‘That’s the first red flag’
A TikTok user is alleging that she fell victim to what she describes as the “most common” scam on Poshmark, a popular resale app.
Blair Waverly (@BlairWaverly) said she came across a gray Chanel flap bag listed at $480. It’s not clear how much the specific purse Waverly was trying to buy costs, but considering similar styles go for around $8,000 and smaller clutches retail for $3,400, it seemed too good to be true — especially since Waverly said she bid $400 and it got accepted.
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“You might be thinking, ‘That’s the first red flag,’” Waverly said in the TikTok. “But I’ve actually purchased two or three Chanel bags on Poshmark — authenticated — for $300.”
In the onscreen text, Waverly warned others to be “wary” of Poshmark’s authentication process and of the items listed as “authenticated” on the site.
Waverly also said she checked to make sure the seller’s profile looked legitimate and saw that they had few other listings available too.
“Sometimes people just get rid of their s*** for less than they should,” she said.
Waverly explained that she followed her package delivery updates and was home when USPS said the bag was going to be delivered. She said she even met with her postman and asked him about the package when he only handed her mail.
“Then the tracking update says, ‘Your package has been delivered,’” Waverly continued. “At this point, I do a little bit more digging [and] I was able to actually find the listing that they stole the photos [of the Chanel bag] from.”
Waverly shared the original listing and included that the real owner was trying to resell the purse for $2,999.
“[Poshmark] says, basically if my package is stolen or lost, it’s not their problem,” Waverly said, referencing an email Poshmark support had sent her after she reported what she thought was a scam. “I immediately need to file a report with USPS.”
Then, Waverly went to her local post office and employees found that whoever scanned the package and marked it “delivered” went to the wrong address. But, according to Waverly, the post office employees said the system knew it was supposed to go to Waverly’s address.
Employees then showed Waverly a scan of the package with the incorrect address to prove the delivery driver did not know they were dropping it off at the wrong place. Waverly went to the incorrect address — which she said was a mile away from her house — and asked the residents if they had gotten a package addressed to her.
“They did,” she said. “It was open and empty but literally this package was so small it never had a bag in it. It definitely did not a Chanel flap.”
Then, Waverly broke down how the scam works.
“The scammer took my shipping label, downloaded it, Photoshopped an address near my house so that the posting would more or less track,” she said. “The postman scanned the package and it was supposed to go to my house, but then he looked at the address.”
Waverly speculated that the delivery driver then just took it to the second address, perhaps assuming the scanner was making a mistake.
“[The seller] was hoping — which almost worked — that I would assume that my package had been stolen out of my mailbox,” Waverly continued. “If I hadn’t been home, that was a reasonable assumption.”
A Poshmark spokesperson told In The Know that “this type of user abuse is currently rare.”
“Preserving the trust and safety of our marketplace is our top priority [and] we are aware of this issue,” the spokesperson wrote. “We actively work to detect and stop it from happening. Affected users are encouraged to reach out to Poshmark customer support to report any suspected user abuse so we can help to resolve the situation.”
Waverly said she then compiled her findings and told Poshmark, which then gave her a refund.
“But if I hadn’t done all of that, I really think [Poshmark] would’ve just stuck to their guns on like, ‘Stolen package! Sorry! Not our problem!’” she concluded.
In a comment, Waverly said that in addition to getting her money back, “the seller[‘s profile] got deleted.”
Commenters chimed in with their own experiences dealing with sellers on Poshmark.
“This exact thing happened to me!!” one person wrote.
“YOU JUST SOLVED THE MYSTERY CASE OF WHAT HAPPENED TO ME,” another said. “This exact thing happened [one] year ago and [I] wondered how they did it.”
“This is juicy, scary but satisfying in terms of your detective work,” a commenter said.
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The post Shopper alleges she almost fell for ‘scary’ Poshmark scam appeared first on In The Know.
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