Help! I was scammed and scammer is turning it around on me

amother

Mustard

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 7:21 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Lesson learned the hard way Crying

I hope at least my experience can help others who are as naive as I was.

I am hoping the truth will shine through, just am in extreme shock and fright of the seller’s deceit belligerence, attitude, and lies.

Whats your Ebay feedback?

What have the people youve spoken to at Ebay said you should expect as a resolution?

amother

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 7:28 pm

amother [ Mustard ] wrote:

Whats your Ebay feedback?

What have the people youve spoken to at Ebay said you should expect as a resolution?

I’m a longtime Member with 100 percent positive feedback.

The people at ebay were reassuring. They agreed that I should not respond. I expressed my concern about his messages that he has proof against me and that I will ‘not win’. He said ebay will investigate once the three business day window of time for the guy to work it out with me are up, and that generally the buyer protection is stronger than the seller .

Ugh I am really so traumatized from all this.

amother

Mustard

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 7:31 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Dont worry. I predict Ebay will be on your side.

mommyX2

Sun, Jan 12 2020, 1:34 am

southernbubby wrote:

Zara's scammed my daughter so I contacted the NY State attorney general and they intervened. You can look them up online but they protect consumers.

So curious how Zara scammed your daughter??

mom2mysouls

Sun, Jan 12 2020, 2:08 am

Just a btw, new sellers don't receive the money right away. Ebay withholds the first several transactions, until proven (through positive feedback), that it is a legit seller.

Scammers have their tactics of manipulating people and getting them scared. That's what he is doing to you. Ignore his messages, and follow through with ebay. I would call them and speak to a representative to guide you how to go about in this situation.

amother

Apricot

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 11:24 am

Amarante wrote:

You bought a $5000 diamond from a seller with no reviews? Surprised

Not to blame the victim, but that is not reasonable behavior.

I buy a lot of stuff over the internet but I try to be prudent. If I am not buying from a regular store - E.g. buying through ebay, I always check ratings and I generally only buy items that are fairly low value. I do buy through Etsy but use a credit card and also read reviews.

However as others have posted, EBAY and PayPal side with buyers just as credit card companies generally side with buyers in a dispute.

However sellers also get scammed and diamonds would be an easy way to try to cheat a seller although some diamonds do have markings like VIN numbers so that would be a way a seller could prove that he didn’t get back the stone he shipped. I knew some women who sold designer bags and they used special tags which couldn’t be removed so seller had a way of identifying exactly what bsg was shipped.

this!!!!! who buys a DIAMOND online from an unknown seller??? For heaven's sake...

groovy1224

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 11:30 am

Amarante wrote:

However sellers also get scammed and diamonds would be an easy way to try to cheat a seller although some diamonds do have markings like VIN numbers so that would be a way a seller could prove that he didn’t get back the stone he shipped. I knew some women who sold designer bags and they used special tags which couldn’t be removed so seller had a way of identifying exactly what bsg was shipped.

How could someone really prove exactly what was shipped though? Sure, I can say I shipped a stone with a VIN or an authentic purse with a tag, but I could still ship whatever I want and then claim the buyer sent me back a fake? Even if you video yourself shipping an item, you could turn the camera off, open the package, and ship out a fake in a box that looks the same, no?

I always wonder about this, because my mom is an ebay seller and she had a buyer claim that she sent an empty box. Buyer took a picture of...an empty box, and ebay sided with the buyer. Makes me wonder how honest sellers really can protect themselves.

amother

Babyblue

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 11:54 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

A seller can't leave negative feedback for a buyer.

Whatever the case is, it's astronomically unlikely that you will take a loss in this case. You are triple protected, by eBay, PayPal, and your credit card. Each one of them have strong consumer protections. If eBay denies your claim (which it's very unlikely they will) you can open a claim with PayPal, and if they deny your claim (also very unlikely) you can initiate a chargeback with your credit card (who almost always back consumers up, especially in cases of alleged fraud where you returned merchandise and weren't refunded). You're in a good position, OP. I wouldn't worry too much.

The fact that the seller is sending these threats means that he lost and he knows it.

amother

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 12:04 pm

amother [ Babyblue ] wrote:

So the seller messaged me that he wants the contact info of my jeweler. I have no idea why he requested it, but it cannot be for a good reason. I guess he is trying to put on some facade for ebay.

I am definitely not going to give my jewelers number to a crook. For their safety.

amother

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 12:06 pm

groovy1224 wrote:

I was actually selling on ebay too but I took down, (even thought far from this price range) I feel like ebay is not a safe platform for me.

imasinger

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 1:05 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Good for you!

You might want to provide the jeweler's contact info to eBay, so they know you are telling the truth. Let them contact the appraiser if necessary. The seller has been nothing but bad news, and you owe them nothing. They owe you a refund.

amother

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 3:22 pm

imasinger wrote:

Oh thats a smart solution! I have no problem sharing the contact info with ebay. Just don’t think it would be right to give jewelers info to a crook.

Amarante

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 3:26 pm

Ultimately OP should prevail because credit card company, Ebay and PayPal all favor the buyer.

However, ultimately there is really no way to "prove" anything in terms of a diamond. A buyer could take a diamond to a jeweler that wasn't the one that was sold. All the appraisal can state is what the diamond that was brought in was in terms of quality.

Honestly I don't know how buyers or sellers use Ebay for transactions of diamonds or other fairly fungible items. Once it leaves seller's possession, there is no control in terms of claims made as to authenticity. And the only thing protecting a buyer is that Ebay typically sides with the purchaser.

amother

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 3:39 pm

Amarante wrote:

Now that I am going through this ordeal, I literally do not understand how there are so many similar listings. I wonder what the statistics are. I wonder how many naive people like me get scammed on either end .

Amarante

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 3:48 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Truly I don't post this to make you feel bad but scammers exist all over and they scam all kinds of people. Like at all the super rich "smart" people who were scammed by Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

I was very into purses at one point in my life and so I wandered onto a forum in which scam artists discussed ways to cheat Ebay purchasers regarding the fake designer bags they were selling. They traded tips Twisted Evil

It's a life lesson and you can be smarter from now on. Ask yourself why you decided to buy a diamond over the internet? Without stereotyping, we are Jewish and what Jewish woman doesn't know "someone" in the diamond trade Very Happy

I am not much of a stone person myself but my friend is and so she has a guy on 47th Street that she trusts when she is looking for a stone. Or when she is purchasing jewelry for the style, she purchases from bricks and mortar stores with stellar reputations.

Like the cliche goes - If it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true - sometimes a big mitziah is a scam disguised as a mitziah

naturalmom5

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 3:49 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Maybe I am being naiive

My limited understanding is that if the feedback is everything.
Stick to sellers that have more than 100 transaction , positive ratings

Would you go to a pizza shop if 50 people in your shul/ school / workplace said they got sick or the service was bad

amother

Mon, Jan 13 2020, 9:24 pm

naturalmom5 wrote:

Love that analogy. Makes lots of sense.