I woke up this morning to 3 sales on Yahoo. I was on my laptop, so no immediate 'viewing' of the zip code (comes in the email, not available on the site).

So, I make coffee and head to my desktop. Open email, and there are 3 sold notifications (actually 6, as I get double of these on Yahoo).

No zip code, so I KNOW it's International. I decide to check the email address in ebaY (if not existing, I then can determine my chances of getting paid).

Open up Paypal, and there is a $200 payment. No clue what for, and still on my first cup of coffee...

So - look at it, and it's for the 3 items sold on Yahoo, the user wants it shipped to Nigeria, and the sender is 'confirmed'.

So - back to the end of auction message - check the email address. Of course, it's different than the one that came from Paypal.

Then, I look at the email address on the Paypal notification to me - it's different than the one in Paypal -

I chug my coffee at this point, and ponder - what to do.

My first issue - I will not ship to Nigeria. Usually, we get that tip off well before payment tho.

My first conclusion - a user bid fraudulently on Yahoo. OK - happens all the time - NPB.

Then, the same user gained access to someone's Paypal account, and sent me money.

Then the same user changed the email address - or changed it to send to me, then changed it back?

Of course, I spend 45 mins. at Paypal trying to determine what to do...no information, as they surely wouldn't help us sellers try to spot hijacked accounts, and give us directions as to how to handle it.

I've already taken action, but - what would you do?

Did you actually HAVE a payment at PayPal ??

Sometimes they send these emails that look like the PP "you've got cash" emails, but when you go to your account there is nothing there. They hope that you will just send before you actually check your account.

But concidering that nothing matches, I would NOT send just yet. I would get on the phone with PP and have them check all the accounts. That's way too much to lose on a chargeback for "unauthorized use".

BTW, I'm pretty sure that PP does NOT do business in Nigeria.

OK I re-read and it looks like you do have something in PP. I still wouldn't send as it will likely come back to haunt you.

Too bad. We'd all like to see a nice order like that if it was for real.

Carol

Carol - yes....there was $200 (less fees) sitting in my PP account.

To add to the story - I did get a response from PP with a form letter that really had nothing to do with the above scenario or even with what I wrote to them -

But of course. I think they just use a dart board for those email responses. That makes about as much sense as some of the emails.

I don't have the phone number, but I've heard that you do get a bit better phone support at PP than the nothing from eBay.

Carol

This is a Nigerian scam, been going on for a while in the UK, they are stolen/cloned credit or debit cards and the funds always get claimed back ….items shipped are then sold on for cash/or sold again on Ebay from European accounts

Be very careful...refund and walk away very quickly...Paypal link these accounts and freeze them (yours...not theirs)

i dont see nigeria on their list of supported countries. i remember being on an auction site which banned only 2 countries...& one of em was nigeria.

Hey all:

Nothing 'formal back from PP', and I was hopeful they would 'give it some attention'....

However, my 'buyer' did make contact and suggested they had sent the $200 to cover and the 'extra' was for extra product and they really needed me to send the items...

I did respond, and gave them some 'bait' - looking for a bite!!

Here's 'what' I think really happened:

- A 'thief' or 'scammer' hijacked a PP account that was VERIFIED and had funds.

- The 'thief' did instant buys on my items.

- The 'thief' then sent over-payment to me from someone elses VERIFIED account.

- In both the PP note to me and a separate email, the 'thief' gave shipping information that is in Nigeria, and obviously is NOT the verified address.

- The PP account is UK account. It actually belongs to an employee or associate of a large company that is UK based.

- So - we are now 15+ hours into this (the purchase happened at about 11pm CST last night) and ...

- The victim (UK PP person) hasn't figured it out.
- Paypal may or may not be investigating.
- The 'thief' has most likely moved on - but dunno - haven't heard back yet.
- The payment has been refunded - was refunded by 7am CST.

This is a 'first' for me to actually receive payment - every other time, I get a purchase and then the song/dance messages about overpaying, Western Union, blah-blah-blah...

I'm actually shocked that -

- Paypal hasn't responded.
- The PP account owner hasn't 'figured it out' - they should have gotten notice of the refund at least.

Keep your paypal accounts zero'd folks, and be careful!!

Hey, if your TOS states no shipping to Nigeria... !!! I wouldn't do it.

A friend of mine sells on yahoo... has in his TOS, No shipping to Nigeria, no response of emails asking me to accept any other forms of payment besides what is stated.

AND THEY STILL DO IT!

Mo - my TOS just states for international shipping, a quote must first be requested.

I've not heard anymore from my scammer, nor have I heard anything from Paypal or the actual Paypal account owner. This concerns me - if I had money hanging out on the web, I would not ignore any messages related to my account!!! I don't get it....

Refund the payment and send a note to all concerned parties explaining that "Due to the Extremely Suspicous items associated with the transactions that you are sorry but you will not be able to follow though with those transactions unless you are sent an International Money Order that can be CASHED at a local facility in your area" or something along those lines.

If it's any help I got this from the forum at you know where, last year, hope they are still good!

For any questions about accounts, chargebacks, payment tracking, etc. here are the PayPal Customer Service numbers:

1-888-221-1161 (Toll Free for Business/Premier)
1-888-204-4481 (Toll Free for Business/Premier)
1-402-935-7733 (Personal Accounts)
1-402-935-2057 (Personal Accounts)

Thanks you all - I did refund the money, and sent a very detailed, extensive and long message to both Paypal and the 'real' Paypal account owner.

Now - perhaps they both thing I'm crazier than all-get-out - but....can you believe neither have contacted me for more information?

My 'scammer' went by-by - think I scared them when I suggested I had generated a refund. But - don't ya think these folks (PP more than the person) would want the added details I collected?

I'm not calling anyone - they wanna talk to me - I'll answer!!

I'm a bit surprised at PP not doing anything.

I guess I shouldn't be tho, knowing what kind of company owns/runs it.

I guess my PP account will be emptied a bit more often from now on. No sense risking any more than necessary.

Carol

Carol - I do tend to leave mine with less than $2 in it - dunno why - beyond 'this'. I do know that security issues can present themselves to a variety of different online sites. I am also very surprised that I've gotten 'nothing' from Paypal or the actual account owner.

I've seen a variety of 'things' in my time, and read so much here about fraud, scams, etc. - but this one....there is an obvious 'trail' that could be followed. I do know that PP and ebaY have tons of 'stuff' to deal with, but this IMO is decent size - $200 and...is traceable.

It's a darn shame that the WWW has become so 'scary' and fraud is so frequent.