Mad

[keitht83]

I recently bought a computer on ebay. Talk to the seller on the phone and through email. Seller stated several times that he had the computer and all i needed to do was send payment and as soon as it was recieved he would mail the computer. Well after mailing the money order to him he stopped responding to my emails. On the phone he admitted getting the money and sending it back. But i still have his home phone, work phone, were he works and even his home address all of them are legit. I have called him about four times and he states that he does not have the computer know and that he would send me a full refund. Well that was almost a week and half ago. We decided to wait till monday to see if i get the money. He has done this to two other people since and they have all gotten there money back but not me. The post office told me that if I dont get the money order back they can do a search by using the number off of the money order reciept and find out if he cashed it. I guess my question is, is there anything i can do? thanks for the help.

P.S. if i dont get the money back by monday i will be on the phone wanting to know what is going on. Then if that does not help i will be going down south to visit him and find out the real reason.

[KrisSAU]

Each state is a little different in these matters, however, I would suggest calling his local PD as well as your own. In NY, we take the report here but send it to the PD where the person resides. However, some states do it differently.

There are laws that protect you from this kind of theft. It seems he is a repeat offender he is more than likely running a scam and this computer he is alleging to sell probably doesn't even exist and it is just a means to scam people out of money.

At the very least contact his PD and let them know what is going on with this guy. It sounds as if you won't be his last victim either.

http://www.ebayersthatsuck.com/main/index.php is a website about these kind of people started by a police officer who was scammed himself. There are many horror stories there but also some good info as to what people are doing about it.

Good luck with it and let us know how it turns out.

[txinvestigator1]

DO NOT GO THERE. File Fraud reports with EBay (they will do nothing, but you need a paper trail). Save all emails from this guy, file a postal fraud report and file a theft report with your Law Enforcement jurisdiction.

Also post your plight here and you will get much more advice.

How much was the computer? Was it a laptop or desktop? What did the feedback of the seller look like? Can you post a link here to the auction page?

[KrisSAU]

You can file fraud reports yes, however, most states recognize this type of theft and will take action. Don't rely on ebay too much. As I said, there are laws that protect from this type of online deception and theft.

We deal with this stuff daily in our PD. These people are committing crimes and should be prosecuted.

*edit: the amount of money involved will affect where the crime falls on the totem pole, at least in our dept. I am assuming w/ a computer it was a larger amount. It's this man's history of doing this that is most concerning though.

[txinvestigator1]

DO NOT GO THERE. File Fraud reports with EBay (they will do nothing, but you need a paper trail) . Save all emails from this guy, file a postal fraud report and file a theft report with your Law Enforcement jurisdiction

:rolleyes:

[KrisSAU]

Tx, if i misread i do apologize....but as i stated in another thread, our coffee pot is broken and I cannot function, especially after working all night to only come right back in.

I am actually trying to find a link to a story about a huge case regarding computer sales and ebay that resulted in a multi-state theft scam based in Tx to add to my post. I think it would interest you.

[keitht83]

this should allow you to see it. You have to cut and paste this addr.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...gory=3713&rd=1

after bidding and all of this happing i have since looked at some of his old auctions for other computers and they all have the same picture and they all have about the same information. I have since emailed other people who have posted negative feedback about him and they have emailed me there story of what happend and it is just about the same. I will wait until monday and then if no money then i will give his police department a call. I have left out a portion of the story stating that he was out of town when he recivied the money but when he got back there is was. He stated on the phone that he had recieved the money and that he had put it in a new envelope to mail back to me. He states that he still has the old envelope. Every day that goes by i am getting madder. I ride with the chief of police were i live all of the time just rode with him two nights ago. Did not bring it up with him then wanted to try and resolve things with him first and use the law last. Is there any way that you can see me getting my money back? thanks for the help and i will keep u updated in future.


His feedback rating has gone down since i tryed to purchase the laptop from him.

[txinvestigator1]

This guy has sold electronics before and it appears he has done so honestly.

Personally, I always pay via Paypal, as they have buyer protections. If the seller does not accept Paypal or Credit Cards, I hit the back button.

Also you should communicate via email. You have an automatic record. If I call someone to verify something, I always follow up with the email.

Be sure you file a non-performing seller alert with Ebay. ALso send the guy a registered letter, return receipt.

Keep us posted

[1Adam12]

Since this is in my line o'work....

Please do not buy consumer electronics off auction sites or other fly by night ebusinesses for that matter, unless they are an authorized distributor of the brand you are interested in. Go to the company's web page to determine this information. IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT PROBABLY IS.

Read the entire contents of the auction before bidding.

eBay has a lengthy and pricey arbitration process for dealing with deadbeats. You are probably better off reporting it to the IFCC.

www.ifccfbi.gov