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I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

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Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

#171
post #26

I'm wondering more and more why Amazon hosts third-party sellers at all. They dilute the Amazon brand to a tremendous degree. It used to be that buying from Amazon meant a certain level of quality and service. Now there are really two Amazons: the old one, and a new one that's basically a shitty version of eBay. I have to go out of my way to avoid these crappy third-party sellers when I'm searching for stuff on Amazo…

Amazon cannot stock everything. 3p sellers exist because they are more efficient than Amazon in their specific niches.

Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

#173
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree wholeheartedly. I’ve also been scammed by a third-party Amazon seller, and I half-wonder if they continue to allow third-party sellers as a way to further promote Amazon Prime — when you’re on Prime, you can simply filter out all non-Prime items. You know in your head you don’t have to deal with all the extraneous, spammy crap associated with non-Prime purchases.

Many third-party sellers are included under Prime though.

But presumably Amazon wouldn't send an empty box to the wrong address through Prime. You still have to worry about commingling, but it is still much better than straight third-party sales.

Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

#174

filing the chargeback is a good idea... but also, the sender made a critical mistake sending it usps.. that makes it mail fraud. Talk to the US Postal Inspection Service, it's a branch of law enforcement, and I'm sure they would be very interested with all of the evidence youve collected. They can cross state lines and arrest the sender. https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/

Slightly off-topic, but for a good bit of fun on the USPIS, you should watch the TV Show "The Detour" ;-)

Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

#175
post #160

Why do people do mail fraud? While mail fraud crimes often involve the use of the United States Postal Service, or USPS, you can also commit the crime when you use any interstate carrier, such as FedEx, UPS, or other delivery services. Mail fraud is super easy to prove [prints on box, cameras at fedex offices, credit cards used for materials, amazon accounts, logged ips, bank accounts involved, federal authority] and…

It's probably hard to track the seller. They can use a fake email, illegally obtained credit card to sign up, PO box or just some random address, drop off packages to FedEx drop boxes or just drop ship an item. They may never even touch the packages.

Uh. No. If I were a federal officer I would just contact amazon and find out where the money went. Paypal or Bank account - game over. Contact whatever bank he picks it up from get security camera details, address info, on and on. I would also grab all the ips, entered in info and the prints from the box. I bet he would be in my office by lunch. Plea dealed to 5 years by monday.

Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

#176

filing the chargeback is a good idea... but also, the sender made a critical mistake sending it usps.. that makes it mail fraud. Talk to the US Postal Inspection Service, it's a branch of law enforcement, and I'm sure they would be very interested with all of the evidence youve collected. They can cross state lines and arrest the sender. https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/

This! They have just committed mail fraud and since they thought they were hidden behind amazon, all it takes is one postal inspector to request the banking details of the payout and now there is a person on the hook. You've already done the legwork. Take this to the proper authorities.

is it mail fraud because they used a bogus return address?

Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

#177
It was not signed for.

There are many dispositions once usps presses delivered. One is "to an individual at address" that is what i interpret - not signed.

Some other dispositions: at or by box, other or garage, office, (there are many more)

So the usps carrier pressed 4 - individual at address. He she handed it to someone.

Also, the exact gps coordinate of the initial scan is recorded. So the carrier scans the amazon box... That time&location is address knowing. In fact, the usps can turn on a feature that tells the carrier "you are more than 200(some distance) away from the address" this is used primarily when sunday newbies are delivering.

It sounds like amazon does not receive all the data collected from the carriers handheld. Also, there can be multiple dispositions for a parcel. Like "damaged" and delivered.

Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

#178

Email jeff@amazon.com. I've done it a few times before when Amazon really messed up. I got a call back in less than 24 hours and my problem was solved. [Edit: read the article again, it seems he did :) ]

If you read the article, he did, someone got back to him on his behalf and it did not resolve his problem.

Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

#179

What? As someone who's sold on Amazon, all the buyer had to do was _cough_ and they were given a full refund with absolutely no obligation to ship the item back. Something's not being told here.

Out of curiosity, have you sold items in the 1000+ price range?
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