Victim Location 06851
Total money lost $545
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I made the purchase of a cellphone through Ebay. The user had a positive feedback and went ahead to pay the required money through Venmo. Due to covid-19 I couldn’t go to buy the phone to a store and I tried to made a purchase online and the website had issues. I went to check for cellphones to Ebay and found a phone. I contacted the seller and I paid him through venmo as he requested. After that I never received the phone so I contacted the seller, who apologized because his wife was supposed to ship the phone but she failed. Then he proceeded to send me a prepaid label confirmation and kept tracking this and it was never sent it. I felt secure because all my communication was through the Ebay website and the user was very responsive. After a week of getting messages from the seller telling that the delayed was due to covid 19, I asked for a refund. He replied saying that he was going to refund my money and was going to check on the status of the phone. I filed a complaint with ebay and they refuse to get my money back because venmo is not an authorized form of payment. I told them that I all my communication was through ebay and that’s why I never suspected that it could be an scam. The user deleted his account today and Ebay does not want to be responsible. Now, I lost all my money and they are washing their hands, the user had 100 positive feedback, nothing made me suspect that I was getting robbed. I beg you to please help me. Also, I will file a separate complaint with Venmo, I transferred the money to a bank account and now this person blocked or deactivated and they dont want to be responsible. Honestly, this is totally unfair, I am a single mom and $545 is money that I dont have.