SCAMPATROL

AngryJim · ***NEW*** Forum Member Joined: 20 Dec 2005, 7:46 Posts: 2

Ok here's the deal:

- Won an ebay auction, November 3rd for $774 shipped
- Seller Demanded I pay with money order, gave address and name to be put on money order.
- I negotiated with the buyer and we did Paypal instead.
- On Nov. 12th recieved notice from eBay buyer had been banned
- Spent about one month arguing with Paypal, finally got back $175, short $599.
- Got Contact info from eBay, different from the name/address seller originally gave for Money Order.
- Checked several 'Info verification' websites, all say that the seller's name and address match and are valid.
- I am located near chicago, seller's address for money order was in New York, eBay account was registered in Rhode Island.

What I think happened.
Guy in New York gets into someone's eBay and Paypal accounts, posts fake auctions, takes the money and runs.

What I need,
I need to know if this information is enough to catch the guy and get my money back. $599 is alot of money to a college student. What steps should I take at this point to try and catch the guy?

I've read through some threads on this site and I see that people are blunt, but helpful, which is good. I'd rather not get lured into false hopes of seeing my money again. Anything you can help me with would be much appreciated.

P.S. if there's any specific info that might be helpful, let me know and I'll post it. Thanks.

Tae · Posted: Tue 20 Dec 2005 11:07 Post subject:

Did you already go to the police? That's your best option at the moment.

Captain Igloo · Posted: Tue 20 Dec 2005 12:00 Post subject:

What you can do is check (very roughly) from where the emails were sent from.
Can you please post the full headers of one of the email the fraudsster sent you? (In gmail use More Options | Show Original, then copy/paste them here removing your own email address)

AngryJim · ***NEW*** Forum Member Joined: 20 Dec 2005, 7:46 Posts: 2

Thu, 3 Nov 2005 20:11:16 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.65.193.17 with SMTP id v17mr1644923qbp;
Thu, 03 Nov 2005 20:11:16 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <Michell0102@aol.com>
Received: from imo-m22.mail.aol.com (imo-m22.mx.aol.com [64.12.137.3])
by mx.gmail.com with ESMTP id o32si1521362qbe.2005.11.03.20.11.16;
Thu, 03 Nov 2005 20:11:16 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: pass (gmail.com: domain of Michell0102@aol.com designates 64.12.137.3 as permitted sender)
Received: from Michell0102@aol.com
by imo-m22.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v38_r6.3.) id o.199.4af09b59 (57341)
for <(MY EMAIL)@gmail.com>; Thu, 3 Nov 2005 23:11:14 -0500 (EST)
From: Michell0102@aol.com
Message-ID: <199.4af09b59.309c3962@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 23:11:14 EST
Subject: Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #7193592296
To: (MY EMAIL)@gmail.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="-----------------------------1131077474"
X-Mailer: 9.0 Security Edition for Windows sub 5201
X-Spam-Flag: NO

-------------------------------1131077474
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

please check my old account luisbelow..

-------------------------------1131077474
Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; charset=3DUS-ASCII">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2900.2769" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=3Drole_body style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY:=20=
Arial"=20
bottomMargin=3D7 leftMargin=3D7 topMargin=3D7 rightMargin=3D7><FONT id=3Drol=
e_document=20
face=3DArial color=3D#000000 size=3D2>
<DIV>please check my old account luisbelow..</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>

-------------------------------1131077474--

Michell0102@aol.com is the address the eBay account is registered to, and belongs to someone in Rhode Island according to eBay.

Captain Igloo · Posted: Tue 20 Dec 2005 14:47 Post subject:

Well, the headers show that the message was indeed sent via aol (without showing the ip of the real originator though), which means that the person who sent you this email has also hacked the Michell0102@aol.com account too or is him in fact.

I would propose the following way forward:

- report everything to the police
- contact aol to find out more about this account
- try to contact the original address that ebay gave you. If this persons account was in fact stolen, he might want to team up with you. I'd await info from aol first though.
- maybe the ebay forums hold some info on what to do best: http://hub.ebay.com/community , but i must admit that i never really read them.