Ebay Fraud

[D. Bergin]

Buyer shouldn't have problems getting money back on this transaction. All points look to be a scam, seeing as the scans were stolen and the fact it doesn't make sense offering the Matthews and the Mantle in a single lot.

Looking at the feedback of the seller he must be perfectly aware of how things go with with Ebay and Paypal. I think this is a much more subtle scam and something people should look out for, even if they are not the intended victim or they receive a refund on the transaction from Paypal.

I believe the intended victim here is UPS to be perfectly honest. I worked at UPS for over 10 years. Packages valued at over $5000 are treated completely separate from all the other packages. They get handled separately throughout the entire system and are kept track of separately from the time they are picked up from the time they are delivered. They are kept separate from the rest of the load on whatever truck they are on to avoid damage or crushing. They also do not spend time on the same conveyor belts as most other packages.

I imagine it's similar to Registered Mail through the USPS. Because of this extra handling, if something does happen UPS is likely to pay out the claim quickly because the package is under watch at all times and claims rarely happen on packages of those values.

However there's no way of knowing if an Insured package actually had the items in there it was claimed since they don't search the boxes after they are Insured.

I think this guy sent out an empty box full of packing materials and a concealed slit in the packaging at the bottom of the box, hidden just enough so the driver picking up the package wouldn't notice it and it would at least get into the system before detected.

Now the guy has evidence of rifling when he goes to file a claim. He has to know Paypal is going to refund the customer so the final intended consequence is a nice windfall from a UPS claim for a couple of cards he never owned at any point in time.

I'm actually surprised we don't hear about stuff like this happening more often.

I'd have a hard time believing a UPS driver stole these cards. Any driver with a brain knows any packages of this type of value could be tracked back to him in less then a minute by the claims department. UPS drivers are well paid with very good benefits. No way one would risk losing that in a no-win situation.

I'm sure it's happened somewhere, but I've never ever seen or heard of a UPS driver stealing packages, not even as a rumor amongst themselves.

I have seen part-time warehouse guys get caught rifling through low value packages on occasion. These are usually new-hires who aren't aware UPS has cameras everywhere on the belts to check on if issues arise. When they catch somebody they make a big show of them. They call the police in the middle of a shift and have them brought out of the warehouse in cuffs in front of everybody working that shift as an example.

I remember we also had a Part-time supervisor caught slapping his own labels on computer boxes and diverting them to his own computer store. Once again easily tracked and a pretty dumb idea.

Not to say UPS is all gravy. Packages that aren't classified as high value or "hazardous", are usually beat to hell by the time they get where they are going. Everything is about efficiency, getting things done as quickly as possible, and packing trucks as tightly as humanely possible..........which is why they can pay guys as well as they do and still make a nice profit.

Christmas time the conveyor belts are jam packed and it's like sorting through an avalanche sometimes for the sorters and truck loaders (actually most of the time). If you ship through UPS, make sure you've packed the item to survive a war.........is all I'm saying.

That said, it's been nearly 10 years since I've worked there so I'm sure some things have changed, but I still talk to some of the guys and I don't think it's changed THAT much since I was there.