D'oh! I think I just got scammed out of a G&L

[mccartjm]

You hear about people getting scammed on ebay and you think to yourself: "man you have to be stupid to fall for those ebay scammers." I know that's what i use to think. But let me tell you about how i may have gotten scammed out of a G&l LB-100 or rather $375.

I'm a pretty cheap guy when it comes to buying basses. I have to be, i buy allot. So i look around on ebay all the time for typos. I got a $157 set of duncan active j bass pups for $39 a few weeks ago cause the guy never put the word "bass" in his title. I got a '75 fender precision for $750 last summer because some guy spelled bass as base. And i was trying to get a mint G&l LB-100 base for $350 last week, or so i thought.

The seller had 100% positive feedback. He had non stock photos. He had a legit serial number. I emailed him asking for more pics, and he sent them. I asked him about the truss rod and straightness of the neck, he gave satisfactory answers that someone who knew about basses would give. He answered questions through the "contact seller" link. He even gave little details that made it sound more truthful (like he had a case that it was being stored in and it didnt fit perfectly but he would use it for shipment). The price was good, but not too good to be true. Everything seemed just as good as any of the other 70 ebay transactions i've completed.

So i win the auction and pay instantly. The next day the seller emails me through ebay and says he will send me the tracking number later that day and requests that i verify my shipping address(phishing? what can they do with my home address, its in the phone book anyways right?). I actually did send him my shipping address, but i have a credit monitoring service and bank monitoring and alerts on my credit file through equifax (ever since someone tried to take out a loan in my name when i was in college) so Im not too worried about it. A few days later, Im already getting that bad feeling cause he never gave me the tracking # as promised. So i email ebay and tell them to take a look at the listing. They immediatly pull it from the completed listings archive, and the transaction dissapears from the "items won" list in "my ebay". Then they send me two alerts saying that there is a possibility that this may have been fradulent. I then contact paypal and setup a dispute 3 days ago. The seller has not responded. I emailed paypal and asked them if a scammer could hack an account and setup a new account to receive transfers. They emailed me back and all they said was "your payment of $375 did clear to an account". great.

If this guy isnt just a super lazy seller and he is a scammer, he was good. He knew the item he was selling. He hacked someones ebay and paypal accounts. He had the location of the item and the name on the paypal account linked to a real place and a real person(and all this info was simultaneously linked to the same person, location, and account name on other websites...i looked it up). And he added a new account to the hacked paypal account, got a transfer to it, presumably removed the account, and dissapeared into the ether. It sounds like allot of effort for $375. I am just being paranoid? Or does this definately sound like a scam to you?

[quickervicar]

You've done your part. Now it's up to the claims dept. Have you tried to contact the seller in the past day or two?

[mccartjm]

Originally Posted by quickervicar

You've done your part. Now it's up to the claims dept. Have you tried to contact the seller in the past day or two?

Yes i emailed him several times...no answers. And i opened the claim, which is a way of communicating through paypal. I also found his parents name in the whitepages. I asked for his number but they would not give it to me. I think im SOL. It's not the $375 that makes me mad (i should get at least $200 of it back). It's the fact that i wont be getting that g&l...

[ThunderLizard]

mccartjm-
glad you've got a sense of humor about it. But don't let up on this worm. Give him $375 worth of grief & hassle.

[mccartjm]

Originally Posted by ThunderLizard

mccartjm-
glad you've got a sense of humor about it. But don't let up on this worm. Give him $375 worth of grief & hassle.

Oh i will. Im just waiting to make sure it actually is a scam. It's an ambiguous situation at this point, although i does not look too good. The reason i am not giving this guy the business yet is because i think someone may have hacked into his paypal account, added a new account to get money from me, then they removed the account and disappeared. They left the original account owners name on the paypal account. So, the name that i got from paypal might just be some poor guy who's accounts got taken over. I cant find out yet though cause ebay erased all traces of the transaction and they wont tell me anything. I am definately not using paypal and ebay any more after this. I'm not going to say they are evil and all that, but if someone can hack into an ebay account AND its respective paypal AND post and auction AND get paid AND get away with it, they obviously have security issues that are very serious.

[Youngspanion]

Just out of curiosity, I know you said he had 100% positive feed back but how much stuff did he sell on Ebay?

[mccartjm]

Originally Posted by Youngspanion

Just out of curiosity, I know you said he had 100% positive feed back but how much stuff did he sell on Ebay?

He had 15 transactions. All were sales. This case has taken an interesting twist. Since ebay deleted all the traces of this transaction, i have been left on my own to hunt down contact info. I got the guys name that was on the account to which the payment cleared from paypal. So i looked it up and found 2 emails addresses, a "my yearbook" page and a myspace page. I contacted him through all 4 outlets. A few hours later, both email addresses, the myspace page, and the my yearbook page are all deleted or disowned or whatever. This POS knows i know who he is now and he's trying to run and hide. It definately does not appear to be a hijacked account anymore. Im gonna get that sucka....im gonna get him good.

BTW, if i get my money back i will still be interested in buying an LB-100, my old one needs a refret and i dont know if i want to pay $300 for that when i could buy a whole new one for $500 or less....so if anyone has one they dont want....

[Thor]

Now call the parents back and say that their address is
his last known address, you will be filing a complaint with
the local police dept. and asking the cops to contact
them about his whereabouts. Also threaten to file a
complaint with the US Attorney's office in that state about
interstate wire fraud, which is a Federal offense. If they refuse
the info, do it.

No reason not to give the little sh** both barrels.

The more I hear of these things, the less inclined I am to use eBay at all.

[jgroh]

Originally Posted by Thor

Now call the parents back and say that their address is
his last known address, you will be filing a complaint with
the local police dept. and asking the cops to contact
them about his whereabouts. Also threaten to file a
complaint with the US Attorney's office in that state about
interstate wire fraud, which is a Federal offense. If they refuse
the info, do it.

No reason not to give the little sh** both barrels.

The more I hear of these things, the less inclined I am to use eBay at all.

Thats what I would do too (right or not). Harassing his parents is a good way to turn up the heat.

[Youngspanion]

Is he a kid?

[mccartjm]

I like your guys' attitudes. Sometimes harrassment is a legit way to get your way. I've had to threaten other people on ebay with police action and it worked(although i dont like doing that sort of thing). He's a college kid (21 or 22), probably desperate for money. Then he saw that his bass sold for about half of what he expected to get and probably just decided not to ship it or issue a refund. I'll get him, but what i really want to get is that sweet g&l. Hopefully i can find a way to get the bass rather than the refund.

[quickervicar]

Keep after him. I hope you do end up with that bass but your money would be fine, too. Parents have a way of putting guilt/pressure on someone that other means just can't seem to do.

[bkbirge]

Find a yellow pages for his area, find a lawyer that will handle small claims and let the scammer have it. The lawyer will sue for 3x the damages + court/lawyer fees and since you have docs you will win. The lawyer will also track the guy down or hire someone to do it. The judge can order the kid's wages garnished until the debt is paid. It'll take a few months likely but you shouldn't be out any money and it's important to stop these scumbags everytime they try stuff like this, it just keeps getting worse. I had to do this once on someone that bought a car from me, paid with a check (dumb), drove off and cancelled the check. I won't accept checks anymore but I eventually got my money back.

[mimaz]

Originally Posted by quickervicar

Keep after him. I hope you do end up with that bass but your money would be fine, too. Parents have a way of putting guilt/pressure on someone that other means just can't seem to do.

Let's hope that he's got the right kind of parents.........not to be too cynical, but very often "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Hope you don't have to shake the tree too hard.

[CrashClint]

Originally Posted by jgroh

Thats what I would do too (right or not). Harassing his parents is a good way to turn up the heat.

Be careful about harrassing his parents, they are in their right to file harrassment charges and be extremely careful what you say over the phone because threats can become federal real quick.

Definitely turn it over to the police and get them involved.

[jgroh]

Originally Posted by CrashClint

Be careful about harrassing his parents, they are in their right to file harrassment charges and be extremely careful what you say over the phone because threats can become federal real quick.

Definitely turn it over to the police and get them involved.

Absolutely. I just meant call them, tell them you are turning it over to the police if he doesnt contact you and leave it at that. If they still dont respond...oh I dont know...ring their doorbell and run?

[quickervicar]

Maybe include a lit paper bag in the process?

[dustklose]

and we all know what gets put in those lit paper bags! lol

[CrashClint]

Hey MC

Any word on the bass yet?

[mrpackerguy]

Ebay really sucks nowadays. I'm REAL leary.