and that they are investigating a fraud.

I hope my experience will help others, thanks to the folks that helped me go through this