I bought a site today. It was advertised as "100% unique and hand-coded". It's a relatively new site, but he showed traffic shots showing 100-200 visitors a day (these screenshots did not actually include the domain, I trusted him they were real). Of course shortly after I've paid (paypal) and he's transferred the domain, I start finding clones online. There are a bunch of them. I doubt the traffic is real too. They were probably bunk screenshots. Okay, so I'm an idiot. 30 seconds on Google could have saved me my money. Anyway, what's my best move? Does this sound like a case PayPal would look at? Thanks.
that sucks. P*YPAL probably won't help, but you may want to contact them anyway. did you buy from someone here? let us know who it is please. thanks. P.S. you're NOT the idiot.
Until you verify it's a scam, I would sit tight. Regardless, you can't get your money back from PayPal. But what you can do is to make sure others know not to buy from this person (if it does indeed turn out to be fraudulent).
I don't think paypal will help you out if it's digital media which is what I heard they have listed on their website.
Well, there is no harm in creating a dispute through Paypal for that transaction, that way Paypal will be made aware of the situation and the one who sold you need to justify it. The last time I used Paypal to sell my shareware and I got a dispute refund which was apparently trying to cheat me and Paypal sided with the customer. Paypal does not protect the merchants from virtual products or services so you may have a chance. It is free to dispute. Enough complains about a particular vendor may cause his account to be limited.
why don't you post the name of the person or product or company here so we all could be warned? No, you're not an idiot. You simply trusted and you can't be blamed for that. Not all evil appear or look evil.
I know the feeling. It really suxxx... Usually, I hack the guy's site(s) to the bones, deep... I take the time necessary. It's a question of time and I go deeeeep... I also build (but test internally only) trojan since 1996 ....
Sad story, I reel sorry for you here. Has anybody mentioned the amount you have paid for the site? Well, that would not change anything I guess. What do you know about the guy? A website? A portfolio? Anything to track him down? If not, then you are likely to be the one at loss, sorry. Is his Paypal account verified at least? Paypal may help if you make an effort and bring good proof in to fight for your money. But if the seller has used an unverified account, then he must have dumped it by now and chances are that yoy'll be shooting blanks.. Don't get too disappointed about this, I would take it as a lesson, experience is something we all pay for, and you may consider you paid a price for the lesson. Once again, sorry about it.
Yes just let us know is that person from DP , so people like me those are earning $ 1 to $ 2 per day doesn't get scammed by that person .
I payed someone $10 for hosting but he hasn't returned it neither created my account. I know his name, is there anyway i can report him?
maybe he bought it also somewhere, luckily you got the domain. Note: your not an idiot, forgive yourself.
What type of clone did you buy? like a youtube site clone? Maybe you can complain to him, and ask him how he promoted his sites. Maybe you need to promote it the same way that he does. One of the users on here claimed his site to be "custom coded" but it was obviously a clone. I should have mentioned something on the thread but I didn't really feel like bringing bad business... I should have.
Ouch, no you're not an idiot, just maybe inexperienced. We've all fallen prey to scams. And now, you're experienced. This is a pretty good thread to pore over, though. You really have to do your homework, no matter what you're buying online. And mentioning the name and a bad iTrader rating would help others out. Incidentally, the fact that the site is not 100% unique does not make it worthless...
Yes it is crazy. I almost got scammed (look at my signature) for a $3K site. PayPal does not guarantee intangible goods, which means you can EASILY ask for a chargeback!!! And you will get your money back. I was the seller in this deal and someone used a hacked account to pay for my site. Good thing I asked PayPal about it. The guy got really upset and said I wasted his time. Then the original owner of the account (which I turns out to be some CFO) contacts me and asks me why I charged him $3K... crazyness!!! So I'm now between a rock and a hard place. I wanna help the guy that got hacked but everytime I am nice he thinks I'm associated with the scammer... anyways... Do things by the book - Sites over $1K - always do with Escrow.com.
Sounds pretty sad, there are people doing this kind of scamms, just be aware and use some escrow system. Furthermore, might try escrow.com or scriptlance is a good place as well.. oh and, how much did you got scammed? :> just a .. personal curiosity
they never get tired, do they ? scamming people and living in lies and others hate..no wonder they still scam people, they just can't get 'enough'..the more they scam, the emptier their life will began, living in worries and deception...talk about internet marketing these days, full of lies and deception...huh..
Nah... the problem is PayPal. They should really protect both sides. WHY THE F#$K do we pay these huge commissions after all?! Hmmm makes me wonder... I could start a class action lawsuit.
Impulse is a bitch I know, it really sucks when you have bought something and then 5 min later you think to research....