Consumer complaint received 2025-03-10 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Early Warning Services, LLC
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
I was on XXXXXXXX XXXX looking to buy a computer. I reached out to someone on marketplace who was selling XXXX for {$1000.00} on XX/XX/year>, and he said i could pick it up or he could ship it. I was initially going to go pick it up, but then later asked to ship it. I didnt think it would be a scam if he was offering to pick it up, so I asked if he could ship it instead, since it would be far for me to pick up. 

On XX/XX/year> at XXXX and XXXX, he sent pictures of the computer packaged and also sent pictures of him at the XXXX store XXXX it out. He also sent a photo of a XXXX receipt in an email, which looked real to me, so I didnt question it at the time. On the receipt, it had my zip code and city, the sellers location, and said XXXX at XXXX by XXXX/XXXX/2925. I sent {$50.00} to the sellers Zelle at XXXX on XX/XX/year>, and then another {$1000.00} at XXXX on XX/XX/year>. However, after sending the money, the seller claimed that the {$1000.00} did not go through. We reasoned that it might take a few hours or days for the money to process since it was a large amount, and left it at that, despite my suspicions, since the money was withdrawn from my account already through Zelle. 

After, I kept checking the tracking number on the receipt to see when the item would ship. After it did not ship for 2 days, I reached out to the seller on XX/XX/year> at XXXX. He got back to me at XXXX and claimed he did not get the money, and asked me to call my bank and see where the money was. I asked him to call his bank and to forward the XXXX receipt to me as well, but he did not respond to me. 

On XX/XX/year>, I called XXXX at XXXX to ask about the package and tracking number, and they said the tracking number was missing XXXX digits. After this call, I looked online for fake XXXX receipts, and the first result matched the receipt that the seller sent me. The card details and transaction numbers on the fake receipt were exactly the same as the ones on the receipt the seller sent me. Because of this realization, I came to the conclusion that the photos he had sent me before must have been old photos or faked somehow. I also believe that the sellers roommate did not actually exist, and that the email he gave me was his own. This is because part of the email ID is present in XXXX of his social media names, where he goes by XXXX XXXX XXXX  and uses the username XXXX XXXX. 

After, I reported the seller on XXXX XXXX and contacted my bank at XXXX to file a claim. I did not reach back out to the seller again after that, as he had still not responded to my previous message asking him to forward me the XXXX receipt. 

On XX/XX/year>, I heard back from my banking institution, in which they decided the transaction was not fraud and considered the matter resolved. I called my bank back on XX/XX/year> to explain the situation and in the hope to appeal their decision. I was able to submit an appeal to my bank, in which I claimed the issue as a scam rather than a fraud. On XX/XX/year>, they said they would investigate the issue, and on XX/XX/year>, I heard back from them on their decision. My bank said that because I had authorized the transaction, and I had listed the payment as for goods and services on Zelle, they were unable to recover the payment and considered the dispute resolved. However, I was still unsatisfied with this resolution, as I had wrongfully been scammed out of a large sum of money, and the perpetrator was seemingly facing no repercussions.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation