Victim of Paypal fraud....but being treated as the criminal

[LShields]

hi there,

i really really need help/advice.

 

2 months ago i sold an item on ebay and after a few days found a buyer for my item. the buyer wanted to use Paypal as method of payment, to which i agreed to as i thought that would protect me.

so they paid the amount into our paypal account and we transferred the money into a bank account as soon as it was clear and i sent the item special delievery to them, and even have a tracking number as proof. the afternoon of me sending the item the buyer reversed the payment through paypal and claimed they never recieved the item and now paypal are chasing me for the money for the item!!

we contacted the police and they agree with us that we should not be the ones to pay this money to paypal as we are the victims of fraud. even paypal themselves admitted that the buyer used a STOLEN credit card to buy the item from me. but they have sent debt collectors after us and are demanding we pay them!!

 

i am at the end of my rope and this is causing so much stress. the amount they want is £300, which may not be a lot to some but to me and my partner it is a lot of money which we cannot afford to pay, and we cannot afford a solicitor to sort this out for us.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

[dantheaxeman]

paypal took the fraudulent payment, they say they have fraud protection and transaction screening as should the bank that issued the card. By making the payment, they have effectively verified it as authentic, its what they do

[locutus]

Dealing with debt collectors is simple. Ignore them or find the "disputed debt" letter in the templates.

 

Keep complaining to paypal. Try [email protected] and see if they can sort this for you.

[andydd]

Ok..did you have any money in your Paypal account ?. Did they take anything ?. Do you have a debit card/bank account linked to your paypal account ?

 

If you answer no to the above then there is little to worry about, Paypal never pursue these matters further than a few threatenening DCA letters, which can be ignored, they wont take legal action as they know they may well lose.

 

The trouble is that Paypal account is now screwed and so might be a linked Ebay account, you can open new ones if youre clever but it is against the T & C's, so ignore Paypal, they are idiots, your main problem is that now you are out of pocket and need to recoup the £300 pounds.

 

Do you know if the PP account was hacked or if it was a legit account but with a stolen card, if so, I dont see how you can add a stolen/fake card to your account.

 

Andy

[LShields]

hi andy.

 

no there was no money in the paypal account, but the buyer managed to reverse the transaction so it is now sitting at -£300. the paypal account is linked to a bank account but that wasnt affected by the reversal, it has, as you said, caused ebay to block our account with them.

the debt collectors have now passed our case into a solicitor and they have given us 7 days to pay them the money (plus their legal charges).

i have sent a strongly worded letter to the solicitor stating the case, included copies of all the evidence i have which proves my innocence but havent heard back from them.

 

this is such a nightmare!!

[LShields]

sadly i cannot ignore it any more as the debt collectors have passed us on to a solicitor who have started tagging on legal fees to the amount we 'owe'.

[hightail]

You need to let people on here know which solicitors. Many debt collection agencies have agreements with solicitors to use their name on correspondence. What you probably have is the next letter in a known sequence designed to frighten you into paying - and it's working. Have a look in the debt collection industry section of this forum. Chances are you'll see some familiar letterheads and good advice from caggers.

[LShields]

the solicitors are called Geoffery Parker Bourne, in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

yes they are scaring me but there is no way im paying them, i A-dnt have the money, and B-i shouldnt have to.

just dunno how to get it resolved.

[sillygirl1]

GPB are 'solicitors for rent' who try to make money from chasing dubious debts.... they can be reported to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority for adding all their fees - it is called 'speculative invoicing' and is frowned upon (at long last).

 

They are one of a number of 'solicitors for rent' dealing in debt collecting only and if they tried to take you to court your defence would be sounder than their alleged case.

[LShields]

Do you know if the PP account was hacked or if it was a legit account but with a stolen card, if so, I dont see how you can add a stolen/fake card to your account.

 

Andy

 

i do not know if it was a legit account but paypal said the purchase of my item was made on a stolen credit card.

[LShields]

GPB are 'solicitors for rent' who try to make money from chasing dubious debts.... they can be reported to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority for adding all their fees - it is called 'speculative invoicing' and is frowned upon (at long last).

 

They are one of a number of 'solicitors for rent' dealing in debt collecting only and if they tried to take you to court your defence would be sounder than their alleged case.

 

thats interesting to know. i guess i really wanna know if they are gonna take me to court? will ignoring them make it go away? seems like ignoring it wnt help my credit rating ?

[andydd]

Whast are you worried about...?.., Debt Collectors have no more power than you or I, so they have a solicitor who is adding on fees..so what ?..let them, they wont do anything about it..AND more importantly you would have a very strong case. I have had the same threats 2 or 3 times, they'll soon give up..but you'll get a few threatening letters.

 

Either ignore them or reply saying that you do not owe Paypal a penny and that should it go to court you will seek to recover maximum costs (although the reality is that as it would be a small calim, the costs would be very limited).

 

The 'net (and this site) is awash with Paypal disputes, the problem is that PP's T&C's dont really follow current law.

 

Interestingly I was readiong some of PP's T&C's last night reagrding fraud and it may will be that you arnt responsible although its not very clear, PP give pl;enty of so called 'tips' to avoid fraud but most of them are pathetic, you would appear to have done everyone PP require but to no avail.

 

Good luck..come back here if you have any questions or need support.

 

Andy

[scouserden]

My PayPal account has been hacked, proving it is not as secure as PayPal say. I had £1000 removed in two separate payments. Aaron McGruder was the first one and aidan galbrait was the second one. Both on the same day. I only found out when I went to get fuel and my card was declined. I immediately contacted my bank and had them look at it. They told me they were both paypal payments. I had not authorised them. The fraud department agreed they were not authorised and refunded my money. However, Paypal took the amount out again within 12 hours. I had my card stopped immediately and recalled the funds. I found those two names above when I checked my PAYPAL account. If LIEPAL want to refund me they are welcome to do so. Do not believe LIEPAL, it is not 100%

[gecouger]

I sold an item on ebay, my buyer paid £7.50 for it, then admitted by email she had made a mistake and didnt want it, she then claimed 30 days later that her card had been stolen, and the thief posing as her went on ebay and bought a childs swing (my item) then posed as her again to email me regarding postage, paypal who are owned by ebay refunded her the £7.50, then charged me £14.00 to cover the card issuers costs! I immeadiatley cancelled all conections between my bank and paypal so they couldnt take any funds, read the small print before you use them, if you want to sell on ebay you have to offer paypal because like i said ebay own them and want the fees, if you buy on ebay pay by cheque, paypal is not safe.

[Legislation]

...if you want to sell on ebay you have to offer paypal because like i said ebay own them and want the fees, if you buy on ebay pay by cheque, paypal is not safe.

 

Sellers on ebay.de don't have to offer Paypal. There are lots of auctions where a bank transfer is the only accepted method and they think you are mad to pay a fee to Paypal, a lot of trouble and expense for nothing.

[sillygirl1]

I have a separate bank account and email address for Paypal, somebody did try to do £800 by setting up a new account and IMMEDIATELY transferring money to somebody, but Paypal picked up on this, I had a call and an email with a code to quote and I got a crime number for this too - haven't heard anything else.

 

Best advice is use a different bank account for online transactions and transfer money into it for them, and use a different email address. Works for me. The bank account usually has 40p in it so if anyone did try and get anything out they would be very disappointed.

[Legislation]

A Paypal account is a different bank account for online transactions.

 

Paypal is a bank.

 

Elsewhere in Europe a buyer would use his own ordinary bank account to buy from eBay or anywhere else online and would not think twice about it, with none of the anxiety, insecurity and needless expense so typical of Paypal "protection".

[andydd]

I have a separate bank account and email address for Paypal, somebody did try to do £800 by setting up a new account and IMMEDIATELY transferring money to somebody, but Paypal picked up on this, I had a call and an email with a code to quote and I got a crime number for this too - haven't heard anything else.

 

Best advice is use a different bank account for online transactions and transfer money into it for them, and use a different email address. Works for me. The bank account usually has 40p in it so if anyone did try and get anything out they would be very disappointed.

 

Yeah me too..I only use it to withdraw money from Paypal.

 

It only ever has a few pence in it.

 

Andy