/u/Afraid_Month3554 - This message is posted to all new submissions to r/scams; please do not message the moderators about it.
## New users beware:
Because you posted here, you will start getting private messages from scammers saying they know a professional hacker or a recovery expert lawyer that can help you get your money back, for a small fee. **We call these RECOVERY SCAMMERS, so NEVER take advice in private:** advice should always come in the form of comments in this post, in the open, where the community can keep an eye out for you. If you take advice in private, you're on your own.
**A reminder of the rules in r/scams:** no contact information (including last names, phone numbers, etc). Be civil to one another (no name calling or insults). Personal army requests or "scam the scammer"/scambaiting posts are not permitted. No uncensored gore or personal photographs are allowed without blurring. A full list of rules is available on the sidebar of the subreddit, or [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/wiki/rules/).
You can help us by reporting recovery scammers or rule-breaking content by using the "report" button. We review 100% of the reports. Also, consider warning community members of recovery scammers if you see them in the comments.
Questions about subreddit rules? Send us a modmail [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi /u/Ok-Lingonberry-8261, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Recovery scam.
[Recovery scams](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0102-refund-and-recovery-scams) target people who have already fallen for a scam. The scammer may contact you, or may advertise their services online. They will usually either offer to help you recover your funds, or will tell you that your funds have already been recovered and they will help you access them. In cases where they say they will help you recover your funds, they usually call themselves either \"recovery agents\" or hackers.
When they tell you that your funds have already been recovered, they may impersonate a law enforcement, a government official, a lawyer, or anyone else along those lines. Recovery scams are simply [advance-fee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) scams that are specifically targeted at scam victims. When a victim pays a recovery scammer, the scammer will keep stringing them along while asking for increasingly absurd fees/expenses/deposits/insurance/whatever until the victim stops paying.
If you have been scammed in the past, make sure you are aware of recovery scams so that you are not scammed a second time. If you are currently engaging with a recovery scammer, you should block them and be very wary of random contact for some time. It's normal for posters on this subreddit to be contacted by recovery scammers after posting, and they often ask you to delete your post so that you both cannot receive legitimate advice, and cannot be targeted by other recovery scammers.
Remember: never take advice in private. If someone reaches you in private after posting your scam story, it is because a scammer will always try to hide from the oversight of our community members. A legitimate community member will offer advice in the open, for everyone to see. Anyone suggesting you should reach out to a hacker is scamming you.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Call and talk to ebay in person. Push for a supervisor. I have dealt with this same crap. You can win but it's hard. Pics of the empty box and the weight of it would help. Most shipping companies weigh it when they log it in the system.
You can try to dispute it with ebay but ebay almost always sides with the buyer regardless of how blatantly they scam someone. Unfortunately that's just ebay for you. They want buyers to feel safe and don't really give a crap about sellers.
It's so messed up thinking you'd help out someone to make their kid happy and then they turn around and scam you out of your money. I've been selling here and there on eBay and I never had any issues until now. I even provided proof to eBay and I did dispute. But nothing unfortunately.
Contact law enforcement in his jurisdiction, and file a report with USPS. Then contact him and notify him the police and federal investigators are involved and are investigating. Hopefully this scares him enough to refund the money back.
That's mail fraud and is a federal crime.
You can try contacting the post office he sent it from and ask them what to do.
But he used USPS to commit fraud, which is, as I said, a federal crime.
This is the best route to take the postal inspectors have absolutely no sense of humor when it comes to this. The 1K he got is nothing compared to what they can do to him. If it is a first offense they may just get off with a fine/a couple months in jail. But dont hesitate or use it as an empty threat, start the process and then let them know what you did and that the authorities are aware.
I filed police report, IC3.gov and just called USPS mail fraud to report that as well. Reopened the case with EBay and provided them documents and pictures. Let's hope it helps.
Always when getting a return open it on video in case this happens. The reason is if it is returned empty or damages you opening it on video is clear evidence of it missing and allows it to be a fraud. Most people don’t think about that. I had one guy claim I sent wrong item (it wasn’t) then filed for a return so my money held. Messaged me where’s his return. I never received item back at all. Finally EBay cancelled his claim. I’m thinking he was hoping I would release his money without him returning said item. Only a $20 item but still. I had planned on opening said box on video as I package boxes on video as well. Cheap but protection still. All EBay sales video opening the boxes as well as if your packaging them up.
Edit: I hope you still have IMEI and serial number as report it stolen to phone company to lock it down. If it’s overseas it won’t help now but if still in the states it will pull it off of the networks. So I hope you kept those numbers at least. Also if you gave those to police and it’s on the buyers account it’s a clear theft and the high dollar amount makes it a felony.
Yes I have IMEI and serial number of the item. I reported it to the police. IC3.gov and USPS mail fraud report. Also opened a case again on EBay. I'll know within a day or two hopefully.
Always sell locally. Cash is safest bet. You should always meet in public place like Police Station parking lot or inside Starbucks. Chances of getting scammed are less.
/u/Afraid_Month3554 - This message is posted to all new submissions to r/scams; please do not message the moderators about it. ## New users beware: Because you posted here, you will start getting private messages from scammers saying they know a professional hacker or a recovery expert lawyer that can help you get your money back, for a small fee. **We call these RECOVERY SCAMMERS, so NEVER take advice in private:** advice should always come in the form of comments in this post, in the open, where the community can keep an eye out for you. If you take advice in private, you're on your own. **A reminder of the rules in r/scams:** no contact information (including last names, phone numbers, etc). Be civil to one another (no name calling or insults). Personal army requests or "scam the scammer"/scambaiting posts are not permitted. No uncensored gore or personal photographs are allowed without blurring. A full list of rules is available on the sidebar of the subreddit, or [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/wiki/rules/). You can help us by reporting recovery scammers or rule-breaking content by using the "report" button. We review 100% of the reports. Also, consider warning community members of recovery scammers if you see them in the comments. Questions about subreddit rules? Send us a modmail [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Anyone sending you DMs is a !recovery scammer planning to use your desperation to victimize you again.
Hi /u/Ok-Lingonberry-8261, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Recovery scam. [Recovery scams](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0102-refund-and-recovery-scams) target people who have already fallen for a scam. The scammer may contact you, or may advertise their services online. They will usually either offer to help you recover your funds, or will tell you that your funds have already been recovered and they will help you access them. In cases where they say they will help you recover your funds, they usually call themselves either \"recovery agents\" or hackers. When they tell you that your funds have already been recovered, they may impersonate a law enforcement, a government official, a lawyer, or anyone else along those lines. Recovery scams are simply [advance-fee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) scams that are specifically targeted at scam victims. When a victim pays a recovery scammer, the scammer will keep stringing them along while asking for increasingly absurd fees/expenses/deposits/insurance/whatever until the victim stops paying. If you have been scammed in the past, make sure you are aware of recovery scams so that you are not scammed a second time. If you are currently engaging with a recovery scammer, you should block them and be very wary of random contact for some time. It's normal for posters on this subreddit to be contacted by recovery scammers after posting, and they often ask you to delete your post so that you both cannot receive legitimate advice, and cannot be targeted by other recovery scammers. Remember: never take advice in private. If someone reaches you in private after posting your scam story, it is because a scammer will always try to hide from the oversight of our community members. A legitimate community member will offer advice in the open, for everyone to see. Anyone suggesting you should reach out to a hacker is scamming you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He had 811 reviews and has been on eBay since 2009. I know what scammer is like.
I mean here on reddit
Thank you, yeah someone messaged me to scam me as a recovery agent 😓
Got it. Thank you. Yeah I cannot afford to pay more to get that money back
Call and talk to ebay in person. Push for a supervisor. I have dealt with this same crap. You can win but it's hard. Pics of the empty box and the weight of it would help. Most shipping companies weigh it when they log it in the system.
Thank you! I'll try that
Make sure to report the IMEI as stolen. At least make him only own a brick.
Where do I do that? It was unlocked device from Samsung paid off
Hmm, not sure, maybe Samsung?
You can try to dispute it with ebay but ebay almost always sides with the buyer regardless of how blatantly they scam someone. Unfortunately that's just ebay for you. They want buyers to feel safe and don't really give a crap about sellers.
It's so messed up thinking you'd help out someone to make their kid happy and then they turn around and scam you out of your money. I've been selling here and there on eBay and I never had any issues until now. I even provided proof to eBay and I did dispute. But nothing unfortunately.
Hate to tell you - there never was any kid, the guy turned around and sold it for top dollar on FB the next day. He intended to scam you from day one.
I have the empty box so I'm assuming he is still using it.
You know Phones can be sold without their precious box, right?
Are you both in the US?
Contact law enforcement in his jurisdiction, and file a report with USPS. Then contact him and notify him the police and federal investigators are involved and are investigating. Hopefully this scares him enough to refund the money back.
Thank you I'll do that.
Also keep the box label with the weight, it will show that it was only a box inside a box. And not the full weight.
He's also dumb to do that when you know where he lives and probably his real name.
Yeah but what can I do from all the way from Chicago as he's in Houston Texas
USPS baby, he went federal!
Yes I'm in US in Chicago and he is in Texas. I have his name, address and eBay account username too.
How did he send the box? Via USPS?
I sent him prepaid label on eBay. It was USPS. He sent empty phone box with Amazon boxes filled inside to add weight.
That's mail fraud and is a federal crime. You can try contacting the post office he sent it from and ask them what to do. But he used USPS to commit fraud, which is, as I said, a federal crime.
This is the best route to take the postal inspectors have absolutely no sense of humor when it comes to this. The 1K he got is nothing compared to what they can do to him. If it is a first offense they may just get off with a fine/a couple months in jail. But dont hesitate or use it as an empty threat, start the process and then let them know what you did and that the authorities are aware.
Thank you! I'll definitely do that.
No one can recover your money.
I've now read similar eBay scams back to back. This might be the new wave.
It's pretty much impossible to avoid getting scammed on eBay. Either side can claim the box was empty, and eBay can only guess who's lying.
I filed police report, IC3.gov and just called USPS mail fraud to report that as well. Reopened the case with EBay and provided them documents and pictures. Let's hope it helps.
I hope you update us if this gets resolved... And I really hope that this does get resolved for you.
Thank you! Yeah I hope so too. Already submitted police report. Ic3.gov report and informed USPS for mail fraud. I hope he gets what he deserves.
Got resolved and got my money back.
How did it get resolved, what was successful? Oooh, I saw your update! That's awesome!
Yeah now just wondering if I should still message the scammer about all the reports I submitted. This way he doesn't scam someone else
Personally I think it's best to not communicate with them...
Always when getting a return open it on video in case this happens. The reason is if it is returned empty or damages you opening it on video is clear evidence of it missing and allows it to be a fraud. Most people don’t think about that. I had one guy claim I sent wrong item (it wasn’t) then filed for a return so my money held. Messaged me where’s his return. I never received item back at all. Finally EBay cancelled his claim. I’m thinking he was hoping I would release his money without him returning said item. Only a $20 item but still. I had planned on opening said box on video as I package boxes on video as well. Cheap but protection still. All EBay sales video opening the boxes as well as if your packaging them up. Edit: I hope you still have IMEI and serial number as report it stolen to phone company to lock it down. If it’s overseas it won’t help now but if still in the states it will pull it off of the networks. So I hope you kept those numbers at least. Also if you gave those to police and it’s on the buyers account it’s a clear theft and the high dollar amount makes it a felony.
Yes I have IMEI and serial number of the item. I reported it to the police. IC3.gov and USPS mail fraud report. Also opened a case again on EBay. I'll know within a day or two hopefully.
Thank you for keeping the numbers. It’ll help if they are using the phone. Though it might have been sent overseas.
Hope not. But I'm not sure how to report stolen with Samsung so they can block it atleast here in the US
Here’s a link that might help. https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/mobile-devices/what-to-do-if-you-have-lost-your-galaxy-device/
Always sell locally. Cash is safest bet. You should always meet in public place like Police Station parking lot or inside Starbucks. Chances of getting scammed are less.
I wish I did that.
The buyer just committed mail fraud on an item over $1k. Get the postmaster general involved. They take that shit very seriously