EBay / PayPal Resolution question

Can you open anything through the US Postal service? Seem like this would fall under the umbrella of mail fraud as well

[T206Collector]

Just to close the loop on this:

I lost my appeal from PayPal, they closed the case and they released the funds to the perpetrator.

I called PayPal back, following the instructions here:

https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/contact/call

I calmly explained that I was extremely upset, and I was contacting government authorities to open a criminal and civil investigation of PayPal and the eBay user. They reversed or cancelled the decision on appeal, and re-opened the case to give me a chance to upload police reports/complaints, etc.

I uploaded the police blotter from my local PD. I then filed a complaint with the USPS and FBI (Internet Crimes Complaint Center), and uploaded a copy of the submitted complaints. If you get in the same mess, you can click either of these links to get you started. It was very straightforward.

https://www.uspsoig.gov/form/file-online-complaint

https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

I also sent the complaints directly via email to the perpetrator. And every time something would happen from these government agencies and they would send me an update on my claims, I would forward those to the perpetrator as well. I kept it as professional and non-argumentative as possible. This was my email to the guy:

"I have filed formal complaints with the FBI Internet Crime Division, the USPS Office of Inspector General, and my local police department. Copies of the FBI and USPS claims are attached. I will send you the police department blotter under separate cover. Finally, I will be uploading copies of all of the complaints on PayPal's Dispute Resolution Center landing page, and I will be sharing with your local police department in Folsam, CA."

That was it. No threats. No anger.

Two things happened almost immediately after this:

(1) I got my first ever email from the perpetrator. He wrote, "your a phyco path dude" (his grammar and spelling, not mine) and told me he was told to destroy the card by ebay and would now instead send me the card back, which he miraculously did. I believe he did not follow what ebay (purportedly) instructed him to do because he knew it was the real deal all along!

(2) PayPal refunded my money!

I don't think it is fair for me to have my card and money, too; but I really don't know what to do here, because I cannot fathom sending the card back or giving this guy his money either. The perpetrator has not been in contact with me since his email a couple of weeks ago -- he has asked for neither money nor card (I wonder if PayPal let him keep the money, and PayPal paid me out of an insurance policy or something).

Moreover, the card may actually be part of a crime, so I do think I need to hold on to it now for some period of time in case the FBI, police, or USPS OIG come looking for it. After all, I have not, and do not plan to, withdraw any of my complaints.

So, for now, I hold on to both, and await further instructions. But, I hope this post will help others handle these matters if it happens to you.

[samosa4u]

Please post this guy's address on here so I can mail him some dog poop.

[D. Bergin]

Great! Wonderful outcome for you eventually. Too bad it took so much work, hassle and time to come to this resolution.

You creating this outline with instructions in this thread may help serve as a reference point for many other Net54 members to help combat this sort of behavior in the future, if that's any consolation.

I think a lot of people would have thrown their hands up in the air and quit out of frustration before you did. Which gave this guy license to keep on doing what he was doing.

I wouldn't send that dude anything back. Likely Paypal paid him off out of their coffers, and you sending the money back would give him a double payday. I'd hold on to the card for awhile in case Paypal or somebody else wants it for evidence or compensation for the claim, similar to what you already said.

[Paul S]

Congrats on the resolution. As Dave said, a shame you had to go through all the hoops.

He lives in Folsom, CA? Give me his prison address - I'll be sure to send him some poisonous penpal mail.

[ramram]

I had a nearly identical situation several years ago. After a very long battle, I ended up finally getting a refund from Paypal and about a day later I received a refund directly from the perp after she got nervous (turned out it was a woman). So suddenly, I had my money back plus I had HER money too. I sat on it for about a month while she was going crazy and then I finally sent it back but only after enjoying having her squirm.

About a year after that I received a call from the Postal Investigation unit and the person had been arrested for having done a bunch of this. They saw my contact info in a pile on the woman's desk. Fortunately they never needed me for the trial.

Rob M

[Buythatcard]

This was an interesting post and will use it as reference next time someone pulls that on me.

I've added Gidez32 to my blocked list.

[esehombre]

I just got an offer to buy a card from this outstanding gentleman. I thought it was a fair offer and i almost accepted but figured I would do a little research to make sure he was on the up and up. Very thankful i did! haha!

Sounds like a pillar of the community. Thanks so much