Fantastic Four 1 Scam on Craigslist

[DavidRF-migration]

If nothing else, it was a lesson learned about not buying anything sight unseen off of Craigslist. I really should have seen the warning signs of it being fraud, but my overeagerness to be one of those people who gets an absolutely amazing deal on a key book overrode my common sense.

 

When I opened the dispute for Paypal, it went straight from a dispute to an escalation automatically, so something tells me they've had issues with the person before. It seems to me though that they would shut someone down if they were suspected of fraud rather than allow them to keep their account active. My fear is that they opened a bank account to tie to the Paypal account and as soon as the account got the deposit, made a withdrawal and closed the account. Though even in that instance, there has to be bank account information with someone's information somewhere that would have been used to active the account....so we'll see.

 

I normally buy books either from Ebay (in rare occasions I find one I want), conventions or Comiclink. At least I previously learned the lesson not to buy any non-CGC graded book for a higher price as if it's not graded the value and grade assigned by the dealer is entirely subjective. Though that was kind of a costly lesson as well.....

[sonofgoom]

I was just victimized by this person on Saturday, and this morning felt it was a fraud and opened a claim with Paypal. I have also opened a case with IC3 and am planning to give as much evidence to the FBI as possible. Anyone else have seen post, have contact info, or anything else we can use to take this person down, please post here. I want to prosecute this person before they get anyone else. Thanks.

[BarryAllen]

Off

 

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Rails

[Red84]

I encountered a similar thing in Chicago. Guy was asking $1000 for a FF1 CGC 3.0

I offered to meet to make the purchase and he said he was out of town but I could use paypal. I told him no way, for that amount of money I want to do the deal in person. Here's the shocker, he didn't get back to me after that.

[DavidRF-migration]

Smartest thing in regards to CL is this; If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I was attempting to flag this person's auctions whenever I saw them, and I am 99% certain it's the same person posting them all, but there were just too many possibilities to keep up with on a weekly basis.

 

Let me guess, both the ads you mention were in all caps and had a reason stating they didn't know the value/didn't collect/thought it was a good deal/need cash, etc?

 

And yeah, that was the same for me....person was posting locally but was out of town. You should have decent luck getting money back through Paypal, as I was able to. But what I want to know is why Paypal isn't aggressively trying to shut this person down as I'm certain it's the same individual in all cases.

[RCheli]

The same person has had an Iron Man #1, an Amazing Spider-Man #6, and a few others. It's not always super high-priced items.

 

I, too, flag them every time.

[Red84]

The same person has had an Iron Man #1, an Amazing Spider-Man #6, and a few others. It's not always super high-priced items.

 

I, too, flag them every time.

 

I flag them everytime also. I don't understand why craigslist hasn't blocked his IP address at this point.

 

Also Walking Dead 1 in near mint for $175

[etanick]

Smartest thing in regards to CL MOST EVERYTHING is this; If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I was attempting to flag this person's auctions whenever I saw them, and I am 99% certain it's the same person posting them all, but there were just too many possibilities to keep up with on a weekly basis.

 

Let me guess, both the ads you mention were in all caps and had a reason stating they didn't know the value/didn't collect/thought it was a good deal/need cash, etc?

 

And yeah, that was the same for me....person was posting locally but was out of town. You should have decent luck getting money back through Paypal, as I was able to. But what I want to know is why Paypal isn't aggressively trying to shut this person down as I'm certain it's the same individual in all cases.

 

Whether it is Craigslist or Ebay, that is the world that we live.

[DavidRF-migration]

Yeah, I don't get why CL hasn't taken action, let alone Paypal. It seems like they would have prosecuted the person by now, but it may be a matter of jurisdiction. The most common threads on the person have them placed somewhere in the Midwest, possibly Indiana.

 

The person has to be using the same account information when they actually get a bite to conduct the sale. For mine, as soon as I filed the dispute, it immediately kicked it up to an escalation, even though the dispute resolution period was supposed to be around 10-20 days for the seller/buyer to work things out. That alone told me A) The sale was definitely a scam and B) They'd had trouble with the same account in the past.