Selling rims scam warning

Guys,

I just wanted to warn you guys from this fellow who apparently likes to rip off people. I recently bought a E39 540i with the M package sport rims. Because I wanted to have different rims I decided to sell them on Ebay. I listed them as "local pickup only" and sold them quickly to this guy "Samtech600" from TX. Since it was local pickup only he decided to arrange the local pickup himself via FedEx. He payed via PayPal in advance and I waited for the pickup. Meanwhile my rims where at the local workshop where I always have my car repaired.

At first it took several weeks for him to arrange the rims pickup but finally I got the news the FedEx had picked up the wheels and they were on their way to TX.

A week later I get the request from paypal to refund the money since his credit card company has requested to reverse the payment. PayPal refunds it right away and asks me if I like to confirm that the receiving party has the right to do so because they never received the shipment. Stunned of this news I respond that I disagree ofcourse and I want to appeal.
Apperently PayPal has not much power because they said it is up to the other parties credit card company to decide who is right in this situation. what do they expect? of course they go with their client. I have the proof of shipment with FedEx still I have to reimburse PayPal now and there is nothing I can do. BIG SCAM!

The "SamTech600" guy of course does not respond to calls and or emails however he is still selling on ebay.

BE WARNED: If he buys something from you or makes an attempt do not do business with him or take extreme measures. I give you the details below:

'buyer/seller': "SAMTECH600"
PayPal payment to: Saied Irandoost

typical ad: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-NEW-OEM-...80991912269%26

He corresponds under the name "Cyrus" with phone number 713 443 3543

But I found out the name under this number is actually Keith Rabe in Houston.


You can picture how angry I am with no rims anymore, no payment and also additional PayPal costs!

I hope this will help to prevent financial damage to you BMW guys.


Cheers Rick_a_

Hand me the cash and I will hand you the rims.

His account looks like it may have been hijacked.

Either way, it was a sketchy deal. Sorry to hear you got taken so badly.

This isn't the first time I've heard of PayPal siding with the "buyer" without really doing any investigation. I would like to think they would come to you and ask for your shipping receipt and tracking information. Then they could pursue it through FedEx and see where and when the item was picked up and delivered, approximate size, weight, etc. If everything jives, then it would make sense that the "buyer" got the item. If he claims the items are not as described, well, then that's another issue but there should be photographic evidence of that.


It's unfortunate that you got hosed in this situation. I recently sold the wheels that came on my car and the hardtop I had for a Miata. I didn't realize it, but I guess I should count myself lucky that both buyers showed up in person with cash.

So, if you have the FedEx papers that prove the wheels were shipped, can't you do anything about this? I mean, it's black on white....official papers with tracking history, correct?

Originally Posted by doru

So, if you have the FedEx papers that prove the wheels were shipped, can't you do anything about this? I mean, it's black on white....official papers with tracking history, correct?

If the wheels were shipped to someone other than the owner of the eBay account, this could pose a real problem for the seller but I would imagine eBay could tell if the account had been compromised.

Its sad how careful you must been now a day when dealing with a sales transaction..

It's more sad there are scumballs out there that live to rip people off.

I hate thieves!

I sell on eBay, also. I've had a couple of transactions that the buyer made claims through their credit cards - as long as I had proof of shipment, I was protected. I think that you made a mistake when you said "Local Pickup only" and then shipped it, but I'm not sure.

Did you ship to a PayPal verified address?

Do you have copies of your email correspondence with the buyer? Copy of your tracking number?

If so, I would call eBay back and reopen this case, and ask for review.

Your error was not shipping to a Confirmed paypal address. Paypal will protect you as seller if you ship to confirmed but otherwise you are taking it 100% on faith. Ship to confirmed or not at all. /thread

Sorry about the loss, I made a similar mistake when I first started selling on ebay.

Delivery confirmation is a must plus insurance

Signature required for items over $99

I would open the case with eBay. I don't think all is lost just yet. If you have ALL the shipping paperwork you should be covered. The eBay resolution center is really there to protect the buyer and the seller. I'm sure this is not the first time something like this has happened.
Good luck with your case!

I got scammed on eBay once too. Without going into too much detail, the seller sold me a known defective product but had disguised it to look new. By the time I started having problems and got it checked out it was beyond 30 days and I could no longer dispute it through eBay and PayPal. Maybe that's why he waited. I've also heard of other cases like this where the "buyer" is able to back out the payment after the fact. I won't sell anything unless its cash payment because of this. Very cautious about what I buy on eBay now too. Can't trust very many people these days...

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Bimmer App

1. these wheels are style 66 and not M66
2. they cost from online dealers ~$1100 delivered , the price on ebay after ebay/pp fees is less than $900
total scam

Originally Posted by BigCo540i

Hand me the cash and I will hand you the rims.

Yup. I have several offers to pay more than my asking price through Paypal so I can hold the item(s) for pick up. Not gonna happen.
+1 shipping to confirmed address ONLY.

The problem here is that you don't know who is the true cardholder whose CC account was used to pay for the wheels.

If both the ebay account and CC account were stolen, then this is a classic case of fraud. You will not have a case to win. The only thing you can do is report this to the police or other fraud unit of the government. I believe the FBI gets involved when the amount of connected fraud is substantial. I work in high volume online CC payments and if the card was stolen, you're out of luck.

Think about it like this. You have a CC and everything is normal. One day, unknowing to you, your CC info was phished off the internet from an "online retailer" or some other front. Five days later you see on your CC statement $900 from PAYPAL PMTS. Well, this sucks, but you're in luck. Your Visa card guarantees you no liability on fraud purchases made on your card. All you have to do is call the 800 number, report the fraudulent transaction, close the account, reissue a new card, and they will drop all fraudulent charges from your old account. You're in the clear.

While that all happened some random guy with a fake or stolen ebay account, used a stolen credit card to pay for these wheels. The only hard evidence you have against the real fraudster is the shipping address used, but even that could be not well connected to the guy. Maybe he scoped out an address to a closed business, or a random family's house on vacation, and had the wheels shipped there. Then he sits on his computer, watches the tracking information, and stakes out the shipping location on delivery date. Once the fedex truck drops off the wheels, he waits for the coast to be clear, scoops them up in his Audi S5 with missing and non-matching VINs, and drives away.

The fraudster used everything that was not connected to his true identity, ebay account, CC account, and shipping address. All the while, the true CC holder is protected against theft, and that leaves the seller footing the bill.

If your case is similar, there is nothing you can do except report the case, and maybe your info will be one piece of a larger fraud puzzle. If they ever catch the guy, don't expect there to be anything of value left to collect, especially if it goes to court and the lawyers collect their share before any settlement pay outs.

Live and learn I guess.

Actually, now that I re-read your story, it looks like the original payment to paypal happened several weeks before shipping? That's likely not CC fraud as the time between the purchase and the chargeback was about a month? Most fraudulent charges are noticed within a week or so, but not always.

I hate thieves ...

I do, but Paypal says I have to bring it to court and proof it to the creditcard company. Who does that for 400 USD? My only hope is that the credit card company (his credit card company) will decide in my favor or ask me for evidence.

Weird situation, but that's apparently how things work these days. I was disappointed PayPal was not supporting me in any matter with legal stuff or advice. They just credited the money and asked me politely to compensate them. If I would refuse they would crunch my credit score and god knows what else.

I think the 30 days thing was the case indeed. Can't believe Ebay is not improving this (and paypal)

man i almost bought rims from this guy, he has many brand new BMW sets. those rims are worth 1k. i would have flew to his place and got them. BTW im in houston i can go check out his shop if he has one.