Friday, July 04, 2008

Couple sought in eBay ripoffs

WYOMING – Borough police Thursday filed several charges against the owners of the eBay Drop-Off Store for failing to return items given for sale and failing to return cash proceeds for items sold.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Benjamin Waltman, 27, and Kimberly Waltman, 25, both of Jenkins Township. Each faces charges of deceptive or fraudulent business practices, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy.

source: timesleader.com

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Owners of local eBay business face charges of fraud and theft

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.19.2008

The owners of a local eBay auction business are facing theft and fraud charges, suspected of selling their customers' merchandise and then refusing to pay out the proceeds, police said.

Tucson police arrested Thomas A. Collier, 36, and Wendy C. Wren, 35, owners of Arizona eBay Auctioneers, after serving a search warrant on the business Tuesday, said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a department spokesman.

The investigation started after several customers of the business notified police that they were unable to collect the proceeds from the sale of their merchandise or were unable to get the owners to return items.

source: Arizona Daily Star

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Victims turn vigilante in hunt for eBay conmen

The world of online auctions is becoming as notorious as the Wild West. Unscrupulous thieves con innocent buyers and the authorities seem powerless to intervene.

Fraudtracking.com, a campaigning website, estimates that British customers are losing £500,000 a day through fraudulent transactions on the various auction sites, but there were just 70 convictions for online auction fraud last year.

However, there’s a new posse in town, a group of UK cyber-vigilantes intent on running the internet auction cowboys out of town.

complete story at Times Online

Friday, May 16, 2008

Two Charged with Ebay Scam

Macon Police arrested two men they say ran an internet scam over eBay.

Sgt. Melanie Hofmann says on April 22, 23-year-old Dominique Cipella from Fort Rucker, Alabama filed a report with the Macon Police Department about an Ebay purchase that he paid for but never received. Cipella said he paid more than $2,000 for a 52-inch High-Definition television on the online auction site in February. Cipella told police he never received the television.

source : 13WMAZ

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Ebay scam exposed, $125,000 in stolen merchandise

MOBILE, Ala. -- Last week, investigators with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office learned of a scam perpetrated against individuals purchasing items listed on eBay. In less than 48 hours, Investigators with the White Collar Crimes Unit recovered $125,000 in stolen merchandise in the internet-related scam.

On April 28, 2008, a local antiques business owner informed investigators with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office that a one-of-a-kind antique item, recently stolen from the business, was listed for sale on eBay.

source: Fox10 News

Monday, April 28, 2008

Ebay Fraud Alert: Ebay Pulse Scam Exposed With Video and Transcript

Another huge kink in eBay’s armor has been revealed today. Several eBay members have managed to manipulate eBay by rigging the eBay Pulse page and making thousands of dollars per month for their effort.

Full story including video and account of events of this scam.
( http://www.gurucreation.com/2008/04/ebay-pulse-scam.html )

An eBay member has apparently created a piece of software that creates hundreds of thousands of fake eBay accounts. He is then able to use these accounts to create watchers for his and several other eBay members auctions.

This allows eBay users ’mysterygiant’, ’jjfjq’ and ’kekoa64’ to dominate the eBay Pulse page at will. The eBay Pulse page is the single highest traffic webpage on eBay.

source: WebWire

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Delhi man jailed over Internet scam

DELHI -- A man who was allegedly running an Internet scam using eBay from his parents' home is now behind bars.

Merced County sheriff's investigators arrested 20-year-old Benjamin Haag after eight alleged victims reported that they ordered goods from Haag -- but never received the items they paid for.

Haag faces felony grand theft and fraud charges.

John Mussotto, a sheriff's computer and forensics expert, said the department became aware of the case after the victims contacted the federal government's Internet Crime Complaint Center with stories of how they had allegedly bought items Haag was selling on eBay, a shopping and auction Web site.

source: Merced Sun-Star

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Alabaster man facing new scam charges over chainsaws on eBay

A 45-year-old Alabaster man, already accused of scamming people out of thousands of dollars, today was charged in connection with a scheme to take money from people using eBay.

David "Chopper" Strevel, once a baseball/softball youth league president, was charged with two counts of theft of property, Alabaster police say. It marks the third time police arrested Strevel in six months.

This time Strevel is accused of defrauding 114 people out of $40,000 by putting chainsaws up for sell on eBay, collecting money and never delivering chainsaws to people.

source: Birmingham News

Monday, April 14, 2008

Ebay fraudster dupes hundreds

Dinah Greek

An Ebay fraudster who managed to evade a police investigation last year has struck again.

The Ebay seller offered goods for sale on the online auction site and received payments by postal order but never sent the goods to buyers.

Despite police involvement he was able to continue his scam, conning nearly 200 more people last month. However the number may be higher and police believe that his auctions have raked in more than £170,000 since last September.

source; Personal Computer World

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Brisbane man jailed over 'gold' eBay scam

A Brisbane man who ripped off three people using internet auction site eBay has been sentenced to jail.

Rory James Kleidon pleaded guilty in the District Court this morning to a single fraud charge after holding a dud auction for a gold nugget on the site in June last year>

The court heard the 24 year-old mechanic's assistant used his girlfriend's account to post an ad for the precious metal, which attracted a $4025 bid on June 13.

The money was paid into Kleidon's girlfriend's bank account but he failed to hand over the nugget as promised.

source: Brisbane Times

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Linden woman being investigated in Internet handbag scam

FRONT ROYAL — The Warren County Sheriff's Office is investigating a Linden woman in connection with an Internet scam involving designer handbags.

According to an affidavit for a search warrant on file in Circuit Court completed by investigator R.A. Fogle, Kristine Nelson, of 4225 Blue Mountain Road, is under investigation.

Fogle says in the affidavit that the Sheriff's Office received complaints in early March from Michigan resident Methinee Yu, and Daewon Jeon, of Canada, about purchasing handbags from Nelson on eBay, the Internet auction site.

Both Yu, a female, and Jeon, a male, provided documentation of payments to Nelson through an e-mail address of VAGliders, Fogle says. Yu's documentation indicates that nothing was sent to her, Fogle says, adding that Jeon received a handbag, but sent it back to Nelson "as it was not authentic as stated on e-Bay."

source: nvdaily.com

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

State police probe global con game

KATHRYN MARCHOCKI

Concord – A Concord couple were small-time operators in a global cyberscam that swindled people who sell items on eBay, Craigslist and other popular online marketplaces, state police alleged yesterday.

Investigators now ask anyone who lost money in the alleged con game to come forward, saying they may have computer evidence and other documentation police need to track higher-ups in the West African-based scheme.

"If there are victims who already deposited checks and lost money, then we would like to speak to them," State Police Detective John C. Marasco said.

source and complete article: Union Leader

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Two homes raided in Ebay fraud crackdown (UK)

POLICE swooped on addresses in Selby district in dawn raids to arrest suspected internet fraudsters.

Two people were arrested in connection with alleged scams involving internet marketplace Ebay.

The operation was led by the North Yorkshire Police's financial investigation unit, based at the force's Northallerton headquarters. The unit was supported by safer neighbourhoods officers from Selby.
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Police said a 30-strong operation was mounted to target houses in Selby and Thorpe Willoughby.

source: The Press

Saturday, March 22, 2008

SIIA Files Lawsuits Against 8 Ebay Sellers

Raju Shanbhag

All is not going well for online seller eBay (News - Alert). The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has filed eight new lawsuits against eBay-based software sellers, alleging that they are selling counterfeit products. This takes the total number of lawsuits filed against the eBay sellers by SIIA to 17 as the organization has already filed 9 cases before.

In fact SIIA has filed more than 25 cases against eBay sellers in the last two years. The company also claims to have reached several settlements in the process. According to SIIA, the organization has approached eBay and offered ideas to stop the sale of counterfeit software programs. But the organization claims that eBay rejected all these ideas.

source: TMCnet

Friday, March 21, 2008

Two charged with Internet fraud counts

Mar 20, 2008 (The Register-Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) A Fayette County woman and her mother have been charged with numerous crimes after authorities said they made thousands of dollars in fraudulent Internet purchases.

Robin Sue Layton, 20, of Ansted, was charged with 20 counts of computer fraud, two counts of identity theft and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony, Sheriff Bill Laird said. Her mother, Deborah Elaine Layton, 47, also of Ansted, was charged with seven counts of computer fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony.

Both women were taken into custody Wednesday, Laird said. Robin Layton was released on $45,000 bond and Deborah Layton on $15,000 bond.

source: TradingMarkets.com

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Seven charged in 'eBay art scam'

Seven people have been charged in connection with a multi-million dollar international art forgery operation.

Four Americans, two Spaniards and an Italian are accused of producing and selling thousands of counterfeit prints around the world.

The fakes of artworks by artists such as Picasso, Chagall, Miro and Dali sold for up to $50,000 (£25,000) each.

source: BBC News

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

PayPal launches multi-pronged attack on e-crime

"With e-crime, there's no silver bullet," says Garreth Griffith, head of UK risk management at online payment processor PayPal. "A specific initiative can have a huge impact, but it also has to be married with other initiatives along a spectrum. You can't just focus on educating users or working with law enforcement - you've got to go for a multi-pronged approach as you're constantly fighting a war against the fraud guys."

The biggest problem for financial services organisations in this context is the unauthorised use of customers' financial details and the two main threats are phishing e-mails and the theft of credit or debit cards - although the latter problem has eased since the arrival of chip and pin.

read complete article: ComputerWeekly.com

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Police warn of new online scam

Detectives in the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s (RCIPS) Financial Crimes Unit (FCU) are warning residents to be on their guard against a new form of scam in the Cayman Islands.

Officers have been alerted to an advertisement placed in local press asking for ‘Part Time Assistants’ with no further job description and giving a yahoo email address for interested persons to contact. Once the person gives the scammers their details, counterfeit travellers cheques are sent to them in the Cayman Islands. The jobseekers are then asked to cash the cheques, keeping ten percent for themselves and sending the remaining 90 percent to Nigeria, Africa by money transfer.

source: Cayman Net News

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Family's fury as DVD pirate dad jailed (UK)

A dad-of-two who ran a bogus DVD racket from his South Tyneside home is today behind bars.
Simon Keenan bought counterfeit films from the Far East and flogged them for profit on eBay and his own website.

At peak times, such as Christmas, house husband Keenan, of Connaught Terrace, Jarrow, could make £350 a day shifting up to 70 films, making a £5 profit on each.

A Newcastle Crown Court judge yesterday jailed the 36-year-old for six months which Trading Standards and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) hoped would send a message out to other DVD criminals.

source: The Shields Gazette

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

eBay refunds victims of internet scam

Britt Smith

Two Geelong women who lost hundreds of dollars in an alleged internet holiday scam are among thousands of victims to be compensated.

Online auction house eBay was yesterday setting up a special fund for people who bought fake accommodation packages from Melbourne-based booking agent, Robert Kobis.
Highton's Melissa Fisher lost $280 and Benita Clark of Maud more than $100 in the alleged scam, dashing their plans of dream holidays to Queensland.

They said they had checked Mr Kobis' credentials and he appeared legitimate, but realised they had been scammed when he "disappeared'' and left them out of pocket.

source: Geelong Advertiser

Saturday, March 08, 2008

eBay travel victims unite (AU)

Kylie Reghenzani

BRISBANE tourist Don Bailey has vowed to join other victims of a holiday rip-off and launch legal action against an online travel agent who ruined their dream holidays and left them thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Online auction site eBay has suspended Beach Australia's Robert Kobis, who also operates Cyber Blue Media, from trading on the site after it received hundreds of complaints from unhappy customers.

Mr Bailey and his wife Maxine arrived in Cairns on Tuesday only to find their five night booking at a Port Douglas hotel was part of the nationwide scam.

The couple have lost at least $1700

article: Cairns.com.au

Friday, March 07, 2008

Fraudster in court for net auction sales scam (UK)

THE dangers of online shopping were highlighted when a man was yesterday convicted of using eBay to cheat customers.

Wayne O'Boyle took £5,000 from victims by advertising electrical goods he did not have on the internet auction site. Judge John Walford, at Teesside Crown Court, said: "It strikes at the heart of the internet auction system.

"What he did is too easy for anyone with half a brain and a degree of cunning."

The 27-year-old, from Marton Road, Middlesbrough, used bogus names, email addresses and telephone numbers so customers could not trace him.

Northern Echo

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Quincy man sentenced to five years for stealing from two Internet buyers

By RODNEY HART

A Quincy man pleaded guilty Monday to theft and was sentenced to five years in prison for an eBay scam involving a non-existent Mickey Mantle baseball card.

Jeremy Markell, 29, pleaded guilty to theft over $10,000 and was sentenced by Judge William Mays. Markell also was ordered to pay $29,804 in restitution.

First Assistant State's Attorney Gary Farha said Markell put a photocopy of a 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card on eBay. Two people, one from Pennsylvania and one from Canada, bid on the item and sent Markell checks.

The victims were sent empty envelopes, authorities said.

source: Quincy Herald Whig

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

How to Avoid Falling Into the Phishing Hole

Tom Spring, PC World

You never can defend yourself too much while online.

A PC World reader alerted me to a flaw on eBay's Web site that enabled a scam designed to trick people into handing over their personal information. eBay promptly patched the flaw last week, but experts I spoke with are wondering how long the fix will hold.

The flaw allowed a scammer to use an increasingly common type of attack called cross-site scripting, or XSS, to redirect people from an eBay listing to a spoofed eBay site. Though eBay may have plugged the hole for now, experts say, similar problems have surfaced in the past on eBay and other sites, and it's a safe bet they will again.

article in PCWorld

Friday, February 29, 2008

Ft. Oglethorpe Man Sentenced For eBay Fraud

Kary Dean Head, 50, of Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Harold L. Murphy on a wire fraud charge arising from a scheme to defraud bidders on eBay, the Internet auction service, of over $150,000.

“This defendant attempted to use the anonymity of the Internet to steal more than $150,000 from unsuspecting victims,” said United States Attorney David E. Nahmias. “Members of the public should be able to buy merchandise over the Internet without worry that their money will be stolen by those like Mr. Head who use the Internet to commit fraud.

source: NewsChannel9

eBay Laser Pointer Scam Exposed

2008-02-29 08:53:45 - Like any other market place, eBay has its share of both good and bad sellers, offering bargains and scams. One scam carried out by a small number of eBay sellers that is becoming increasingly common is high powered green laser pointers.

The scam itself is based on the type of light given out by the laser pointer, the way power is measured, changes made to the laser pointer and ignorant and/or dishonest sellers.

These lasers are advertised as green lasers and should give out green light and only green light. That how ever is not the case. Virtually all supposedly
high power green laser pointers on ebay emit a combination of green light with a wave length 532nm light and infrared light with wavelengths of 808nm and 1064nm light.

complete article by Frank Smith at: PR-inside.com

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Buyer Beware (Golfworld)

By E. Michael Johnson

Counterfeit equipment is more available and increasingly harder to detect. What you need to know to avoid getting burned by this $240 million international scam

Jay Weibel was browsing eBay, searching for an Odyssey Marxman putter. Finding one for $118 -- an attractive price, but not so cheap it aroused suspicion -- the 4-handicapper from East Brady, Pa., made a bid and eventually won the auction. When the putter arrived, Weibel noticed that while it looked identical to other Marxman putters he had tried, the insert felt decidedly firmer. After two days comparing the putter with photos of other Marxman putters, he discovered it is not always "better when you win." He had bought a counterfeit.

read complete article at GolfWorld

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Artist blasts eBay scam to sell town centre mural

by Hywel Trewyn

A CON artist is using eBay to sell a huge 56ft mural painted on the side of a town centre wall – with the wall included.

The mural called Helter Skelter was painted by artist Ed Povey in Caernarfon to celebrate the National Eisteddfod coming to the town in 1979 and depicts well-known landmarks and characters.

Mr Povey, who has painted 25 murals around North Wales, said last night he was “astounded and outraged” that somebody was using eBay to try and sell the actual mural itself.

The mystery seller, called Tanzrus, who only joined eBay in February and who does not appear to have sold anything else, has listed the mural for a starting bid of 99 US cents – but claims it’s worth around “2.5 million”.

Daily Post

Sunday, February 24, 2008

$3 Million Bid for Record Collection Apparent Fraud

The winning bid from Ireland of $3,002,150 for a massive record collection offered by Paul Mawhinney, of Ross Township, PA was apparently a fraudulent bid.

J. Paul Henderson, an agent for the sale, said he was notified by an eBay executive Friday night that the bid was not legitimate and that the bidder's account had been suspended.The Irish gentleman whose screen name "jopsoup" appeared as the winning bid said he was unaware of the bid until after it had been entered and claimed that he had been a victim of identity theft.

Mr. Mawhinney indicates that he intends to re-list the collection and run the auction in a more semi-private fashion with screened bidders.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Police: Man Stole, Sold $42K In Legos Star Wars Items On Ebay

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Anthony Ricca called the Star Wars Legos items he sold on EBay "Heroes of the Galaxy." West Palm Beach authorities call his actions a $42,000 theft scheme.

The 37-year-old Ricca is charged with grand theft and fraud after allegedly stealing the Legos Star Wars toys from several Target stores in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

source - wpbf.com

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Former archivist charged with selling museum items on eBay

NORFOLK -- The former archivist for Mariners’ Museum in Newport News and his wife allegedly sold items taken from the museum and sold them on eBay.

Lester F. Weber, 46, and Lori E. Childs, 49, were in U.S. District Tuessday, accused of selling more than 1,400 items, including documents from a Titanic survivor, for more than $162,000.

source: WVEC.com

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Keeping clear of eBay fraud

Mahesh Sharma

EVEN as the internet opens up new venues for retail activity, its potential pitfalls are still leading buyers and sellers, large and small, to treat it with caution.

But with a bit of prudence, caution, and plain common sense, online trading advocates say the risk is not as great as it may sometimes appear. Anecdotally, it seems a lot of people have been reluctant to buy and sell using sites such as the online auctioneer eBay. After some recent incidents, it's easy to see why this is the case. Northern Territory police, for example, were recently reported to be on the hunt for a man who scammed buyers of almost $5000.

In that case the suspect, Brent Mack, is alleged to have conned that amount from five people by taking payment for items he had advertised on eBay but allegedly did not own.

continue article on Australian IT

Thursday, February 14, 2008

SIIA sues eBay-based software sellers

Grant Gross

San Francisco - Online auction giant eBay has been slow to respond to concerns about pirated software being sold there, prompting the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) to file nine lawsuits against eBay-based software sellers, an SIIA official said.

The SIIA believes it is necessary to file the lawsuits because eBay has been largely uncooperative in cracking down on software piracy, said Keith Kupferschmid, senior vice president of the trade group's antipiracy division.

Yahoo News

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

iPods as Bait in Ebay Pyramid Scams

The iPod is popular bait for one of the latest and greatest Ebay scams. Do a search for “iPod” and you will pull up a few thousand listings. Many look good but turn out to be inducements to join pyramid style matrix schemes.

Ebay these days to be swamped with such (illegal) schemes. Most appear on the outset to be legitimate buyers clubs. For many it is only on closer observation it becomes obvious that they are nothing more than classic pyramid or :Ponzi” style schemes.

In most cases, buyers respond to a great price on an iPod or other (usually electronic and in demand) gizmo. The buyer is told not to bid on the item, but is instead directed to a third party website which will offer the items as free gifts when products like CDs or eBooks are purchased.

Catch is that buyers only get their free iPod or whatever after more people have signed up. In the tradition of the classic Ponzi scheme, names get moved up the list as new people sign on. Eventually (at least in theory), the buyer gets their freebie.

To speed things up, buyers are encouraged to recruit new members, and Ebay is where the victims go to recruit new members.

EBay spokesman Hani Durzy states that he is unaware of the scams.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Ebay Seller Invites You to Steal His Laptop

An outstanding tongue in cheek auction protest which was posted on Ebay.co.uk . The auction is for a (real) SONY VAIO VGN-NR21J/S LAPTOP and contains photos and relevant info. The seller then adds his comments on how "different ways you can steal this laptop from me" .... see below

DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN STEAL THIS LAPTOP OFF ME:

PAYPAL: Paypal is currently ebays preferred method of stealing high value electrical items off sellers. There are a number of various ways you can use to steal this laptop using paypal.

1: A Fake “Item Not Received” (I.N.R) Claim – All you simply have to do here is purchase my item using an unverified paypal account. Then when you receive the laptop, simply claim that you didn’t receive it at your registered (credit card) and paypal will give you all your money back !

2: A Fake “Item Significantly Not As Described” (S.N.A.D) This is a great way to steal items off sellers. Simply start a dispute after you get the laptop making up some lie about the item being damaged etc – You could use Photoshop to make up fake pictures of damage. Paypal will ask you to send the item back to me, but don’t bother – they never enforce that on buyers and after a short wait you will get all your money back and you will still have the laptop.

3: A fake “Unauthorised Use” Claim – This is a super way of stealing items on ebay and is widely used. Simply claim that someone hijacked your account (paypal & ebay) and that you didn’t order the laptop. Then in conjunction with a fake I.N.R claim you can simply steal the laptop and of course, get your money back.

4: A Stolen Credit card – Of course, ebay make no real attempt to vet any of its buyers, so hey, just register a new ebay account using fake ID information and link it to a paypal account set up with a stolen credit card – and hey presto – A free laptop.

W ESTERN UNIO N

Although officially banned on ebay, fake western union payments are the preferred way for Nigerian Scammers to steal high value electrical items. Simply email me (using pigeon English) telling me that you would like to buy this item using Western Union – Tell me that you would be happy to pay over the odds for the laptop and that it is a present for your mother in law. Then send me a fake western union payment notification and I send you the laptop – Perfect. This method of stealing items off sellers is very widely used on ebay and of course, as ebay do not properly verify buyers its easy to do. Make sure you use Pigeon English as I am really really stupid and it’s bound to fool me.

MUGGING

If you are a traditionalist like me you may prefer a good old mugging. Simply offer to meet me on some dodgy housing estate somewhere and have a load of you mates hiding behind a hedge with a few iron bars. Again, offer to pay me over the odds as there is nothing better than using a sellers greed to bait them into a scam. I would be grateful if you could avoid killing me as this will cause bad publicity for ebay which would be terrible.

GENUINE BUYERS

In the unlikely event that you are actually a genuine buyer then you really should be shopping in a real shop and not this scammers paradise. However this laptop does really exist and is really for sale. You can email me or skype me with suggestions on how we may actually transact this item to both our satisfaction – with both our safety in mind. Don’t even think of buying it using paypal. I’ve only listed it as accepted because ebay run a protection racket that means I have to accept it. If you do pay by paypal I will simply refund your payment and give you a nice new shiny NEG.

FEEDBACK BLACKMAIL

Of course you will no doubt be aware that from May onwards you will be able to blackmail sellers into giving you free P&P / discounts etc. You will be able to give them neg feedback and they will not be able to give you any.. I regret to advise you that because this rule does not come in until May this option of scamming me is not open to you yet.

AUCTION WRECKING

I would grateful if some sad failed traffic warden could report this auction for two reasons

1: Ebay will see this listing and will hopefully close my account, saving me a 180 days wait to do it myself.

2: You will save me listing fees, making this a free advert.

Happy Bidding!


The actual auction listing (if it has not been pulled by Ebay) can be found at:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-VAIO-VGN-NR21J-S-LAPTOP-BNIB_W0QQitemZ140205210628QQihZ004QQcategoryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sunday, February 10, 2008

EBay to Buy Back Stolen Historical Items

MICHAEL GORMLEY

ALBANY, N.Y. - Documents dating from the Civil War and others to and from Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt are among hundreds of stolen documents sold online that eBay is agreeing to buy back and return to New York's archives, a state official said Saturday.

The online auction giant has no liability in the sale of the stolen artifacts, but agreed voluntarily to offer buyers the amount that they paid, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because not all details of the investigation have been announced.

Daily News Online

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Penn Busts eBayer Without Auctioneer License

Jason Lee Miller


Some Pennsylvania bureaucrats have lost their minds, probably somewhere in the stack of papers their shuffling, after noticing how much money the state was losing by not enforcing an arcane law established long before anybody ever heard of eBay.

A Pennsylvania woman, eBay seller, and mother to an infant with a brain tumor is the government's target. That was sort of the whole point of finding an at-home form of income, which eBay provided for her. But the pencil-pushers, like the claims adjusters, aren't there to feel for anyone, they're there to make sure their reports look good to their superiors.

WebProNews

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Seven caught in eBay scam



By Toriano L. Porter | toriano.porter@examiner.net


An Independence woman was among seven people indicted in an alleged eBay scheme that netted more than $1.2 million from the sale of stolen goods

Stacie M. Emmerich, 33, of Independence, was among six other associates of John Charles Chass, 40, of Kansas City charged by the federal attorney in a scheme to steal property from area retailers and sell the items on the online auction site.

Chass, the alleged ringleader and creator of the Stairway-to-the-Stars Web store on eBay, Emmerich and Joshua L. Zimmerman, 22, of Kansas City, Barbara J. Sharp, 52, and Michael Dale Ivester Jr., 27, both of Gladstone, and Daniel G. Moody, 30, from Gower, Mo., appeared in court Monday to hear the charges.

The Examiner

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

12 Arrested In Alleged Stolen Property Scam

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The FBI said 12 people were arrested Monday in connection with a multimillion-dollar property scam in the Northland.

Agents said three years of investigation culminated in the FBI raid of a home in the 6300 block of North Bedford Avenue.

The FBI said investigators found millions of dollars in stolen merchandise, including electronics, tools and vacuum cleaners. The merchandise was being sold on eBay.

Kansas City News

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Cyber-savvy town gets rich on eBay frauds

Nicola Smith, Dragasani, Romania

HUNDREDS of people in the poor Romanian town of Dragasani have grown rich by conning eBay online auction customers with deals that seem too good to be true - and often are.

The scammers have even put the new town hall up for sale on eBay, the mayor admitted last week. “I mean, who would want it?” he asked.

Despite growing concern about online frauds, the European Union has poured £150,000 into computer training courses in Dragasani over the past three years in “special recognition” of its IT skills.

complete article at Times Online (UK)

Friday, February 01, 2008

More eBay Cautionary Tales

James A. Martin

Often, when the words "eBay fraud" are spoken, they're accompanied by an accusatory finger pointing to the seller. But as I described in "Selling Your Laptop on eBay," buyers are quite capable of trying to pull a fast one, too. (My column detailed two different fraudulent attempts to purchase my Sony Vaio laptop on eBay.)

Since that column appeared, I've heard from several laptop sellers who say they've been victimized by fraudulent buyers on eBay.

This week I've included excerpts from e-mail I received from two such sellers. Next week I'll share tips I've gathered from sellers (and from my own experience) for safely selling your laptop on eBay.

PC World - Yahoo News

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Truemark Service Available for PayPal Customers

According Gartner, phishing attacks robbed 3.6 million people of $3.2 billion in 2007. Truemark reduces the risk of e-mail phishing by confirming the source of the e-mail sender. Consumers will see the Truemark icon in their inbox next to messages from senders that have been verified as legitimate.

Iconix, a provider of visual e-mail identification solutions, announced that its Iconix Truemark service is officially available to millions of PayPal account holders.

By placing an icon next to legitimate e-mail messages, the Iconix Truemark service helps consumers visually identify legitimate e-mail messages and avoid dangerous scams known as phishing attacks.

CRM Daily

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Archivist: I stole papers to pay bills

By CLARE TRAPASSO, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - A state archivist was charged Monday with stealing hundreds of artifacts — documents representing "the heritage of all Americans," according to the history buff who found some of them on eBay — to pay his household bills.
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Daniel Lorello, 54, is accused of taking the rare items from the New York State Library, including Davy Crockett Almanacs, Currier and Ives lithographs and the 1865 railroad timetable for Abraham Lincoln's funeral train. Authorities believe he hawked them for tens of thousands of dollars, using much of that to pay off his daughter's credit card debt.

source article

Monday, January 28, 2008

PayPal Buys Fraud Sciences

EBay's online payments division, PayPal, will pay US$169 million for an Israeli security company specializing in detecting online fraud, the companies said Monday. The deal should close within 30 days.

Fraud Sciences, a private company, has developed technology designed to differentiate between real and fraudulent transactions. That technology will be folded into PayPal's antifraud systems, which will be "significantly" improved this year, eBay said.

Fraud Sciences' Chief Operating Officer, Yossi Barak, and founders Shvat Shaked and Saar Wilf will move to PayPal's technology and fraud management teams.

PC World

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Cudahy police seek charges in eBay scam

A south side man with no prior criminal record told investigators he was feeding a gambling addiction when police say he defrauded 17 customers in 12 states of $8,000 during bogus computer sales over eBay.

A year-long investigation tracked as many as 42 possible victims, but Cudahy [Wisconsin] police plan to seek charges on the four most provable cases. Those victims sent money to the man's Cudahy home from Alaska, Florida, Kentucky and Ohio and were able to provide investigators strong evidence of the transactions, according to police Lt. David Aamodt, who led the investigation.

source article

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Three charged in alleged online fraud

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Three people were arrested Wednesday for allegedly conducting fraudulent online auto-parts sales out of their Manheim Township home.

State police charged Edwin Aloysius Sanders V, 24; his brother, Robert Andrew Sanders, 20; and Keshia Marie Otto, 21, all of 423 Amesbury Road, with theft by deception, running a corrupt organization, receiving stolen property and conspiracy to commit theft by deception, all felonies.

They were to be arraigned Wednesday evening.

Police said the three operated businesses known as foreignfindsonline.com and Z Corp. and sold items through online auction sites such as eBay.

Lancaster Online

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Scam Wars: Phishing Kits Exploit Customers

In a twist, security researchers have discovered a group of hackers who are exploiting a new category of victims-- aspiring Internet scammers.

A Moroccan group called "Mr. Brain" is offering free phishing kits on a Web site hosted in France, said Paul Mutton, Internet services developer at Netcraft, a security company in Bath, England.

The software packages make it easy to quickly set up a fraudulent Web site mimicking a known brand in order to trick people into divulging credit card details or bank account numbers. Templates for spam e-mail are also included, targeting brands such as Bank of America, eBay, PayPal and HSBC.

full story - Yahoo News

Sunday, January 20, 2008

eBay Australia con man uncovered

A DISABLED pensioner who was duped out of $11 has helped bring down an alleged internet scammer from the Northern Territory. NT Police believe 22-year-old Brent Mack conned almost $5000 out of buyers on the auction website eBay.

But the alleged scam artist might still be operating if not for the efforts of Ralph Johansson.

Mr Johansson, of Busselton in Western Australia, was so incensed at being ripped off in February 2005 he set up a website detailing the incident. He soon contacted several other eBay users who had suffered a similar fate.

Australian IT

Friday, January 18, 2008

Architect of CAD scam faces jail (UK)

By Colin Barker,
ZDNet UK


A Derby man is facing up to 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to illegally selling expensive CAD software at massively reduced prices.

The AceCad software, which has been used in high-profile projects like London's "Gherkin" building, sells for thousands of pounds; Michael Walton was selling illegal copies of the software on eBay for just 12 pounds (US$24.60).

He pleaded guilty on Friday to charges under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Trade Marks Act 1994, and will be sentenced on 1 February.

ZDNet Asia

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Ebay Scam: Hot Parts

By JANET KELLEY, Staff
Lancaster New Era


LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Harley-Davidson Inc. apparently keeps a very close eye on its motorcycle parts and other products.

So when assorted electrical items and accessories started appearing for sale on eBay, the online auction site, somebody at Harley-Davidson's headquarters in Milwaukee took notice.

Corporate security officers looked a little more closely at the for-sale items, following a trail that police said led them to a Lancaster County man — a man who allegedly made $78,000 from the stolen-part scam.


Lancasteronline.com>

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The terrible reach of online scams

By JON TEVLIN, Star Tribune

It's easier than ever for con artists to trick people into parting with their money. And it's harder than ever for authorities to stop them.

Pete Giancola was looking for a bass boat for his son, so he went looking on eBay, where he found one listed for a good price.

He began the purchase, but it didn't take long for "the bells and whistles to start going off" for Giancola, an insurance agent trained to look for fraud.

complete article

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Pre-Christmas Search for Wii Finds UK Consumers Caught in Scam

The BBC's consumer rights team Watchdog has detailed a scam exploiting up to 2,500 people among the many thousands who were part of the pre-Christmas scramble for scarce Wii supply in the UK.

Ozone Electronics, an Oldham-based company, appealed to desperate prospective Wii buyers by guaranteeing delivery of consoles by the middle of December, while taking payment upfront. As dissatisfied shoppers watched the month pass by without receiving their orders, those contacting the company by phone were greeted by a recorded message, and visitors to the company website found it disused except for a notice to the effect that orders would not be fulfilled.

source

Friday, January 11, 2008

Spammers in Full Force in 2007

According to the anti-spam website SpamStopsHere, spam accounted for 95% of all email traffic in the year 2007. Spammers grew increasingly bolder in 2007 with the development of new techniques and tactics that had not been seen in previous years.

Likewise, the number of email phishing scams also rose dramatically in 2007. The majority of phishing attacks centered on Paypal, Ebay, and the banking industry.

“2007 was a challenging year for the antispam industry and a phenomenal year for us,” said Ted Green, President of SpamStopsHere. “With spam reaching such critical levels, our customer base has grown substantially due to the simple fact that many of our competitors have difficulty keeping their antispam solutions up to date with the latest spam campaigns."

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Crime wave threat to net auction site (UK)

Auction website eBay claims it is committed to ensuring that "criminal activity is detected and stopped before any harm is done". Yet we've uncovered shocking evidence of eBay neglecting warnings and allowing users to be scammed.

Danny Smyth of Manchester discovered the eBay account he'd run for more than three years had been hijacked when he got an odd call about electrical testing kits he didn't even offer.

Fraudsters had hacked into his account - capitalising on the goodwill he'd built up over the years - and were offering the kits for £500 plus

It was a scam... and as far as we can tell nobody ever got the gear they'd paid for.

source article