Review Team Magazine Presents:paypal inside and out part 2:the dark side of paypal

Last week I exposed the elements of a Craigslist scam. This week I would like to examine a little more closely the finer points of item #4.

4.Anywhere from 1 to 3 months later,the credit card company requests a chargeback on the unauthorized charge

Chargebacks

When a customer disagrees with a charge on their credit card, they can request their money back. This is known as a chargeback, or reversal. Buyers have the right to request a chargeback on several grounds, the most common of witch are Duplicate Prossesing, Unauthorized Payment, and not as Described/Defective.

This is the beginning. The other thing that happens when a chargeback occurs is that paypay Debits the seller the transaction amount total, plus a fee. Say, for example, you sell an item for $50 and the customer is dissatisfied and requests a chargeback. You, as the seller, would absorb all the costs involved. Here it would have been the $50 plus any fees that PayPal incurred as a result of the fund reversal. PayPal also reserves the right to limit your access to your account, if determined necessary.

It could cost you a lot of money if you do not protect yourself.

The most basic way to protect yourself is to understand how you qualify for the seller protection policy. First of all, protection does not apply to intangible purchases(like ebooks for example), items delivered in person, and claims for items significantly not as described.But it does apply to Unauthorized payments and item not received.

It took me a while but I finally figured out that to see if your item qualifies, either partially or completely for seller protection is on the PayPal transaction page that is generated when a sell is made. From there you will know how much protection your qualified for. The next thing you should avoid is sending to unconfirmed addresses. NEVER do this, EVER.Always get proof of shipment that shows status as shipped and shows a postmark(if possible), date, and recipient's address showing(at least) the city/state or ZIP code. You will also want a proof of delivery that shows the status as delivered, the date, and recipient's address just like the proof of shipping. Though they sound the same, they are actually two different things and PayPal will ask for them as documentation.

Another thing to consider is asking for the customers phone number not only to confirm the sale "in person" but you can also cross-check their number with the address online for a small fee. This will let you know if it is a bogus number/address.

Just try to remember that there are many people out there trying to make a buck online and a lot of them are there to scam unwary people. Statistically Americans are targeted more as they tend to be swayed by the idea of making money for little or no effort. Remember that if it seems too good to be true it probably is.

Come back next week for part 3:PayPal and Ebay~Three things you need to know

Mel

reviewteammagazine.com

craigslist and paypal-a scammers paradise?

I have been trying to sell this projector that I have. It’s the nice kind that you can use a computer with, in high definition. Nobody seems to want it though. So I changed the pitch a few times and have gotten better responses. Seems people near(ish) and far(as germany) really want to buy it and are really hip on using PayPal.

Some have even gone as far as to offer up to an extra $200 if I ship it to them and conduct business via PayPal.

WOW!

That is what I thought to myself at first, but soon logic took over and I wrote the standard email about how I would rather do business vis-à-vis. I also tell them what number they are in the line of scammers to have contacted me so far. I am currently up to eleven. (I get a kick out it)

For all I know, some of these could have been legit offers.

On the other hand,they could have been total BS with PayPal as their tool for gaining your goods and leaving you holding the bag.

Join me as I investigate the world of PayPal, their policies and how scammers can use them against you.

part one:Craigslist

Turns out this is a pretty common story,but what amazes me is that someone would actually go through with the transaction~even when craigslist strictly warns against this.

The best policy here is simply to not conduct business, of course.But what happens if you do?What can you expect?

1.Most likely, a stolen credit card is involved

2.This card is used to send a payment via PayPal

3.They will want the item shipped to a non-confirmed address.

4.Anywhere from 1 to 3 months later, the credit card company requests a chargeback on the unauthorized charge

5.You are out your item. (in my case it would have been a projector)

So you see, the thing to do is to either ignore these people or reply and make fun of them. (I chose the latter...)

Now step four is where things can get really sticky and I will cover that in my next installment of my series!

Come back here or go to our home site to read Part 2: the dark side of PayPal

Thank you for reading,

Mel
reviewteammagazine.com