Well, I got suckered on this Detective #31...

[Fallsview]

She may have initiated contact because I emailed Vincent an article about a Los Angeles man who's currently facing 75 years in prison for eBay fraud.

 

I also wonder if her emails are part of the fraud. Enter the sympathetic mother figure. I'm treading very carefully.

 

Can you post that article here ? Would be an interesting read. Thanks in advance.

[skypinkblu]

She may have initiated contact because I emailed Vincent an article about a Los Angeles man who's currently facing 75 years in prison for eBay fraud.

 

I also wonder if her emails are part of the fraud. Enter the sympathetic mother figure. I'm treading very carefully.

 

I was once scammed on eBay, years ago. I bought was was supposed to be a Tiffany piece of glass, it was forged.

 

I also got an email from a "mother" saying she wanted to straighten out something that happened to her son.

 

I got called by the LA police about 2 years later...the "mother" was a guy who was picked up for many fraudulent listings. It was not his first arrest

 

They wanted me to testify. Unfortunately they settled for fining him rather than go to trial.

[bighairjer]

Sorry to hear about your experience Jeff, that blows. I was involved in a scam a few months back on a Cap 100 second chance offer. Seller had good ratings (although less than 50 feedback) and several high grade silver keys. I asked for his number to see if he was interested in selling other books direct. We ended up chatting for a bit and he sounded legit, but something just didnt click. I googled the images of his other books for sale on Ebay and got a hit on the book (thank you CGC serial numbers). It turns out that the image was lifted from a sale here on the boards and the boardie still had possesion of that book and was unware of the sale. I reported this to Ebay and within 24 hours I was refunded by Ebay and the seller reported his account was frozen. Thank goodness for this community!

 

 

 

[nearmint]

She may have initiated contact because I emailed Vincent an article about a Los Angeles man who's currently facing 75 years in prison for eBay fraud.

 

I also wonder if her emails are part of the fraud. Enter the sympathetic mother figure. I'm treading very carefully.

 

Can you post that article here ? Would be an interesting read. Thanks in advance.

 

Authorities Prosecute EBay Criminals

 

L O S A N G E L E S, Dec. 27

Federal authorities arrested one man and were searching for another suspected of ripping off buyers on EBay, the largest Internet auction site.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy L. Shubin said the two unrelated cases were among the first criminal prosecutions in the booming online auction business.

George Arthur Cruz of Artesia and Hen Ben Haim of Encino allegedly offered dozens of computers and other goods on EBay, then took the winning bidders’ money and sent them nothing. They defrauded buyers out of more than $110,000, according to federal indictments made public Tuesday.

“It’s an old-fashioned fraud using new technology: promising products and not delivering,” said Shubin. “But using the Internet gives the defendants the ability to reach victims all across the country.”

More than 240 alleged victims mailed checks or money orders to the Los Angeles area after submitting winning bids for items including computers, camera equipment, musical instruments and replicas of football helmets. U.S. postal inspectors intercepted checks and money orders totaling $34,000, Shubin said.

Cruz, 31, and Haim, 27, were indicted last week by a federal grand jury. Authorities arrested Cruz, also known as Richard Cortez, early Tuesday at his workplace in Norwalk. Cruz, who could not be reached for comment, posted $70,000 bail and is set to be arraigned next week on 13 felony counts of mail fraud and one felony count of money laundering. He faces up to 75 years in federal prison.

Haim, also known as Shay Albaz, was indicted on eight counts of mail fraud and faces up to 40 years in prison. Authorities have been unable to locate him.

According to the indictments Haim and Cruz used aliases on EBay; Cruz registered under such names as John Reese, Oscar Gamboa, Jon Wolf, Dean Liu and Thomas K. Connors. In posting the auction listings, he “concealed the fact that he either did not possess the merchandise he was offering for sale, or that he did not intend to deliver the merchandise to the purchasers,” the indictment said.

EBay: Fraud Is Rare

An EBay representative said fraud is rare on the Internet auction site. Among the safeguards EBay has set up, bidders can read evaluations of sellers by previous buyers, and an escrow account can be used to hold payments until the goods are delivered. The company also offers dispute resolution and up to $200 in free insurance.

Market research studies have estimated that online auction sales will total about $25 billion by 2005. EBay commands a large portion of the business but hundreds of other Internet sites also offer online auctions.

[nearmint]

She may have initiated contact because I emailed Vincent an article about a Los Angeles man who's currently facing 75 years in prison for eBay fraud.

 

I also wonder if her emails are part of the fraud. Enter the sympathetic mother figure. I'm treading very carefully.

 

I was once scammed on eBay, years ago. I bought was was supposed to be a Tiffany piece of glass, it was forged.

 

I also got an email from a "mother" saying she wanted to straighten out something that happened to her son.

 

I got called by the LA police about 2 years later...the "mother" was a guy who was picked up for many fraudulent listings. It was not his first arrest

 

They wanted me to testify. Unfortunately they settled for fining him rather than go to trial.

 

Very interesting. I think if this mother wants to resolve the problem, I'll let her do it with Paypal, not me.

[nearmint]

I wouldn't trust anything they say.

 

[Stevenrams]

Hi Jeff.

 

I sure hope you are successful in resolving this matter and getting back your hard-earned cash. Sorry to hear about the experience. Good Luck!!

 

SLR

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I can relate into how trying and stressful this must be for you. This past weekend I spent an hour on the phone registering a complaint with my credit card company over a legitimate transaction from a reputable vendor gone south. Three toilets, two deliveries and only one survived!

 

That was stressful enough and there was no fraud involved; only incompetent delivery men and smashed toilets! In your case you get nothing, the prospect of being out thousands, the joy of registering claims and then e-mails from the very person trying to scam you! Yikes!

 

Hang in there!

[AJD]

The plot thickens. Got this email this afternoon...

 

Dear Mr. Delaney

 

My name is Rosaria Hafner, I am the mother of Vincent Beck, who was unwittingly the victim of a scam. I would like to communicate with you to see how we can settle this matter.

 

Regards

Rosaria

 

 

Dear Rosaria,

 

I'm sorry to hear that your son was the victim of a scam. I suggest that he, like me, deals with it through the appropriate channels - in my case Paypal and the FBI.

 

Yours,

 

NM

[ianrush95]

why do the mothers always get involved, this hapened to me on ebay, worst thing paypal did nothing about it.

 

You dont want to know how i got my money back US2000.

 

I am still owed US500 of it but just wrote it off.

 

But at one point the mother got involved but wasnt as nice as this one she told me to stop hassling her son for a refund.

 

I never buy anything on ebay now from the US only UK so that i can go and pick it up and see it.

[nearmint]

Who knows if it's really his mother, as she claims. I emailed her at 3pm Pacific Time yesterday and explained to her how to process the refund. I haven't heard from her since, nor received the refund.

[telerites]

Good luck, Jeff.

[nearmint]

Thanks. At this point, I think I just have to wait it out until the 21st.

 

I did confirm last night that the person who won the book on eBay back in November of 2011 still has possession of it, safely tucked away in a safety deposit box.

[Comicopolis]

Good luck, Jeff.

 

+1

[RedFury]

Sorry to hear this, Jeff. Looks like it will work out in the end, though, so hopefully you will soon be able to put this behind you. I think you're handling it the proper way by not getting involved with them personally and sticking to the proper channels. Best of luck.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

To the outside un-involved observer the e-mail from Mom is clearly a continuation of the scam. You are right in not contacting them.

[goldust40]

To the outside un-involved observer the e-mail from Mom is clearly a continuation of the scam. You are right in not contacting them.

 

Of course it is. "She" wants NM's number to resolve matters, even when it's clear that he's only interested in a refund (and there's nothing to resolve, as the book was obviously not sent)? Ridiculous.

[nearmint]

To the outside un-involved observer the e-mail from Mom is clearly a continuation of the scam. You are right in not contacting them.

 

Of course it is. "She" wants NM's number to resolve matters, even when it's clear that he's only interested in a refund (and there's nothing to resolve, as the book was obviously not sent)? Ridiculous.

 

I wonder what she hoped to accomplish on the phone. Is she brazen enough to imagine that I would actually cancel the claim?

[bluechip]

The plot thickens. Got this email this afternoon...

 

Dear Mr. Delaney

 

My name is Rosaria Hafner, I am the mother of Vincent Beck, who was unwittingly the victim of a scam. I would like to communicate with you to see how we can settle this matter.

 

Regards

Rosaria

 

Could well be step 2 in a scam, but I would be so curious to know what form it would take. If it were me, I would call them using another number (or skype) just to find out how they would salvage their sting by having "mom" call.

[Silver Surfer]

Jeff I hope you get this sorted out. Maybe have one of the board lawyers chime in on this thread and then point the scammers in the direction of this thread. I think if you let them know that you have a lawyer already looking at it they will suddenly have a refund for you.