Verbally threatened by a scam seller!
By pooja30
@pooja30 (203)
India
June 6, 2010 7:29am CST
I recently won a bid on an item on ebay, and I made a prompt payment to the guy the same day, and since it was a pretty big amount, I was anxious about receiving the product on time. The seller didn't get in touch with me at all, and didn't respond to any of my emails or texts or phone calls until the day before I was due to get an automatic refund from the system. Since this deal happened almost a month ago, I found a similar item on ebay, from a different more reputed seller, and purchased it when I got my money back from the system. The second seller was much more forthcoming, and initiated all contact with me, and I've had no problems with him till date.
The first seller kept trying to con me into buying the product, by getting me to deposit money directly into his account, with no way to get a refund if the product didn't arrive. And by that time, it had become pretty clear that he was a scam artist who had done the same thing atleast five other buyers. So I started ignoring his calls, and today he sent me the most appalling texts, saying that if he ever saw me on ebay again, he'd screw me over, and that I was horribly cheap and that I should focus on my life instead of "messing around" on ebay. I was completely terrified by these texts and even though I didn't reply to any of them, I'm so scared he might try to pull something, because he has my home address from the previous transaction.
Is there any way that I can report him to somebody? There's nothing in the ebay Help section about reporting a fraud, and it's not funny how scared I am about something happening. I don't know what to do! :(
1 person likes this
8 responses
@Comagirl (146)
• Spain
6 Jun 10
I would take this straight to the police. It's evidently harrasment in any jurisdiction. Keep copies of every bit of correspondence, every message, and diarise (make a dated note) of any telephone or text contact, and copy eBay's fraud team on any action.
I hope you manage to resolve this successfully, it must be a horrible experience to be treated like this, take care.
1 person likes this
@pooja30 (203)
• India
6 Jun 10
Thank you so much. Yes it was incredibly unpleasant, and extremely unexpected, which I guess was naive of me. I'm a little paranoid about going to the police with something like this, I'm worried they might laugh and throw me out. Hopefully it won't happen again.
1 person likes this
@mario_stevens (6971)
• Malaysia
8 Jun 10
i doubt that you'd have anything to be afraid of. from experience, most of the scammers who 'act' all tough are just that, they're acting tough. just because we can't see them. but most of them are cowards who can't even back up what their threats. they just like to use a lot of big words to get us all upset and bow down to their almighty online powers.. 
@mario_stevens (6971)
• Malaysia
9 Jun 10
scammers and bullies are almost alike.. they usually can't back up the talk 
@pooja30 (203)
• India
8 Jun 10
Aw, yeah it took me a few days to figure that out. I was so freaked out, I actually couldn't sleep. But I haven't heard a single thing from them since the other day, so I'm so glad all he turned out to be was a big talker. Did he hope I'd be so freaked out that I'd pay him to stop being horrible? I suppose that it is a possibility, but still. Thanks though :)
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
7 Jun 10
I would be very surprised if this happened, so I don't think you're being naive.
I think you should report this though. Odds are good that that this seller is just a big talker, but they shouldn't be threatening you or anybody else.
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
7 Jun 10
Hi, pooja30. Contact ebay about his threats and send them a copy of his message that he wrote to you. I understand what you mean. He can't get mad because you did not want to buy from him. He is a lousy seller!
I would be careful if I was you. I know that you are scared, but don't let him scare you! That is why I don't really like giving out my street address. I would rather give out my PO Box address. This man really needs to leave you alone. Contact ebay about this and let them be aware of what this creep is trying to do to you!
And if you have to, change your cell phone number too.
I would be careful if I was you. I know that you are scared, but don't let him scare you! That is why I don't really like giving out my street address. I would rather give out my PO Box address. This man really needs to leave you alone. Contact ebay about this and let them be aware of what this creep is trying to do to you! And if you have to, change your cell phone number too.@pooja30 (203)
• India
8 Jun 10
I've contacted ebay and asked them to close my account. Even if this was just a one-time thing, which I'm assuming it was, I'd rather not stick around on the site. Somehow the experience just put me off completely. I'd rather just buy whatever I want from a store, where I can't get threatened if something goes wrong! Thanks so much for the help though :)
@kaylachan (69646)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
7 Jun 10
Ebay should have a fraud department, I just don't know where it is. Also, you can take down the information and report the case to your local police station. Most stations have a cyber crime unit. But, I can't advise you anymore. Though I am sorry this happened to you.
@KathysLaw (77)
• United States
8 Jun 10
I've been shopping on ebay for wuite sometime now and sold too! If a seller don't accecpt paypal don't buy! is one of my rules! second the seller must have at least 20 positive comments and thye months spread out! These are rules I follow. IS prefer that you buy from a power seller! But, just beaware there are many con artist that con people for living!
Good luck,
Kathy
@pooja30 (203)
• India
8 Jun 10
Unfortunately, here the mode of payment is an Indianised version of PayPal, which is a lot more unreliable, and a lot of sellers don't have a choice in what kind of payment they can accept, and all these sellers seem to have a problem with this payment plan. I try to follow the same rules as you do, but I was so restricted in terms of choice, and I had no idea at the time that I could use the same ID to shop in the US eBay shop too. So I ended up with all my money locked in a transaction that was going nowhere, and the same product on eBay US for like half the price from power sellers with 999 positive feedback comments. Needless to say, I felt insanely stupid and am now giving up on eBay, lol!
Thanks for the tip though, I really appreciate it :)
@burrito88 (2774)
• United States
6 Jun 10
If you still have his texts, you should foward them to e-Bay and also the police if he is in India. (In the US, making threats is a crime.) If he is inIndia and continues to call you, check to see if your phone company can put a trace on your phone line. This would allow the phone company to identify who is making the calls and then they can take action against him. Here, again, Internet scams are considered fraud and are handle through the postal service. You should check to see what government agency handles that in your country. If he is not in India, you can only work through eBay but I am sure they will cancel his account. Unless you are selling items on eBay, I don't think there is much he can do to you. You can also use a filter on your email account to stop getting his emails.
@pooja30 (203)
• India
6 Jun 10
Unfortunately, I was so disgusted with the nature of the texts that I deleted them without thinking or replying to any of them. I realise now that that was a really stupid thing to do. I've looked into blocking his various phone numbers, and my phone service provider has been very helpful. And I'm not sure on what the prodecure is here for taking action again internet scammers, but if something like this happens again, from him especially, then I'm definitely going to the police, paranoia aside. I'm not really worried about what damage he could do to my ebay account, but I am very worried about the fact that he has my home address. Hopefully it'll get resolved without any further nastiness. Thanks so much for your help!
@kengoshika (186)
• Japan
9 Jun 10
Man that is scary, one of the reason why its kind of freaky to put up your home address. It feels like you let a stranger into your home. The best thing you can probably do is contact the police if something occurs.
