What to do when someone lists your car for sale on ebay?

[typhoon1588]

hi all-

caught wind of this thread via the syclone/typhoon board, and boy did the situation, more specifically the lack of help from the authorities, relate to my eBay nightmare:

http://www.syty.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=26026

it is a lot of reading, but the basic gist is that i was scammed out of $3700 for a digital camera that i am sure doesn't exist. after going through every authority from my hometown Post Office to the Attorney General of RI, NO ONE would listen to me. My father got involved and somehow started to get somewhere. Of course, after all these promises, I have heard NO word about the police catching this guy even though there are 2 warrants out for his arrest, and have not seen a penny of the money back.

eBay, in my opinion, is a gross representation of what our society has become. All who read this please leave eBay to buying unique or hard-to-find items under a couple hundred bucks. there are FAR too many theives and con artists on that site to justify EVER purhcasing something of higher value.

good luck in catching this guy, i encourage you to read the linked thread to see what gets you where in terms of the authorities.

mike

 

[NSXnBRLA]

Conclusion

Well after a long useless journey, the only good news I have, is that my car is still sitting in my carport, snug as a bug in a rug. The bad news, is that it is apparent to me, that internet fraud is easier to get away with, than previously thought. In my 4 days of trying like MAD to find someone who was interested enough to try and backtrack this guy, from his bank account info, I found absolutely NO ONE. Here is a list of who all I attempted to contact, and the results:

1. Local FBI office in Baton Rouge, LA; Voice contact - "We dont handle that, perhaps you should try the online internet fraud website, set up by the FBI, here's the address:"

2. FBI Online internet fraud division, email - Labeled the email EXTREMELY URGENT, FEDERAL CRIME IN PROGRESS, PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE... response after 96 hours - NONE

3. Ebay, email: - Sent an email to the fraud dept at eBay, marked URGENT, FRAUD IN PROGRESS, PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE, I HAVE CONCRETE PROOF... response after 96 hours - NONE

4. FBI Office in GA (closest branch to the bank in question); Voice contact - "Sorry, there's nothing we can do. Have you considered emailing the internet fraud division of the FBI?"

5. Net Bank in GA; Voice contact - "Sorry sir, there's nothing we can do, that information is private. If you have a complaint, please contact the FBI"

6. Ebay, Voice Contact - "We cant help you on the phone. Please email the fraud/complaint dept.

7. Personal friend here in BRLA, who's an agent with the secret service - "I coulda told you no one would take that report and do anything with it. We get 10-12 daily from people who have actually SENT money to someone, and the person dissappeared into thin air, so they're not gonna even pay attention to the case if no one has been defrauded"

8. NBC Dateline, email - No response after 96 hours

9. Local news channel's investigative reporter - 3 detailed voice messages in 3 days, no response.

10. Detailed email to local news investigative reporter, outlining the entire occurance - No reply after 48 hours

Ill continue to pay my taxes, and vote, and love this country, but its ashame that this is happening like it is. After this incident, I see why fraud is such a large problem on the internet. This guy actually laughed at me when I told him I was going to report him. He knows how weak the system is, and there's no telling how much he'll drain people for before he's caught, if that even happens. On the other hand, its ashame that there are people out there who will wire a perfect stranger, several thousand dollars for anything. These are probably the same people that clip coupons in the Sunday paper. In short, i'm done with my attempt to alert the authorities about this incident. Thanks to everyone who played a big part in helping me out, and to all the guys from other forums who came over and showed their support. Perhaps this thread might be responsible for saving one person from getting lured into a fraudulent purchase online. If thats so, thats enough for me.

 

[ChrisK]

I hear you. My state unfortunately has a very high property crime rate. Since we have lots of tourist carrying a lot of money, the criminals love to break into their retal cars or swipe their handbags and and such. Anyway, there was a statistic done a while ago saying that you have somethine like a 95%-96% chance of getting away with property crime or theft in my state. Only abouy 3%-5% of theft and property crime cases seem be get solved. With that kind of odds a criminal can make a good living. Heck, even if he does get caught he may get a few months or years in jail or just pain old probation. In the meantime a thief can make thousands if not hundreds of thousands ripping off houses and cars.

 

[Ojas]

Re: Conclusion

3. Ebay, email: - Sent an email to the fraud dept at eBay, marked URGENT, FRAUD IN PROGRESS, PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE, I HAVE CONCRETE PROOF... response after 96 hours - NONE

Not that it really makes a difference at this point, but for the sake of being complete: I'd like to point out I heard back from ebay within 48 rolleyes:<span></span>) hours. I posted their reply here.

Dave, I have no idea why they did not respond to your message, though. I contacted ebay thru the same link I suggested in my first post of this thread.

 

[Mrock]

It's terrible that this guy laughed at you for saying that...he REALLY should be behind bars right now. For what it's worth, I am planning on creating a site for my CRX sometime in the next year (I have the ability to set it up right now, but I really have no use for it yet)..and when I do, I'd like to post this thread on the website...alterting people of this- People should really see this, and understand that fraud is very real.

 

[PHOEN$X]

NSXnBRLA: you tried, and did everything within legal means to stop this perp, and we have to give you props for that. It's disappointing that the authorities don't seem to take these matters more seriously, but on the other hand gullible consumers have to be held responsible too. If they would exercise a little better judgement in dealing with these transactions, much of the fraud could be thwarted IMO. Never purchase high dollar items sight unseen without third-party verification, use escrow protection, obtain traceable contact information from the seller, these are just some common sense precautions that are easily implemented. Anyway, I'm sure those who have read this thread have learned not to fall prey to similar scams, and that's definitely worth something.

 

[Nemesis]

Re: Conclusion

5. Net Bank in GA; Voice contact - "Sorry sir, there's nothing we can do, that information is private. If you have a complaint, please contact the FBI"

Wooh.... I'm sitting one floor above Net Bank's main office. Its a small world. This thread is all over the net, sorry to hear about your trouble.

 

[supercharged]

.
never mind the item seems to be gone, at least you got it off the auction block.

 

[I Grok NSX]

It's terrible that this guy laughed at you for saying that...he REALLY should be behind bars right now.

There's always room for one more.....

 

[RP-Motorsports]

Sory to hear about the scam on your NSX.

I have heard of two stories in the last month locally of people buying parts on the internet and sending an authentic U.S. bank cashiers check. The seller receives the check, cashes it or deposits it, sends the part off to the buyer and 2-4 days later the bank calls and said it was a worthless check and they need the money back!!! One guy used to work for me!!! He cashed the check, spent the money but was lucky enough to have not sent the part out yet. He had to scramble to get cash together to pay the bank back. Total counterfeit bank cashiers checks. Buyers AND sellers BEWARE!

 

[romank]

Sory to hear about the scam on your NSX.

I have heard of two stories in the last month locally of people buying parts on the internet and sending an authentic U.S. bank cashiers check. The seller receives the check, cashes it or deposits it, sends the part off to the buyer and 2-4 days later the bank calls and said it was a worthless check and they need the money back!!! One guy used to work for me!!! He cashed the check, spent the money but was lucky enough to have not sent the part out yet. He had to scramble to get cash together to pay the bank back. Total counterfeit bank cashiers checks. Buyers AND sellers BEWARE!

There's a scam very similar to that going on over on the Miata forum. Some guy browses the forum's classified ads for used cars. Then he contacts the sellers telling them he is interested in the car. Weird part is he says he's from West Africa, and he is going to arrange shipping, etc. Then he proceeds to send them a cashiers check for a few THOUSAND dollars which clears the bank. It's not a few days later that the check finally bounces, and if the people have cashed it and spent the money, they're in trouble. So be careful guys.

 

[tosugrad]

I may be an idiot, but how can a bank cash a check and then come back and say it was counterfeit?

 

[romank]

This is sort of like the stunts from the movie "Catch Me If You Can". Remember in that movie the guy was writing counterfeit payroll checks. The banks as you know don't have a waiting period on payroll checks like they do on personal checks, they just give you the money right away. They ASSUME the check is good. I'm guessing it's the same with this situation. Banks ASSUME cashiers checks and money orders are good for their money. A person can't issue a cashier's check or money order without paying for it first. Now, say someone finds a way to counterfeit a cashier's check. If you've seen some of these cashier's checks, they're not that hard to duplicate! The bank on the other side glady accepts the cashiers check, and deposits the funds into your account. Then, when the bank finally sends the check out to the other bank to clear it, it bounces. Then the bank goes after you for the money if you have already spent it.