ebay and mail fraud

i purchased an item off ebay that costs me £165. about a week of non-devliery i contacted them about it, and they sent me a tracking number. i went onto parcel force website and put in the tracking number and it came up as "in progress". this was like this for over 3 days with no updates. no nothing. so i called parcel force..............and found out that the tracking number they sent me was used back in june. and they duplicated the tracking number. whatever they sent with the duplicated tracking number isnt going to my postcode.

obviously im going to make a claim with paypal. but i wanted to know if theres any other steps i can take to get this person done. isnt this considered mail fraud or something?

just to add-  i am so beyond upset about this. i am on the verge of tears. this item is very much needed.

and i just got off the phone with the post office and they are taking a "its not our problem" attitude with it. they said theres nothing they can do. Oh so someone duplicated your tracking numbers for fraud, is no big deal to u guys is it???

Is it possible that the seller sent you the wrong tracking code by mistake? Maybe it was a typo or something. I'd check with them first (if you haven't already) before making a claim. It could be just an innocent mistake.

the post office said that,but like i said to them. yes i can understand that someone might have made a typo on the tracking number. however, the original tracking number had an item delivered on 30th june to someone else. i cant see this,but their systems show it.
on the parcelforce website however  is it now showing the tracking number has been used again and was picked up by the post office on 15 july and scanned.
on their website it shows "in progress" but on their systems its showing as delivered 30 june

I'd go back to the original seller, as chary mentioned -- and ask for clarification and confirmation that the item was sent and the tracking number.  At this point, I wouldn't mention that you suspect fraud.  They could have goofed and given you someone else's already-used tracking number or any number of explanations and this might be resolvable -- and you could get your item.

BUT if/when that fails, then report them to ebay and file a claim with paypal for a refund.  They're going to care a lot more than the post office will.

Good luck!

I've had a few inconsistencies with Parcel Force tracking numbers in the past. One time I had a number that said the item was sitting in a depot waiting for delivery, which subsequently never came. Upon contacting the seller, I discovered that Parcel Force had returned the item to them claiming an attempted delivery (despite having never attempted one), and none of that was recorded on the site when I put the tracking number in.

Contact the seller to see what is happening on their end prior to filing a claim. You can always ask if they can send it to you through another shipping service if the item has been returned to them.

I think mail fraud in the UK and US are different animals. 

In the US interfering with the mail is a Federal issue, but it isn't the same in the UK.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_fraud

I've learned this the hard way - how much Royal Mail, and by extension Parcelforce sucks ass.  I've had several packages never delivered that have been returned because supposedlt no one was home to accept them - and today I had a note slipped saying I owe £15 in "customs" but the tracking number is a UK one so...  Not that I'm expecting anything from abroad. 

I was Head of Direct Mail and Media at the first company I ever worked for in London when I first got here - a company that happened to be one of the biggest mailers in the UK, so I had to deal with campaigns in the millions.  The point of this is that I had to work very closely with the Royal Mail and there was not one day that I didn't feel like pulling out my hair when dealing with them.  SUCH a difference compared to dealing with the USPS.  Absolutely no professionalism and their MO was basically not giving a sh*t if they screwed up, which was every single campaign.

I read recently that there was an expose recently of mailmen here who basically THREW  OUT mail without bothering to even deliver any of it, a lot of theft and a lot of can't be arsed.

You need to be persistent.  You need to call whoever you need to, take names and make yourself a nuisance, or nothing will get resolved.  I'm not saying be overtly confrontational, but be firm.

I've learned this the hard way - how much Royal Mail, and by extension Parcelforce sucks ass.  I've had several packages never delivered that have been returned because supposedlt no one was home to accept them - and today I had a note slipped saying I owe £15 in "customs" but the tracking number is a UK one so...  Not that I'm expecting anything from abroad. 

That happened to me once, too! When I called to re-arrange a delivery I was told I owed customs and they provided me with the contact information of the sender, which happened to be an online pharmacy. Somehow that tracking number got confused with the one for me, which was simply a box of household goods from my mum. And when the guy (finally) turned up to deliver it, I didn't owe anything.