OT: Need DUCers Help with Mac Ebay purchase!

[Allen Hallada]

I purchased a dual G4 1.25Ghz 30 days ago on Ebay (using Paypal wired to personal checking account) that was supposedly brand new with 17" monitor still in the box for 1750.00. I didn't receive the computer and after 14 days from the purchase date, went through Paypal to try to resolve the issue. Paypal said they could only recover up to 250.00 for me.
Has anyone else come across a similar issue and got a successful recovery of your funds and if so how did you do it? Any suggestions welcome and no wise cracks please. I'm really bummed about it. I know that in the future I will only use a credit card, but didn't have it setup in time for bidding on this computer.

Thanks everyone,
Allen

[where02190]

That's paypal, sorry for your loss, but don't expect too much from them, they take your money and once your check is clear, they really don't care about you anymore.

[AverageJoe]

what about trying to resolve it through ebay? I'd go both avenues for sure...

[dans]

Allen, I'm sure you've gone through all of this but...

1) Did the seller have any positive feedback? If so, from who? Can you get in touch with others who bought from (or sold to) this seller?

2) Has there been any contact with the seller? Do you have emails from him/her? Do the emails have any useful info in the headers? It's possible you're dealing with an amature who didn't cover their tracks very well. In theory, you might be able to get some identifying info from the email headers and find out it is a 14 year old kid with an AOL account. I was successful in tracking down a person who broke into my company's network with similar info. We successfully helped the NYC computer crimes unit prosecute him and won a $9,000 restitution payment and a conviction. It's a long shot but not by any means impossible.

3) Along these lines, do you know anything about the seller? Name? Address? Or at this point are you 100% sure it was a total scam?

What was the item number? I'd be curious to look into it for you. Honestly it sounds like you are out of luck, but by all means contact ebay. Also, see if paypal can get you more info. I wouldn't give up just yet, that's too much money and if the scammer was not careful, you might be able to recover the money.

[where02190]

Not trying to be a downer, but $1750 is under pretty much puts this case in small claims court for most states, which, if the seller is at all smart, knwos is damn near impossible to collect. While there may be interstate/federal criminal avenues to peursue, seriouly, to the feds that's a very small amount of money, unless it ties into several other crimes to increase it substaintially.

As recommende by the previous poster, your best avenue is to investigate this seller yourself (perhaps with the help of others) and to hit as many online forums as you can asking for info and spreading the word of this bogus seller.

I assume your check to paypal has already been cashed? You might check with your bank, they may be of some assitance in avenues to pursue, or be more familiar with the laws regarding this.

I'm sorry for your troubles, and I hope you get the SOB.

[dans]

While I agree with Where--this would be a small claims case in civil court and yes, criminally speaking, the FBI is unlikely to drop their terror investigations to scour the world for Allen's con--that doesn't mean local police wouldn't persue the case criminally if there were solid evidence. What I was trying to say is that there is a chance this was done by an amature. Maybe a young teenager living in a nice house in the suburbs looking for oxycontin cash. If his identity can be ascertained, then it may be as simple as sending a cop or PI to his house, and the parents will cut a check the next day. This is probably not the case, but it is easy to check out.

[Shelob9]

Are any of your friends, family, bandmates, co-workers, etc police officers or lawyers?

If so resarch all the possible crimes (fedral and state,both states, if the SOB is in a diffrent one then you) that this person comitted (theft, theft by deception, computer fraud, etc.) Get the code # and the maximum penalty and right this all up for your friend. Have them write a polite but lightly threatening letter or make a phone call.

If this person is an ametuer, a call from a cop or a threat from a lawyer will probably do. If you got ripped off by a real pro, your probaly [bleep], but if they are a real pro, chances are the FBI is, or at some point will be on to them. So if you havn't already, make sure you report this to them, so when this SOB pulls this enough times to get on the FBI's radar they know what s/he did to you.

Hoep this helps, sorry you've got to deal with this.

[JohnT]

Allen,
I feel you pain. I got ripped off too.
Local cops laughed at me, state attourney general wrote them a letter said there hands were tied and they can't do anything.

I did get my money back however...

The US Postal Inspector (it was shipped supposedly through USPS) was helpful. I had done the tracking through PayPal, eBay, etc. and had some hunches as to who it was. They small group of fellows behind the scam were in Las Vegas, but had things diverted all over the western part of the country. I gave the postal inspectors office the info I knew. They immediately found a record of the scam artists. They had done this a number of times. They get off the hook, because they claim that they were in the process of resolving the issue, blah, blah. Within a day of the postal inspectors call I had my money.

Stay on them, you can win.
jt

[bwag]

The mac community may be the place to turn for help. I remember reading this story a couple years. Different circumstances, but it may help:

Tribune story

[Allen Hallada]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Here is the last email I got from the seller. He claims he was selling the computer for a kid and the kid was just using his paypal and ebay account.

Time to get the SOB.

Allen




Here is the last email I received on 5/29/04

hello again. i have just been fired from all of this jazz going on over some stupid kid. i have quit all of this non-sense. i know it has been a little nailbiting at times, but i can assure you that you will get your computer. i am withdrawing all of my funds and leaving the business. so all i ask is for you to reverse the complaint to jamesbaumannjr@ comcast.net <--- this is the paypal with all of your funds in it. so i am going to tell you to take the complaint off as soon as possible. thanks again and i apologize for all of the problems this has caused. so thanks again, and please reverse the complaint as soon as possible. if you have anything else, e-mail [email protected].

thanks again and sorry,
anthony rotondi