I am writing this in hopes of saving other members the same issue and grief I've just experienced on eBay.
I've been scammed by buyers on eBay claiming that their account usage was unauthorized. This is both with eBay and PayPal. I sold 300,000 Dogecoins in 100,000 coin lots. I sold a penny and included the Dogecoins for free to avoid eBay from killing my auction. All 3 of the auction purchases have been scams. They have claimed unauthorized use of their eBay account and unauthorized use of their PayPal account.
All 3 of the sales happened within an hour of one another and all had similar features. I ignored my gut because the feedback ratings of the buyer was pretty significant. All 3 asked for an invoice, which is unusual. I've been selling on eBay a long time and very seldom do people ask for an invoice, they buy, then hit pay now and it's done. I ignored this coincidence because of the feedback ratings, again at my peril. All three were buyers from the UK.
It started like this:
Buyer asks for invoice.
I send one
Immediate response with Dogecoin payment address
Payment through PayPal
Everything looks good right? not so fast..
I send the coins and shortly after I get this message from eBay
Our records show that you recently contacted or received messages from eBayuserid through eBay's messaging system. This account was recently found to have been accessed by an unauthorized third party, who may have used the account in an attempt to defraud other members.
We've taken action to restore this account to the original owner, but wanted to let you know to be suspicious of any communication you may have received from them. Nothing is wrong with your account at this time – this message is just being sent as a precaution. If you have received any messages from ebayuserid that appears suspicious, please feel free to forward them to us at spoof@ebay.com for review. This PayPal payment has yet to be reversed, but I expect it's only a matter of time before it is.
The second transaction was reversed when the buyer claimed that their PayPal account was used by an un authorized person to pay the auction that was bid on using their account, this is basically the same thing that happened with the third transaction also.
PayPal reversed all withdrawals and has put all of the transactions on hold.
I sent all of them a small random amount to confirm the address and they all replied through eBay messaging the amount they received and I sent the coins.
In talking to a PayPal representative they said that if I sent the penny with a signature required that it would be covered by the seller protection offered by eBay and PayPal, so I sent off the pennies. I provided PayPal with the tracking numbers today and discovered in my conversation with them today and was told that because the transaction included ctyptocurrency that the transaction would NOT be covered by their seller protection plan. I complained and told them that a PayPal representative told me that if I sent the coin signature required (because it's over $250.00) I would be covered. So now I've spent an extra $45.00 to get the signatures only to find out I'm not covered? They offered and have paid for the shipping which wasn't a lot, but was better than getting shafted yet again.
I hope this helps others avoid getting scammed on eBay selling their coins. It's not safe, it's not secure and I find it really disturbing that not 1 not 2, but 3 eBay accounts and the associated PayPal accounts were compromised. Sound secure to you?
If this has happened to you please chime in. I've contacted another eBay member with a similar sale, the item was removed by eBay after the "Buy It Now" and sure enough he's going through the same scam.
