"paypal says they'll go after the "seller for the $$"

Actually, PayPal seems to be pretty buyer friendly these days. If the seller can't provide proof that he shipped the goods, they'll typically yank funds from the seller's account--even if it means putting the account in the negative. Don't lose faith in PayPal just yet...

Paypal pitches you are protected using your money iin your account...when you go to fund by credit card, they actually pitch that you don't have to to be protected. They should make good, but...

be VERY careful of the dates/deadlines when claims have to be filed. A friend had an ebay purchase problem, and AT THAT TIME you had to wait X days before eBay would pursue anything, and PayPal said you had to go through eBay for restitution first (they had already become part of the same company by this time). PayPal's deadline was before ebay's "we'll go after them" date...very frustrating.

Anyway, read carefully what you have to do to file a claim through PayPal, but I would guess PayPal will come through for your friend.

I was scammed a couple of years ago over a set of wheels. I lodged a complaint on the FBI internet fraud sqaud web site and they got straight after the bastard and he sent the wheels. I was amazed as I live in Australia. I think this was the web site ;

http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

It helps if you can get a real name and address otherwise they won;t have much to go on. I tricked my guy by pretending I was interested in something else he was selling, got his phone number.

Have faith. Paypal will protect them. I've seen a few friends in the same boat and it's always worked out with paypal. It's part of the reason for all the fees. Actually, paypal is more like a bank/credit card anymore. They have enormous leverage and can usually get the funds returned (unless this is a scam on the level of a hollywood blockbuster - my guess, no)

I used to work fraud protection for a large, multinational corporation. I've seen many scams, but I still shop without concern online. If I am buying on ebay, I use paypal. If on a merchant's website, with my credit card. I had a merchant charge me too much recently and after 2 months of waiting/asking for a refund, I filed a chargeback with my credit card. The money was back in my account in one hour.

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"I do my best to slay" - Matt Pike

>>>I filed a chargeback with my credit card<<<

What's this?

A chargeback is when you challenge the charges on your credit card with your bank. Your bank is ALWAYS on your side. They will effectively take the money back from the account that has charged it. This takes time on their part, but if they are a good bank/card they will put the money back in immediately (on a temporary basis, until they investigate a little.)

This is why you pay fees people! Use your consumer protection! You will always win!

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"I do my best to slay" - Matt Pike

Be careful.....the merchant gets screwed if the consumer is the "bad guy". I've had a few couples stay at our inn or cancel their reservation and then "charge back". The money is immediately taken from me. We always LOSE these challenges. Even if we were 100% correct on the charge, they always side with the consumer. The process sucks for the merchant!!

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Paul

Yeah...I have heard that merchants, especially the small guys, can really get screwed over by chargebacks.

On a similiar story, a friend of my wife's was helping their friend buy a several thousand dollar piece of equipment through a "store" on amazon.com. Since it was through amazon they thought it was fairly legit and were comfortable enough to wire funds to complete the transaction. After several days of ignored e-mails and questions about shipping status and bad feedback from other buyers popping up, they got very concerned and were worried that they had just lost all that money. Fortunately, they were actually able to get the bank to reverse the wire transfer and recovered the money!

As far as PayPal goes, I would definitely allow them to work through their process. They are generally pretty good about things like that. But in the future, I'd use a credit card on there, not your other PP funds.

thanks for the advice everyone. we'll sit tight for now and see what paypal can do for him.

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"I'm happy when life's good,
and when it's bad I cry.
I've got values but I don't know how or why."
- The Who