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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

#211

Post by electriclove »

mikeash wrote: 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…

Both Amazon and Ebay make huge fees off this and really that is why they do it.

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

#212

Post by noncoml »

SXX wrote: post #208
noncoml wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This 100 times. I never buy from third-party sellers in Amazon, but I am having such a hard time explaining to friends and family how to do the same. They keep buying from third-party sellers and keep wondering how it is not "Amazon". I wish there was an option to set it once and never see third-party seller items again.

> I never buy from third-party sellers in Amazon Does it actually make any sense now? Wasn't it confirmed many times that Amazon just ship it to you from closest warehouse even if it's item by 3rd party seller?

AFAIK there are three kind of items:

1. Sold and shipped by Amazon

2. Sold by third-party, fulfilled by Amazon

3. Sold and shipped by third-party

I never buy (3) and generally avoid (2) when there is a possibility of counterfeit, but otherwise I agree with you (2) is fine.

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

#213

Post by vanviegen »

4ad wrote: post #161
giarc wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would need a credit card for each. Maybe they purchased fraudulent cards or this is the first of many scams on that account.

The same credit card can't be added to multiple accounts? Are you sure?

I actually tried that last week. It seemed to work at first, but a couple of minutes after ordering they sent me an email that they blocked my (second) account due to suspicion of fraud, and invited me to FAX THEM (I'm not making this shit up) a bunch of documents, and they'd get back to me in a couple of weeks or so... Well, fuck you too.

No details for the fraud scoring given, of course, but I'm guessing the dup credit card combined with an overseas delivery address must have done the trick.

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

#214

Post by iamleppert »

It's a prime example of what happens when you deal with a large company with reps who are not empowered to think for themselves, and often times are incapable of doing anything other than following a very rigid process, and have extreme apathy.

I had a similar experience with NewEgg. In these cases it is sometimes helpful to use LinkedIn and contact people high-up in the company (Directors and Sr. Managers). Send them an inMail, it goes directly to their personal e-mail in many cases.

In several instances, contact like this via LinkedIn has helped me. Other than that, don't waste your time and just file a charge-back.

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

#215

Post by chaoticmass »

I don't get how this could happen. I used to sell on eBay and PayPal was very strict about only shipping items to the address given to me on the PayPal payment. A way I'd been scammed as a seller was when the buyer asked me to ship an item to their work address. I complied, and then the buyer did a paypal dispute saying they never received the item, and I automatically lost the dispute because I didn't ship to the address on the payment. I just don't see how Amazon isn't siding with the customer in this case.

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

#216

Post by Jemmeh »

ransom1538 wrote: post #152

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…

I would guess a large part of the issue is these sellers are often not even in the USA so probably a bit of legal hoops to jump through. There's also an issue of manpower to track all of these scammers down-- there's a lot of them after all.

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

#217

Post by dz1 »

deft wrote: post #5

These amazon emails literally look like automatic mails with a small custom message on top. He stated multiple times that what they said was WRONG yet no one bothered to listen to that part. If I was the author or if this ever happens to me, I'll go directly to disputing the charge.

happened with paypal too for me. looks like all these systems are wired the same.

1. ordered an item off http://henpilab.com/graco-pack-n-play-on-the-go-playard-go-g... using paypal

2. no shipping for a week. emailed seller.

3. updated shipping info

4. track shipping says delivered to wrong address

5. open dispute with paypal saying delivered to wrong address and seller unresponsive.

6. paypal immediately closes dispute saying we are not able to resolve on your behalf since it shows shipment is already delivered.

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

#218

Post by partiallypro »

mikeash wrote: 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…

So much this, but I think Amazon could still allow outside sellers through some sort of verification. I honestly often by from ebay with a high seller rating than an Amazon seller that has no transparency. Amazon needs to figure out a way to get sellers verified and rated better.

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

#219

Post by adrr »

ransom1538 wrote: post #175
giarc wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's very trivial to signup for a online bank account with a stolen identity. FBI won't get involved in the case unless it's over 150k in losses and local police don't have skills or desire to do anything online.

Source: work for an online bank

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

#220

Post by ransom1538 »

adrr wrote: post #219
ransom1538 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's very trivial to signup for a online bank account with a stolen identity. FBI won't get involved in the case unless it's over 150k in losses and local police don't have skills or desire to do anything online. Source: work for an online bank

Yes. I agree. The best way to get away with mail fraud is to hope the feds don't care. I also believe it seems from a bank employees perspective is they all get away with it. However, the jails are full.

The problem is these guys repeat offend. If they just got $1500 - they would be fine. But they wont. They will repeat until they clear 150k. That is a life sentence. This is why the federal jails are full of drug traffickers. Drug trafficking is a lifestyle - they can't stop.

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