I got scammed. It turned out ok in the end, but I thought I'd post an account of what happened to help others avoid this scam.
I've been looking for an item for a while now. It's a particular case that has been out of production for a couple of years. I watch reverb, but one has never come up for sale. The other day I decided to do a google search and, to my surprise, an online retailer showed one for sale. I was excited, so I proceeded to add it to my cart. I had never heard of this retailer before though, so I was skeptical. I scanned the site and it looked legit, very professional. I wasn't going to give credit card info to a site I've never heard of though, but they took paypal, so I proceeded with that.
I checked out and was sent to paypal. I logged in and got a prompt to authorize the transaction. It was an inexpensive item, about $20. The paypal prompt however, showed the amount in japanese yen. I paused when I saw that, but the prompt said something like "click ok to go to the page where you can review your order before placing it". So, I figured I'd verify the amount in dollars on that next page.
Well, you guessed it. There was no next page where I could review the purchase. The transaction immediately completed when I pressed ok. I checked my paypal activity and the amount in dollars was not $20. It was $300! Also, it showed tracking info, even though it had only been minutes since my purchase. The tracking info showed the item had been delivered weeks ago, to another state. At that point, I realized I was never going to get the item and I had been scammed.
I disputed the transaction with paypal, but a couple of days later I got a notice that the dispute was resolved in the sellers favor. After all, from their point of view, I authorized the $300. I called paypal on the phone. It took 20 minutes on the phone to get it escalated, but a few days later, they refunded me the $300.
So, the scam is: the scammer builds a legit looking web site with items for sale in dollars, then they put an inflated amount in the paypal transaction in yen and put up a prompt that falsely says you'll get a chance to review the transaction before completing. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to build that website. I checked just now and the website is gone.
Also, never trust that paypal prompt that says you'll get a chance to review the order in the next step. Sometimes you do, but always assume you won't get the opportunity to review it before proceeding with placing the order.
It also makes my wonder. I consider myself cautious and savvy, but I was scammed anyway. What hope does somebody like my mother who is not tech-savvy, have to avoid scams?
I've been looking for an item for a while now. It's a particular case that has been out of production for a couple of years. I watch reverb, but one has never come up for sale. The other day I decided to do a google search and, to my surprise, an online retailer showed one for sale. I was excited, so I proceeded to add it to my cart. I had never heard of this retailer before though, so I was skeptical. I scanned the site and it looked legit, very professional. I wasn't going to give credit card info to a site I've never heard of though, but they took paypal, so I proceeded with that.
I checked out and was sent to paypal. I logged in and got a prompt to authorize the transaction. It was an inexpensive item, about $20. The paypal prompt however, showed the amount in japanese yen. I paused when I saw that, but the prompt said something like "click ok to go to the page where you can review your order before placing it". So, I figured I'd verify the amount in dollars on that next page.
Well, you guessed it. There was no next page where I could review the purchase. The transaction immediately completed when I pressed ok. I checked my paypal activity and the amount in dollars was not $20. It was $300! Also, it showed tracking info, even though it had only been minutes since my purchase. The tracking info showed the item had been delivered weeks ago, to another state. At that point, I realized I was never going to get the item and I had been scammed.
I disputed the transaction with paypal, but a couple of days later I got a notice that the dispute was resolved in the sellers favor. After all, from their point of view, I authorized the $300. I called paypal on the phone. It took 20 minutes on the phone to get it escalated, but a few days later, they refunded me the $300.
So, the scam is: the scammer builds a legit looking web site with items for sale in dollars, then they put an inflated amount in the paypal transaction in yen and put up a prompt that falsely says you'll get a chance to review the transaction before completing. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to build that website. I checked just now and the website is gone.
Also, never trust that paypal prompt that says you'll get a chance to review the order in the next step. Sometimes you do, but always assume you won't get the opportunity to review it before proceeding with placing the order.
It also makes my wonder. I consider myself cautious and savvy, but I was scammed anyway. What hope does somebody like my mother who is not tech-savvy, have to avoid scams?
