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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

#251

Post by KGIII »

ryandrake wrote: post #210
simcop2387 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One potential problem with that is that Amazon can retaliate by closing the users's account if they didn't agree with the charge-back even if they're unsuccessful at fighting it. That can be really difficult to deal with if you're also using AWS for hosting or other things.

Whenever I see comments about how "Company XYZ deleted my account after I issued a charge-back!" I ask: Why would one want to continue doing business with a company that made you issue a charge-back? Charge-back is pretty much the nuclear option of last resort when you have exhausted all avenues of redress. You're basically doing it to get your money back and "salt the earth" as you leave. I've done a few charge-back…

I frequently see people suggest a chargeback as the first option. I have seen people suggest it instead of even trying for an RMA. I have seen it suggested for delayed delivery.

I have no idea about the frequency, but I have reason to suspect some are quite frivolous.

Like you, I believe it should be the last option. I'm just not sure that we are the majority.

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

#252

Post by wolfd »

I had something similar happen about a year ago and it was a really bad time. I purchased some hard drives from a third-party seller (claimed as new, seemed reasonable in price, but huge mistake in hindsight, I know), and they arrived fine. The problem was, the hard drives were not what I ordered, and were almost certainly used (scratched up a lot).

I requested a return, and had the seller provide me a shipping label, I sent them back, and never got my money back. The tracking showed that the package was delivered, but because the seller had provided me a label that didn't require a signature, Amazon said they wouldn't give me my money back, as the seller said they hadn't received the item.

At this point, I left the seller a review saying what had happened to me, and a few days later, I visited the seller's page, and noticed that my review was gone.

Not only does Amazon provide really shoddy support for people that have been scammed, they actually help protect the scammers in a way, by allowing sellers to remove a couple bad reviews from their page every month.

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

#253

Post by curun1r »

haburka wrote: post #192
softwarefounder wrote: post #12

I like how this list is zero-indexed.

Liking zero indexed lists is such a dumb programmer meme. Lists are for humans to read and therefore should use the natural numbers, which start at one. Arrays are zero indexed because the first item of the array starts with zero offset.

And it's because of dumb non-programmers that we have 12am immediately following 11pm. If we were to, instead, recognize the beginning/middle of the day as 0, the am/pm transitions would be sensible.

Starting at 0 is almost always correct, teaching people to start counting at 1 isn't. Why do we continually come up with convoluted workarounds simply because we educate children incorrectly?

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

#254

Post by KGIII »

ztjio wrote: post #244
KGIII wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lana is usually a female name, isn't it? Not that it much matters, they still appear to be jerks.

It's common in white collar crime/social engineering schemes to use female names regardless of the criminal's gender as socially people are less suspicious of women, for whatever reason.

That's probably true, though I'm not sure that's enough to assume the gender of the offending party.

Tangentially related, and not white collar, I once had a car stolen by a female. No damage was done and, being a silly old man, I didn't press charges. I was kinda surprised that it was done by a female.

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

#255

Post by syshum »

georgemcbay wrote: post #133
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 wish there was an option to set it once and never see third-party seller items again." This is my biggest issue by far as a customer of Amazon. I have zero interest in buying anything off Amazon that isn't Amazon fulfilled with Prime shipping because virtually 100% of the reason I use Amazon is the quick, predictable shipping. While they do have various filters to show only prime-listed stuff in search results, th…

>My enjoyment of using Amazon as a buyer would increase by like 100% if I could just tell it to act like anything not available through Prime just doesn't exist to me.

So you check mark the little box on the left that say "Prime" and it removes all non-prime listings...

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

#256

Post by wfunction »

rgbrenner wrote: post #7

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/

Would they pursue something like counterfeit software licenses or gift cards mailed via USPS, if the scale isn't as large (like <$100)? Asking since it's happened to me on smaller scales before, but the amount is smaller and I'm not sure how to prove I received whatever I received...

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

#257

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#258

Post by wfunction »

_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #6

The only way I've got problems solved with Amazon is going to the police and let them sort it out. Worked every time. Amazon was in now way responsive or helpful before I've got the police involved.

What I would be afraid of is if these folks work in groups and they hear about the one guy who dared to go after them. Then you might get one of them arrested but your life might be under threat from a dozen others. Is it really worth it?

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

#259

Post by ufukbay »

This is one of the main reasons I avoid buying anything from Marketplace sellers on Amazon. One can argue if it is right or wrong but you can't expect the same level of service which you are used from Amazon for Marketplace sellers.

Couple times I ordered something without double checking that it is sold and delivered by Amazon and had nothing but trouble. I’m sure there are honest Marketplace sellers as well but I just can’t be bothered.

I hope that the OP gets his money back.

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

#260

Post by mulmen »

syshum wrote: post #255
georgemcbay wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I wish there was an option to set it once and never see third-party seller items again." This is my biggest issue by far as a customer of Amazon. I have zero interest in buying anything off Amazon that isn't Amazon fulfilled with Prime shipping because virtually 100% of the reason I use Amazon is the quick, predictable shipping. While they do have various filters to show only prime-listed stuff in search results, th…

>My enjoyment of using Amazon as a buyer would increase by like 100% if I could just tell it to act like anything not available through Prime just doesn't exist to me. So you check mark the little box on the left that say "Prime" and it removes all non-prime listings...

That doesn't take availability into account.

Checking "Prime" includes only those listings that are prime. It does not remove non-prime listings.

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