Jerryl
Tall Unvaccinated Chinese Guy
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2004
AWESOME!!! 
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How to Scam an eBay Scammer --- DamnThe.com
How to Scam an eBay Scammer
I've been a regular eBay user since the late 90's. In that time, I've come to learn that eBay and the authorities won't lift a finger to stop the fraud that is pervasive on their system.
In fact, a couple years ago I received a counterfeit cashier's check in the amount of $4,500. Luckily, I caught it before I went to the bank. That was when I learned that there is literally no way of reporting fraud to eBay. All there is is a link to a 3rd party internet-watchdog group that has absolutely nothing to do with eBay. I guess that's why eBay can claim that there's virtually no fraud on their system (if you can't report it, it doesn't exist - what they don't know, can't hurt them).
I also found out that the police, secret service, FBI, postal inspectors, etc... also won't so much as lift a finger to help. Since I discovered the fake check before it was cashed, there was a week or two of time to catch the organized crime group that was responsible (the same people successfully hit other dealers I knew for similar amounts). Apparently, the threshhold for the authorities to care is $5,000. So, these crooks are allowed to operate with impugnity as long as they keep their thefts below five grand each! Only the Secret Service ever got back to me - over 6 months later (the agent laughingly told me "I guess it's a bit late to catch them now...")!
So, if we're to lessen the risk of online fraud, we're going to have to do it ourselves. Hence this page.
This is how I managed to get back at one of these fraudsters:
One day, I discovered an eBay auction that was almost certainly fraudulent. The person in the Ukraine stole an eBay image from a friend of mine (as well as his entire auction description) and listed his own auction a month later. It was a high-dollar-value item worth around ten grand.
Sure, it might have been a legitimate auction (and just a dishonest seller). So, I emailed him about the item. When he replied, it was blatantly clear that he didn't have the item (and had probably never even seen one, or one like it). Now, I was 100% certain that the auction was fraudulent. So, I took action...
A friend and I took turns bidding the auction up over $20K, making sure I won (and no legitimate bidders had a chance at winning it). Once the auction was over, I sent the seller a message through eBay's internal message system (this is an important step, as you will soon see). In the message, I mentioned that I was coming to the Ukraine on a business trip in a few days - and could I meet him in person to complete the transaction?
You can probably guess what the reply was! Of course he just wouldn't be able to meet in person. Why don't I just send him Western Union? But, email replies do not go through eBay's internal messaging system (just the originating message - again this is an important fact).
So, a week later, I left positive feedback for the scammer: "Great transaction! Thanks for letting me pick it up in person. A+++++"
This led to a weird set of emails from the scammer, which I ignored.
About a month later, the **** hits the fan. I'm guessing this was when eBay charged the guy's credit card for 5% of the winning bid (in eBay fees). The guy tries to file a non-paying-bidder claim, but since I've already left positive feedback, eBay balks.
eBay contacts me about the auction, to which I reply: I'm happy with the transaction. Met the guy in person and paid him cash for the item. You can check the records of your internal email servers - I sent the guy a note saying that I'd be picking the item up in person. I don't know why he would claim I never paid for it! Maybe he's trying to cheat you out of your fees!
Of course, eBay would have no records of any of our emails - except the one specific one I wanted them to. And, everything would look exactly like the scammer was trying to scam eBay. And, just try and get your money back from eBay (it's impossible enough just trying to talk to a human being there)!
Don't know what eventually happened. I hope eBay managed to extract their pound of flesh from this crook - and he never tried his hand at internet auction fraud ever again...
************************
How to Scam an eBay Scammer --- DamnThe.com
How to Scam an eBay Scammer
I've been a regular eBay user since the late 90's. In that time, I've come to learn that eBay and the authorities won't lift a finger to stop the fraud that is pervasive on their system.
In fact, a couple years ago I received a counterfeit cashier's check in the amount of $4,500. Luckily, I caught it before I went to the bank. That was when I learned that there is literally no way of reporting fraud to eBay. All there is is a link to a 3rd party internet-watchdog group that has absolutely nothing to do with eBay. I guess that's why eBay can claim that there's virtually no fraud on their system (if you can't report it, it doesn't exist - what they don't know, can't hurt them).
I also found out that the police, secret service, FBI, postal inspectors, etc... also won't so much as lift a finger to help. Since I discovered the fake check before it was cashed, there was a week or two of time to catch the organized crime group that was responsible (the same people successfully hit other dealers I knew for similar amounts). Apparently, the threshhold for the authorities to care is $5,000. So, these crooks are allowed to operate with impugnity as long as they keep their thefts below five grand each! Only the Secret Service ever got back to me - over 6 months later (the agent laughingly told me "I guess it's a bit late to catch them now...")!
So, if we're to lessen the risk of online fraud, we're going to have to do it ourselves. Hence this page.
This is how I managed to get back at one of these fraudsters:
One day, I discovered an eBay auction that was almost certainly fraudulent. The person in the Ukraine stole an eBay image from a friend of mine (as well as his entire auction description) and listed his own auction a month later. It was a high-dollar-value item worth around ten grand.
Sure, it might have been a legitimate auction (and just a dishonest seller). So, I emailed him about the item. When he replied, it was blatantly clear that he didn't have the item (and had probably never even seen one, or one like it). Now, I was 100% certain that the auction was fraudulent. So, I took action...
A friend and I took turns bidding the auction up over $20K, making sure I won (and no legitimate bidders had a chance at winning it). Once the auction was over, I sent the seller a message through eBay's internal message system (this is an important step, as you will soon see). In the message, I mentioned that I was coming to the Ukraine on a business trip in a few days - and could I meet him in person to complete the transaction?
You can probably guess what the reply was! Of course he just wouldn't be able to meet in person. Why don't I just send him Western Union? But, email replies do not go through eBay's internal messaging system (just the originating message - again this is an important fact).
So, a week later, I left positive feedback for the scammer: "Great transaction! Thanks for letting me pick it up in person. A+++++"
This led to a weird set of emails from the scammer, which I ignored.
About a month later, the **** hits the fan. I'm guessing this was when eBay charged the guy's credit card for 5% of the winning bid (in eBay fees). The guy tries to file a non-paying-bidder claim, but since I've already left positive feedback, eBay balks.
eBay contacts me about the auction, to which I reply: I'm happy with the transaction. Met the guy in person and paid him cash for the item. You can check the records of your internal email servers - I sent the guy a note saying that I'd be picking the item up in person. I don't know why he would claim I never paid for it! Maybe he's trying to cheat you out of your fees!
Of course, eBay would have no records of any of our emails - except the one specific one I wanted them to. And, everything would look exactly like the scammer was trying to scam eBay. And, just try and get your money back from eBay (it's impossible enough just trying to talk to a human being there)!
Don't know what eventually happened. I hope eBay managed to extract their pound of flesh from this crook - and he never tried his hand at internet auction fraud ever again...
