ck2k01 Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 Ok guys heres the story: About a month ago I was looking to buy a new cell phone (an unlocked samsung e700), and so i turned to ebay. I ran across a number of those "get new $300+ phone for $40 adds," and happened to read one of them. Well, at the bottom of one, the guy had said he received two, and that he would sell one at a discounted price, and to contact him if you were interested. So i did, and he said hed sell it for $200. I continuously emailed him asking different things about the phone (as you would if you were buing one from some annoymous guy on the internet), ex. was it unlocked, brand new box, etc. Well everything checkedout and I decided to buy it, and he said that he only accepted money orders or check on items this big. I decided it was ok becasue his ebay account (unlockphone2004) had 9/10 good feedback. So i mailed the money out to his address, and emailed him a week later asking if it had arrived yet. He replied no. This was the last time I heard from him. Its been a month now, and i must have emailed him 10-12 odd times. It looks as if his account on ebay was suspened and I dont no where to turn. His address was a P.O. box, so no home address, but I do have his name, location, and p.o box number. I tried searching his number and came up with about 10, and tried 1 good lead, but it turned out not to be him. Is there anything I can do that you guys can think of (I cant contact ebay, becasue ebay wasnt involved--- yes I know I should have, and am an idiot and will probally loose $200 becasue of it), but everything about this guy including his references seemed to check out. What should i do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oo420oo Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 Pwned! :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j0sh Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 call the Better Business Bureau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoLdFuSi0n Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 that is why you never send money orders or cheques, cause they can be not traced back to him when he cashes them. Paypal, or direct deposit into the persons bank account i think is the best method Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatCat Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 there is nothing you can do, hope you can live withough the $200 because Jon Doe isn't going to give you your money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 cant you trace what account it was deposited in?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giga Veteran Posted February 27, 2004 Veteran Share Posted February 27, 2004 Ebay Customer service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VGVL Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 You can file a complaint with eBay. You will only get back $175, but at least all is not lost. This process will take a long time. You will have to fax a form to eBay. I know because I've had to do this once. :pinch: If you bought this item outside the eBay guidelines (If you were not the winning bidder), I dont think there is anything you can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samoa Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 Resend the money order, I'm still waiting. Just PM me for the new address....:shifty: serioulsy though, contact the place who made the check or moneyorder. See if there is a way to get your money back and find out where it was cashed. Most places do require identification for cashing those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoLdFuSi0n Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 cant you trace what account it was deposited in?? doesn't have to goto a bank to cash cheques, some but not all payday loan places cash them, and all you need is a fake id and its cashed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night.Hawk Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 I'm not sure you can do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowpie Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 First bad move, not sending money thru a online money service(IE paypal, bidpay etc) those all got protection on them with loads of fun support.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HellBender Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 First bad move, not sending money thru a online money service(IE paypal, bidpay etc) those all got protection on them with loads of fun support.... Yup. I don't mean to be rude, but its really your fault for sending such a large sum of money through regular mail to someone you didn't know. You should've, in order of preference: - used Paypal or something online - gotten a certified Western Union money order (those can be tracked) - used Certified mail through USPS 9/10 good feedback is NOTHING. You go buy 10 keychains on ebay, you got your 10 feedback. If he had 1000+ good feedback, then it would mean something... But if feedback is less than 100, it means nothing. In any case, FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE POLICE. They will launch an investigation, and if the other party is stupid, they'll catch him from where he cashed the check. $200 is no small amount, I hope you get it back. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xer34 Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 sorry to hear that.. listen to them ^ though.. ive never been.. erm.. dumb enough to do that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme_7799 Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 well first i would go to the ebay help department under issue resolving and stuff like that. if that doesn't solve it, bitch at them until you get your cash back. i do that whenever a sumone either messes up or tries to con money out of me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey1001 Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 well first i would go to the ebay help department under issue resolving and stuff like that. if that doesn't solve it, bitch at them until you get your cash back. i do that whenever a sumone either messes up or tries to con money out of me He has no recourse for getting his money back via EBay because they warn you dozens of times not to make deals outside of the auction process; if you do, you're on your own. He didn't specifically say if the check was cashed already, but it probably was. If it hasn't yet then simply stop payment on it through the bank. Other than that, he just learned a $200 lesson. As for the police getting involved and helping him....ya, right. At BEST they might file a report, but thats all. Its a civil matter between two parties and thats what the police will tell him. I hate these scammers but I just don't understand how so many people still fall for their scams. I used to think that people on the Neowin forums were "internet smart" and would be wise enough not to be duped by these crooks, but I guess I was wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmatik Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Yeah, honestly, those "pay for a website address" seem like crap to me. If the dude had two in the first place, he would have two phones. Obviously, EBay won't do anything for you because you didn't even win the auction. That's like telling the police someone stole $200 cash from you. They may take a report but what else can they do? I never ever buy from sellers on eBay unless they are PowerSellers or have a huge amount of responses. Even then, I try to find the same product I want to get from an eBay merchant or something similar. That way you have a business to go after if something does happen. Sorry about the loss man. Good luck and let us know what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹ Posted March 1, 2004 Subscriber¹ Share Posted March 1, 2004 yeah man you got screwed. but you are only one of hundreds getting scammed everyday. now you learned you lesson. never believe anyone who only takes money orders and claims has more then one item and can sell the extra one to you for super cheap. i have seen 4 people being ripped off by a guy who had 20/20 good ratings. 4 people for a $500 item! so be more careful next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mipra Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 1. DO NOT...and I repeat DO NOT send money order to someone on ebay. Trust me...been there...done that...they are all scam...well...8 out of ten. 2. Find a power seller. 3. It is the best if you can pay CC DIRECTLY to the merchant. Paypal wont help you if you loose ur merchandise. They do have the protection program (which u have to pay more), but it takes a long time to get ur money back. But, when u use CC directly to the merchant and u dont receive ur merchandise, then you can dispute the charge. And, most of the time CC company will be on ur side because they have all the data about the merchant. 4. If it's possible, you want to do local pickup...that's the best option u can get. 5. I have a merchant who replies to me 3 minutes after I sent the e-mail, most of those guys are scum bags...not all of them though. But, those people are just the people u want to avoid....if they dont meet the 4 things I mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mipra Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 I just want to give u an example: This..u can trust http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=38123 And one more thing, I would strongly say no to any auction whose all the bidders' identity are hidden. I believe they call it private auction. And, hehe..one more..just oneeee more :p ..the way that the scumbag works is stealing other persons identity, so..if u look at their feedback, sometimes they are more than 100, I have even found up to 300....but the identity is mostly buying things, sometimes selling some things also..but most of the time they buy things. When u come across this situation plus all things I said above..then there is a big chance you have just met a thief. Oh yes......the thief who steals others' identity will reply ur e-mail when u use the "ask seller question"button...why? because they steal everything from the person they steal...including e-mails, passwords...everything.even paypal IDs and passwords. I'm sorry if I'm to aggresive on this matter :blush: , I have been cheated a couple of times...and seems to me I'm a slow learner :p . Now, I learned my lesson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ck2k01 Posted March 26, 2004 Author Share Posted March 26, 2004 well ive come to the relization that im pretty much screwed... (sucks, first time after using ebay for the past 4 years). but ya, im the idiot this time, because i lost the money order receipt which i need to track and make a refund, cas it has a special serial number on it. well guys, take me as an example... be careful on ebay, and if sending money via money order, for god sakes, dont loose the god damned receipt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadiz Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Pwned! :angry: LOL!!!! :rofl: Sorry, not a funny situation, but that response just made me crack up. On a serious note, you'll just have to be more careful next time (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dessimat0r Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Maybe you could go for that Nigerian thing in your e-mail next ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digitaholic Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 If you used credit card like you should have, you can cancel the transaction by talking to your bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shihchiun Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 maybe you should have read the warnings from ebay telling you only to buy through ebay.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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