I made a purchase on a web site and never received confirmation of the order, no shipping notice or a response when I questioned the order. Zero communication with the seller. No contact at all ever. Web site address, PayPal address and the contact email for the website did not match. Within an hour of submitting a query on my order to the web site contact email I received a PayPay email with a USPS tracking number for something shipped to my zip code. Went to the Post Office and questioned the tracking number and was given an address verbally for that tracking number. It was not my address. As a buyer, not the shipper, you have no access to the shipping information. The Post Office giving me this information was probably something they were not allowed to do but then I knew I had been scammed. I filed a Proof of Delivery request with the Post Office submitting my address. The response I received was that the item was delivered to the address it was shipped to but it was not my address. Again the P.O. probably gave me more information than they were allowed. I also filed a fraud report with Postal Inspectors. I filed a buyer protection claim with PayPal but my claim was denied because a tracking number for an item shipped to my zip code was delivered. This is all PayPal requires as proof. Not very good protection. The letter from the P.O. stating the item was not delivered to my address was not enough for PayPal to protect me. PayPal even suggested I file these requests with the P.O. to get information PayPal could act on. As a buyer I have no rights to this information and PayPal knows this. I did a Google search for this type of fraud and guess what, it isn't something new. Seller probably did a google search for an apartment complex at my zip code. Sent some worthless tracked item to whatever random address within my zip code they came up with and pocketed my money. They know PayPal buyer protections are weak and easily exploited. We pressed the P.O. for information but they cannot provide information if you did not purchase the shipping. The last information I received from the P.O. was that they, the P.O., contacted PayPal and was assured that my claim would be upheld. As far as PayPal is concerned it is over, I lost. This is what needs to be changed with PayPal terms: If a delivery is disputed, the seller should be required to submit a POD, Proof of Delivery request to the P.O. This will show an address where a tracking number does not. Takes less than a minute to make this request and I received a response in less than a day. No burden for a seller here to end a dispute. Fraud loophole closed. Why doesn't PayPal do this? I have been a PayPal customer for 21 years. I don't think I have ever made a claim with hundreds of transactions. The web site registration was like one month old at the time of purchase and today, guess what, the site no longer exists. Poof, gone, PayPal weak protection exploited, scam completed. Probably a rinse repeat operation. Why does PayPal offer weak protection for for a specific method of fraud that has been known for a long time?
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