This just happened to me a few weeks ago. I’m normally very cautious and do my homework checking into the company or site before I’d purchase something but because I was on marketplace and it was a “sponsored” ad I didn’t look into the company any further. The honest truth is that I assumed sponsored ads on Facebook had to be vetted. I also felt that the way Facebook was on top of flagging everyone’s posts for fact checking and even fact checking memes that are sarcasm and fact checking someone like me who is really no one at all with just a few friends and family followers, and right on top of covering photos that may be offensive within minutes of posting, that surely they fact checked their own sponsors. I fell for a “Flash deal” for a Bluetooth gaming chair down from almost $200 to $39.99 and the clock was ticking down. I was skeptical but when it said it only accepted payments through pay pal and you have the guarantee, I let my guard down. It opened pay pal but I hadn’t used PP in quite some time and it asked for my information. I knew I got a new debit card about a year or so ago so I thought that’s why I needed to enter it. Now the site I bought it at was called Something different (I can’t recall) but the email receipt they sent said Liberty boutique with a DOM logo I didn’t notice until later the page domain at the top said sale-m.store I received an email receipt from the company itself first and then I also received one from pay pal that said activate my account. Then I got another email from the “company” with my tracking number and this time the company name was SW Shop. And the customer service email address was bestcustomerservice@vip.163. That’s it. No other contact info. That’s when I knew. But I could not even click the tracking number they gave. I copied it and tried all the different services to track and it didn’t exist. Then I couldn’t find my pay pal receipt in my pay pal account. It said no transaction history but my bank account had it listed as pay pal Qiqingtang Trading Co., Ltd. that’s the newest company name. After calling PP they looked it up by my card number and Apparently they checked me out as a guest so when I was trying to go in to dispute it in the resolution center it wouldn’t give me that option because it wasn’t there in my account. Then I get a package from China in the mail And definitely isn’t a gaming chair because it fit in my little mailbox and it was the same tracking number that they did send me only it was a junk .25 cent vending machine fake ring. I did email the address asking about it and no response for over a week then a reply, “We checking Warehouse for order now”. But I didn’t give my information in my email Cause I really wasn’t even sure who I was emailing so I wrote back do you even know what I’m talking about what order it is? Another reply, so sorry check warehouse get back to you. Covid backed up. As I am on the phone with PP customer service rep and she opens the claim she’s telling me how it works and I will hear back with In my favor or not in my favor when suddenly she says “oh ok so your case is now closed in your favor. Your money will be refunded to your account and you don’t have to return the ring.” So this was almost midnight and that quick, my favor. Oh and there was no return address or sender info on the package just the word China. I don’t believe it was sent from China to begin with. These fake companies get to keep the total of 53$ for a five cent ring shipped within the US and when PP has to refund the money there has to be some write off, or insurance claim on their behalf because it’s a loss for them. Why would they even continue to let unverifiable companies use guest checkout with pp refund guarantee if they we’re losing money and not recovering it or profiting from the scam. I reported this to Facebook and pay pal. These same advertisements still there, different names but all China sites. Funny thing happened to my son last week for a pair of beats headphones and when he told me I immediately went to his pay pal and resolution center and had literally just hit send within the minute when he got a notification saying his case was closed in his favor and his money being refunded.
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