How the “Oops, We Sent You the Wrong Item” Scam Works, Bypassing Paypal’s Consumer Protections
You saw an ad, you clicked, you bought, and then the wrong thing arrived.
For me, it was a “folding piano keyboard” — a toy, really. The flashy Facebook ad showed a piano keyboard that you could fold up and carry around in a backpack. As a piano guy, I’d been actively looking (for years) for a way to travel with a keyboard, and never had any real luck finding something. Within minutes, I’d sent off my $72 and eagerly looked forward to its arrival.
And then it finally came. Only, it wasn’t the item shown. Instead, it was a cheap roll-up piano keyboard, like this:
I was pretty bummed, of course.
At first, I assumed it must’ve been a simple mistake. Both things, after all, were piano-like. Maybe someone simply sent the wrong item.
So, I sent an inquiry.
No response.
