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Ebay is the only place that a person can conduct business without having
any "Characteristics" of a business i.e Business license, resale number,
or a merchant account.
SCOTT COHN, CNBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You‘re watching 21st-century shoplifters at work. In less than a minute, this band of thieves swarms the shelves, making off with $14,000 worth of handbags. This guy bags 10 suits in a matter of seconds, while his accomplice tries the block the camera.
It used to be that thieves like these would unload stolen merchandise at pawn shops, flea markets, or right on the street. But today they have a much more profitable way to fence stolen goods: Internet auction sites like eBay.
(on screen): Could you have made as much money were it not for eBay?
JOHN, CONVICTED SHOPLIFTER: No, because pawn shops are local; eBay is at least nationwide. It‘s becoming worldwide. If you were selling at a pawn shop, you would be doing it a lot less volume.
COHN (voice-over): We‘ll call him “John.” We agreed to conceal his identity in exchange for a rare look at the shadowy world of e-fencing. An unlikely criminal, a graduate student in his mid-20s who e-fenced his way through school.
(on screen): How much money did you make?
JOHN: Close to $40,000, $45,000.
COHN: Forty-five thousand? That‘s a lot of money for a college student.
JOHN: Yes.
COHN (voice-over): Before John was arrested and charged with multiple counts of felony theft, he made off with hundreds of headphones, shavers, rechargeable batteries, and GPS devices from national chains like Target and Best Buy. He‘d alter the barcodes on the products so, at checkout, the scanners would ring up prices far below what the items really cost. He‘d then sell the merchandise on eBay for closer to retail, getting, say, $400 for an item he paid $30 for, almost pure profit.
Rob Chestnut, a former federal prosecutor, is eBay‘s senior vice president for rules, trust, and safety.
(on screen): The National Retail Federation told us that criminals are using eBay as a national fencing operation, which is a pretty strong charge. Is that going on?
ROB CHESTNUT, EBAY SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT: Whenever stolen property is put on eBay, it is, to some extent, national fencing. And there‘s no question in my mind that eBay gets abused by people who‘ve got stolen property.
COHN: I‘m going to ask you to respond to I guess kind of the cynical view of all of this, which is that eBay makes money on every transaction, eBay doesn‘t lose anything, so why should you lift a finger?
CHESTNUT: It‘s a cynical view, but I think it‘s one that misunderstands, you know, eBay‘s business model and what we‘re based on. EBay is based on trust; eBay is based on trust between buyers and sellers. And what happens, in eBay has crime on the site, if stolen property became a significant issue on eBay, buyers simply wouldn‘t trust, and they would go elsewhere.
>>>> What does trust have anything to do with buying stolen gear for 1/2 of the cost...
COHN: Do you ever worry that eBay would catch you?
JOHN: No. I wasn‘t worried about eBay.
COHN: EBay didn‘t catch this thief; store security did. But plenty of others remain, lurking in the shadows of the most successful auction site in the world.
JOHN: The more I sold, the more they made.
EBay may be one of the biggest sources of stolen merchandise in the country, according to CNBC senior correspondent Scott Cohn.
>> What I have been saying all along people..
CNN.com
No cheer for Duff beer eBay crime
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/02/02/duff.beer.ap/index.html
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- A woman has pleaded guilty to selling
on eBay three nonexistent cases of Duff brand beer -- the favorite of
cartoon character Homer Simpson.
Tara Edith Woodford, 28, pleaded guilty in the Mackay Magistrates
Court in northern Queensland state on Wednesday to three charges of dishonestly
gaining money by false pretenses.
Prosecutor Gavin Burnett told the court Woodford was paid a total
of Aust. $1,951 ($1,511) by three separate buyers after advertising the
bogus beer on the eBay Internet auction site.
Woodford was placed on 18 months' probation, and was ordered to reimburse
the money and undergo counseling.
>>> Wow 18 months probation.. Not to bad for a Felony level dollar
amount..
2/2/2005
FTC: At least $548 million lost to identity theft
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/02/01/id.theft.scams.reut/index.html
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it received 635,000 consumer
complaints in 2004 as criminals sold nonexistent products through online
auction sites like eBay Inc. or went shopping with stolen credit
cards.
Auction fraud was the most common Internet scam, the FTC said in its
annual fraud report, followed by complaints about online shopping and Internet
access service.
Auction fraud was the most common Internet scam, the FTC said in its
annual fraud report, followed by complaints about online shopping and Internet
access service.
FTC Top Complaints of 2004 Identity Theft and Fraud 36%, Internet Auctions
16%
Complaints about Internet auctions were the fastest-growing category in an annual Federal Trade Commission report on fraud released Tuesday. They almost doubled to 98,650 in 2004, up from 51,000 in 2002, and accounted for 16 percent of all complaints.
The total number of complaints about Internet-related crimes -- including fraudulent auctions, Internet services and scams in which the consumer was contacted or responded via the Internet -- was 205,568. The crimes cost consumers $265 million, with a median loss of $214, the FTC said
here's a certain percentage of our population that are con artists and scammers, let's say it's about 3 percent,'' said Rosalinda Baldwin, CEO of TheAuctionGuild.com, an upstate New York site that acts as a watchdog and information provider for online auction users. "As those people get more Net savvy, their business in the analog world is just going to move online."
"It behooves a person who is thinking about transacting business online to become educated," said David Steiner, president of AuctionBytes.com in Massachusetts. "It's not an innocent little playground anymore."
Some online auction fans have gone even further. Frustrated that auction leader eBay, as they see it, isn't sufficiently proactive about hunting down con artists, they've taken matters into their own hands.
False bids, fake receipts
Self-styled auction vigilantes try to combat online scammers by giving them a taste of their own medicine. Some submit false bids to auctioneers they believe are crooks, including sending fake Western Union receipts to trick the auction-holders into thinking they've landed a sale.
"We bait (scammers). We waste their time," said Keith, the moderator of a site called TheScamBaiter.com. He declined to give his last name for fear of reprisals from scammers.
"This weekend, a friend and I 'bought' 30 or 40 Super Bowl tickets from Romanian scammers," he said. "If we get four or five people baiting a single scammer, he has his hands full. He thinks he's going to get all this money."
Keith said he spends a couple of hours a day "baiting" auction scammers, fitting it in around his job as a Virginia building contractor.
"We've done a lot more damage to the scammers than eBay has ever done. We have it down to a science, where we're really confident whoever we're going after (is a fraudulent seller)," he said.
EBay spokesman Hani Durzy said the company does not condone such practices.
"We believe there is a very clear line between community activism and vigilantism," he said. "Anybody who takes what we consider to be un-eBay like actions against other users because of an assertion they have, we request our community refrain from doing that."
Only a small fraction of 1 percent of eBay listings is confirmed to be fraudulent, Durzy said. Last year the company hosted 1.4 billion listings, including both auction and fixed-price items.
"In the grand scheme of things, it's a very rare occurrence on eBay," he said. "Fraud is not completely eliminated on eBay nor on any other open, transparent market."
Some eBay watchers say the company does all it can to downplay fraud complaints because it doesn't want to scare customers away.
EBay is horrible," said Baldwin of TheAuctionGuild.com. "If you report too many scam sellers on the site, if eBay does anything about them, it's a miracle. And if you get too vocal about it, especially if you talk to a reporter, eBay suspends you. That's crazy. They don't want people hearing about fraud."
Marcy Fraser, who works in administration at UCSF, said she was disappointed with eBay's response when she bought a $150 mini-disk recorder that arrived dented and unusable.
"The auction company response was pathetic," she said. "I tried to do the eBay and PayPal (eBay's online payment service) mediation. They were both completely useless. They make you fill out a bunch of forms, make you wait, do what they call an investigation, which is basically sending e-mails to the sender, so it's your word against theirs."
After returning the damaged item and unsuccessfully requesting her money
back, Fraser said she contacted police in the seller's hometown of Wilton,
Conn. "Ultimately the problem was solved by a resourceful police detective,
and my money was finally returned," she said.
A San Ramon man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that
he defrauded eBay users out of more than $93,000 in auctions for sports
tickets and Rolex watches.
Gilbert Vartanian, 33, pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District
Court in Sacramento on an indictment returned by a federal grand jury
in the capital . He was arrested Friday in Fremont on 12 counts of
mail fraud.
Vartanian offered tickets to events for the New York Knickerbockers,
Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers,
Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Jets and for boxing and auto racing
events, authorities said.
He told customers to mail checks and money orders to his private mailbox
but never delivered the merchandise that he offered, federal prosecutors
said.
Vartanian victimized at least 10 people out of $93,324, the indictment said.
>>>> $93,000 and all you are charged with is mail fraud!!!
Our Warranty provided by FinestDeals:
We exchange/repair defective merchandise for the same
model under the following conditions :
* It is returned to us, at purchasers expense including
funds for return shipment.
* Item is accompanied by a letter explaining the defect.
* Item was professionally installed. (Installation
receipt may be required.)
* Item shows no sign of abuse.
* The purchaser has had the item "Bench Tested"
prior to installation, to discover any factory defect. (Bench Test receipt
may be required.)
* The return is in the original box with all packaging
material, manuals, warranty cards and everything else that came with it.
* Purchaser must email us to receive the Authorization
for Return and state the Invoice number, the make and model of the item
and the defect.
* Purchaser is responsible for shipping and proof
of delivery on all returns.
* Please allow 14 business days for your return to
be processed.
* In the event of a model year change we reserve the
right to substitute a comparable model
* Once the return is processed we will replace/repair
it and ship it back to the Purchaser at their expense. Sorry, No Refunds
for any reason.
>>>bench tested prior to install??? Bench test receipt?? Who tests their stuff before installing??? No-One not even a stereo shop..
Domain name: FINESTDEALS.NET
Registrant Contact:
RegisterFly.com - Ref# 16923625
Whois Protection Service - ProtectFly.com
(16923625.fly@spamfly.com)
+1.8458183604
Fax: +1.8456984014
P.O. Box 969
Margaretville, NY 12455
US
>>> So you and no manufacturer can figure out who they are and where they are actually located.. Typical
Address 19046 Bruce B Downs Blvd #81 Tampa FL 33647
So the address does not match where the Ebay posts say
it is shipping from.. Here is a sattelite picture of the location Looks
like the side of the road.. Click to enlarge
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQgotopageZ1QQsassZnationalaudiocenterQQsorecordsperpageZ50QQsosortpropertyZ1
Nationalaudiocenter.com
Whois Search
Domain name: NATIONALAUDIOCENTER.COM
Registrant Contact:
national audio center
National Audio Center Inc. (sales@nationalaudiocenter.com)
1866-865-0875
Fax:
3337 S Bristol #211
Santa Ana, CA 92704
US
Administrative Contact:
national audio center
Shabnam Kaeni (ebay@sileighty.net)
877-991-1953
Fax: none
11 Cavaillon
Newport Coast, CA 92657
US
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQgotopageZ1QQsassZsoundgoodiesQQsorecordsperpageZ50QQsosortpropertyZ1
Soundgoodies.com
Whois Look up
Sound Goodies
1700 S. Grand Ave.
Santa Ana, CA 92705
US
Domain name: SOUNDGOODIES.COM
Administrative Contact:
Nguyen, Dung
soundgoodies@yahoo.com
1700 S. Grand
Ave.
Santa Ana,
CA 92705
US
866-865-0875
Customer Testimonial
| Both the same seller. i
bought a infinity kappa perfect 6.1, and when i got it, there were serial #'s literally SCRAPED off, i called them, they said we do not know what you are talking about. They said full manufacturers warranty to us on the phone, but no, no manufacturers warranty. this guy was about 15-16 years
old tops, said he was the owner, as i i know they are the same people
as my freind thought to buy from national let me know, please post for
all public to see and research into this let me know as we are taking them to small claims court, helpppppp, helppppppppp! johnny. "Johnny Carbone" <e4603m3@hotmail.com> |
Mobile Power
PO Box 772763
Houston, Tx 77215
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=64572&item=5729367871&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
Music Box
PO Box 772763
Houston , TX 77215
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=64572&item=5727840437&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
>>> 3 Seperate Auctions--- Same Product--- 3 Seperate names all to the same P.O. Box.. Nice..
Ripped some guy off on some Sony gear.. Guy called me thinking I was this dealer..
| I was glancing at the companies that you list
as fraudelent or shady, and the first thing that came into my mind was
"I wonder if Ikesound is on here." Haha sure enough it was. I had bought
a capacitor from that seller through Ebay some time back. I thought I needed
a 5 farad cap because my subs weren't working and I thought the 1 farad
wasn't cutting it. Turned out my fuse was blown. To this day I still have
the 5 farad capacitor because everytime I tried to contact them to receive
a "Return Authorization Number" Anthony, the tech guy in charge of returns,
would always give me the run-around. I'd email him once sometimes twice
a day, but each time he'd respond by saying "Please include all emails between
us so I know what you're talking about." Even though I met all of the qualifications
for a return(as stated on their site) I still couldn't return it, despite
it never being used, tested, or even opened, and I contacted them well before
the 30-day return period. The closest answer I got from them was "Well,
you thought it was the cap before the fuse and we're not responsible for
your mistake." Guess I'll take that one as money lost and a lesson learned.
Keep continuing the good work of informing people about dishonest and illegeal
reps, otherwise they will learn the hardway as I did.
Also note that in their return policy they state
that items must be installed by professionals, when I told them that it
was installed by Best Buy, they had the audacity to tell me that Best Buy
isn't a professional installer?!?! Then what classifies as professionals?!?!
. The topper was when they told me that a capacitor "doesn't effect power
supply of any system it was not going to solve any problems." WHAT?!?! Of
course a cap effects power supply, it keeps your system from draining your
battery and ruining your alternator. That's why when you put a cap in,
your lights don't dim!!! They also said that refunds aren't issued on non-defective
items. But if you look closely, there policy also states that refunds aren't
issued on |
"We offer a one-year warranty on all products***. The warranty is provided
through Ikesound.com.
>>No indication of what the *** refers to..
"Note that in all circumstances, our warranty will be voided if: evidence of improper installation,evidence of water damage. evidence of physical abuse,If any item purchased from Ikesound was not installed by a professional. We reserve the right to ask for written proof of professional installation.,There is evidence of misuse including accidental or intentional abuse. This includes but may not be limited to driving an amplifier into clipping, or pushing a subwoofer at constant high volumes, "
>>Driving an amp to clipping??? Pushing a sub at constant high volumes?? Isn't that what amps and subs are for???
"Return Policy for all manufacturers:
Any return that does not have a return authorization number written
on the outside of the package will not be accepted. We only ship to the
address we have on file. Ikesound.com has the sole discretion as to
what is warrantied. Also Ikesound.com is not responsible for any shipping
charges.
For returns made 14 days from date of receipt, payment will be refunded
less shipping and handling if a refund is wanted. The item has to be
complete in order to receive a refund. If an item is found defective
within 14 days, the customer does not have to pay the $29 return fee to
receive the replacement unit.
($29 return fee???)
After 14 days from your receipt date, defective items may be repaired
or replaced at Ikesound's discretion (*** Except Alpine products,
which are only repaired***.) The customer pays $29 return fee, which
covers shipping, handling and insurance back to them.
Another Scam place created by E-bay.. The only place you can sell stolen products and use PayPal to accept any major credit cards
A story from my own business..
Had an italian customer order $625 worth of SoundStream products...
The Customer did not want to pay much for shipping so I had it sent US
Post Office surface freight which is 6-8 weeks shipping.. 5 weeks into the
shipping time the customer charges the PayPal payment back.. Paypal extracts
the monay from my PayPal account. In the mean time 2 days after this the
customer sends me an e-mail saying the products arrived and thanked me for
getting it to him.. I e-mail this to PayPal and also send a scan of the
shipping receipt from US Post Office.. PayPal basically did not care at
all.. Now they have sent the amount to collections.. PayPal is no better
than E-bay is and allows people to operate "businesses" or what they call
businesses without a resale number or a business license..
| Subject:
Rif: Chargeback Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 10:24:56 +0200 (ora solare Europa occidentale) From: "Luca Bertuccioli" <luca.bertuccioli@tin.it> To: <lightav@lightav.com> Hi, -------Messaggio originale------- Da: Jerry Edwards Hello Luca, As you can see by the scans I sent you from
the Post Office, the goods were sent on 8/17/04.. They will arrive
there and they will be arriving Jerry |
Is Ebay a Scam United Kingdom Forum
Information
Week Online News Paper
same article on another site
Network
Computing
>>It just keeps going and going and going.. ;-)
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