Thursday, December 27, 2007

'Major eBay Scam' Suspect Arrested

The Macomb County Sheriff's Department has arrested one woman for allegedly selling stolen Chrysler navigational radios on eBay and said more suspects might be arrested in what authorities are calling a "major eBay scam."

Andrea Christina Hickman, 39, of Detroit was arrested and arraigned in the 41-B District Court of Clinton Township last week on charges of receiving and concealing stolen property and using a computer to commit a crime.

Macomb County Sheriff Mark A. Hackel announced in a news release that on Nov. 19, a detective arranged to buy a Chrysler navigational radio from the suspect at a prearranged location in Macomb County.

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Monday, December 24, 2007

Turn In A Software Pirate, Collect $500

A tech industry group is offering consumers up to $500 for reporting software counterfeiters who sell their goods on online auction sites like eBay.

Under the plan offered by the Software & Information Industry Association, anyone who unwittingly buys fake software from an online fraudster can receive up to $500 if they report the scam.

The SIIA said it hopes tipsters will use the reward money to buy legitimate, replacement software, but under the program rules they're free to use it any way they want.

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Saturday, December 22, 2007

Woman faces prison time in eBay scam

MADISON WI — A Reedsburg woman faces up to 60 years in prison after a federal grand jury indicted her for defrauding bidders on eBay.

Christina M. Phillips, 28, was charged Tuesday with three counts of devising a fraud scheme by a grand jury sitting in Madison, according to a statement by the office of U.S. Attorney Erik C. Petersen. If she is convicted, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count.

An investigation by Reedsburg police and FBI agents determined Phillips would offer items for sale on the Internet auction site, then send fake items to the highest bidder — or send nothing at all.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Ex-Neiman Marcus guard admits stolen store jewelry sold on eBay

A former Neiman Marcus security officer admitted to stealing from the Northpark store at least $200,000 worth of jewelry, which was then sold on eBay, the U.S. Attorney’s office said on Tuesday.

Manuel Alvarez, 37, of Mesquite, entered a guilty plea Tuesday to an information charging one count of transportation of stolen goods in interstate commerce and aiding and abetting, said U.S. Attorney Richard Roper’s office. Mr. Alvarez admitted to stealing at least 400 pieces of jewelry with a retail value between $200,000 and $400,000.

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Friday, December 07, 2007

Macon County Couple Arrested For Internet Fraud

Michael and Alice Sleeth of Oreana are facing charges of theft and Internet fraud. Authorities say they scammed more than $6000 out of on-line shoppers since 2002.

Authorities say the Sleeths posted carburetors and other car parts for sale on online auction sites like EBay and RacingJunk.com.

They say the couple would collect money from winning bidders, then send them the wrong auction item., or not send anything at all. Some items were sent in conditions other than what was described in the ad.

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Fraud an 'internet problem, not an eBay problem,' spokeswoman says

CALGARY (CBC) - EBay is not responsible for criminals who abuse its online auction service, said a company spokeswoman after CBC News reported on a Calgary man who lost $20,000 on an eBay transaction.

"That's an internet problem, not an eBay problem," Erin Sufrin said Monday about criminals engineering scams through the service.

Shaqir Duraj, a Calgary bakery owner, won an eBay auction for a car in October from what he thought was a reputable seller. But someone had actually taken over the seller's page in a scam known as hijacking.

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Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Calgary man loses $20K after eBay sale hijacked

RCMP investigator says eBay trying to hide scam problem

A Calgary man is one of 1,000 Canadians who have been scammed on eBay through a tactic known as hijacking, and the RCMP says the online auction service is not co-operating with their criminal investigations.

Shaqir Duraj, a Calgary bakery owner, won an eBay auction for a car in early October. He thought he was dealing with a reputable seller with a 98 per cent customer satisfaction rating.

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Saturday, December 01, 2007

Norman man charged in alleged eBay scam

Nine charges of violating the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act were filed Thursday against a Norman man, for offering silver bars and coins for sale over eBay, and collecting more than $10,000 from nine potential customers without providing the merchandise, according to state Attorney General Drew Edmondson.

Chelsey Christopher Davis, 33, was charged in Cleveland County District Court after he allegedly he items under the names "superiorgallery" and "benchmarkcollectables" to five consumers from California and one consumer each from Texas, Arizona, Georgia and New York.

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