Is 163.com address a scam? I too have been SCAMMED by 163.com

[Jscheldt]

PayPal does not have consumers' backs when it comes to scammers. I ordered something and the seller said that it was delivered and it never was. Clearly a scam according to reports from others who were scammed by this same retailer (which I sent to PayPal in my dispute PP-D-66700958). 

I will NEVER make PayPal my preferred form of payment. If they allow just anyone to sell fake items online and use Paypal to accept payments then not really investigate with UPS about whether or not the shipment actually completed then I can't do business with them anymore.

I will not be sending this complaint to the BBB and Texas Department of Banking because while my loss was less than $100, it looks like Paypal is facilitating this fraud against lots of people and I think it should stop.

[Citykitty]

I was just scammed by a email domain of 163.com and PayPal refused to help me. The website I went to was hacked and I sent document showing that I didn't pay by PayPal. This is awful, and I can't believe PayPal won't intervene. So violating.

[PayPal_Meghan]

Hello @Citykitty, 

Welcome to the PayPal Community! 

I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience with a recent purchase. From what you've described, it sounds like you made a purchase and were not expecting it to show up as PayPal. Is that correct? I can think of a few different scenarios for what might have happened, so I'll try to break them down. If you made a purchase on a merchant's website that accepts PayPal, even if you don't log into a PayPal account, you will still see PayPal on your bank statement. This type of purchase is called a guest checkout. To learn how to file a dispute on this transaction, please visit this Help Center article: I have a problem with my PayPal transaction, but I can't find it on my PayPal account. What do I do?

If you had logged into your PayPal account but selected a debit or credit card, you would see the record on both your PayPal account and bank account. This can be confusing and may look like you were charged twice even though it was only once. However, if you know you made two payments, you can file a duplicate payment dispute. Please include a copy of your recent bank statement that shows both charges. This will help the team verify there were two separate transactions. 

For help reviewing if you might need to file any other type of dispute, please do not hesitate to reach out to Customer Support through one of the options listed on our Help Center here. 

I hope this helps! 

- Meghan

[Jscheldt]

Hi Meghan, Thanks for the reply, but the scenario is pretty simple. PayPal was the payment method when I checked out at 163.com I got a notice that the item was delivered, like the next day. Since I knew that nothing was delivered, I attempted to get a refund, but the scammer retailer provided fake proof of delivery to the shipping carrier in the form of a picture of a delivered package on someone else’s doorstep. PayPal rejected my refund claim multiple times as they chose to believe the fake retailer who is obviously running a scam. For this reason, I try NEVER to use PayPal if I can help it, because they offer a lackluster protection compared to other payment options like American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, AmazonPay, Discover, Diner’s Card, etc.

[Citykitty]

Thanks for the response. I did some more research and what happened is that the "merchant" made it look like the PayPal payment failed so I needed to process with another method. It was successful when I paid with my credit card. When I checked my account, there were two charges: one from PayPal and the other from my account. PayPal rejected my first dispute saying I filed it incorrectly but that was not explained in the response. The "merchant" refused to respond to me and PayPal didn't reach out to them to confirm what he sold me. Makes it easier for fraudsters to get away with this as the burden of proof is on the customer. It also took a long time to reach someone on the phone due to the excessive prompts in the IVR. Kudos to the agent on the phone who helped me reopen the dispute under "item not received" but I'm still concerned that it will not be resolved in my favor, even though PayPal has the information about the fraudster. They also give the seller a long time to respond so I'm still the victim of the scam who is out the money. I'm hoping for the best, but most likely will have to dispute with my bank as PayPal isn't doing enough to protect customers who have been scammed.

[Jmwillia4]

I was scammed also. Placed order, received message from PayPal that vendor requested more money and they took it without my approval. Two scams in one. Good luck with use of Pay Pal.