Think I uncovered a new Ebay scam !! Watch out !
03-11-2004, 07:18 PM
#11
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Location: Grand Haven, MI USA
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Yeh, sorry about that, my computer number, boot and i are going back and forth trying to find it. Now I have it and the beast is unleashed. 75hp on it's way. They hid it from me and I had to have them find it internally. Boot...you have mail.
03-11-2004, 10:41 PM
#13
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Originally posted by SS930
Crack kills!
Crack kills!
Poor Mitch ,,,, He's a little stressed ...... He even had me confused for a minute there . He's got the shakes waiting for his new computer chip for his truck ,and Ford is making the wait longer ! Don't worry buddy , You'll feel better in a few days !
SO anyway ........... Back to ebay !
I am pissed ! I want that 33 willys coupe for 9 grand !!!
Maybe we should track down the real owner and ask him if he knows his car is for sale ! Were's a cop when you need one ? Run a michigan plate " willy33 "
03-12-2004, 08:04 AM
#16
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Well, at least they are catching some of these scammers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Man pleads no contest to Internet auction scam
Nonexistent items offered for sale on eBay, luring bidders to side deals
March 5, 2004
By STEVE HART
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A 22-year-old Santa Rosa man pleaded no contest Thursday to criminal charges stemming from the theft of thousands of dollars from bidders in an Internet auction scam.
Dusten Allen Sofge won't go to state prison under a plea agreement announced in Superior Court. But he could be sentenced to a year in county jail and he'll be required to repay $15,000 to victims.
Deputy District Attorney Mary Maxeiner said Sofge advertised exercise equipment and collectible figurines on eBay, a popular Internet auction site. He took money from bidders all over the country, she said.
But Sofge didn't have the merchandise and never delivered the items.
Santa Rosa police said Sofge admitted downloading pictures of the merchandise and placing them on his auction page. Once bidding was under way, he would stop the auction so there couldn't be an official high bidder.
Then he'd contact interested bidders by e-mail and propose a deal on the side, saying the high bid had fallen through. According to police, 10 bidders sent him checks totaling $15,000 between January and June last year. He used five different addresses in Santa Rosa to receive the money.
When bidders called about the undelivered merchandise, Sofge said he had a sick relative or a death in the family, so he hadn't been able to send the items.
Police said eBay tried to shut down Sofge's operation when the auction site started receiving complaints, but he launched new accounts.
The victims were in Connecticut, Washington, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, Arizona, California and Wisconsin, police said.
Santa Rosa police began an investigation of Sofge after they were contacted by police in Grand Island, Neb. Santa Rosa police obtained a search warrant for Sofge's apartment, where they seized computers and other evidence.
Sofge was arrested in June and charged with 30 counts of grand theft and computer fraud. Police also obtained a court order to freeze about $14,000 in Sofge's bank account that was linked to the fraud.
He has been free on $10,000 bail.
On Thursday, Sofge pleaded no contest to three felony counts of grand theft and computer fraud. The charges carry a potential prison sentence of four years and four months, but the plea agreement spares Sofge from prison unless he violates probation.
Sofge could have been sentenced to 12 years in prison if he'd been convicted on all 30 counts.
Maxeiner said Sofge has no prior record and the victims should get their money back.
Sofge's attorney, John LemMon, said his client was under financial pressure because he'd lost his job. Sofge is to be sentenced April 30.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Man pleads no contest to Internet auction scam
Nonexistent items offered for sale on eBay, luring bidders to side deals
March 5, 2004
By STEVE HART
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A 22-year-old Santa Rosa man pleaded no contest Thursday to criminal charges stemming from the theft of thousands of dollars from bidders in an Internet auction scam.
Dusten Allen Sofge won't go to state prison under a plea agreement announced in Superior Court. But he could be sentenced to a year in county jail and he'll be required to repay $15,000 to victims.
Deputy District Attorney Mary Maxeiner said Sofge advertised exercise equipment and collectible figurines on eBay, a popular Internet auction site. He took money from bidders all over the country, she said.
But Sofge didn't have the merchandise and never delivered the items.
Santa Rosa police said Sofge admitted downloading pictures of the merchandise and placing them on his auction page. Once bidding was under way, he would stop the auction so there couldn't be an official high bidder.
Then he'd contact interested bidders by e-mail and propose a deal on the side, saying the high bid had fallen through. According to police, 10 bidders sent him checks totaling $15,000 between January and June last year. He used five different addresses in Santa Rosa to receive the money.
When bidders called about the undelivered merchandise, Sofge said he had a sick relative or a death in the family, so he hadn't been able to send the items.
Police said eBay tried to shut down Sofge's operation when the auction site started receiving complaints, but he launched new accounts.
The victims were in Connecticut, Washington, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, Arizona, California and Wisconsin, police said.
Santa Rosa police began an investigation of Sofge after they were contacted by police in Grand Island, Neb. Santa Rosa police obtained a search warrant for Sofge's apartment, where they seized computers and other evidence.
Sofge was arrested in June and charged with 30 counts of grand theft and computer fraud. Police also obtained a court order to freeze about $14,000 in Sofge's bank account that was linked to the fraud.
He has been free on $10,000 bail.
On Thursday, Sofge pleaded no contest to three felony counts of grand theft and computer fraud. The charges carry a potential prison sentence of four years and four months, but the plea agreement spares Sofge from prison unless he violates probation.
Sofge could have been sentenced to 12 years in prison if he'd been convicted on all 30 counts.
Maxeiner said Sofge has no prior record and the victims should get their money back.
Sofge's attorney, John LemMon, said his client was under financial pressure because he'd lost his job. Sofge is to be sentenced April 30.
03-12-2004, 08:29 AM
#17
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Update your Miscrosoft Products ASAP. There are some vulnerablities in Windows Internet Explorer that need to be patched, or you could end up with these "Phish" worms on your system. If you have not done an update in recent months, it would be wise to do an update VERY soon:
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
PHISHING
Phishing is a term used to describe the action of assuming the identity of a legitimate organisation, or web site, using forged email and/or web pages and with a view to convince consumers to share their user names, passwords and personal financial information for the purpose of using it to commit fraud. This is also and often refered to as Identity Theft.
Phishing is a relatively new expression, having been found to have been used in a newsgroup as early as 1996 and in the media in 1997. Since then a plethora of phishing scams have crossed our desks here at MillerSmiles.co.uk and our Library of Scams has many examples with images of both the forged emails and web pages.
Many of the major web sites have been the subject of these phishing scams...
Some of these sites refer to these forgeries as spoof email, which is perhaps a more 'consumer friendly' term. These spoof emails are distributed just like spam and to anyone whose email address is on the scammers' lists, whether they are a user of that particular site or not. Sites hit by these scams have included...
Yahoo - Microsoft - AOL - eBay - Paypal - Hotmail - Earthlink - Barclays iBank
Citibank - Halifax - Nat West Bank - Nationwide - MSN
FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
Lloyds TSB - AT&T - U.S. Bank
The vast majority of phishing scams consist of...
...a forged email which links to a forged web page or site. The email text urges you to complete an essential procedure by using a link which opens a forged web page. That essential procedure has included account verification, invalid credit/debit card details, attempted hacking of your accont, prize draws and account suspension, to name but a few. In many cases, the email has included a worm virus which creates a browser type form rather than opening a web page (such as the Mimail worm).
For many months, this was made easier for the perpetrators when a bug was found in Internet Explorer browsers which allowed a fake URL to be shown in the browser's address bar while a forged page was being viewed. Scammers had rich pickings until Microsoft issued a patch in February 2003.
The forged web pages usually contain a form to provide the information that the scammers want to use to commit fraud. This usually includes use of the victims' credit/debit card to open online accounts and hijacking of online accounts to steal money. For instance, eBay users have had their accounts hijacked in this manner while the scammers use the accounts to list high value items, receive payments from hopeful buyers but never send the goods. Other victims have had their credit rating and financial livelihood destroyed when their identity has been used to raise finance, while others have seen their credit or debit cards used by others to buy goods online.
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
PHISHING
Phishing is a term used to describe the action of assuming the identity of a legitimate organisation, or web site, using forged email and/or web pages and with a view to convince consumers to share their user names, passwords and personal financial information for the purpose of using it to commit fraud. This is also and often refered to as Identity Theft.
Phishing is a relatively new expression, having been found to have been used in a newsgroup as early as 1996 and in the media in 1997. Since then a plethora of phishing scams have crossed our desks here at MillerSmiles.co.uk and our Library of Scams has many examples with images of both the forged emails and web pages.
Many of the major web sites have been the subject of these phishing scams...
Some of these sites refer to these forgeries as spoof email, which is perhaps a more 'consumer friendly' term. These spoof emails are distributed just like spam and to anyone whose email address is on the scammers' lists, whether they are a user of that particular site or not. Sites hit by these scams have included...
Yahoo - Microsoft - AOL - eBay - Paypal - Hotmail - Earthlink - Barclays iBank
Citibank - Halifax - Nat West Bank - Nationwide - MSN
FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
Lloyds TSB - AT&T - U.S. Bank
The vast majority of phishing scams consist of...
...a forged email which links to a forged web page or site. The email text urges you to complete an essential procedure by using a link which opens a forged web page. That essential procedure has included account verification, invalid credit/debit card details, attempted hacking of your accont, prize draws and account suspension, to name but a few. In many cases, the email has included a worm virus which creates a browser type form rather than opening a web page (such as the Mimail worm).
For many months, this was made easier for the perpetrators when a bug was found in Internet Explorer browsers which allowed a fake URL to be shown in the browser's address bar while a forged page was being viewed. Scammers had rich pickings until Microsoft issued a patch in February 2003.
The forged web pages usually contain a form to provide the information that the scammers want to use to commit fraud. This usually includes use of the victims' credit/debit card to open online accounts and hijacking of online accounts to steal money. For instance, eBay users have had their accounts hijacked in this manner while the scammers use the accounts to list high value items, receive payments from hopeful buyers but never send the goods. Other victims have had their credit rating and financial livelihood destroyed when their identity has been used to raise finance, while others have seen their credit or debit cards used by others to buy goods online.
03-12-2004, 08:39 AM
#18
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I saw a scam like that not to long ago on Auto trader's web site. I e-mail auto trader and told them and now (after I'm sure more people saw other adds that where simular) they now have a Big alert at the top of the page that says to watch out for a scam and that they don't ask anyone to escrow money.......
03-12-2004, 11:11 AM
#20
Gold Member
Gold Member
About a month ago I received the PayPal scam. They tried to get my account info. Contacted PayPal directly and they requested I forward them the entire e-mail message ASAP. I did and they sent back a nice thank you note saying they will be taking legal action against this person real soon.
