I WAS ROBBED! or another eBay story

[Anonymous]

Funny the timing of this post. I just had this exact thing happen to me on a non train related item.

PJ

[c50truck]

I believe the solution is simple. Communicate only through Ebay! Someone mentioned earlier of Craigs list. You can comunicate, but you do not have the other persons email. You must go through Craigs list. If Ebay did the same it would help.

I only contact buyers or sellers through Ebay. The benefit is my Email does not end up in someones spam file. It gets through to my customer or seller.

Ebay is a slice of the world. Don't blame them or any other auction site. If you walked down the streets of middle class America, you would find the same folks. Ebay just brings them to the surface, and shines a  bright light on them.

We must always be aware. Dennis,thanks for sharing your experience.

Rod L.

 

[Anonymous]

Reminds me of roaches in the kitchen late at night. They cannot stand bright light.

[dwiemer]

Another red flag to look for in any "second chance" offer is a change in the method of payment from from the original eBay listing. For example, if the original listing indicated that PayPal was accepted for payment, and the second chance offer required that you wire money out of the country, that would certainly appear to be somewhat fishy.

 

I agree that it was "fishy".  The guy did sound credible in that he had the ebay "security check" posted and had a "verified bank account", lots of other items that linked directly to ebay and suggested that this was a secured transaction.  The guys story about being out of the country and not using "paypal" was that he just left on business and paypal is not in Italy yet.

Dennis

[dwiemer]

I got off the phone with the secret service.  They are getting swamped with this type of scandal and that I am lucky in such a small amount.  They have one case open for over $40,000.00. in a very similar situation.  They are very interested in looking into these cases, but you could imagine the odds of getting some of these people.  At least in my case, they have a photo and name.  If anyone ever has a situation like this, with international fraud, make sure you submit it to them.  The more information they have, the better chance to connect the dots.

Dennis

PS: when I am told I can release the information, I will share it with everyone to help avoid such issues.  I have kept all the emails and I assure you, they do seem authentic.  For now, I suggest that any email claiming to be ebay, check at the [e-mail] site before continuing with transaction.

[csxt30]

I got off the phone with the secret service.  They are getting swamped with this type of scandal and that I am lucky in such a small amount.  They have one case open for over $40,000.00. in a very similar situation.  They are very interested in looking into these cases, but you could imagine the odds of getting some of these people.  At least in my case, they have a photo and name.  If anyone ever has a situation like this, with international fraud, make sure you submit it to them.  The more information they have, the better chance to connect the dots.

Dennis

PS: when I am told I can release the information, I will share it with everyone to help avoid such issues.  I have kept all the emails and I assure you, they do seem authentic.  For now, I suggest that any email claiming to be ebay, check at the [e-mail] site before continuing with transaction.

Dennis : you're doing a fine job so far & once you get this case CRACKED, we'll all get to see you on TV !!    I am glad you didn't loose too much though !!

Thanks, John

[More to restore]

Dennis,

I am sorry to hear that you got e-robbed. I read through this thread and I must say that you take it very good. Nevertheless it still stinks.  I hope that the officers can nail the thief. Over the national borders, hmmm, sounds a bit like Lagos to me. Ebay has some minor issues but still I agree with you that it is a great method to buy toy trains. Hopefully it gets sorted...

Greetings

Egbert 

 

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Sorry to hear about the bad eBay experiences.  I have never had a problem like that happen although one time I got an engine in "Mint" condition with a broken plastic truck piece.  Egbert, what part of the Netherlands are you in?  My Norwegian soccer friend is in Groningen, working on her physical therapy training.  Is that any where near you?   I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[heinzm57]

Sorry for your bad luck with this creep on e-bay. That is why you should always pay with  PayPal. I have bought quite a few things on Ebay, but if I see a seller who does not want to be paid with payPal, I will not bid on that item.

Also , there is a dispute mechanism on Ebay. You should go there. Chanses are this creep will not be able to sell on Ebay anymore if nothing else.

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone processing oxygen, a body temperature and carrying a blood pressure can open a account at a bank. Once they have that plus the routing number they can so-called verify themselves to Ebay.

If they had a credit card which might include a throw-away designed for one time use they can even become the so called verified user. Ebay then trumpets that this seller is all that to the buyer.

I think of ebay as a potential source of trouble. Recently I had a email arrive into my box saying that someone opened a dispute (non-paying item) and to click a link and resolve this. When I followed the link the sign-in page looked like that of ebay's account sign in but the header in the title bar was not https and carried a IP Address which was NOT ebay. Oh the item being disputed turned out to be a 1200 dollar guitar. I dont do guitars and only deal with one transaction (Selling or buying) per week.

Spoof@ebay got this email and returned with a message saying that they will take care of it and I need not worry about it.

I have no problems putting non-ebay emails not directly related into my current activity into a spam list. When I max out that current 500 allowed addresses to block I can then open up one of the 9 remaining email accounts for this ISP.

The stories with Paypal reinforces my firm determination that Pay pal is a complication best avoided. Western Union is another service I avoid. Sometimes a desired item was offered for sale that only takes western union as payment. Sorry, No thanks.

One other thing I hate about buying items on ebay is the use of Factory photos and a one sentence statement "The photo is representative of the item currently up for auction; but is not that of the actual item, appearences may vary." Those dont get consideration either. I might bid on a item and recieve a box of parts instead as happened once.

I just had a light bulb go on and realize I get boxes of parts all the time, they are known as KITS he he.

I take cars to auction block several times a month. The rattiest junker barely running while gassing all of the dealers trying to bid sometimes gets purchased because it has a part that is needed. I dont mind those sales because they can see what they are buying; even if they are only good for salvage.

[edw]

Safety Valve, I believe your comment that "PayPal is a complication best avoided" overlooks the fact that using PayPal for eBay purchases actually affords the buyer an extra level of protection with a dishonest seller. PayPal refunded me $800 when a seller misrepresented the warranty on a laptop computer I bought. And, if your PayPal account is linked to one of your credit cards, then you have a double layer of protection, because even if PayPal fails to remedy the situation, you just call your own credit card company and dispute the charge.

[Donl6400]

Hello, sorry about your unfortunate experience with this scam. Up here in the "Great White North" we do not have a lot of oppourtunity to go to a lot of train shows and such. E-Bay has become a regular hobby shop for me and conveniently accessable. I can puchase items for US dollars and add shipping and still be ahead money wise.

I keep all transactions restricted to Pay-Pal and will not even look at sites not offering it. I will not even think of or look at Money Order Only or Cheque only transactions. I find that this does not restrict the variety of items available from legitimate dealers or individuals.

I almost got burned two different times but Pay-Pal and E-Bay were there for me because I kept a dated record of every memo and e-mail and receipt. I got refunds of these amounts and so was not out any money.

Most of my aquisitions came through E-Bay/Pay-Pal and I am happy with their service. It saves me the three to four hour drive each way to an O-Gauge hobby shop.

My advice to anyone using E-Bay/Pay-Pal is to deal ONLY through E-Bay My-Messages and send the seller e-mails to ask about services and payment and KEEP these records, print out everything, do not depend on it staying in your computer.

Don in Oshawa ON

(Where we build Chev/GMC Trucks, Impalas & MonteCarlos)