Online Card Buyers/Sellers At Risk, Too
storm888
Posts: 11,701 ✭✭✭
No matter what category you buy/sell in on EBAY, you are always at risk.
The best defense is to use common sense, and to KNOW the features of
all the scams.
/////////////////
Chicagoans caught in eBay bust
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/170355,CST-NWS-ebay13.article)
December 13, 2006
BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter
Colorado coal miner Alan Tweddell found his dream deal on eBay.
Scrolling through the Internet auction site in 2004, he discovered a Model A Ford selling for only $2,500. He bought the 1930 classic and agreed to wire the money to the seller in Chicago.
But the dream turned into a bust when a Western Union representative suspected the man picking up the money in Chicago was a fraud. Western Union returned the $2,500 to Tweddell, but he was unable to recover the $200 fee he spent to transfer the cash, said his son-in-law, Rusty Lofley.
"He was aggravated and disappointed, but happy he did not get scammed out of the whole $2,500," Lofley said.
Tweddell was one of more than 2,000 people across the country victimized by a Chicago-based theft ring that answered to bosses in Romania, authorities say.
"This is as organized-crime as it gets," said Patrick McCafferty, a Chicago Police detective. "It just happens to be Romanians."
On Tuesday, federal wire fraud charges were unsealed against 21 people, including three cell leaders who were the alleged masterminds of more than $5 million in eBay scams since November 2003.
"This case is an example of using new technology to commit an old-fashioned fraud scheme," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said.
Eight defendants were arrested Tuesday in the joint investigation by the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Chicago Police and other agencies. Five defendants were in custody, six are fugitives and one will surrender later, authorities said. The investigation is continuing.
Snitch helped investigation
One of the main players in Chicago was Adrian Florin Fechete, 35, a Romanian who recruited two American assistants, Gary Michael Schneider and Jessie Vega -- a man with 28 prior arrests, police said.
Fechete was arrested last year by FBI agent Michael Blessing, immigration agent Kenneth Popovits and the CPD's McCafferty for allegedly scamming $125,000 from three people who thought they were getting a second chance to buy items they didn't win on eBay the first time, including a band saw, a motorcycle and a 1956 Chevy.
In 2005, Schneider was arrested on a Minnesota fraud charge and secretly started cooperating with investigators. He told them that about 60 percent of the money the ring stole was being sent back to Romania, according to an FBI affidavit.
Typically, the alleged thieves asked their victims to send their money through Western Union, which does not guarantee the security of the transaction, authorities said. EBay encourages customers to use its secure PayPal system.
'Should all be thrown in jail'
The victims fell prey to three basic scams, authorities said:
• In the most common, the victim had placed a bid on eBay and lost. The thieves would send the victim an e-mail inviting him or her to participate in a "second-chance" auction. Couriers, who often used fake IDs, would pick up the money at a Western Union in the Chicago area, and the customer would never receive the item.
• In another scam, the victim would receive an e-mail from the crime ring saying he or she would lose their eBay account in 24 hours if they did not e-mail back their password and other account information, which the thieves would use to take over the victim's account. They would use the account to rip off other eBay users.
• And in a twist, the thieves would bid on an item on eBay, but would not buy it through PayPal. Instead, they would persuade the seller to put the money into a fake escrow account. The seller would ship the product and the escrow account would vanish.
Stacey McBride, a New Jersey woman, lost her $10,400 wedding ring that way after she went through a divorce and auctioned it on eBay. She was happy to learn about the arrests Tuesday.
"I'm excited," McBride said. "They should all be thrown in jail."
fmain@suntimes.com
The best defense is to use common sense, and to KNOW the features of
all the scams.
/////////////////
Chicagoans caught in eBay bust
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/170355,CST-NWS-ebay13.article)
December 13, 2006
BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter
Colorado coal miner Alan Tweddell found his dream deal on eBay.
Scrolling through the Internet auction site in 2004, he discovered a Model A Ford selling for only $2,500. He bought the 1930 classic and agreed to wire the money to the seller in Chicago.
But the dream turned into a bust when a Western Union representative suspected the man picking up the money in Chicago was a fraud. Western Union returned the $2,500 to Tweddell, but he was unable to recover the $200 fee he spent to transfer the cash, said his son-in-law, Rusty Lofley.
"He was aggravated and disappointed, but happy he did not get scammed out of the whole $2,500," Lofley said.
Tweddell was one of more than 2,000 people across the country victimized by a Chicago-based theft ring that answered to bosses in Romania, authorities say.
"This is as organized-crime as it gets," said Patrick McCafferty, a Chicago Police detective. "It just happens to be Romanians."
On Tuesday, federal wire fraud charges were unsealed against 21 people, including three cell leaders who were the alleged masterminds of more than $5 million in eBay scams since November 2003.
"This case is an example of using new technology to commit an old-fashioned fraud scheme," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said.
Eight defendants were arrested Tuesday in the joint investigation by the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Chicago Police and other agencies. Five defendants were in custody, six are fugitives and one will surrender later, authorities said. The investigation is continuing.
Snitch helped investigation
One of the main players in Chicago was Adrian Florin Fechete, 35, a Romanian who recruited two American assistants, Gary Michael Schneider and Jessie Vega -- a man with 28 prior arrests, police said.
Fechete was arrested last year by FBI agent Michael Blessing, immigration agent Kenneth Popovits and the CPD's McCafferty for allegedly scamming $125,000 from three people who thought they were getting a second chance to buy items they didn't win on eBay the first time, including a band saw, a motorcycle and a 1956 Chevy.
In 2005, Schneider was arrested on a Minnesota fraud charge and secretly started cooperating with investigators. He told them that about 60 percent of the money the ring stole was being sent back to Romania, according to an FBI affidavit.
Typically, the alleged thieves asked their victims to send their money through Western Union, which does not guarantee the security of the transaction, authorities said. EBay encourages customers to use its secure PayPal system.
'Should all be thrown in jail'
The victims fell prey to three basic scams, authorities said:
• In the most common, the victim had placed a bid on eBay and lost. The thieves would send the victim an e-mail inviting him or her to participate in a "second-chance" auction. Couriers, who often used fake IDs, would pick up the money at a Western Union in the Chicago area, and the customer would never receive the item.
• In another scam, the victim would receive an e-mail from the crime ring saying he or she would lose their eBay account in 24 hours if they did not e-mail back their password and other account information, which the thieves would use to take over the victim's account. They would use the account to rip off other eBay users.
• And in a twist, the thieves would bid on an item on eBay, but would not buy it through PayPal. Instead, they would persuade the seller to put the money into a fake escrow account. The seller would ship the product and the escrow account would vanish.
Stacey McBride, a New Jersey woman, lost her $10,400 wedding ring that way after she went through a divorce and auctioned it on eBay. She was happy to learn about the arrests Tuesday.
"I'm excited," McBride said. "They should all be thrown in jail."
fmain@suntimes.com
Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.
0
Comments
that is the second chicago based eastern european/gyspy crime you have alerted us to in the last two days! is the town being over run with gypsies, tramps and thieves?
There are so many ways to skin a cat and these people come up with clever ideas such as the cashiers check scam.
BST: Tennessebanker, Downtown1974, LarkinCollector, nendee