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I think I have just been scammed -- exercise caution when using M.O. on eBay

drspiff

drspiff

Fisher "T" Aficionado
I think I have just been scammed on eBay. I won a Fisher 200 for $19.99 and the shipping brought it to $55 total. Seller wanted Money Order or cashier's Check. I sent a USPS money order on 24 JAN and according to the seller, "I've never received payment". My wife was "helping me out" and remembers "throwing out some old receipts" while she was cleaning. As a consequence of my "domestic dervish", I have no way to prove that I even bought the money order. Oh well, since this is a cautionary tale...

1. Never send a money order unless you send it registered mail.
2. If you do send a money order, keep the receipt in your wallet until the unit arrives.
3. Reconcile yourself that scammers will eventually get their just reward.
 
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Does the seller have good feedback? I think maybe in all the years of paying bills, sending cards, warranty cards, etc - I've never had one NOT show up - maybe once, but that's it.
 
Would having the receipt have even helped? I once asked if I could get my money back for a money order I had sent and was told it's basically like sending cash, except only the named person can cash it. It's worse than a check in that you can't stop payment on it.
I think your only recourse is a neg feedback.
 
I think if it was a USPS money order (which, in this case, it was/is) and you have the little stub from it with the number on it you (or the USPS) would be able to determine if it was cashed or not. If it had been cashed you would be able to file a fraud complaint with the Post Office over it (although I am not too sure how much good that would actually do in the long run, at least it would be an option).
 
In hindsight, you probably should have mailed the Money Order with "Delivery Confirmation" or overnighted it.

The Post Office branch where you bought the money order *may* be able to look up their record of it, if you provide them the receipients name and the date you sent it. They can also tell you if the M.O. was cashed or not.

If it was cashed by the seller, then it's possibly fraud. Do you have a link for the auction?
 
U.S. Postal Service investigators once called me regarding a scam artist from ebay. They do follow up on complaints, but perhaps only if there are more than one complainees.

My guy was obviously on a lot of people's badboy list. He was going to burn me over a $25 money order. After a month with no communication from him......

I was getting ready to go on a three day trip with the airplanes. I sent him a nice e-mail indicating I flew for a living, that I had his address in California (I didn't), and that it was only a matter of time before he came home to find me sitting at his front door. Oh, and for him to spend the $25 very wisely. The day I got home from the trip, the item was sitting in front of my door, Priority or next day mail, something like that. The investigators called me AFTER I had filed a complaint with ebay, USPS, and the thing had arrived. They were still interested because of the other complainants.

I wonder if I just invented new words, complainant and complainee?
 
The seller has/had good feedback. This could be the one time in ten thousand that they mail really didn't get there. But low probability events don't happen to me. I mean, I never win the lottery... So I have my doubts that USPS is the cause of this problem.

FYI: it was item number 5853943039
 
Sorry to hear that you've been scammed. We really depend on the integrity of each other when we engage in buying and selling on e-bay. Most of the time the system seems to work well but unfortunately, given enough deals, there will almost always be a disappointment at some point.
 
drspiff said:
"I've never received payment".
Click to expand...

The following is unlikely to help, but it sure sounds like the 'ol "I've never received payment" scam to me. It happened to me quite recently on eBay where I bought a power supply for ~$35, less than they usually go for; ~$135-175. Here is my sordid tale -

I sent a bank money order and heard nothing & had nearly forgotten about it. I emailed the seller asking as to the status of the item I won and got no answer other than an "Unpaid" notice from eBay. I tried to get a response from the seller & got none. A week or so later, I received an Unpaid Strike from eBay! I still could get no response to email from the seller so I called him and asked why he did not contact me beforehand to get another payment sent out? The snake's reason was priceless -

To paraphrase, he just knew I was going to screw him and not pay him so he went ahead & relisted the power supply. Conveniently, he also got into the high range of bids for it the second time around. In other words, he no longer had the unit to send to me.

To make a long story short, I successfully appealed the strike based on him selling the unit without contacting me and giving me the chance to settle. I also did not lose my cool with this asshole & never insinuated what was completely obvious. I had decided to not bother on trying to reclaim my money as it would cost me $20 to get back $15 which galled me. About a month ago however, my money order reappeared in my original envelope with "return to sender" written on it.

You can go one of two ways. File a complaint with eBay about not receiving your item. Put the onus on the seller to make good rather than be under the implication that you did not pay. Or, be reasonable & keep your cool with him and hope he returns your payment or sends you your item.
 
Toasted Almond said:
U.S. Postal Service investigators once called me regarding a scam artist from ebay. They do follow up on complaints, but perhaps only if there are more than one complainees.

My guy was obviously on a lot of people's badboy list. He was going to burn me over a $25 money order. After a month with no communication from him......

I was getting ready to go on a three day trip with the airplanes. I sent him a nice e-mail indicating I flew for a living, that I had his address in California (I didn't), and that it was only a matter of time before he came home to find me sitting at his front door. Oh, and for him to spend the $25 very wisely. The day I got home from the trip, the item was sitting in front of my door, Priority or next day mail, something like that. The investigators called me AFTER I had filed a complaint with ebay, USPS, and the thing had arrived. They were still interested because of the other complainants.

I wonder if I just invented new words, complainant and complainee?
Click to expand...

Not really, it is the same as if your wife kicks you out of the front door. You see she is the kicker & you are kickee, just another sad tale.
 
1) Not sure enough time has passed to cry foul.
2) If you didn't protect yourself by keeping the receipt to prove you sent the $$$, it's your word against his- and you lose. That's the cold, hard facts.
 
I work for the post office. If you know who the teller was and the date and approximate time you bought the money order, they can look up the serial number. Then you can take the serial number and see if it was cashed, just like a check.
 
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