Something Rotten In Denmark

[Ian_Levine]

Okay, here we go.

Has anyone heard of Lars Pederson

He's the one who took a bank cashiers check for five thousand dollars and gave me a tracking number that the Danish Post Office says isn't on their records. And I still don't have a Detective 3, 4, or 5.

He found me through these boards.

Has ANYONE heard of him.

 

Here is his first e-mail to me......

 

Hi Ian

 

I might have something of interest to you. I have duplicate copies of Detective Comics 3,4,5 if you are interested? I bought the first 50 issues in '73 and I had to buy a complete run of the first 10 to get the remaining 4 I was missing.

 

The comics are stored at my brothers house (quite a bit away I'm affraid), I don't have the space for them. But I'll gladly fetch them for you, if we can work something out.

 

I'm not sure about the grades, I simply don't remember. I now they are very low, probably Fair or Good - but they are all complete copies.

 

Anyway, you can contact me if you're interested.

 

Regards

 

Lars, Denmark.

 

There have been ten further e-mails from him.

On 6th February he sent me

 

Hi again Ian.

 

I've had my brother check the grades:

 

# 3: VG+

# 4: Fair

# 5: G

 

I suggest a price of $5000?

 

Lars

 

And I immediately mailed him the bank draft.

He later stalled for time with the following....

 

Hi Ian.

 

I apologize, things are hectic here at the moment. My bank says the check has to clear, and I'm going with what they say, just to make sure. They say it should be cleared sometime mid next week, unfortunately I'm not back until wednesday march 8th after that. I have that day of, and promise you the package will be sent at that date.

 

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

 

Lars

 

And finally sent me this.....

 

Hi Ian.

 

Package has been sent insured and trackable.

Number is: CC 90 360 110 5 DK

 

Thank you for doing business with you.

 

Lars

 

But the number is not recognised by the Danish Post Office. It is a correct TYPE of number, but it hasn't ever been entered into their system.

 

If he stole my five thousand, why bother with a fake tracking number None of it makes sense to me.

 

After the horrible business of having to send the police round to Tom McMurren's house in Clive. Iowa, and now these three CRUCIAL Detective Comics looking suspicious, it's enough to make me just give up on completing my collection.

 

SO NEAR YET SO FAR.

 

One very kind Danish guy who lives in the US has been privately corresponding with me about this on these boards.

Does anyone else know who Lars Pederson is

Must we be suspicious of EVERY person we ever buy a comic from ?

 

I FEEL SICK.

[Erik-migration]

When did he send the package? It might take a little while for the tracking number to be loaded into the system. Or, it could be a worst-case scenario. But let's hope not. Good luck with this.

[Ian_Levine]

When did he send the package? It might take a little while for the tracking number to be loaded into the system. Or, it could be a worst-case scenario. But let's hope not. Good luck with this.

 

His e-mail with the tracking number was on the 10th.

I phoned the Danish Post Office yesterday and they said if it had been handed over the counter with a tracking number, then it would show up in their system. Quite frankly I cannot explain any of it. If he stole the money, then why bother with the tracking number at all, unless it was just to stall for time and make me wait a couple of weeks to see if they arrived. I really cannot get my head around it at all. He did sound genuine. I just feel gullible. Was I wrong to buy them

[THE_BEYONDER]

Was I wrong to buy them

 

Paying $5000 for a bunch of books(sight-unseen) from a seller you've never dealt with before....

 

I'm going to go ahead and assume that the price for these books was somewhat of a "steal"?

[Metarog]

Ian, make sure and verify the tracking number with him. It could be that he transposed one of the numbers or mixed some up somehow. That has happened to me various times. It does sound suspicious but the fact that he is returning e-mails and sending you this info is encouraging.

Definitely get references if you do another one of these big money transactions.... too many people know of your quest and may try to take advantage of you.

[MK Ultra]

I would imagine that he could have transposed #'s, or he could have provided a fake # to either stall you for a couple of days/weeks, or he could have gotten one in the hopes that someone else had used it to send you on a wild goose chase.

 

I would've tried to set up a face to face meeting to exchange the euro's and the books myself. It does seem like a lot of effort for a scam, but he could be thorough like that.

 

[magelsa]

 

I'm sorry to hear what you're going through. However, for what it's worth, I have a gut feeling that you might get your comics. If they were posted as recently as you say, then there is every chance (assuming everyone in the world is trustworthy!) that they will turn up. Some people just cannot get their act in a transaction and pathologically make all sorts of excuses for various delays. It does not mean they will not follow through. I am optimistic because of a situation that happened last year, where I sent cash to a seller who did not send me the goods by return of post. The seller did not return E-mails and was, for various reasons, eventually suspended by eBay. About three months later, I chanced another E-mail to the seller, explaining that I was not angry in any way, just disappointed, as I had really wanted 2 particular issues from the lot of about 10 that I had paid him for. I was very understanding, and acknowledged that there could have been some major reason why he had not been able to follow through on his transactions - maybe he had become paralysed by stress for some personal reason, who knows? Anyhow, about two weeks later, and about four months after the original transaction, all ten of my comics arrived. I am not the eternal optimist by any means, but I would give your situation a bit more time, and keep up the communication with the seller - this is something he seems to not be shying away from. I will keep my fingers crossed, and look forward to a happy outcome for you.

[sfilosa]

Did he send you scans of the books?

 

If anyone came out of the blue with books I wanted, I would want scans with a a newspaper in the picture (to make sure the books were real). Obviously, the grading could still be incorrect, but at least there would be some proof the person has the books.

 

Sorry for your misfortune, but don't give up your quest. You are almost there.

[Ian_Levine]

Ian, make sure and verify the tracking number with him. It could be that he transposed one of the numbers or mixed some up somehow. That has happened to me various times. It does sound suspicious but the fact that he is returning e-mails and sending you this info is encouraging.

 

No it's not.

He's not returning ANY e-mails at all now. Nor did he for two whole weeks, then I got the one with the tracking number which was not valid, and now nothing again.

[Ian_Levine]

I'm going to go ahead and assume that the price for these books was somewhat of a "steal"?

 

It was above guide for the three comics in the grades he listed. Why was that a "steal" ?

[THE_BEYONDER]

I'm going to go ahead and assume that the price for these books was somewhat of a "steal"?

 

It was above guide for the three comics in the grades he listed. Why was that a "steal" ?

 

I just assumed that the price was to your liking, as you didn't try to negotiate. ...and sent the money sight-unseen.

 

My mistake.

[Rickdogg]

Doh. That is why I always pay via paypal on expensive items unless I know the person on here or if I have dones business with them before. If the 29 day mark hits and I don't have the merchandise in hand, I file a non-receipt complaint with paypal and the seller suddenly responds and makes up some lame excuse and usually refunds your money

[Ian_Levine]

Ian, make sure and verify the tracking number with him.

 

I just sent him this e-mail...

 

 

Lars

 

You MUST reply to me.

For all I know, you may have given me a wrong tracking number.

But this has gone on for weeks.

I want to believe you are honest.

I trusted you with five thousand dollars.

I just want my comics.

But if this is a scam, I will have to involve both the police and the Danish Post Office.

If you don't reply, what choice do you leave me

I want to think the best of you, honest I do, but if you don't reply then I have no other option.

I have all your e-mails and proof that you had the money and the check can be traced.

 

PLEASE MAKE THIS RIGHT IMMEDIATELY LARS.

 

Do you think it will do any good ?

[Ian_Levine]

Sorry for your misfortune, but don't give up your quest. You are almost there.

 

I won't be if I lose a More Fun 10 and now a Detective 3, 4, and 5.

[JohnBull]

Ian, make sure and verify the tracking number with him.

 

I just sent him this e-mail...

 

 

Lars

 

You MUST reply to me.

For all I know, you may have given me a wrong tracking number.

But this has gone on for weeks.

I want to believe you are honest.

I trusted you with five thousand dollars.

I just want my comics.

But if this is a scam, I will have to involve both the police and the Danish Post Office.

If you don't reply, what choice do you leave me

I want to think the best of you, honest I do, but if you don't reply then I have no other option.

I have all your e-mails and proof that you had the money and the check can be traced.

 

PLEASE MAKE THIS RIGHT IMMEDIATELY LARS.

 

Do you think it will do any good ?

 

If it is a scam, no. If it isn't a scam (which I suspect), it will certainly get his attention!

[Ian_Levine]

I just assumed that the price was to your liking, as you didn't try to negotiate. ...and sent the money sight-unseen.

 

The price was to my liking because Detective 3, 4, and 5 are all rare. But he chose the price, and it was in line with the guide, just slightly above guide but not too much, and therefore didn't make me suspicious.

If he'd asked for two thousand for all three, then I WOULD have been suspicious.

[ghoulaid]

Must we be suspicious of EVERY person we ever buy a comic from ?

 

It doesn't hurt to be cautious. I know how difficult that can be when attempting to acquire something you really want. I've been in that situation and despite my head telling me to be wary, I sent money anyway and lost. Fortunately I didn't send more than I felt comfortable losing.

 

Sadly, with all the email scams and horror stories on ebay I am much less trusting. There are people who want nothing more than our money and some will go to great lengths to get it. In your case with the Detectives, I would have purchased ONE issue and if all went well THEN I would have bought the other two. Hopefully they WERE mailed on the 10th and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get them shortly.

[THE_BEYONDER]

I just assumed that the price was to your liking, as you didn't try to negotiate. ...and sent the money sight-unseen.

 

The price was to my liking because Detective 3, 4, and 5 are all rare. But he chose the price, and it was in line with the guide, just slightly above guide but not too much, and therefore didn't make me suspicious.

If he'd asked for two thousand for all three, then I WOULD have been suspicious.

 

Let's just hope he wasn't thinking the same thing. Good luck.

[Ian_Levine]

I just sent him yet another mail.

At which point do I bite the bullet and contact the Danish police ?

 

Look here, Lars.

 

Five thousand dollars is a lot of money to me.

If you look at those three comics in Overstreet, you'll see that it's a very fair price for you - just slightly higher than the price listed. So it was an acceptable price to me, but it was no great bargain.

 

I took you at face value and trusted you.

It now seems you are playing some sort of game. But no-one is untraceable.

 

Do you REALLY want this to get ugly ?

 

I WANT MY COMICS AND I WANT THEM NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JohnBull]

I just sent him yet another mail.

At which point do I bite the bullet and contact the Danish police ?

 

Look here, Lars.

 

Five thousand dollars is a lot of money to me.

If you look at those three comics in Overstreet, you'll see that it's a very fair price for you - just slightly higher than the price listed. So it was an acceptable price to me, but it was no great bargain.

 

I took you at face value and trusted you.

It now seems you are playing some sort of game. But no-one is untraceable.

 

Do you REALLY want this to get ugly ?

 

I WANT MY COMICS AND I WANT THEM NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Did he even get a chance to read the previous one? You'll feel bad if they show up in the post tomorrow morning.

 

Leave the police a short while. If the guy is a crook, he's probably long gone. If by some chance he is traceable today, chances are he'll be traceable next week too.

 

He said the 10th? Airmail from Denmark could take up to 7 working days? Go to the police Thursday. Be advised though, international comic fraud is possibly not going to be the highest thing on their agenda.

 

I really think they'll turn up.