Most of us by now have heard about the eBay second chance offer scam, various online phishing scams, and scams involving the stealing of photos and selling items that do not exist or are not in the seller’s possession. A different kind of scan is now becoming popular among some eBay crooks, Postal Invalid Tracking Scam. PITS Your first clue might be private feedback, or a seller listing several items and using the same photo in each of the listings. Be sure to look at past feedback comments to see if there is a history of missing items. Smarter scammers mix in some legitimate business with the scams to avoid detection by the authorities.

 I recently became a victim of an ingenious scam using PayPal, priority mail, and an invalid tracking number. When checking the tracking number online it show my package was delivered, when in fact different package was delivered somewhere, but not to me. In fact, United States Postal Service tracking numbers track only to the zip code in which they are delivered, not the exact address in which it was delivered. This makes it easier for the crook to get away with taking your money. I've even seen positive feedback left for a bad seller from a buyer who unsuspectingly thought their package was stolen from their mailbox. Others suspect wrongdoing but can't prove it. This scam was done on me when I was trying to buy a Verizon xv6800 pda cell phone. The same seller had IPhones listed along with other pda type cell phones. That particular seller actually delivered on some of their listings and therefore the seller's feedback rating was not horrible. However, looking through the feedback history there was some negative feedback from people who never received their items, but had USPS tracking numbers filed with PayPal. As of this writing, those buyers have not received a refund from PayPal through the dispute process because the seller provided an invalid tracking number that PayPal accepted as proof of delivery.

There is a big loophole in the USPS priority mail systems delivery confirmation process that PayPal investigators don't know about or possibly care about. USPS delivery confirmation tracks an item to the zip code in which it was supposed to be delivered, NOT to the exact address! During my investigation I spoke with the postman in our neighborhood …who did not remember delivering the package on the day it was supposed to arrive. The USPS online tracking website delivery time stamp was 12 20 PM and our mail is always delivered after 1PM, to me that was a first clue. I called the USPS inspector's office, and after a few tries, I found someone who cared enough to explain how the priority mail system works and is investigating the invalid tracking number. The real breakthrough came when I spoke with a supervisor in our local post office who informed me that a package with the same tracking number provided to PayPal for my package was delivered to an address about a mile away and within the same zip code. In this case, I was home at time of delivery and went to the mailbox right as the postman left my mailbox on the supposed delivery day. And because I know the postman in our area and made acquaintance with supervisors in the local post office was I absolutely sure a scam was in progress.

In conclusion, scammers using USPS priority mail and PayPal have a distinct advantage over their victims because PayPal accepts invalid tracking numbers as proof of delivery. If you suspect you might be getting scammed, USPS delivery confirmation is near worthless as proof of delivery. It might even cause harm because PayPal will deny a claim based on an invalid tracking number.