Law Enforcement
- Working with Law Enforcement
- Reporting fraud or stolen goods to the police
If you've been defrauded by a seller on eBay or have reason to believe you have discovered stolen goods, we strongly encourage you to contact your local police to report the incident and ensure that you obtain a crime reference number. If the police take the matter further, the investigating police officer will contact eBay; we'll provide the information the police need to help with the investigation.
Before you go to the police
You transaction might not be a case of fraud or stolen goods, and it might that you're dealing with a seller who is slow at sending an item or keeping in contact. In these cases, we encourage you to try resolving the issue with the seller directly. If this doesn't work, there are a number of ways to resolve your issue quickly before going to the police:
- eBay Resolution Centre
- Items Not Received
- eBay Buyer Protection
Is it a crime?
If you report your transaction to the police, they'll decide if it should be investigated as a crime or as a civil dispute. If the police feel that your case doesn't involve a criminal intent by the other party, it's possible that they may advise you to take civil action to recover your losses through a county (small claims) court. Advice and information can be found here. Should you require further advice on pursuing civil matters we suggest you contact Citizens Advice consumer service.
Advice from Action Fraud
- You can report issues via https://www.actionfraud.police.uk
- Reports about transactions outside of eBay or PayPal may not be investigated by law enforcement, although your report will help the police to build intelligence and monitor fraud activity.
- eBay will always assist in a criminal investigation received from Law Enforcement.
How do I make a police report?
The simplest way of reporting a crime is to go to your local police station or to call the local police operator on a non-emergency number. In most cases your report can be taken by telephone and followed up later. Some forces have an online crime reporting system, which you may be able to find on the web.
What evidence do you need?
The police will need essential details from you, such as the date and time of the offence and who the victim and suspects are. If you tried to contact the seller you may have even exchanged names and addresses using the 'contact member' system. These details will be useful to the police in trying to trace the other person and establishing whether or not they've committed an offence.
If you've exchanged emails with the other person, make sure that you keep them and print copies to provide to the police. If possible print any eBay or PayPal web pages relating to your transaction.
What happens next?
We strongly believe in working closely with the police and other government agencies to keep our community safe. We train hundreds of police and trading standards officers every year in how to assist victims of crime and we provide our support and services to them free of charge. If the police feel that an investigation is warranted they may come to us for evidence to support the investigation. We are committed to keeping eBay a safe place to shop and will always assist in a criminal investigation and, in accordance with our privacy policies, will appropriately provide evidence to law enforcement and give evidence in court where necessary.
Make sure you have your crime reference number to hand whenever you contact the police about your allegation, as this will be the best way for them to check on the progress of your case. You may find it useful to ask to speak to someone on the 'crime desk' or in the CID office.
Will anyone be arrested?
If you're making an allegation of crime you should be prepared that no matter how good you think your case is the police may still chose not to continue with an investigation. A strong deciding factor is often whether or not the cost of an investigation is proportionate to the offence committed. This may mean that if the amount of financial loss is relatively low then a lengthy investigation is unlikely.
Will anyone be charged?
The police will take into account a number of other factors. The Crown Prosecution Service have laid down a 'Threshold Test' which is used to determine whether or not a person will be charged with an offence, and it's possible that this may affect how the police pursue your allegation. eBay provides information in accordance with data protection legislation. The following contact details are provided for use by the Police, Trading Standards and other law enforcement agencies when sending requests for information:
FAQs
Law Enforcement agencies in North America seeking assistance and records for investigations relating to eBay, Inc. may contact the Criminal & Regulatory Investigations Team for assistance.
Can you call the police if you get scammed on eBay? ›
If you've been defrauded by a seller on eBay or have reason to believe you have discovered stolen goods, we strongly encourage you to contact your local police to report the incident and ensure that you obtain a crime reference number.
Where do I send a subpoena to eBay? ›
Our physical mailing address for subpoena compliance is 2211 N. First Street, San Jose, CA 95131, but we do not need a physical copy of a court order to produce records.
How do I contact eBay about a scammer? ›
Concerned about a fraudulent listing? At the bottom of every listing you will find a link saying "Report this item". That takes you to a form you need to fill in to tell us why you are reporting. This includes counterfeit or stolen items, or other suspected fraud.
How long do eBay investigations take? ›
If your buyer has requested a return or let you know about an issue with their purchase and you can't resolve things for them, you can ask us to help. Once we step in, we'll review the details and get back to you and the buyer within 48 hours.
Can you find out who reported you on eBay? ›
ebay does keep records when you report a buyer for misusing the MBG to get return shipping paid by the seller. The buyer will not know that s/he has been reported. If enough reports are filed for that buyer, ebay can refuse to accept any cases from that buyer under the MBG.
Can I get my money back if I've been scammed on eBay? ›
If you're the victim of an eBay scam, there are steps you can take to recover your money and protect others from the scam: Open a refund request with the seller. eBay won't engage with your dispute until you've attempted to solve it with the seller.
Can you talk to a real person at eBay? ›
If you can't find the information you need in our Help articles, and would like to get in touch with us, we're here to help. To improve your help experience, please sign in to your account. Select Contact us at the bottom of this page, choose what you need help with and we'll get you to the right agent.
Can you report an eBay buyer is scammer? ›
How to report a buyer. You can also report a buyer from your Orders list - opens in new window or tab. Choose Leave feedback from the dropdown menu next to the item, and then select Report buyer. We take all reports seriously, but please make sure your claims are accurate.
Can you go to court for eBay? ›
As you can see, you have several ways to get your money back if an eBay sale goes south. If none of these work, you may be able to sue an eBay seller in small claims court. Many small claims cases can be handled without a lawyer. In some states, a lawyer is not allowed to represent a party in small claims court.
How to ask us to step in
- Find the item in your Purchases.
- Select See request details (if your item didn't arrive) or See return details (if you're trying to return an item).
- Select Ask eBay to step in and help.
- Select a reason from the dropdown menu, then select Confirm.
Details on how to escalate your case:
- Follow the Case Details link below.
- Click "Respond to Case"
- Select "Escalate this case" to eBay Customer Support.
- Click "Submit" after providing additional details you'd like to share about your case.
Need to speak to someone? If you can't find the answer in any of our help sections, visit Contact Us and choose a top issue or ask a question. Click 'call' and we'll give you a direct phone number and a PIN number.
Can you go to jail for scamming on eBay? ›
Ebay will now reach into my bank account and pay the funds to the person committing a felony fraud, a conviction for which may result in substantial jail time.
Does reporting a buyer on eBay do anything? ›
Also understand that eBay will not enforce or penalize a buyer on their first report offense. If your buyer has had only one report against them (yours), eBay won't do anything to their account yet. Only multiple reports will start to affect a buyer account.
Can you get caught selling stolen goods on eBay? ›
The sale of stolen property is not allowed on eBay. The sale of stolen property violates state, federal and international law, and we will work with law enforcement in any attempts to sell stolen property on eBay.
Does eBay report to the government? ›
However, eBay will still be required to report sales of $20,000 or more and 200 or more transactions to the IRS. Additionally, Congress is considering a bill that would repeal the new $600 threshold and restore the previous $20,000 and 200 transaction threshold.
Will eBay protect me if I get scammed? ›
Buyers and sellers are subject to the eBay Money Back Guarantee or other buyer protection policy (if available) of the site where the buyer completed checkout, regardless of the eBay site used to list the item or the registration details of the buyer or seller.
