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After being scammed a few times I would like to help people out in getting their money back or atleast being heard in order to stop the careless sellers here on Ebay.
1.)
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5.)
Depending on which state you live in
Lastly, as a sixth step, you can contact the FBI's Cyber Crime unit. This is the last and most serious step you can take. It is often for larger cases above $10,000 but you can still file a complaint in order to get your voice heard higher up on the food chain of law enforcement.
Internet Crime Complaint Center is the place to go to file a complaint if you have been scammed.
For these two Internet Fraud Unit, go to Google or any other search engine and type FBI Internet Fraud Division. You will find these two websites immediately at the top.
A few tips to avoid getting scammed. Always be aware of the dangers of internet commerce, this may sound simple and unhelpful but if you questioned everything you would be better off. Be suspicious of odd behavior. If a seller only accepts cash, check out there feedback and expect a very high standard. Do not do business with seller that have many complaints and still maintain a 98% FB. Why? The risk is too high. Businesses can expect to have 1% of business go bad for one reason or another. But not double that!
As a powerseller, I make mistake in transaction and do my best to fix any problems. Some people do not take the necessary steps to complain to a seller in order to get their attention. If you just voice your situation you will see if the seller cares or NOT. Things happen and mistakes are made, but if you see that a lot of people have trouble communicating with the seller or receiving lower quality items with no return or refund, then stay away! Of course these sellers have 99% feedback rating, they do enough transaction so that their mistakes matter less.
Remember if it's too good to be true...it probably is!
1.)
File a written complaint to Ebay. This can be in the form of a letter or email. The important thing is that you inform Ebay to acknowledge the problem and you, as a customer.
You can officially report a member but if the descriptions doesn't fit your situation, keep trying. Write Ebay! This makes a difference when you actually write a letter. You would be surprised the impact of a letter and the indifference of an email.
2.)
Second, this should be first, but attempt to get your money back. I think you should complain to Ebay first, because they track this data although, you may not get them to actually fix your case but it will make a difference in the end. Like voting in a national election, every piece of data counts.
If you paid by credit card, file a dispute. Disputes are usually very easy to file with your CC, but harder to win if you don't have all the paperwork. You need evidence of your transaction, proof of purchase and any detail found in the auction that you believe are misleading. In some cases as a buyer, you have very good protection, it is the seller that must bear proof of burden. The credit card companies are helpful if you call because they REALLY want to keep your business. Always pay with a credit card if you are weary of the purchase...because you can ALWAYS get it back if you get scammed. However, if you paid via check you may not be able to get a refund, but atleast you have a record and can take the next steps. If you paid via cash, you may be out of luck of ever recovering your money, however, you can still issue complaints although if there is no record of payment you may have less leverage.
3.)
Most important you need to contact the District Attorney in the county of the address of whom you think you have been scammed. This sets off flags to the LOCAL authorities that there is someone within their area that is breaking the law. If you live an area that actively pursues these cases, then you may be in luck. Some counties have special division or task forces set out to enforce internet commerce.
4.)
After that, contact the local police with written letters. Phone calls usually don't work, and end up in endless rerouting of a call and lots of dead ends. Send a letter, then it gets sent to the right person. This is similar to writing the DA, but in this case you are trying to spread out your case to different divisions. Contact as many departments as possible, often these departments do not communicate with one another and taking a spread shot approach can often be successful.
5.)
Lastly, contact your State Consumer Division and file a formal complaint. This will be your last line of defense on a local level because this creates open complaints in a database of the company or person. If it is a business, then they will have to deal with the complaints OR have a tarnished record. Perhaps even legal liability!
Depending on which state you live in
Lastly, as a sixth step, you can contact the FBI's Cyber Crime unit. This is the last and most serious step you can take. It is often for larger cases above $10,000 but you can still file a complaint in order to get your voice heard higher up on the food chain of law enforcement.
Internet Crime Complaint Center is the place to go to file a complaint if you have been scammed.
For these two Internet Fraud Unit, go to Google or any other search engine and type FBI Internet Fraud Division. You will find these two websites immediately at the top.
A few tips to avoid getting scammed. Always be aware of the dangers of internet commerce, this may sound simple and unhelpful but if you questioned everything you would be better off. Be suspicious of odd behavior. If a seller only accepts cash, check out there feedback and expect a very high standard. Do not do business with seller that have many complaints and still maintain a 98% FB. Why? The risk is too high. Businesses can expect to have 1% of business go bad for one reason or another. But not double that!
As a powerseller, I make mistake in transaction and do my best to fix any problems. Some people do not take the necessary steps to complain to a seller in order to get their attention. If you just voice your situation you will see if the seller cares or NOT. Things happen and mistakes are made, but if you see that a lot of people have trouble communicating with the seller or receiving lower quality items with no return or refund, then stay away! Of course these sellers have 99% feedback rating, they do enough transaction so that their mistakes matter less.
Remember if it's too good to be true...it probably is!
Guide created: 07/28/07 (updated 01/11/09)
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