How does this scam work?
Discussion
My wife saw something she wanted on Vinted, a fairly expensive item circa £130.
Seller is supposedly UK based. She conversed with the seller and bought the item.
A few days later she was told the item was being shipped and given a UPS tracking code. This was 31st Oct.
The item hasn't turned up yet. We checked the tracking and it says it's stuck near Lyon in France. (Since the 3rd Nov)
She's contacted the seller several times and they give wishy washy "thanks for your patience, we've contacted UPS and its at your local depot, it will be delivered within 2days" kinda thing (which it isn't).
Vinted and they've said that if it doesn't turn up by the 22nd November, she then has to contact them within 48hrs and they'll issue a refund.
The whole lot absolutely stinks but can't see how it all works. Unless the messages from "Vinted" are actually from the seller and Vinted release the money after 21days or something? No idea.
Any degenerates on here familiar with scamming folk?
Seller is supposedly UK based. She conversed with the seller and bought the item.
A few days later she was told the item was being shipped and given a UPS tracking code. This was 31st Oct.
The item hasn't turned up yet. We checked the tracking and it says it's stuck near Lyon in France. (Since the 3rd Nov)
She's contacted the seller several times and they give wishy washy "thanks for your patience, we've contacted UPS and its at your local depot, it will be delivered within 2days" kinda thing (which it isn't).
Vinted and they've said that if it doesn't turn up by the 22nd November, she then has to contact them within 48hrs and they'll issue a refund.
The whole lot absolutely stinks but can't see how it all works. Unless the messages from "Vinted" are actually from the seller and Vinted release the money after 21days or something? No idea.
Any degenerates on here familiar with scamming folk?
Edited by Ambleton on Monday 21st November 20:05
I don't think there's any kind of scamming going on here; I don't have experience with Vinted, but they seem to hold the payments from buyers in escrow in much the same way as Ebay sometimes do with new/unrated sellers. They will only release the funds to the seller once receipt of the item(s) as described has been confirmed by the buyer.
Found this which seems to explain things
Found this which seems to explain things
International shipping is a mess at the moment, bought something from Etsy and it took 6 weeks to arrive from the US.
Sent something to Italy a couple of years ago, UPS kept it for 5 months, refused to deliver it, invoiced me to return it (I'd long since refunded the buyer), I didn't pay and it randomly got returned a couple of months later.
Sent something to Italy a couple of years ago, UPS kept it for 5 months, refused to deliver it, invoiced me to return it (I'd long since refunded the buyer), I didn't pay and it randomly got returned a couple of months later.
bigandclever said:
That one sounds like you’ll be getting another, fake, UPS tracking code on the 21st. They rely on you not doing the 48hr response to vinted.
Vinted don't release the money to the seller until OP has confirmed receipt of the goods. That's what it says on their website at any rate so it would be quite a crap and unsuccessful scam 
Reading through the Vinted forum, how it works is the seller creates a bogus shipping thing.
Then 2 days before it's actually due they say "oh it's been returned to me, I'll ship it again". Then on the last day of the time window they send a pair of socks or something else with no value and Vinted track it as being delivered and close the case.
You then have 48hrs to report it and the seller then tries to resolve it outside of the system. As soon as you tell Vinted you're resolving it with the seller they close it and release the cash. Then you're s
t out of luck.
Then 2 days before it's actually due they say "oh it's been returned to me, I'll ship it again". Then on the last day of the time window they send a pair of socks or something else with no value and Vinted track it as being delivered and close the case.
You then have 48hrs to report it and the seller then tries to resolve it outside of the system. As soon as you tell Vinted you're resolving it with the seller they close it and release the cash. Then you're s
t out of luck.Ambleton said:
Maybe I'm just assuming the worst then.
Doing a bit of digging the seller has no other items, no feedback etc.
Supposedly they live and operate in the northwest UK in Cheshire, so why is the t being sent from Lyon?!
Not sure why their responses are so wishy washy either.
Probably drop shipped. My mate does that with car play mmi boxes for minis. Doing a bit of digging the seller has no other items, no feedback etc.
Supposedly they live and operate in the northwest UK in Cheshire, so why is the t being sent from Lyon?!
Not sure why their responses are so wishy washy either.
Ambleton said:
Supposedly they live and operate in the northwest UK in Cheshire, so why is the t being sent from Lyon?!
Not sure why their responses are so wishy washy either.
It does sound strange, both the location and vague responses, but if Vinted stick to their terms then your money should be safe. I don't know how the transactions work there though, so there may be a way for the seller to falsify a confirmation of receipt? Have you received an info from Vinted about confirming the arrival of the goods?Not sure why their responses are so wishy washy either.
Ambleton said:
Reading through the Vinted forum, how it works is the seller creates a bogus shipping thing.
Then 2 days before it's actually due they say "oh it's been returned to me, I'll ship it again". Then on the last day of the time window they send a pair of socks or something else with no value and Vinted track it as being delivered and close the case.
You then have 48hrs to report it and the seller then tries to resolve it outside of the system. As soon as you tell Vinted you're resolving it with the seller they close it and release the cash. Then you're st out of luck.
These scammers are nothing if not inventive Then 2 days before it's actually due they say "oh it's been returned to me, I'll ship it again". Then on the last day of the time window they send a pair of socks or something else with no value and Vinted track it as being delivered and close the case.
You then have 48hrs to report it and the seller then tries to resolve it outside of the system. As soon as you tell Vinted you're resolving it with the seller they close it and release the cash. Then you're s
t out of luck.
Suppose the only thing to do is cancel the order due to the incorrect delivery date? If that's possible 
Sq1rL said:
bigandclever said:
That one sounds like you’ll be getting another, fake, UPS tracking code on the 21st. They rely on you not doing the 48hr response to vinted.
Vinted don't release the money to the seller until OP has confirmed receipt of the goods. That's what it says on their website at any rate so it would be quite a crap and unsuccessful scam It was practically guaranteed it’s a 0 feedback, new seller.
Well... I guess let's see what happens.
You can't cancel the order as the transaction has supposedly been "completed".
IE, the seller has "shipped" the parcel and the money has been taken and put in ESCROW.
I wonder if they operate on the basis of scam enough people and a few might miss the 48hr dispute window or click the "resolve with seller" button.
You can't cancel the order as the transaction has supposedly been "completed".
IE, the seller has "shipped" the parcel and the money has been taken and put in ESCROW.
I wonder if they operate on the basis of scam enough people and a few might miss the 48hr dispute window or click the "resolve with seller" button.
I use vinted regularly. If she doesn't get the parcel she will receive a full refund. Can't comment on how it ended up in Lyon but if it is genuinely stuck somewhere the seller will also receive a refund.
I am aware there are a few scams going around on vinted so I never deal with expensive items. Low value items are usually safe as not worth the hassle of a scam.
I've bought and sold about a grands worth of stuff and had 1 item not recieved and one item not sent, out of about 50 transactions.
I am aware there are a few scams going around on vinted so I never deal with expensive items. Low value items are usually safe as not worth the hassle of a scam.
I've bought and sold about a grands worth of stuff and had 1 item not recieved and one item not sent, out of about 50 transactions.
Ambleton said:
Aaaaand someone at Vinted has intervened, said "something's not right so we've cancelled your order and requested the money (and shipping) to be returned". Should get it back in 5-10 days.
Glad to hear it's getting sorted. Here in Belgium Vinted is getting a terrible reputation for scams, to the point where loads of people aren't using it any more.Just to close this out - Vinted have already refunded the full amount including postage and the seller has disappeared without a trace, so assume they've had their account closed.
Whatever their plan was, I assume they create lots of burner accounts and listings and hope that some people are less tenacious in the hope that one or two work.
Seems like a lot of effort for little gain.
Whatever their plan was, I assume they create lots of burner accounts and listings and hope that some people are less tenacious in the hope that one or two work.
Seems like a lot of effort for little gain.
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