Wow, PayPal done good!

Hello,
I have had many people do charge backs and I have won every time as well.
I do ebay and I ship everything with a tracking number, I had a customer tell me not to do tracking and save the money and to give an additional discount, I am sure that customer was a crook.

I didn't know there was such a thing as a seller protection policy, so this is good news.

yeah the tracking number was key here. It's proof plain and simple!

Yes, I also experienced this chargeback thingy from a customer.. all you have to do is have the tracking number and copy the transaction record. Then PayPal will investigate this dispute.

I've also had success with fighting chargebacks on PayPal as well as my own merchant accounts. For PayPal it was as simple as you mentioned basically you give them the tracking number, the shipping method you choose shows it was delivered in the town they live in and you win. I think it really only works when they claim they didn't receive anything. If they say they received something but it wasn't what they purchased you might have a problem. I normally use USPS though.

I believe you also have to ship to a Paypal confirmed address for the protection (along with tracking).

Paypal is just another entity that you must build a relationship with. I won't begin to reveal what I've gotten Paypal to do for me and others, in a positive way also.

I also use of Paypal and I am satisfied with their service I recommend this because it helps a lot especially when it comes to money transfer.

Has anybody ever heard of something called "fraud"?

It happens to be illegal in most parts of USA and many other countries.

PayPal cannot condone a fraud without becoming complicit with it. So as long as you can document the shipment and delivery of a good to a buyer, they cannot deny it was shipped. That's why if you have a tracking number and delivery confirmation, they won't question anything.

Now, here's the interesting part....

PayPal does not normally cover digital download products either. It is well documented.

Now pay close attention ...

For someone to file a chargeback, they are required to submit an AFFIDAVIT, which is a LEGAL DOCUMENT, signed and affirmed "under penalty of perjury".

Furthermore, many credit card companies require you to MAIL them an original signed copy of the affidavit. You can FAX it to them, but many also ask you to send a copy with an ORIGINAL SIGNATURE in the mail. It doesn't need to be notarized, but that doesn't matter.

The first thing to know is that using the USPS to mail a document in the commission of a fraud is a FEDERAL OFFENSE.

If you sell a digital download product to someone and you send them a download link along with an email message, and it goes to their PayPal email address, and they download the files, THEN they file an affidavit in an attempt to get a "refund via chargeback" ... THAT IS FRAUD!

Re-read the above paragraph until you understand it.

(You might think, "yeah, yeah, sure it is. But how can I PROVE it?" YOU don't have to!)

PayPal will get the chargeback from their credit card provider and notify you. You say you want to dispute it. They'll say "too bad, it was a digital download product and not eligible for Seller Protection".

Then you say, "Please tell me how to file a claim for a fraudulent chargeback with the credit card company".

Now, absent any information otherwise, there's usually nothing PayPal can (or will) do. PayPal is actually the party on record to whom the charge was paid, so they are also the party to receive the chargeback. However, YOU are the vendor; PayPal is acting as your agent. The credit card company takes the funds from them, they recover the funds from you, and everything is hunky dory as far as the credit card processor goes.

UNLESS ... someone has a reason to believe a fraud is being perpetrated.

If your agent has reason to believe that a chargeback has been filed fraudulently against them, they are REQUIRED by law to report it to the credit card processor. Normally, since they know nothing about the fulfillment and have NO WAY to verify digital download products, they just say, "too bad". They have no reason to question either the chargeback or its veracity.

But think about it ...

1) someone buys something from your website using their PayPal account;

2) they get a download email at their PayPal email addy;

3) they visit your site and download the product;

4) they then file a chargeback request saying someone fraudulently used their credit card to purchase something online.

Again, this is not covered by PayPal's Seller Protection plan because they have no way of "verifying delivery". But, it's not about the "delivery" in this case!

It's about claiming their card was used without their knowledge or authorization to make a purchase that THEY are the ONLY party who could have POSSIBLY MADE THE PURCHASE!

Doesn't it seem a bit odd that someone to report their credit card was used WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE OR PERMISSION to make a purchase through THEIR OWN PAYPAL ACCOUNT ... yet they never reported that their PayPal account was hacked?

Or that OTHER purchases made with the same card were NOT reported as "unauthorized"?

You might argue, "But how can I tell that happened?"

Well ... YOU can not see anything in their PayPal account. But ... PayPal certainly can!

Again, PayPal has no reason to question the veracity of the chargeback -- UNLESS AND UNTIL *YOU* NOTIFY THEM THAT IT SOUNDS FISHY!

Which puts them in a very AWKWARD position.

If they do NOT investigate it and report to the credit card company, then THEY are complicit in any fraud that might have happened!

If they DO investigate it, they cannot tell you anything, almost to the extent of being unable to ask questions.

Simply give them as much information as you can and ask them to verify whether or not the person used their credit card AFTER filing the chargeback, and whether any further charges have been disputed.

Fraud is fraud. IMO, you have to be pretty stupid to file a fraudulent charge affidavit for one purchase among dozens in a month, without reporting the card lost or stolen.

The most likely scenario is ... someone would say that a family member used their PayPal account to make an unauthorized purchase. Yeah, right.

The problem is, the credit card companies tend to ignore this, because as long as the funds are recovered, they figure "no harm, no foul". But it's STILL FRAUD!

ADVICE: DO NOT *EVER* JUST SIT BACK AND ALLOW A CHARGEBACK TO OCCUR FROM PAYPAL WITHOUT TELLING PAYPAL YOU BELIEVE IT'S A FRAUDULENT REQUEST AND ASKING HOW TO TAKE FURTHER LEGAL ACTION!

There are people who believe it's "OK" to file fraudulent charge affidavits as a simple way to get refunds. The credit card companies will turn the other cheek as long as nobody questions it. But if a question is raised, it can end up backfiring on the consumer, especially if they've filed a number of such affidavits.

PAYPAL CAN SEE THEIR PAYMENT AND CHARGEBACK HISTORY! Once they start looking, IF they see a pattern, they're OBLIGATED to report it to the credit card processors! But they won't bother without a reason.

GIVE THEM A REASON EVERY CHANCE YOU GET!

Just to be clear: you're not "disputing the chargeback". Rather, say "[you] believe the chargeback affidavit was filed fraudulently and [you] want to know how to take further legal action against the buyer".

I've done that a few times now. I didn't hear anything for a while, then I get an email saying the chargeback was withdrawn and the funds are being returned to me.

NOTE: there are two practices that are virtually guaranteed to be bullet-proof in advancing a claim for a fraudulent affidavit filing.

1) when you require a double opt-in before sending them the download;

2) when you require them to register at a membership site that confirms their login info via email before they can login and access the download.

Think about it ... someone would have to have access to not only their PayPal account, but one or more email accounts as well if they REALLY had no knowledge of the purchase!

All you need to do is threaten to subpoena the login records for their PayPal account and their email account(s) to verify that the IP matched their computer. If you can get a download record on your server that shows their IP address in close proximity to the purchase, that puts the nail in their coffin, but it's not necessary.

It's almost impossible to report one isolated action as "unauthorized" when several others are REQUIRED to make it work fully and there's no record that any of the other mechanism were considered suspicious.

If your credit card is indeed lost or stolen, what do you do? You cancel it; you go into your PayPal account and delete it; and you basically stop using it.

If it looks like someone hacked into your PayPal account, what do you do? You contact PayPal and report that someone got into it; you might cancel ALL of your cards and accounts; you'd notify all of the credit card processors; you'd notify your bank; and if you're smart, you'd even send a fraud alert to the credit reporting agencies.

If it looks like someone hacked into your email accounts, what do you do?

THINK ABOUT IT!

Then explain to me how someone can LEGITIMATELY report that ONE isolated PayPal transaction was "unauthorized" without considering that ALL of these other accounts were compromised???

It does not happen! Period. End of story.

Do NOT just roll-over for chargebacks!

-David