I got scammed on Amazon by a third-party seller.
This is not a typical blog post I would normally publish, but from time to time, I will go off topic.
I believe sharing my experiences can help someone and secondly, I love writing.
During those times when I want to scream, I just bang it out on the keyboard. Here’s what happened.
Ordering through the Used Link on Amazon
I noticed the great offers in the used section and was reluctant to buy, but I followed the seller’s instructions and sent an email to the seller. The seller had just added a new account, which made me a little suspicious.
I never thought in a million years that I would be scammed on Amazon. I trusted Amazon, but due to other reasons and being scammed on Amazon, I don’t trust Amazon anymore.
Paying for the Camera
The seller requested my mailing address so he/she could place the order for me. A red flag went up, but I just could not let such a good deal get away.
I sent the seller my mailing address and received an order confirmation from Amazon. The order confirmation from Amazon looked like an official email from Amazon; logo and everything. But the email was not from the official Amazon business it was fake.
I asked the seller why couldn’t I pay through Amazon’s website. The seller told me that his/her payment system was not set up and if I clicked on the buy button on Amazon it would be empty.
Since I had never done anything like this, I thought it was legit.
Amazon (fake) told me to take a photo of the front and back of the One Vanilla Card (pre-paid visa), and my receipt. I also had to type the One Vanilla Card number and expiration date in my email message that I sent back to Amazon (fake).
Realized it was All a Scam
I sent Amazon (fake) the One Vanilla Card payment information. I received an email telling me when my order would arrive. They (Amazon) also said seller would not get paid until I have received my order.
The above sounds so fishy, because you pay first for an item and then it gets shipped. No company holds money and waits for you to receive the item.
I emailed the seller and asked when I could expect my order because the date of arrival was late. I never got a response. After getting no response from the seller, I did some investigating. The results from my investigation confirmed my suspicions.
I sent the real Amazon the spoof emails files twice. Both times I received an automated response (they are investigating it) from Amazon. I have not received any follow-up emails from Amazon about the investigation and I don’t expect I ever will.
There are a lot of people who have gotten scammed on Amazon and it has been extremely high this year. I read this somewhere online and had to share that with you.
Lessons Learned
Here’s what I learned:
- if something is too good to be true, then it probably is
- shop more at brick and mortar stores
- to decrease my online shopping (it’s almost non-existent)
- to listen to my gut.
Final Words
I hope this post helps you avoid getting scammed online. That was my first and last time being scammed online.
If you don’t take anything from this post, I want you to take away this point: “When you have doubts about something, no matter what it is, listen to your gut. The gut knows.”
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I WENT THROUGH THE SAME THING. EVEN MY CREDIT CARD COMPANY SAID THAT AMAZON DID SELL THE GIFT CARDS TO ME. AND AFTER RECEIVING A BOGUS CONFIRMATION # I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS AND WITHIN 4 HRS OF DOING SO, I CONTACTED AMAZON AND THEY LITERALLY SAID I WAS SCREWED”. ISN’T THERE SOME FORM OF LIABILITY FROM AMAZON FOR THESE SELLERS ALLOWING THIS TO GO ON? I AM VERY UPSET WITH MYSELF, MY CREDIT CARD COMPANY, AND AMAZON!!!! A VERY EXPENSIVE LESSON LEARNED! WISH THERE WAS A CLASS ACTION SUIT THAT I COULD INCLUDE MY EXPERIENCE WITH. I DOCUMENTED EVERYTHING.
🙁
Hi
i am so sorry to hear so many people got scammed. The sad thing is every day the new scammers come on to amazon. I warned amazon of 3 fraudulent sellers today, and they keep coming back every day.
Its the same scam, the scammers hack in to exsisting sellers and business accounts. They list somewhere in the region of 120,000-220,000.
I contact amazon every day but it seems they are powerless to stop it. I believe amazon should take legal liability for not doing enough to stop these frauds.
I email amazon about the scam, it could take up to 1-2 days to have them removed. In that time numerous people get scammed.
I would urge anyone who got scammed to kick up a big fuss with amazon. Stating the fact you read this post, and this scam has been happening since July 2016.
My brother was just scammed through a third party seller on Amazon. We called customer service way long ago, dec. 14th, and they said the person spent the gift gard we gave them(as a form of payment) and their account would b put on hold and they would call us in a week. We never got a call back and we just called a few minutes ago and the guy basically told us there is nothing they can do because it was a giftcard and that it was probably a scammer in another country and it’s legal in their country so there’s nothing they can do about it. He said the only way we could possibly get our $431 back is to file a civil lawsuit.
Hi, Miranda! I am sorry that your brother got scammed. When a seller asks for a gift card for payment that is a sure sign that it is a scam. If your brother orders from Amazon in the future, he should take extreme caution when ordering from third-party sellers and avoid those who ask for gift cards for payment
Thanks for sharing what happened to your brother!
This litterally just happened to me!! Amazon are pretending to be dumb, is there any chance of getting my money back from Amazon? its €407!! as it was all done through their website have they any liability? thanks
Hi Julie,
Sorry, this happened to you! I really don’t think there’s much you can do.
I did report it to them (2-3 times) but have yet to hear from them.
I don’t think there is any liability because they do warn on other parts of their website that these things can happen and to not fall prey to it. But the problem is if you’ve never read it on their website, how will you know to avoid the scams before placing an order?
You may have success finding a number to reach a customer service representative to assist you. But as for me, I moved on and decided to never order from Amazon because I was scammed and because of other reasons too.
I hope you can find someone to help you!
Take care,
Evelyn
This is a horrible story! Amazon should be screening these folks because I’m betting you’re not the first one to be scammed like this. Gotta listen to those Spidey senses though; they’ll never let you down. Sorry you had to deal with this.
Yeah it is horrible! I don’t think they screen people like they should and that’s sad, because I know there are probably other people getting scammed the same way I did.
I don’t think I am the first one to be scammed like this. I did a search on YouTube and found some videos of people getting scammed in some kind of way on Amazon. People are sneaky these days.
Thanks, Mitch!!