This is a long story but I'll keep it as brief as possible.
In February I started getting sales through my website from what turned out to be fraudulent 'customers'. I sent the goods out for the first few transactions (to the value of £699, £583, £272 etc.). I realised something wasn't right, they were all high-value orders and either going abroad or through forwarding addresses.
I asked for proof of ID (passport sent) at this point and contacted Action Fraud and the police (not much help). The police said they couldn't see anything fraudulent. I filed a dispute for one payment to flag it up as potential fraud and PayPal came back saying it was ok.
Then the chargebacks started coming through via PayPal, always awarded in favour of the buyer and refunded, plus the £14 PP handling fee each time.
To make matters worse, the fraudster would increase the amount of the disputed amounts just before the claim was settled each time. The dispute was settled and I had no way to ask why it had been increased.
We're not talking about small amounts either, here's a breakdown...
Payment amount £583.99 disputed amount £747.90
Payment amount £272.14 disputed amount £525.36
Payment amount £346 disputed amount £668.88
Payment amount £423 disputed amount £533.80
Payment amount £699 disputed amount £894.47
Payment amount £642.14 disputed amount £1247.34
Payment amount £659 disputed amount £853.18
Amount received in total £3625.27
Amount refunded in total £5470.93
That's £1845.66 extra paid back by PayPal, plus the cost of goods I sent out.
Has anybody got any advice on how to get this money back? I'm a small business and can't afford to lose this kind of money.
