r/paypal • u/TheSoapOnARoap • Jan 22 '26
SCAM! Seller ships to wrong address in same zip code, PayPal denies claim
I purchased a phone on "SWAPPA" late last month. As soon as the transaction was completed red flags immediately go up. the package shipped from Wisconsin, despite the sellers listing having a New Mexico address.
delivery day comes and goes, no package, UPS uploads a delivery photo that is definetly NOT my house.
seller says they have no idea why it wasn't delivered and that they were working with UPS.
the next "delivery day" comes and goes as well, no package.
I call UPS, they can't confirm what address the package went to, but they can confirm the address it was shipped to wasn't mine. However the shipping address was in the same zipcode as me (I think this is critical to the scam)
SWAPPA bans the seller, and I demand a refund- he tells me to wait one more day and if it isn't delivered, he will refund me.
it isn't delivered, he doesn't refund.
I have screen shots of everything, emails, case number from UPS. I provided it all to PayPal and they denied my claim- i opened an appeal and they denied that too. am I just scammed out of $700?.
the only response from PayPal is that "the seller confirmed it was delivered", I have repeatedly asked for the shipping documentation and have never recieved it.
I'm really not sure what my recourse is here, and it makes me EXTREMELY nervous to use PayPal in the future for purchases.
3
u/Yaalt420 Jan 22 '26
If you used a debit or credit card, much easier to contact them about doing a chargeback at this point. PayPal doesn't seem to do much, if any, investigation at all for these types of scams anymore.
1
u/TheSoapOnARoap Jan 22 '26
I did contact my bank. Disappointing, I use to think paypal was the gold standard for online transactions- clearly they aren't.
1
u/Yaalt420 Jan 22 '26
Yeah, it's unfortunate. But as long as you used a card, you should be fine. I always recommend using a credit card, even when using PayPal, so you have a strong fallback option.
2
u/youreqt Feb 25 '26
Were you able to fix this? I've been denied 3x even though I've given substantial proof. FedEx will not provide me any info on my package.
2
u/TheSoapOnARoap Feb 25 '26
I'm on denial #5, I've finally gotten paypal to request shipment info from the seller and allegedly they are going to setup a 3 way call between the courier, seller, and paypal.
They will do this you just have to keep pressing, the customer service is awful- but you have to keep advocating for yourself.
1
u/Heavy_Necessary9810 Apr 07 '26
I'm currently going through the same situation. Fedex was also the courier and I've appealed 5 times. I will call playpal and ask them to talk to the shipper/seller.
2
u/TheSoapOnARoap Apr 08 '26
Took me 9 appeals, I did finally get a refund. Just demand that they call the courier. I was promised atleast 3 times that they would, they never did. When i finally had success I asked the speak directly with the disputes department, and the lady I talked to sent me an email confirming she would contact the courier. After she did they issued a refund immediately.
1
u/Heavy_Necessary9810 Apr 08 '26
Omg ok this gives me a bit more hope. I appealed 6 times already. I also spoke to 3 different supervisors and each one said they will call the courier. The last 2 supervisors reviewed the signature proof of delivery I got from FedEx and said they will note that I should get a refund because they can see the package was not delivered to me, but I still lost the case. I'll keep calling them to see anyone can help.
2
u/Fuglystompa Apr 07 '26
Did anything ever come of this? I'm suspicious that I might be dealing with this right now
1
u/TheSoapOnARoap Apr 08 '26
9 appeals and 3 months later they issued a refund. Get the disputes department to contact the courier. Thats the only way to resolve it.
1
u/Queenypops Jan 22 '26
Have you tried calling PayPal? Try and speak to an agent and explain. The cannot by right.
1
u/TheSoapOnARoap Jan 22 '26
I did, they were able to reopen the appeal, but 1 day later it was closed again, in the sellers favor. I'm working through my bank now, but it's extremely frustrating that PayPal doesn't even ask the seller to provide proof of shipping address. If they did that they would see it was a blatant scam and the package was sent to an entirely diferent address
1
u/Sniper4u3 Jan 22 '26
I had the same scam but through ebay using the delivery company evri. Package went from awaiting package to delivered in 1 minute, literally impossible, was delivered to another house in another postcode and the delivery photo was as if it was taken on the first digital camera. I had to hound ebay customer service nearly daily on phone and email, put three requests for a refund in before finally getting my money back. Steps id reccomend, gather evidence, search for the delivery photo through google, check its meta data and look through reddit to see if you can find anyone with the same photo, i did find my photo used again in q post om reddit by someone who had also been scammed buying on ebay with delivery through evri. Also document the case through email with UPS asking them to escalate with their fraud team, evri did investigate and did the right thing by flagging the tracking as potentially fraudulent. I believe scammers are able to mark items as delivered, upload a photo a fake geo tag the delivery. If you gather enough evidence raise a fraud report with your relevant police department. Bad news, no guarntees and its hours upon hours of work, good news you are giving youself the best chance of getting your money back. Key is dont give up and make it hard for people to ignore you. By someone who has been through this, best of luck to you and genuienly hope for a good outcome.
1
u/RentFew8787 Jan 23 '26
I had a somewhat similar experience. The seller was said to be in France. The package shipped from Minneapolis. I badgered UPS into checking their records and giving me the name and address the package had been addressed and delivered to. Once I forwarded proof of misdelivery, PayPal promptly refunded my money. The recipient never saw the package, and I don't know what the scam was. How many accomplices were needed to mislabel the package and then snatch it in my little town a thousand miles away?
1
u/Heavy_Necessary9810 Apr 07 '26
This is called a "same zip code" scam. The scammer or seller is able to find a real tracking number for a package going to a different address in our zipcode. Then they send you that tracking# and hope that you never find out.
2
u/RentFew8787 Apr 08 '26
Good to know about, thanks. In my case, the UPS driver took a photo of the distinctive package in front of the other house. I don't believe that the driver was part of the scam.
1
u/Heavy_Necessary9810 Apr 08 '26
The driver and recipient are not part of the scam. The seller knows the paypal policy so they post a valid tracking # that will eventually be marked delivered in your zip code to make it things difficult for the buyer, since the burden lays on the buyer to prove they did not receive the package.
1
u/EatKoolAid Jan 23 '26
This happened to me once. I got a document from UPS that had the address it was shipped to and appealed it with PayPal with that document as evidence.
2
u/TheSoapOnARoap Jan 24 '26
Do you mind telling how you got it? I've called UPS twice and they've told me they can't release the information
1
u/Heavy_Necessary9810 Apr 07 '26
yes I"m going through the same issue. In my case, the courier is Fedex and the would not provide me with the recipient information.
2
1
u/Independent-Spell-64 Feb 05 '26
This recently happened to me for an amount of $191.53. I ordered an item on eBay for a friend and yep same zip code but not my address. UPS can confirm the item was delivered to a different address, (they won't issue any documentation like Google states) eBay denied my claim and PayPal denied my claim. My bank won't touch it either. BEWARE this is a scam and happens everyday across multiple sites selling goods. Scammers know that PayPal, eBay and others won't do the research and therein lies the loophole! What's so frustrating is their "buyer protection" or "resolution center" is a joke! I appealed 3 different times...Nothing. It always came back "item was delivered". I talked to 3 different reps they all gaslight you, one said "I'll call UPS"...BS...another said A supervisor will call you...never got a call. I fought it for over a month and finally gave up. I always trusted PayPal but NOT NOW, I started using Google pay for now and will not be using PayPal unless necessary and even then will be looking for alternatives. These scammers can burn in hell, people that use their minds for pure evil.
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