BEWARE I WAS DEFRAUDED

cmn083 · July 26, 2002 2:45PM

Hello Everyone,

I along with sixty other people was defrauded by an ebay auction this month. I lost two grand which was spose to get me a powerbook. BE CAREFUL BUYING OFF OF EBAY. I had saved that money for a computer for a long time and now I don't have the cash to get a laptop for college. THe name of the company was 1globalsource , I have contacted the police, as have some of the other people and they are trying to track nail this guy. I can't even relay to you my dissapointment. be careful everyone. THis person had made 3000 sells so he was fairly reputable. I am now cashless and computerless, don't let the same thing happen to you .... go get those bastards murbot

hmurchison · July 26, 2002 2:50PM

I hope those *astards get what they deserve. Ebay needs to prevent things like this.

cyko95 · July 26, 2002 2:51PM

Holy crap man, that truely sucks. I really feel for you man. How did you pay him?

patchouli · July 26, 2002 2:58PM

How did you pay for the transaction? If you used PayPal, you may be in luck. I think they cover fraud for up to a few thousand dollars.

cmn083 · July 26, 2002 3:05PM

No I payed with a money order.

I might borrow a few hundred and try to buy a ibook

this sucks

alcimedes · July 26, 2002 3:05PM

actually, i just went though this with an iPod.

ebay will cover $200 - $25 for processing, so $175 total.

PayPal will cover another $200. that's it.

at most you'll get $375 back on it, unless they nail the guy who stole your money.

also note:

if you happened to send payment through the U.S. Mail, you have a chance. talk to the postmaster general for your area and let them know. felony mail fraud charges carry more weight than just about anything else, and everyone i know who's gone through the U.S. Mail has said they are like a pack of rabid dogs.

they're about the only ones who actually care.

your CC company probably has an agreement with PayPal that they won't cover frauduelent claims. (like i said, i just went through this)

in my case i got lucky. the person who ripped me off also had ripped off a guy who was a VP at NBC. he mentioned that he had been ripped off twice in two months, and was thinking about doing a story on Dateline.

if it weren't for him putting the screws to those folks, i never would have seen my money.

e-bay has turned rotten, i wouldn't advise spending anymore than $400 on there without an escrow service. if the person won't use one, just walk away.

-alcimedes

cmn083 · July 26, 2002 3:12PM

Alcimedes, thanks so much , do you have any idea how I could get in contact with the postmaster general??

alcimedes · July 26, 2002 3:14PM

no, it would be different for each state. check the white pages, or just call up your local post office.

i think those guys are bored or something, 'cause from what i've heard they go after fraud cases with a vengence.

but you had to have sent your payment via U.S. Mail.

also, it helps if you have a confirmation number/reciept for your letter.

bodhi · July 26, 2002 7:06PM

This is why I DO NOT buy on eBay.

pyr3 · July 26, 2002 8:19PM

This is why I only spend $50 or less on ebay.com and I only buy resonable things like video games (games not systems). And I only use CCard payment through paypal. I won't pay with anything other than Credit Card or escrow service. If someone wants you to send $2000 to them and they only except money orders something is up. Think of it this way. I can see some kid selling his baseball cards for a few bucks and needing a money order or something since it's not much and they are prolly only selling on ebay.com to unload some junk they have collected. But people selling items for thousands of dollars and they can't except an escrow service or a credit card payment? That's kind of fishy. If you see someone selling lots of powerbooks on ebay and they can only except money orders, that should be a red flag that says "I'm an idiot and I want the world to know I'm a fraud". ebay.com is cool, but try not to get lured in by it. Some people get so into bidding that they win the auction at more than they are really willing to pay for the item. The thrill of bidding and trying to will is akin to a gambling addiction, im my opinion. ebay.com requires caution and common sense. Were this a physical auction where you could see the sellers and see the product you are bidding on, this would be a different story. And always rememeber "there is no free lunch".

cubedude · July 26, 2002 8:37PM

Don't rely on feedback too much. The seller might buy cheap junk just to get positive feedback, it happened to a friend of mine.

pyr3 · July 26, 2002 9:18PM

If you *have* to buy something on ebay go for the power sellers. The ones with LOADS of feedback and/or the shooting star ones. And make sure that they have lots of feedback as a seller, don't rely on feedback from people they bought from, rely on feedback from people they have sold things to. You have to do more research than just looking at the number they have next to their name. Especially when lots fo money is involved

brianmacos · July 27, 2002 11:51AM

Not to be rude but you should have payed attention to previous post where we went off for almost 2 weeks on fake Powerbook scams on ebay I figure if you are looking to spend 3000$ on a brand new computer go directly though Apple it makes more since and it is much safer!

trailmaster308 · July 27, 2002 12:26PM

That really sucks man. It also hurts people like me who want to sell something on ebay. I really want to sell my 600 ibook but I doubt anyone will trust me since I don't have much feedback. And all I want is the payoff so I can buy a powerbook.

jkarc21 · July 27, 2002 3:43PM

This is my first post. I have been reading Ai for a few weeks now and descided to become a member after reading this thread.

I ordered a Dual 800 and 22" cinema display in January 2002 from and Ebay auction listed by "auctions@ShadowSb.com"

In total I lost over $4570.00 and still haven't been able to recover any losted funds or purchase a much needed computer for my studies.

<a href="http://www.ago.state.ma.us/txt/tsmith.htm"; target="_blank">http://www.ago.state.ma.us/txt/tsmith.htm</a>;

Victims Resources

General Online Fraud Resources from: <a href="http://www.geocities.com/imad_scam/resources.html"; target="_blank">http://www.geocities.com/imad_scam/resources.html</a>;

The imad web site has much information that could help with the process to take in order to recover lost funds. Encourage everyone known who has not received product or a refund to file with the below agencies and try and develop a group to take action against 1globalsource ASAP. Good luck

FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Unit

<a href="http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp"; target="_blank">http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp</a>;

eBay "SafeHarbor" Rules

<a href="http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/index.html"; target="_blank">http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/index.html</a>;

BBB Online

<a href="http://www.BBBonline.org"; target="_blank">http://www.BBBonline.org</a>;

[ 07-27-2002: Message edited by: jkarc21 ]

[ 07-27-2002: Message edited by: jkarc21 ]

defiant · July 27, 2002 4:02PM

[quote]Originally posted by jkarc21:

This is my first post. I have been reading Ai for a few weeks now and descided to become a member after reading this thread.

I ordered a Dual 800 and 22" cinema display in January 2002 from and Ebay auction listed by "auctions@ShadowSb.com"

In total I lost over $4570.00 and still haven't been able to recover any losted funds or purchase a much needed computer for my studies.

<a href="http://www.ago.state.ma.us/txt/tsmith.htm"; target="_blank">http://www.ago.state.ma.us/txt/tsmith.htm</a><hr></blockquote>;

whew, that a sh*tload of money...

feel kinda sorry for you, but in the end it's just money. I know i'll get flamed for that sentence, but that's what it is. paper.

jkarc21 · July 27, 2002 4:44PM

[quote]Originally posted by Defiant:



whew, that a sh*tload of money...

feel kinda sorry for you, but in the end it's just money. I know i'll get flamed for that sentence, but that's what it is. paper.<hr></blockquote>

Did you read the article attached to my earlier post. A Lady named Teresa Smith, owner of ShadowSb made out with over 750,000 in 3 months. Her civil trial started a few weeks ago. She is going down for multiple counts of fraud including mail fraud for sending many bad checks for refunds which bounced. For some reason she's still not in jail and claims it was just a bad business model. I guess so!

defiant · July 27, 2002 4:55PM

I did read it. "Bad Business Model"... phew.

was that a flame ?

cubedude · July 27, 2002 4:56PM

[quote]

That really sucks man. It also hurts people like me who want to sell something on ebay. I really want to sell my 600 ibook but I doubt anyone will trust me since I don't have much feedback. And all I want is the payoff so I can buy a powerbook.

<hr></blockquote>

Yeah, neither do I(of course, I don't have anything to sell, so I don't care). Maybe you should ask Jonathan if he can put an eBay screen name field in our profiles.

trevorm · July 27, 2002 5:08PM

I am really sorrt to hear this sort of stuff! I can only hope that you get your money back, somehow!

I am shocked that eBay allows this sort of shit to happen and frankly I think they should be help partly liable

jkarc21 · July 27, 2002 5:13PM

[quote]Originally posted by Defiant:

I did read it. "Bad Business Model"... phew.

was that a flame ?<hr></blockquote>

We don't flame here in Florida! We BB-Q, drink beer, and make friends.

BEWARE I WAS DEFRAUDED

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