A Warning!!! My Scammed Experience with "Ebay"

[Avi8tor]

Most of you have seen my ongoing story but I wanted to post this here as a warning to anyone searching for a Rolex online.

Many times, I Google an item I'm looking for and under the Shopping Tab I follow a link, check out the item and purchase it there.

So was the same for a Submariner. I used the Google machine, saw a link to a buy it now "ebay" Sub at the right price with what looked to be all of the papework, original box, even a cardboard box that the whole package would have come in. I bought it, because it was listed under "Hess Auctions"... What happened in the cyber realm was that I clicked on a redirect site and it took me to a fake Ebay page where I purchased the Sub. It was shipped to me via Pittney Bowes and when I got it, I tried to leave feedback but couldn't see the purchase on "MY EBAY". I thought this odd but went about my business. I tried contacting the seller outright to leave feedback and, to nobody's surprise at this point, received no answer.

I posted up what I had on the forum here and some questions were raised to it's authenticity.

There are the threads that ensued.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=688653

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=688743


And here's where I am as of today 29 July 2019.

Contacted USAA since they were the card I had linked to PayPal. The rep sent it up for review to see if they can refund me since it could fall into the card fraud but it's a gray area for them so we'll see in a couple days when they get a response. USAA is pretty on point so if they do me right then that would be fantastic.

Not even going to bother posting pics because I opened the "warranty" sheet up and it's blank. It hasn't been filled out at all so I'm assuming it was purchased online somewhere and just thrown in there. The plastic warranty card itself is from Oeding-Erdel Munster / Osnabruck, which is a real Rolex dealer but the card has not been filled out either so obviously that's a fake. The Serial Number on that card does not match the Serial Number on the rehaut. No point now in trying to figure out if the watch is fake or not. I'm pretty certain it is.

It's a shame because the craftsmanship they put into a fake is actually pretty nice. The crown on the crystal is laser etched dots, the bracelet fits perfectly (may actually be a real Rolex bracelet on a fake dial, I don't know at this point)... The cyclops magnifies the small date window just like a real Rolex. The second hand sweeps very nicely as would a real one. The RolexRolexRolex engraving is spot on and everything functions just like a real Rolex would. The luminescence is wonderful, everything is smooth and refined. I can't get into it to see the movement but I'm assuming it's actually Swiss or a very good copy. I'll take it to my local watch service to open it up and see today.

Not justifying having the watch, just saying... these guys put a lot of time into this thing and it's crazy how close they got.

So all in all, hopefully USAA will come through for me. Watch yourselves when buying online anywhere. And, I will go to Tucson to the Ben Bridge for my Rolex purchase in the future.

Hackers are out there. They are scum but they don't care. When researching this issue I found a guy that had the same exact thing happen when buying a Harley on ebay. Fake site redirect. He didn't even get a bike, he just lost all his money.

Watch yourselves out there. It's a sh*tty internet world.

[Aquaholic_user]

Post some pictures. Interested to see what movement is in there.

SM-N960U

[Avi8tor]

Originally Posted by Aquaholic_user

Post some pictures. Interested to see what movement is in there.

SM-N960U

Sure will!

[CorradoBrit]

Was there a return shipping address on the shipping label. If yes, what part of the country? Have you googled the address. Did you know where Hess Auctions operates from?

I'd also check your CC terms and conditions? Is it visa or M/C? Some cards have additional protections that are rolled into the membership and provide additional benefits and may cover you in a case like this if USAA refuse to process the refund. I recently got reimbursed for $450 in prepaid hotel bookings which I missed due to French air traffic control industrial action. You'll need to get a professional report to state that you received a fake watch from this online scammer. GL

[hbombkid]

Sorry to hear and hopefully your bank steps in, but the advice here should be do not log into sites off a redirect especially sites where you need to login to buy something.

It only takes a couple seconds to go to the legit site and login in and do a search.

[edweather]

I googled Rolex Submariner, and went to the shopping tab, and not one ebay link, real or fake, showed up. Maybe you could post the (a) link, or a screen shot, to a fake ebay page if you com across one again, so we know what to look out for. Hope you get your money back.

[thesharkfactor]

Originally Posted by edweather

I googled Rolex Submariner, and went to the shopping tab, and not one ebay link, real or fake, showed up. Maybe you could post the (a) link, or a screen shot, to a fake ebay page if you com across one again, so we know what to look out for. Hope you get your money back.

usually the thing to look out for is the web address, instead of 'www.ebay.com/itm/1234567891012' it would be something like 'www.epay/itm/123456789012' or maybe something more blatant like 'www.scammersrus.com/letsbehavinyou'.. the page itself would look just like an ebay page hence why some folk get fooled.

[zaydans]

If you find an eBay item via google search the best approach is make note of the item number, then log into your eBay account via the actual web address and search for the item. Never ever use a link because way too many scam sites out there now. Good luck to the OP and hope he finds a positive resolution.

[Gtecko]

interested to see the movement pics too
if you have a VISA you should be covered fro fraud