Paypal Shipping Scams

There are several ways fraudsters incorporate shipping into their schemes. Be sure you’re familiar with the following:

My shipping service scam

The buyer asks you to use their shipping account because they can get a discount, they have a preferred vendor they’ve worked with for years, or their shipping service is cheaper or more reliable. In another variation of the scam, the buyer may also ask you to wire the shipping fees to their preferred shipper.

If you use the buyer’s shipping account, they can easily contact the shipping company and reroute the order to another address.

The buyer can then open up a complaint asking for a refund because they didn’t receive their order.

You aren’t able to prove that the buyer received their order and you are out your product, the shipping costs and your money.

If they ask you to wire the money to a bogus shipping company, they can steal your money.

After you have wired the money you’ll find out that the order was made with a stolen card or bank account. You may be held liable for returning the funds to the legitimate customer whose account was stolen.

How to avoid this scam:

• Only use your shipping account.
• Never wire money to someone you don’t know – you can’t get it back easily.
• If a customer asks you to use their shipping service, review their order for fraud carefully. They may have used a stolen card or bank account to fund the purchase.
• Ship to the address on the Transaction Details page.

Pre-paid shipping label scam

You receive an order from a customer who asks you to use their pre-paid label to cover the shipping charges. (They may tell you that they can get their labels at a discounted price.)

By providing the label, the customer controls the destination of the package. They may send it to another country, a PO Box or some other untraceable location.

To be covered under PayPal’s Seller Protection policy, you are required to ship to the address on the Transaction Details page.

The shipping label may also have been purchased with a stolen credit card.

How to avoid this scam:

• If the customer asks you to use their pre-paid label, review their order for fraud carefully. They may have used a stolen card to make the purchase.
• Do not accept shipping labels from your customers.
• Ship to the address on the Transaction Details page.

Package rerouting scam

The buyer reroutes the package so they can file a complaint that they never received it.

A buyer places an order and provides an incorrect or fake shipping address.

The shipping company tries to deliver the package but isn’t able to.

The buyer monitors the online tracking information and notices that the shipper couldn’t deliver the package.

The buyer contacts your shipping company and asks them to send the package to their correct address. The shipping company delivers the package to the new location.

Buyer then files a complaint for not receiving the item.

Because the shipment was rerouted, you can’t prove the item was delivered to the address on the Transaction Details page.

The buyer gets to keep the item and money.

Because the package wasn’t delivered to the address on the Transaction Details page, you aren’t covered by Seller Protection.

Unfortunately, you lost the product, shipping fees and the money.

To make it worse, you might also have to pay your shipper an additional rerouting fee.

How to avoid this scam:

• Contact your shipping company and block buyers from rerouting packages.
• Validate the buyer’s address before shipping.
• Only ship to the address on the Transaction Details page.
• Business / job opportunities
  Fraudsters will post fake job opportunities on job-posting sites, dating sites, and via spam email.

Reshipping packages scam

One of the more popular work-from-home scams is reshipping electronics, clothing and other items out of the United States.

You receive items (electronics, jewelry, clothing, etc.) in the mail and are asked to ship them out of the country.

Packages may be addressed to someone else’s name (the stolen credit card victim).

Your “employer” provides you with a shipping label (also paid for with a stolen credit card).

Your “employer” ask you for personal information, such as Social Security Number and bank account details, so they can “direct deposit” your check.

Generally, you’ll never get paid and have just exposed yourself to fraud.

Most merchants will not ship items out of the country.

Fraudsters need you to act as an intermediary to help get the goods out of the country. It also helps them avoid getting caught.

They use your personal information to steal your identity or takeover your account.

How to avoid this scam:

• If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Know who you are dealing with and don’t reship packages.
• If you didn’t realize you were involved in a scam until the packages started arriving, refuse delivery or return to sender. Report scams to the Internet Crime Complaint Center or contact your Postmaster.
• Never give your private personal or financial information to anyone you don’t know.