Seller asking for official document

bobiras

Hello everybody I m new in brick owl

last night a placed an order to a shop for two lego technics

I payed through paypal which obviously confirms my address name etc.

Today I received an email by the seller asking me to send him official documentation of my identity!!! :(

I have already contacted brick owl who replied that it is not common but it happens and still waiting the reply of the seller...

Which is your opinion on the subject?

phill

would ask why he wants your info in the 1st place ? as you have payed through pay pal thats all is needed i would think ,have never came across this before myself but would not place an order with them and cancle the 1 with them and buy from somewere else . 1st rule of thumb never give out your info to anybody

Hoddie

I would rather they cancel the order than send images of my ID to some random person on the internet. It's a no-brainer.

Calibrick

Totally agree with Phill and Hoddie - I have never heard of this, bobiras, since you used PayPal. Unless PayPal is driving this somehow (not impossible... they are asking for me to verify my identity by 2/11 as a seller), but it would be PayPal asking you, not the seller.

I would consider raising this with Site Admin if you are not happy with the seller's response to you (I don't know what country you're in, maybe you have special rules we don't in the US?). And I def would check out other stores. ;-)

Welcome to BO, by the way! This really is an awesome site to hang out at and enjoy LEGO!

Pretty_Pieces

Particularly if your order was for a really cool normally expensive item, at an amazing price, from a new-ish seller, you may be getting phished. Don't send your documentation.
Glad you've already notified admin.

Jay Quade

There is no legal reason on such a sale to ask for ID and no reason for you to give it in the UK and State side the only rules I am aware of is for sellers to provide proof for selling on some platforms but never heard of it for buyers. This just rings to many alarm bells for me so would advise requesting they cancel and if need be PayPal claim.

fitbricks

Link to store?

alexwilcox

Like others have already said - no way I would be sending my ID to someone I don't know over the internet!

I can't think of any reason why as a seller I would need this?!

fitbricks

> @Alexwilcox said:

> I can't think of any reason why as a seller I would need this?!

Well said. My thoughts entirely.

Bricksofloki

The entire reason Paypal exist is so we don't have to give out our personal details to everyone.

robernat

I agree...
And disagree...
Dunno about this seller, neither the order value, but I can think of reasons to request a buyers 'proof' of ID (maybe not the ID itself, but at least some proof of who the buyer is).

One reason: As a seller I might have doubts whether the 'buyer' is buying in a legit way for him/herself, or whether it is 'drop shipping' (I had several cases, some I shipped, some I just cancelled, some I refused Paypal and forced IBAN on the buyer, just to be safe).

Second reason: Paypal: no no no: This is never 'true' what I read above...
Proof: I just had an order past few days trough another channel, buyer being located in 'China', but when I received his 'manual' payment, Paypal said 'USA'. Obviously a problem, and it was a 'sizeable' order, so no way I'd take the risk...
On top, in my own personal account I also carry addresses in USA, UK and Germany, on older Paypal accounts this is perfectly possible (not with newer accounts from what I understood). Things like that can make it very 'akeward' for a seller, particular when a couple of 'hundreds' are involved;
So it's not black or white... and yes, while a question like that is certainly not 'common' , it cannot be 'excluded' either...

Calibrick

@robernat, you just proved what a Pollyanna world I live in (this is a thank you!). :-) I forget, PayPal only knows information it is told, like any database - though there is the account verification in PayPal, no (for at least shipping addresses). For example, I just had to update a copy of my current utility bill with PayPal.

robernat

@Calibrick Yes, there is a verification process, but that is mainly for 'sellers', soon you a reach certain amount of 'received payments'. This is an obligation to prevent money laundry without a trace. Brand new accounts from 'buyers only' are hardly investigated as far as I know.
The link with a credit card is easy and without much control (as long one has the card in hand).
Even a bank account is not checked, I can even proof that, as the bank account attached to my wifes PP account is the account of my son (so different family names), who, at the time of submitting it (5-6 years ago) was a minor! 0% check, never a question...
They actually didn't leave us much choice in doing so, my wife and I only had one 'shared' bank account (on both our names), and it was attached to my PP account, so we where not allowed to add it to her PP account, when we tried we got a 'failure' notice: that bank account is already in use and belongs to someone else... (??)
Funny part is: when her PP account reached the point for 'confirmation', they also asked for a bill, but there wasn't one, as all bills/contracts are on my name. The only thing we had with her name on it, confirming her name and address, was her 'saving plan' subscription with the bank. They initially 'refused' it as proof, LOL, an official document from a bank (who do check identities) that has more value then a 'bill' was refused as it wasn't one of their 'criteria'. Say what ??
They finally accepted it after we gave them a call... (nice 'verification' method)
So no, I do not consider Paypal entirely 'safe' or safe enough to blindly trust everything that goes trough them.

Sidenote: My China buyer issue has been solved in the mean while, I refunded, requested an new API payment so his China address is now logged on PP in stead of his USA address.
Still have reservations on that method btw, according to PP it is now 'safe' to ship, while the buyers actual subscription details are in the USA, probably not 'verified' as he already told me the address in the USA is a 'forwarding' service. And so now his China address is logged because of the API call, but there is 0 chance that address is actually 'verified' (buyer also told me he was unable to change his subscription details or add his China address as secondary address).
Paypal 100% safe? All verified ? I don't think so...
And like I said, not black/white ;-)

Hoddie

PayPal is far from safe. It's better than it used to be but they can still suspend your account for any reason and you forfeit any cash you leave in there. They also reserve the right to refund any buyer for any reason and if you don't have a PayPal balance large enough to cover it, or a linked funding source with the necessary balance, you legally become the owner of that debt to PayPal.

This and other shady practices have been challenged over the years in courts across Europe (and no doubt the world), but PayPal usually comes out on top.

bobiras

I wanted to write for sometime... So the seller explained to me the reasons why he felt unsafe about this transaction.. some of which are written above. We found a middle ground ( I send him the back side of my ID which verified my name - no picture no id number) and everything went well I received the goods in a very good condition and very well packed! So I guess their is always a solution for both buyer / seller.