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OK, friend got scammed. any recourse?

Maganator
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Faz Faz
Nope...You need proof of delivery...So if you didn't require a signature from the recipient...SOL
I apologise - I appreciate you taking the time to respond but it's not clear to me what you're saying here.

I assume SOL means shit out of luck - does that mean that PayPal try and recover the money from the seller, once they have refunded the buyer.
 
Faz
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That's exactly it. If they can't take the amount in your PayPal account they will reverse the amount and send it to collections. So your account will be in the red until you pay up. If for an unfortunate reason you left the funds in your PayPal account...woosh! Your $$ is gone and the onus is on you to prove that the watch was sent/delivered..
Always keep you receipts and always keep a minimal balance in your PP account especillay when selling on Ebay where disputes are frequent...Buyer's remorse disguised as "not as described" being the #1 culprit.
 
WatchVaultNYC
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Faz Faz
Buyer's remorse disguised as "not as described"
Put it up there on a big red sign on top of a building
hihghlander.png

kM6luE.gif
 
Maganator
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Faz Faz
That's exactly it. If they can't take the amount in your PayPal account they will reverse the amount and send it to collections. So your account will be in the red until you pay up. If for an unfortunate reason you left the funds in your PayPal account...woosh! Your $$ is gone and the onus is on you to prove that the watch was sent/delivered..
Always keep you receipts and always keep a minimal balance in your PP account especillay when selling on Ebay where disputes are frequent...Buyer's remorse disguised as "not as described" being the #1 culprit.
Right. Gotcha - thanks

I'm hoping that this is all academic - but found out my mail room had not done as I had asked...

A nervous wait until it arrives (hopefully!)

Thanks again
 
MPWATCH
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Wires make it nearly impossible for the buyer to get those funds back. I've witnessed several scammers blatantly steal through a wire transfer and get away with it. Only wire with someone you trust! Better to have a middle man in the transaction like PP or WU so they can help you out when something like this happens. They definitely earn their percentage when you're the buyer, seller is a different story.
 
BlackTalon
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The difficulty here is many sellers on OF will only take wire transfers. If you are new here and don't really have a good feel for people yet, that makes it a bit of blind faith. I had luck convincing two sellers to accept PP if I covered all of the fees though. And I also had a few wire transfers where all of my fingers and toes were crossed.
 
Perseus
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WatchVaultNYC WatchVaultNYC
You MUST not wire to anyone who does not have an existing online reputation to uphold.

I agree. I've sent and received wire transfers but only to people with a reputation to uphold.
 
Aussie Jim
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On a more cheery note, I have wired money to at least 6 upstanding OF members, received watches and had absolutely no problems. This forum really works thanks to the constructors and moderators.
 
b-16707
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Faz Faz
Buyer's remorse disguised as "not as described" being the #1 culprit.

Ah yes nothing makes me more mad than this selling on ebay. So many times this has happened to me as the seller. And of course ebay sides with the buyer 100% of the time.
 
Kmart
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BlackTalon BlackTalon
The difficulty here is many sellers on OF will only take wire transfers. If you are new here and don't really have a good feel for people yet, that makes it a bit of blind faith. I had luck convincing two sellers to accept PP if I covered all of the fees though. And I also had a few wire transfers where all of my fingers and toes were crossed.

I think here it's a bit different. I would never wire money to someone I don't know, but the majority of sellers on OF are established forum members, often with mountains of positive feedback backing them up. Even if you are new, a cursory look through the feedback forum or the seller's post history should be enough to let you wire with confidence -- I haven't had the opportunity yet, but I would personally be comfortable with doing so. As @WatchVaultNYC noted, people have a reputation to uphold. They're not going to scam you and risk being banned from selling here permanently.
 
BlackTalon
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I hear you, but at least on seller was chased away a few months back -- although it was mainly due to greed (the case openers). My main point is that when you are new to OF, it is still hard to put blind faith in others, even if it seems they are established. I guess it partly comes from being active on other types of forums that have active Buy/ Sell sections, and seeing some established members fall upon hard times and disappear after selling something that was wither misrepresented or just never sending/ delivering. And that was with $200 - $2,000 objects, and not $5,000+ items.
 
b-16707
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BlackTalon BlackTalon
My main point is that when you are new to OF, it is still hard to put blind faith in others, even if it seems they are established.

as a newer member here, i vouch for this. You have to take your own initiative to get out there and read about each proposed "recommended seller" yourself. And even after reading about them, as a n00b it's still a rather blind jump/faith to move forward with a thousand+ dollar purchase. That being said, I did it. I have great faith that the watch will come haha.
 
CajunTiger
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why is this unique to this forum?
This is true anywhere you want to buy something from a stranger or for that matter life in general. If you are a noob backpacker, there are certain things you have to learn before scaling Mt Everest, some are taught but some just require experience. Start small and learn by listening to experts, reading others experiences, watching and venturing out on your own in small doses at first. Eveditually you will have the experience to tackle bigger deals or even Mt Everest
 
timjohn
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The fraudster must by law have been put through the new KYC (know your customer) process when he opened the account to prevent precisely this kind of crime as well as money laundering. It's not impossible to get around, but the receiving bank must have records of his identity, and if they can't be used to track down an arsehole like this, what are they for?
 
al128
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dsio dsio
You can feel warm and fuzzy just don't get complacent as that's when it becomes expensive.

Warm, fuzzy and nearly broke ... Does the trick 😉
 
Togri v. 2.0
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Northernman Northernman
I am a bit baffled by the way US banking operates. Our local system acts in a way more transparent way.
For instance transfers must have a corresponding name to an account.
Accounts are only permitted if registered by an individual with a valid social security number.
Still scammers around, but banks are obliged to investigate any report on fraud by themselves.
Failing to do so may make the bank partly responsible in the crimes committed.

Well not everyone can be as sensible as us Scandinavians 😁
 
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