This is what happened. There was an action on ebay for a product that I wanted. In the action the seller stated that he would be willing to sell right now for a fixed price and not wait for the end of the action. I contacted him via email and we agreed on a price of $300. I sent him the money in the form of a money order on the 6 of June. By the 14, I still hadn’t received the product. All does not look well.
Here’s what I know. The money order was cashed on the 11 according to Memo Money Order Company. I have sent them a request for a copy of the money order. The last time this guy responded to me was on the 14 stating that he had not received the money. I wrote back saying that the money order was cashed on the 11. There has been no word since. The address that I sent the money to is a real address. I know the address and the “name” that the guy gave me, but I don’t know if the name is real. It is the name that the money order was made out to though. I tried a reverse address check but came up with nothing. I widened the search and came up with what appeared to be naubers and tried to call them. Only one woman answered the phone and wouldn’t give me any info other then her house WAS a house and not an apartment or business building. So I’m pretty sure that the address of the scum that scammed me is a house. At this point I noticed that the first name for his email account through MSN was different then the first name for the money order. The last names were the same though. I did a check on both sets of names through a people finder page and came up negative for the address he gave me.
Here’s what I’ve done. I opened up an email account under a fake name. I emailed this guy and pretended to be interested in the same product. I mentioned that I had seen the action on ebay and wanted to know if the offer was still open. He wrote me back write away and said yes.
Now what do I do? I know I probably won’t see my money ever again. I want to do my civic duty and get this guy nailed. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one he’s done this to. I’ve beaten my self up over this and feel really bad so please try not to make me feel any worse by telling me what I should have done. I made a mistake and have learned my lesson, now I just want to know what my options are.
I’m hesitant to be more specific over the board. If you need more details (like names and addresses) feel free to email me at aceospades@go.com.
How about going to the police? Maybe they could use the (current) e-mail correspondane to nail him!
Or maybe not… any cops out there?
Anyways, that sucks Ace!!
Ebay does not like to have this happen to their customers. Are you saying you did a “Buy it Now” transaction?
If so, this is a case for Safe Harbor. Go to ebay’s page and look at the info for this. This person cashed your money order, so you’re definitely right to pursue this.
If not, I’m stumped, not because I think this is hopeless but because I have no experience in this area.
If it’s a “Buy it NOW” auction, then eBay will definitely be interested. If it was off of eBay, then they will wash their hands of it, saying that they have no responsibility (and they don’t). First, if it was an auction, do as CrankyAAOM says, and go to Safe Harbor, and then leave negative feedback on the sale. And document, document, document!
Good luck.
Ye reap what Ye sow…By trying to go around Ebay and cheat them of their honest pitance, you got cheated your self. About your only recourse is to contact your state Attorney General and file a complaint.
300.00 is one bad expensive lesson. What state are you in?
i live in Delaware. the guy lives in New York, NY. i did this outside if ebay. i didn’t use the “buy it now” option. Bodoni is right in saying ebay has no responsibility in this. i did find out that the guy has been kicked off of ebay, but they won’t tell me why (i could take a guess though).
Find someone (family or friend) who lives in his area, get them to take $300 out of his house/car.
If it was me, i would play baseball with his windshield.
rawissydney, i’d love to, but first i need to find out if he actually lives there. do you know how bad i would feel if i destroied a car just to find out that it’s an elderly couple who lived there and the scum who scamed me was just using there mailbox.
Well, this is a lesson to us all, folks. Never buy items outside of eBay. Or, at least never buy something that costs more money than you are willing to lose.
Contact the police. Also - would this be mail fraud? He did use the mail to cheat you. Ask around.
aceospades - Let us know how you resolve this problem, even if it’s 6 months down the road. The only helpful information I can offer is to give your local postal inspector a call. He might be able to have a New York inspector knock on some doors for you, or verify the name and address you used. Even if he/she can’t help you in this instance, there’ll be a record on file of some funny business at that address. I suspect that you’re dealing with some kid whose found an easy way to scam a few hundred dollars.
I use eBay a lot, and I receive offers of this kind from many sellers. I ALWAYS report them. Incidentally, what did you buy? Was it a piece of computer hardware?
Okay, not ebay. I’d agree with checking into mail fraud, etc. There have got to be some official channels to go through.
Failing that, why not make up some? Why not make some mock-up legal letterhead using your work address, and send him a very official-looking letter (firm but polite), from the “attorney representing you”? He can mention that the money order copy is on the way from the company which issued it, and he will be in contact with the seller’s state attorney general if you (his client) do not receive the product or a full refund within 14 days. This lawyer can inform the seller that you (his client) enlisted his help when email went unanswered and other irregularities became apparent.
Even if it doesn’t work, you can get some satisfaction knowing that he may not sleep quite so well at night.
You sent the MO on 6th & haven’t got anything by 14th? That’s not very much time.
Most troopers (that’s what they call themselves in the mid-west) don’t get involved unless its $250.00 or more so you might have a chance if you call them in the city the MO was cashed.
You should ask ebay what to do anyway. What is the aucton number? How much feedback did the person have?
i did check the feedback of this person and he had 15 or 16 good feedbacks. they were all from stuff he bought though. it’s now the 18 and not only have i not recieved anything, but he’s stoped responding to my email. plus the money order was cashed on the 11 and he said he hadn’t received the money when he responded on the 14. i’m just hopeing that the guy was stuped enough to put his bank account number on the money order.
A person I know got scammed off of ebay as well, for about $800. I beleive hes having an uncle of his, who’s a private investigator, look into it. I doubt, though, you want to spend that kind of money.
Also, if I was you I’d look for anyone I knew who was a lawyer and ask them what they think.
Also, try calling that house again, find out (if you can) who lives there, and their names. You can pretend to be someone who will get their attention, such as a lawyer. I wouldn’t say I was a police officer though because that would be illegal and it might bite you in the ass later.
Create another fake email. Email him saying you’re interested in buying something. Say you’ll pay a lot, but not so much it is unbelieveable. Maybe like 500 - 700$. The more seductive your offer is, the more risk taking he’ll hopefully become. Then tell him to CALL you at a time when you’ll be home. When he calls, still pretend to be interested in the product. Then, *69 him, caller ID him, or somehow trace the call (maybe an operator can do this if you call them ahead of time.) Anyway, get the # that should be HIS phone number. Reverse search it and you can get the name and address.
Of course this plan depends on a number of assumptions, but you lose nothing by trying it.
The only time I got ripped on ebay the only way I knew about it was because some guy who also got ripped had just emailed all the people who bid on any of this guy’s stuff.
I suppose you could email any of the other bidders & ask them whats going on. Id still give him some more time. People go on vacation & forget things etc.
No…this guy sounds suspicious. He claims he didn’t get a money order, but aceofspades KNOWS the money order was cashed, before this guy said he didn’t get the MO! That’s fishy. Plus the fact that the guy won’t communicate anymore. Usually an eBay seller is anxious to get their money, and if there is a problem, they’ll contact the buyer. So why isn’t this guy, if he really didn’t get the money, nagging aceofspades for it? He’s just dropped out of sight. Not a good sign.
You need to see if his name comes up in the NCIC. Go into your local police station and tell them what happened. They don’t bite. They like to help usually and sometimes they will give you info they shouldn’t. If you can get chummy, and look over the guys shoulder while he brings the name up, pay close attention and try to get his S.S. number. Find out where the money order was cashed and get his bank account activity subpoenaed. Make an immediate trip to NY to surveil the address. Once you establish that you’ve found the guy and you see what he drives, Tag along until you know he has crashed. Proceed to break into his vehicle and fill his radiator with rice. Its alright if it overflows. The moron isn’t likely to notice. This is a much better method because when the engine heats up, the rice cooks, clogging the cooling system and rendering the car inoperable, and ridiculously expensive to fix. After you hamper his mobility, you can have pleasant reveries about his engine literally coming apart on the East side Freeway. If you need detailed instructions on how to cancel his insurance, get all his mail delivered to an address in Mexico or how to render his house unlivable (by means of a whole salmon in the wall. My favorite!), just ask.
chronolicht, i would love to go to the police if i knew that the name he gave me was his real name. i don’t think it is. That’s usually the first thing that this scum changes. the only thing that i do know is that the address that i mailed the money order to is real. i got a copy of the money order comeing in the mail. i just hope that this guy was stupid enough to put his bank account on the money order. if he did i’ve got him by the balls.
Something similar happened to me a few months ago, fortunately for a lot less money. The difference being that my “seller” continued to communicate with me. I finally e-mailed him telling him that if I did not receive a full refund in 48 hours I would send copies of all of his e-mail correspondence to my state’s attorney general, his state’s attorney general, the FBI and the postal inspector. he mailed me payment in full by overnight mail.
When I contacted the postal inspector she advised me that her office was very interested in cracking down on eBay-related fraud because of the volume of complaints they’ve received. With several hundred dollars involved I think they would definitely be interested in following up with you.
One thing you should NOT do is represent yourself in any way as an attorney, including “making up” an attorney to threaten the guy. Impersonating an attorney is illegal, and the penalties for it tend to be a lot more severe than the penalties for stealing $300. No reason to cause yourself trouble, right?