**** paypal. **** them right in the ***Follow

SO I'm building a new computer right? I decided to go with the Intel 965 extreme edition processor. None of the retailers had them in stock at the time of purchase, so I decided to go check out ebay. So I look around a bit, I find a New, unopened box processor, the guy has over 50 positive feedback, spread out over a 2 year period. E-mail address listed, phone number listed, no negitive feedback, hs sold high end computer hardware before, etc. And to top it off, I see the little "this seller offers Paypal $1,000 buyer protection" link on the bottom. Ok, groovy, so even if this one is a scam I get my money back right?

I'm sure you can already guess where this one is going...

Apperently the ******* ******* was indeed trying to scam people. Unbeknownst to me, another person he had scammed decided to leave negitive feedback just after I hit purchase. Sometime between the purchase time, and the half hour later when i paid via paypal, the account dropped below watever the % positive feedback required for the $1,000 buyer protection, and down into the $200 protection range.

So, 10 days later after paypal's dispute process is over, I get $200 in my bank acount, $600 ceases to exist, and I'm out one processor. So I call paypal and request the bank record information on file, along with the name on the account, address information, phone logs, IP logs, etc, and I'm told that the company policy is to never release that information and that their dedicated team of private investigators is working to recover the other $600 dollars and i should go bugger myself with a rusty fork.

I'll never see the rest of that money.

So i'm irritated at the scammer, but i'm even more irritated that paypal basically as far as i'm concerned did not live up to their end of the deal. If that guy dropped status like that, there should have been a big *** warning on the page stateing so or something.

I'm working to get address/name information on the idiot from the prior good ebay sales he made, since at least a few of those are too big of an acocunt to have been scams (1,000 plus transactions, etc) If I can find out who this person is, they are going to pay. possibly via kidney express...

I hate the internet. let's burn it.

i hear ya, im battling paypal right now. i got a bill on my card for 712 bucks charged to paypal. i called my cc company and they took it off. now paypal is saying that it was a legit transaction, and want me to pay. the messed up thing is that i dont even have a paypal account.

Need a smoke Kao?

I may not work in the security and intel field anymore, but I still have access to some of the tools and some of the people I used to work with. If I can get any of the information, I can first of all verify that there is indeed such a person, and verify they did indeed have the bank account listed on file. From there I contact the bank, first the individual branch, and then the corporate headquarters with the account information, the claim, and his current wherabouts and go through the bank's internal fraud protection scheme, which would at least have a possibility of working.

Failing that, if I at least was able to get an address and confirm it via phone records, water bills, etc, and it was indeed in san francisco, well an $80 el-cheapo round trip ticket from here to there and a rental car and a quick trip to his residence might not be out of the realm of possibility.

I live pretty close to san fran... i'll help ya. Could always use an alabi right?

On a side note, i'd have to double check, but i'm 99% sure I know someone who works at paypal. I forget what department she works in, but i'm pretty sure it is something semi-high up. I'll call her later and see. Maybe she could get some records for ya [:evil:]

(We so need some evil smiley...)

Not evil enough... we need something like the horned face grinning or something. That is close though ;P

You get a lock on his dog's name? We could set it on fire.

Sorry to hear you got screwed.

Same sort of thing happened to me. I bought a car radio, paid $500 thru Paypal from my bank account. Never saw the radio... Paypal found the seller at fault, but couldn't refund my money since it was paid with a checking account, ( they couldn't do a chargeback ).

I eventually had to just eat the money and take the loss...then about a year later I get an email from the seller saying that he is returning my money...sure enough the next day, I get $500 deposited in my Paypal account.

Keep on Paypal Kao...if you paid with a credit card do a chargeback...if you paid with your bank, talk to them and see what protections they have...remove all bank accounts from your Paypal account before they lock your account.

Good Luck and I hope you get some sort of resoulution.

And then beat him with the smoldering corpse.

Well, when you do find the guy, give him a nice shiner from the rest of us dorks. Your Dork-Fu is strong.

Kaolian, I thought you knew better.

Here's a link just for you.

Sh'itty bust Kaolian, my parents went through a similar deal and I know how frustrating and powerless it can make you feel.

You know Paypal is now owned by eBay, right?

And the complaints since the acquisition have soared exponentially.

Hey, you don't know. Maybe he plans to stand on the guy's front porch and make a big, embarassing scene by sobbing hysterically.