This holiday season, BBB Scam Tracker has received many reports of a new trick scammers are using to steal from online shoppers. The con artists are exploiting a PayPal policy and deceiving online shoppers into paying for goods that don’t exist.
How the Scam Works:
You are shopping online and find a site with amazing deals, often brand name goods at a significant discount. The website and the products look legitimate, so you decide to take a chance and make a purchase. The site instructs you to pay through PayPal, which should provide extra security.
After checkout, you get a confirmation email that contains a tracking number from UPS, FedEx, or another shipping service. After a few days, you log onto the site and see that your package has been delivered. That’s funny because no box ever arrived! You call the shipping company, and they confirm that the package was delivered… but to the wrong address.
When you try to correct the mistake, you find that the e-commerce site is either unresponsive or unhelpful. In some cases, the site doesn’t provide contact information; in others, they simply don’t respond to your emails or calls.
Some scam victims report filing a claim with PayPal because their protection promise says you can open a dispute if your order never arrives. But because the scammer technically shipped the package and the tracking number marked it as delivered, PayPal rejected their claims. One consumer reported to BBB Scam Tracker: “PayPal denied my claim because the seller showed the tracking number as being delivered. I even had UPS send PayPal the proof that I didn’t receive my package, but all PayPal required is a tracking number loaded and shows delivered.”
Protect Yourself from a Package Delivery Scams:
- Before paying, know your rights and responsibilities. In everything from check-cashing scams to cons involving new peer-to-peer payment systems, scammers often take advantage of what consumers don’t know when it comes to processing payments. Don’t make a purchase from a shady seller assuming you’ll be protected no matter what.
- Before buying online, confirm the site has real contact information. Make sure the seller has a working phone number and address on the website, so you can contact them in case of problems.
- If the price seems too good to be true, there’s probably something wrong. Be wary if the item is selling for significantly lower than what you’ve seen elsewhere.
- Review BBB online shopping tips. Many online purchase scams use similar tactics. See BBB.org/ShoppingOnline for more advice.
For More Information
Learn more about spotting and reporting PayPal fraud. For more resources on shipping fraud, see FedEx’s website and UPS’s online resource center. To learn more about scams, go to BBB.org/ScamTips.
If you’ve been targeted by this scam, help others avoid the same problem by reporting your experience at BBB.org/ScamTracker.
NOTE: PayPal Inc., FedEx Corporation and United Parcel Service are BBB Accredited Businesses.