1968 Help needed in Arizona: E bay seller has my $$$

[di81977]

I am not a serious Ebay user, but I have been told that you have much greater protection if you make your payments via paypal and that your paypal account should be linked to your credit card, not your bank account.

Again, I am not very experienced here, but understand that paypal works like an escrow account in certain situations and that money will not be released to the seller until the buyer acknowledges receipt.

Also, by having your account linked to your credit card, you have the protection and services similar to any other credit card transaction.

I also think there are no guarantees with ebay, no matter how careful your are.

I am really sorry to hear about this and hope it is resolved in a positive manner.

Good luck
David

 

[CJ]

Classics Guy; It appears to me that these two individuals involved in this conspiracy have committed mail fraud;

Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 63, Section 1343. Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.

Instead of waiting for The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) to get in touch with you, I would call the Phoenix field office of the FBI located at; 201 E. Indianola, Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 279-5511. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are covered by the FBI Field Office at San Juan. The address is; Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardon Ave., Suite 526, Hato Rey, PR 00918 (787) 754-6000.

Even though you contacted the Phoenix Police Dept.already you want the Phoenix PD report number for reference for other agencies that may get involved. I would also contact the District Attorneys Office there and explain the situation to them. They may have their own investigators look into this crime. Depending on your financial situation I would hire a private investigator, preferably a retired law enforcement officer and start to prepare my civil case against these crooks in case all else fails in the criminal arena.

Best of Luck

CJ

 

[classicsguy]

Thanks CJ and Neill for the support. I am so glad that I belong to this forum!! We just stick around and watch each others back.

I called the FBI offices here in Puerto Rico and they said that I did the correct thing...filed the IC3 and that's an agency that its related to the FBI. The problem is taht THEY DO NOT GUARANTEE that your case is being investigated and they dont give you the status of any case. Today 14 days later that I filed the IC3 nobody has called me from the FBI or any agency and that is what bothers me.

I heard that the FBI wont investigate if the amount of dollars of claim is less than 50 or 100k.

I completely agree with a member that said that being in puerto rico is no excuse. We are a COMMONWEALTH of the US. Our official coin is the US DOLLAR we have American banks and international Banks. When you get into Puerto Rico from an outside country the first thing you read is: WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES.

On Friday I will meet a lawyer friend of mine that knows about the case,he will steer me in right direction.
THE THING i WANT THE MOST IS THAT A POLICE OFFICER SHOWS UP AT THE DOOR OF SELLER TO ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS.

I am Very stressed out with this situation....The main problem Is that I dont know if anything is being done to stop creeps like this from fooling with peoples hard earned money.

I will give updates as soon as i got some news. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL THE CAL SPEC FORUM for the support,help and advice!!!

JON: A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO YOU!!!

 

[CJ]

ClassicsGuy; You may want to hire a private investigator, like I said one that is retired from law enforcement. For starters they do not have to abide by the law when talking to suspects. They will do a lot of the investigative foot work, build your case and turn it over to the local enforcement agency. At the very least I would give them a call.

Good Luck

CJ

 

[classicsguy]

ClassicsGuy; You may want to hire a private investigator, like I said one that is retired from law enforcement. For starters they do not have to abide by the law when talking to suspects. They will do a lot of the investigative foot work, build your case and turn it over to the local enforcement agency. At the very least I would give them a call.

Good Luck

CJ

Thanks CJ!! I will seriously consider it. Its a good idea. I guess it should be a local in Arizona.

 

[66hcs-conv]

Hi All,

Another thought would be to hire a collection agency to go after this guy.

Perhaps the Phoenix yellow pages would have some listed.

Dave

 

[classicsguy]

Update; Seller who had the e bay account in auction contacted me end of last week. She said that her husband used her account without knowing it and left her. She was involved in car accident and that she wants to make a payment plan with me. My lawyer is making a legal document after we set the terms of payment plan. I will keep posting updates and thanks all again for the support and advice!!

 

[PNewitt]

Update; Seller who had the e bay account in auction contacted me end of last week. She said that her husband used her account without knowing it and left her. She was involved in car accident and that she wants to make a payment plan with me. My lawyer is making a legal document after we set the terms of payment plan. I will keep posting updates and thanks all again for the support and advice!!

With only what I'm reading here, my gut feeling is that this payment thing stinks.

Using her EBAY account and then he leaves her, then she was in an accident sounds like a bad 1960's episode of Dragnet!

If they weren't up front with you to begin with, how could you expect to receive payments in a timely manner? How 'bout SHE gets a loan to pay you off in full, then she pays the loan off on her own?

The money you sent went somewhere, right? He ran off with it (supposedly)??

I think that the private eye, and/or a cop at the door still needs to be done.

I don't pretend to know all the details, but this sounds really fishy. If it were me, I wouldn't settle for payments.

Just my two bits.

Paul.

 

[classicsguy]

With only what I'm reading here, my gut feeling is that this payment thing stinks.

Using her EBAY account and then he leaves her, then she was in an accident sounds like a bad 1960's episode of Dragnet!

If they weren't up front with you to begin with, how could you expect to receive payments in a timely manner? How 'bout SHE gets a loan to pay you off in full, then she pays the loan off on her own?

The money you sent went somewhere, right? He ran off with it (supposedly)??

I think that the private eye, and/or a cop at the door still needs to be done.

I don't pretend to know all the details, but this sounds really fishy. If it were me, I wouldn't settle for payments.

Just my two bits.

Paul.

Paul: Its really fishy!! woman "says" she lost her home and work. Husband dissapeared,supposedly ran off with another woman. She says mother will lend her for partial payments. What I think it happened its maybe a law enforcement officer got to her and thats why she called me". As soon as i get something more concrete I'll keep posting..

When I won the auction: I only spoke to husband...2 days later after auction ended husband told me that wife got into a car accident and had to be operated.He took money from her account while she was in hospital. Thats HER story.....dont believe any of it.

 

[Midnight Special]

...Where is the car now? Did the other buyer take delivery yet? Can a lawyer or police request a "stop" order of sorts from a judge until this is solved?

I agree that you shouldn't accept any payment plan from her (payments will likely stop after the first 1 or 2 with more hardship stories...) Please hang in there and demand full payment or the car! Their problems are not yours!! Treat this as the scam it is CG!

 

[classicsguy]

...Where is the car now? Did the other buyer take delivery yet? Can a lawyer or police request a "stop" order of sorts from a judge until this is solved?

I agree that you shouldn't accept any payment plan from her (payments will likely stop after the first 1 or 2 with more hardship stories...) Please hang in there and demand full payment or the car! Their problems are not yours!! Treat this as the scam it is CG!

The car never belonged to seller...the car belonged to a "friend" of her husband and he took the pictures. Jon Hanna saw the car when his friend placed on Craigslist. The car is still in Phoenix I told seller to buy the car from the owner and send me title...she does not want to do it.

 

[HappyHour]

Hey Classic...just catching up on your reality web show (had to make some popcorn), wow talk about twist and turns. So wanted to echo feedback from the forum about the payment plan...that is a definite dead end.

Couple years back I had some kid nail by Defender truck taking a turn. They promised they would pay via installment plans and kept draggin their heels and I had to take them to court to kick them into action. But that didnt end it...

Even via a payment plan that was court sanctioned they were late with payments and caused me stress...they could have actually bailed on the payment and then all you can do is take to collections. Mine was small claims so Im assuming your will be a full blown lawsuit.

Get money upfront and have them sort out a payment plan with their bank behind the scenes. Sounds kinda crazy that she is willing to pay you back and it was her husband fault and she just got out of hospital?

At least there is some communication...can Paypal or eBay based on this info forward any information on the auction etc in your best interests?

Update:
Also with communication send certified mail, no email\ phone communication, have everythign documented with content of discussion times etc. Good luck!

 

[classicsguy]

I am trying to get at least 50% upfront to try to minimize the amount of time that will take to complete payments. You are right Happy hour at least there is some communication. E bay wont do anything more and the worst thing about E bay is that they do not let you know whats is being done to the seller. If he has been reported to law enforcement I really don't know....

 

[PNewitt]

This is a longshot, but I have a few ideas..

1. Contact your Representative (P.R.)

http://pierluisi.house.gov/index.html

Tell him your story, and try to get Washington to make stronger internet laws against internet fraud in P.R..

2. The Puerto Rico Dept. of Consumer Affairs:

http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/state/pr.html

Tell them your story, and see what they offer.

3. Local P.R. TV Station:

Find a local TV station that will run your story. You might find that one of those stations will do consumer fraud stories. Maybe a US cable news station will pick it up.

These are just a few ideas...

Good Luck!

Paul.

p.s. at one time there was a beautiful red GT/CS with a white vinyl top there in P.R. (around 1990)