Ebay Scam with Lego- Help Needed

Posted 24th Sep 2022

Hi.

I need help with a scam that has taken place on Ebay.

I purchased a Lego Porsche GT3 on Ebay for £350 which is considered "cheap" for that set.
The seller had 25 feedback and the account is a couple of years old.
I received no tracking info and suddenly I got a notification to say it has been delivered- now tracking had been added.

It had been "signed for" by someone- lets call them "smith".
I messaged the seller- no response.

After lots of digging I discovered Smith moved out of number 67- (I am Number 55) a number a years ago. He also owned a LTD company whilst he lived on the street so his details are readily available online.

I spoke Royal mail who said the parcel was large letter sized and weighed 100g (A lot smaller than a lego set)
I later spoke to out postie (same one we have had for many years) and he remembered the actual parcel as he saw the name and thought- Oh smith moved out - but he put it through the letter box and signed for it himself (covid protocol). He also said it was a small packet

Unfortunatly the house that the parcel arrived it is empty so I can't get access to it.

Ebay have ruled the case in the favour of the seller as the item shows as delivered and signed for. Paypal will take the same approach.

Im at a loss here. How do I tackle this? I have read online that many have lost out to similar scams.

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25th Sep 2022
I can think of a few ways to go about it -

1) Open an item not received case. This is probably the most honest way to go about it because you really haven't received the item. Unfortunately it will also be the easiest for the seller to fight as they have tracking information showing it was delivered. But if the tracking information shows it was sent to a different address it should be easy to dispute delivery. Even if not, if you kick up a fuss eBay should ultimately side with you.

2) Open a return case. Not quite as truthful, but as this seems to be a scam you might as well play along - they're pretending you have it, so pretend you do but there's something wrong with it. Say it was not working or significantly not as described, whatever the wording is these days. Say pieces are missing, the box got wrecked in shipping, etc. You could even just say "Received small box instead of Lego set" - that's definitely not as described.
eBay always give buyers the benefit of the doubt and allow returns if they claim there's a fault. The seller will have to accept the return and provide a return postage label, or eBay will automatically do it for them. Then you just send an empty envelope back and as soon as the tracking shows it's delivered you'll get a refund. The seller could try claiming you sent back a different item (if they dare) but worst case there is they get paid for it again out of eBay's seller protection - you would still have your refund.

3) If you paid by debit/credit card (directly or via PayPal) you can go to your card issuer and put in a claim.

Also send any information you have to Action Fraud. Probably not much they can do about it, but it's probably not the only time they've tried to pull this scam and if enough people report them they might be able to put together enough information to find them and make a case against them. (edited)
25th Sep 2022
Appears to be a 'clever' scam but if you follow reddragon105's advice then you should get your money back. Don't stress. Definitely report the seller (even though ebay will ensure you have to jump through numerous hoops to do so). (edited)
24th Sep 2022
If you've been scammed genuinely. Open an item not as described case and send back a large letter. Tracked post. eBay will rule in your favour then. After all, they only sent you a 100g large letter so you aren't scamming anyone simply returning what was sent.

It's a common scam, send the parcel to someone else on the street. When ebay check the tracking its been delivered to that area so they rule in favour of the scammer. Play them at their own game. (edited)
24th Sep 2022
Surely the parcel will show up on Royal Mail scanners as scanned at 67 so if its gone to the wrong address you should be able to claim through them then just start a claim with Ebay and show them any proof from Royal Mails error. Maybe post a note through the empty house door saying your issue or if its up for sale find the estate agent.
Author
24th Sep 2022
So interestingly RM said the label purchased was in my name and address. I can only assume he stuck the incorrect address on and left the original barcodes.

Also RM work on GPS tracking so Ebay assume it was delivered to me.

I've tracked down who owns it and has a key but they keep saying I'll check "tomorrow" it's now been a week that I've been waiting.
24th Sep 2022
Get written confirmation that the small packet for 100g was sent thus proving this item was never sent. (edited)
24th Sep 2022
Get Royal Mail to send you proof that the package weighed 100g becuase that porsche is circa 4kg (edited)
Author
24th Sep 2022
I've asked RM if they can provide proof and they've said no as its "only a guide"
24th Sep 2022
If it was tracked then their should have been a photo showing it half through the letter box.

I'm assuming the Lego set you ordered would in no way fit through a letter box?

Hopefully the door also looks sufficiently different to your own.
25th Sep 2022
Chargeback on your card.
25th Sep 2022
Not if paid by paypal
25th Sep 2022
Maybe the post man opened it and put each bit one by one through the letter box ?

Serious note I’d ask my bank to step in if I used my card.
25th Sep 2022
Royal Mail should be able to confirm what service it was sent on. i.e small packet, large letter etc. I have that set and even if it didn’t have its original box it is too heavy to send small packet.
25th Sep 2022
I imagine that that postage bought was the correct for for the Lego set (i.e. a 4kg parcel), but stuck on a large letter that fit through the door.
25th Sep 2022
eBay favouring seller’s side? That’s rare.
25th Sep 2022
I have collected a GPS report from RM once proving an item was delivered somewhere else. I had to call to get it and had to provide the listing information.
25th Sep 2022
Thanks this explains a lot and I had CCTV footage of the postman delivering before and after but unfortunately also to my property. I didn't pay much attention to the 90sec time discrepancy even though I had checked with the neighbours at the corresponding timestamp first before asking everyone else. And to think I blamed the dog for a few days.
To be fair to eBay this is the only time I have been scammed by a seller I cannot say the same about attempted scams by buyers.
9th Nov 2022
Go with a return to the seller with item not as described, then ebay will provide you with a prepaid label, send the envelope back and the tracking will show records that the item was returned correctly and they will refund you. Next time use CC for payments.