Abbazz
6x9 and be there!
I would like to share with you the really bad experience I had with Paypal and eBay recently.
At the beginning of June, I have sold two items on eBay (a Fujica GL690 and a Fujinon F:5.6 65mm lens). Both items went to great buyers (cheers to them!), who paid immediately through Paypal. As agreed, I sent the items fully insured through EMS, a very reliable express mail service.
Then I received an email from Paypal stating that Paypal had detected some "illegal activity" on my account and therefore had to suspend my account. I inquired about this "illegal activity" and I received no reply, only a stock e-mail stating that I had to fax over an impressive amount of personal documents in order to restore my account.
Immediately after that, I received the two following notifications from eBay:
"We're sorry to tell you that your eBay account was suspended because recent account activity has raised serious security concerns."
"The following listings have been removed from eBay due to concerns we have for the safety of the eBay Community: 280231362466 - Fujinon F/5.6 65mm Lens for Fuji G690/GL690 NO RESERVE and 280231417183 - Fuji GL690 Rangefinder Medium Format Camera NO RESERVE."
Needless to say I also received worried emails from my buyers, who had no yet received the items they had pay for, and were informed by eBay that these items had been removed "due to concerns for the safety of the eBay Community." They were also advised to lodge a complaint against me. Great!
Fortunately, the buyers accepted to trust my word against eBay's and both items reached their destination soon after. But the story didn't end there. I had faxed all the documents over to Paypal, but the company sent me an email stating that the documents were fine but my account couldn't be restored until both buyers of my items had left a positive feedback on my eBay account, which was of course not possible, my account having been suspended and the items deleted by eBay! On the other hand, eBay was not willing to restore my account until the so called "Paypal Abuse" had been cleared.
After more than two weeks, Paypal accepted to restore my account but eBay was still refusing to do so:
"Additional proof of ownership is required. Please submit a photograph of you with the items. Your User ID must be clearly displayed in the image."
Of course it was not possible to take a photograph of me with items that had been sent to the buyers more than two weeks before!
It took another week to eBay to finally restore my account, after almost one month of suspension. But eBay had decided that the items sold should not appear on my account:
"After further review, it has been decided that your account qualifies for reinstatement. Please note that, although your account is now active, any listings or bids that were cancelled by your account suspension will not be reinstated."
I would like to stress the fact that neither Paypal nor eBay has provided any explanation about the "abuse" I was suspected of. When my account was restored, neither company did also offer an apology or any form of compensation for the pretium doloris suffered.
Cheers!
Abbazz
At the beginning of June, I have sold two items on eBay (a Fujica GL690 and a Fujinon F:5.6 65mm lens). Both items went to great buyers (cheers to them!), who paid immediately through Paypal. As agreed, I sent the items fully insured through EMS, a very reliable express mail service.
Then I received an email from Paypal stating that Paypal had detected some "illegal activity" on my account and therefore had to suspend my account. I inquired about this "illegal activity" and I received no reply, only a stock e-mail stating that I had to fax over an impressive amount of personal documents in order to restore my account.
Immediately after that, I received the two following notifications from eBay:
"We're sorry to tell you that your eBay account was suspended because recent account activity has raised serious security concerns."
"The following listings have been removed from eBay due to concerns we have for the safety of the eBay Community: 280231362466 - Fujinon F/5.6 65mm Lens for Fuji G690/GL690 NO RESERVE and 280231417183 - Fuji GL690 Rangefinder Medium Format Camera NO RESERVE."
Needless to say I also received worried emails from my buyers, who had no yet received the items they had pay for, and were informed by eBay that these items had been removed "due to concerns for the safety of the eBay Community." They were also advised to lodge a complaint against me. Great!
Fortunately, the buyers accepted to trust my word against eBay's and both items reached their destination soon after. But the story didn't end there. I had faxed all the documents over to Paypal, but the company sent me an email stating that the documents were fine but my account couldn't be restored until both buyers of my items had left a positive feedback on my eBay account, which was of course not possible, my account having been suspended and the items deleted by eBay! On the other hand, eBay was not willing to restore my account until the so called "Paypal Abuse" had been cleared.
After more than two weeks, Paypal accepted to restore my account but eBay was still refusing to do so:
"Additional proof of ownership is required. Please submit a photograph of you with the items. Your User ID must be clearly displayed in the image."
Of course it was not possible to take a photograph of me with items that had been sent to the buyers more than two weeks before!
It took another week to eBay to finally restore my account, after almost one month of suspension. But eBay had decided that the items sold should not appear on my account:
"After further review, it has been decided that your account qualifies for reinstatement. Please note that, although your account is now active, any listings or bids that were cancelled by your account suspension will not be reinstated."
I would like to stress the fact that neither Paypal nor eBay has provided any explanation about the "abuse" I was suspected of. When my account was restored, neither company did also offer an apology or any form of compensation for the pretium doloris suffered.
Cheers!
Abbazz
iamzip
Ambitious, but rubbish
I don't mean to second guess you, but are you quite sure you weren't scammed? Generally any emails from companies such as paypal saying your account is suspended and asking for personal info are scams. I get them all the time. Forward them to spoof@paypal.com, and they will let you know if it is for real or not.
Abbazz
6x9 and be there!
Don't worry, the first thing I do when I receive such emails is to connect to the website directly, and not through the links on the emails. Unfortunately, the nightmare proved true and it took me almost one month and countless hours of struggle to have both accounts restored.
It is interesting to note that neither Paypal nor eBay provide any way to contact them directly or to reply to their emails. All the emails I received regarding my account suspension had the mention "this is an unattended email account; do not try to reply to this message." Of course, the "eBay Trust and Safety Department" cannot be reached by telephone. Needless to say that it makes communication easier!
Cheers!
Abbazz
somecanuckchick
Tundra Gypsy
I get emails like that all the time. 99% of the time, these emails... they're scams or phishing.
Dear PayPal holder,
PayPal Online Department has recently reviewed your account,
and suspect that your PayPal account may have been
accessed from an unauthorized computer or by a third party.
This may be due to changes in your IP address or location.
Protecting the security of your account and the PayPal network
is our primary concern.
Therefore, for your account protection and integrity,
PayPal Online Department has temporarily locked your account and recommends you to login and report any unnoticed password changes, unauthorized withdrawals, and check your account profile to make sure no changes have been made.
To protect your account, please keep in mind these instructions:
* Do not share your password with other users.
* Log off and close the Internet explorer window after using your
online account, especially if you are in a public place.
Please follow the link below to verify your identity and unlock your account: *link here*
The senders email looks like this: abuse@paypal.com but when you check closer I can see the email diverts to akstcaccentsignagemnsdgs@accentsignage.com.
I got the above email this morning. Never click through anything like that ever... once you do, they can access everything, including ebay, through their phishing practices.
Sorry this happened to you, but I doubt it was official.
Dear PayPal holder,
PayPal Online Department has recently reviewed your account,
and suspect that your PayPal account may have been
accessed from an unauthorized computer or by a third party.
This may be due to changes in your IP address or location.
Protecting the security of your account and the PayPal network
is our primary concern.
Therefore, for your account protection and integrity,
PayPal Online Department has temporarily locked your account and recommends you to login and report any unnoticed password changes, unauthorized withdrawals, and check your account profile to make sure no changes have been made.
To protect your account, please keep in mind these instructions:
* Do not share your password with other users.
* Log off and close the Internet explorer window after using your
online account, especially if you are in a public place.
Please follow the link below to verify your identity and unlock your account: *link here*
The senders email looks like this: abuse@paypal.com but when you check closer I can see the email diverts to akstcaccentsignagemnsdgs@accentsignage.com.
I got the above email this morning. Never click through anything like that ever... once you do, they can access everything, including ebay, through their phishing practices.
Sorry this happened to you, but I doubt it was official.
jmkelly
rangefinder user
Abazz - it appears that something similar led to the demise of "flightclub45" who was selling a lot of decent FSU gear out of Southern California. Folks here were asking about him a month ago. Yuri opened a new account ("daishans") and the same thing happend to him almost immediately. I know because I bought a lens from him, paid immediately, and then the listing disappeared.
I'm guessing but it seems there is a new scam trapping sellers. Pretty soon eBay is going to be nothing but buyers. Withouut sellers, there is no marketplace - duh.
I'm guessing but it seems there is a new scam trapping sellers. Pretty soon eBay is going to be nothing but buyers. Withouut sellers, there is no marketplace - duh.
sun king
jt
Abazz,
I had the same thing happen to be. It's not any of the usual scams or even a new scam. It's eBay security policies run a muck. In my circumstances I was selling a large amount of high value photo gear, while at the same time winning a few items through auction sniper. The combination of the two tripped some automatic security parameters-- and blam I was locked out.
This is real and it's nothing to do with phishers or scammers.
--Jonathan Taylor
I had the same thing happen to be. It's not any of the usual scams or even a new scam. It's eBay security policies run a muck. In my circumstances I was selling a large amount of high value photo gear, while at the same time winning a few items through auction sniper. The combination of the two tripped some automatic security parameters-- and blam I was locked out.
This is real and it's nothing to do with phishers or scammers.
--Jonathan Taylor
Nightmare
Member
This is simply the reason why I don't like using ebay and paypal generally. :X