B15M

I saw a Monette 993 on EBay this week. I know who owns the trumpet and knew it was a fraudulent add.

I emailed the seller and told him that I wanted the trumpet. He sent an invoice to me from EBay telling me that it is OK to send him the money and that they had 5000.00 in an escrow account to cover anything that could go wrong.

I wanted to see how far the guy would go so I told him I didn't get the invoice. I said that my computer wouldn't open the email.
I told him to send the trumpet fed ex COD but he said to pay first.

Finally I told him that I would send the money first if he would send me a picture of the trumpet in front of the newspaper with the date on it. That's when he disappeared.

It took some time but, I had some fun.

MJ

I like having fun with those idiots

misty.sj

I hope you reported him to eBay. Offering to sell offline is a violation of their TOS, and selling stolen property is illegal in most countries, including the US where eBay is based.

B15M

I don't know how to report someone. The add was gone shortly after. I do have the email address and the invoice I would love to catch the person but I think it's impossible.

tatakata

its impossible and ebay doesn't care

Eeviac

"Ebay fraud" is redundant. Once you say "Ebay" everyone knows "fraud" is the next word anyway.

eButt is a real thieves' market.

B15M

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: eBay <aw-confirm@checkout-ebay.com>
Date: Feb 19, 2008 8:27 PM
Subject: eBay Purchase - Item: Monette B993 Gold Plated Trumpet
To: rbtwag@gmail.com


<IMG alt="From collectibles to cars, buy and sell all kinds of items on eBay" border=0>
<IMG height=1 alt="" width=10>
Dear Joe Spitzer,

After verifying the trustworthiness of the seller and the availability of the merchandise for immediate shipping, we have approved your buy it now transaction and offered you, as the buyer, full purchase protection for the amount you agreed on with the seller.

<IMG title=http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/help/sppBoxtop_594x50.gif height=50 width=594 border=0> <IMG title=http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/common/spacer.gif height=1 width=6><IMG title=http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/common/spacer.gif height=1 width=2><IMG title=http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/common/spacer.gif height=1 width=6>


eBay Transaction
# KSB059209471 Started!
Current status: Payment pending



• Complete your eBay transaction in 5 easy steps:

1. Buyer and seller agree on the transaction terms and a selling price.
2. Seller contacts eBay with the transaction details, eBay accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer (if the transaction is declined, no further action is required from either the buyer or the seller).
3. The buyer sends payment and the seller receives it. After the payment was received, the seller must notify eBay. Buyer will send the payment details directly to the seller email address. The seller has three business days to send the buyer and eBay the tracking number of the shipment. If no tracking number is provided, a full refund is immediately sent to the buyer.
4. Buyer receives the merchandise and has fourteen days to inspect it. If it is complete and as described, the buyer should accept the merchandise. If he refuses the merchandise, the buyer must ship the merchandise back to the seller within three business days.
5. After the inspection period is over (14 days) , the buyer must contact eBay with the result of the inspection. If the buyer refuses the merchandise, the refund will be sent to the buyer after the tracking number for the returned shipment is verified.

The following item is protected in this eBay transaction: <IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=15>
Item(s) Title Qty. <IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=30>Price <IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=15><IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=15>
Monette B993 Gold Plated Trumpet
x 1 <IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=30><IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=15> US $1500.00

<IMG title="" height=31 alt="" width=320>
<IMG title="" height=90 alt="" width=197> <IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=290 border=0>
<IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=10 border=0><IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=1 border=0><IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=75 border=0><IMG title="" height=1 alt="" width=15 border=0>Item price:

US $1500.00Amount insured
Shipping:


Ready to ship / Delivery and insurance included
Payment:
Pending

• Payment must be sent by Western Union wire transfer to seller's verified address:

<IMG title="" height=75 alt="" width=649>

Payment must be sent by Western Union Money Transfer to:
Seller's verified payment address:
NAME:
Robert Wagner
ADDRESS:
269 Lordship Lane

CITY, ZIP CODE:
London, SE22 8JG

STATE:
London
COUNTRY:
United Kingdom



Shipping must be made to:
Buyer's address:
NAME:
Joe Spitzer
ADDRESS:
10 Marsh Pond Lane

CITY, ZIP CODE:
Monroe, 06468
STATE:
CT
COUNTRY:
United States



• Next step to be taken:
The buyer must send the payment to the seller

We know that we encourage every eBay member to use services such as PayPal, Escrow which are safer than WesternUnion Money Transfer. But is our responsibility to make every option safe and tell that this seller is verified by our services and you can have all the trust in his requests .<IMG title="Member is ID Verified" height=20 alt="Member is ID Verified" width=20 align=middle border=0>

• Payment instructions:
To submit the payment with WesternUnion Money Transfer, you have 1 option:

Pay for the transfer with cash at a local WesternUnion agent. Click here to locate the agents in your area http://www.westernunion.com/info/agentInquiryIntl.asp . Go to one of them and send the payment to the verified name of the seller.
WesternUnion Money Transfer is the only service that has ultimate authentication of the identity of the receiver of funds. Several IDs and utility bills are required before the funds are paid. Therefore, no one else but your seller can pick up the money. Your payments cannot be lost in the mail, like money orders or checks.
Sellers from UK are not yet eligible for the PayPal Buyer Protection, which means you are not protected against fraud if you pay this seller by PayPal.

• Once the payment was sent, email the seller the following information:

1. 10 digit MTCN#
2. Exact sender's name on file with WesternUnion:
3. Your street address on file with WesternUnion:
4. City and country where you sent the money from:
5. Amount sent:

Then wait for the confirmation the payment was received. Within 3 business days, you will receive the tracking number for your merchandise.

• Purchase protection and refund:

Currently, this seller has a US $5,000.00 deposit in an eBay managed purchase protection account. Transactions with this eBay seller are covered for 30 days by purchase protection against fraud and description errors. For your safety, the seller is unable to withdraw any money from it, within this period. Should you need a refund for this transaction, the insured amount will be taken from the seller's purchase protection account and sent to you. The refund is sent to your bank account, or by check or money order. The way you are refunded is at your choice. You have 30 days from the above verification date to request a refund. Refund requests are processed within 3 days. This transaction is supervised by eBay's Safe Harbor team.


• Conditions to be met before you may ask for a refund :

Here are the situations suitable for a refund request:
1. If the item doesn't arrive and/or the seller stops communications after the payment was received;
2. If the merchandise you receive has different specifications than the ones you agreed on;
3. If your merchandise arrives in a much longer period than the one you agreed on (more than 15 days from the payment clearance day);
For cases 2. and 3. you have to send back the merchandise to the seller prior to ask for your refund. If you did not pay the seller by payment method required by us, your refund request will be declined.

• Important Usage Guidelines :

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2. This transaction is protected by eBay services such as insurance, feedback and dispute resolution.
3. You may buy and sell with confidence in all transactions with this eBay member.
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This e-mail message was sent to you from eBay SafeHarbor team, with the full support of the SquareTrade center.
The seller was informed about this transaction being started and is awaiting your payment. It is recommended to send the payment as soon as possible, because your purchase protection is valid for 30 days only.

If you encounter any problems with this transaction, please contact us.
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Refund request for eBay Transaction # KSB059209471
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This eBay notice was sent to you based on your eBay account preferences because one of our Sellers<IMG title=http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/spacer.gif alt=" " width=4 border=0> (Robert Wagner) required us to send you a confirmation in his behalf.
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Eeviac

I swear EBay is a cesspool.

Look around on Google, some guys scammed a laptop scammer it was so funny! They made a laptop out of cardboard etc etc it's really hilarious.

10 years let me repeat TEN YEARS on that horrible site, for a living. I don't touch it with a ten-foot pole now.

Bay Area Brass

I guess I've been lucky-I've used ebay quite a number of times with no problems at all. Sorry to hear that others haven't had the same expierence

Eeviac

And you can go into the ghetto and do a drug deal a bunch of times before you get in trouble with the law, carjacked, or something.

Yes that is a valid comparison with Ebay.