Yikes! Is this something that the eBay authorities need to know
about? I'd hate to see some people get ripped off.

Pete Rasmussen wrote in message . ..
Dear friends,

As follow-up to my yesterday's thread, " eBay seller - TONS high end
scopes - binocs - $3 start bids - a CROOK ? "

The eBay seller in question jagdpanther2003 lists FOUR pages of
highest end quality (ie. most expensive) scopes and binoculars, etc.
all at start bids $3.00 Canadian from companies like Meade, Tele Vue,
StellarVue, Bausch & Lomb, Burris, Bushnell, Canon, Celestron,
Fujinon, Kahles, Kowa, Leica, Leopold, Miyauchi, Newcon, Nikon,
Oberwerk, Pentax, Steiner, Swarovski, Swift, Takahashi, US Night
Vision, Yukon, and Zeiss. Everything from ONE seller, NO pictures,
WITHOUT storefront company name, and with ALL AUCTIONS CLOSING AT THE
SAME TIME!!! SELLER SEEKS WIRE TRANSFERS ONLY!!!

Here are the exceedingly interesting emails (2) I just now received
from this seller:


"Thousands of customers get frauded using escrow or escrow like
services

with false checks and no bank coverage. Slick fraudulent escrow sites
appear

legit and are run by fake "sellers", some that are most of the times
clones

of the authentic escrow sites that are attacked and shutdown by
malicious

hackers that work in tandem with the fake sellers.

You register a new escrow account at the online escrow site that

the seller recommended, usually a polished looking site. The escrow
site

lists "license numbers" with the state. Some generously sprinkle
official looking

logos from the BBB, Verisign Secure, TRUSTe, and Internet Fraud
Complaint Center!

Some fake escrows are brazen and warn you about internet fraud! Most
fake

escrows falsely claim Copyright 1999 or 2000 to appear they have been
around

a while. Feeling secure, you send your $28,000 to the escrow company
and lose

it forever. "You never hear from the "seller" again. Fake escrows
usually herd

you into 2 payment methods: Make you pay via Western Union cash
transfer

usually to some distant foreign countries (real bad move, never pay
for auctions

with WU!) or make you unknowingly send payment into the E-Gold, or
E-Bullion

networks, EvoCash or E-Dinar type currency transfers. You never get
your product.

Due to the large number of frauds that occur through these systems we
only

use bank wire transfer payment method upon UPS tracking number, having

changed our selling policy since 1 Jan 2004, again due to the large
number of frauds

that occur though these third party credit customer services.

We only use UPS service due to its world renowned commitment and
promtitude

towards the customer, in this case UPS service acting as a third party
for the transaction.

We will pay the UPS fees and put the item in UPS custody . We will
email

you the UPS tracking number imediately after settling down on making
the

transaction so you will be able to verify the existence of the item
inside UPS at www.ups.com.

You will then e-mail us a scanned bank invoice for us to make sure
that you have

commited to your part of the transaction.

After that we will proced to the final step of the agreement by
shipping the item. The

money and the product will arrive in about five working days,
depending on the international

UPS timetables.

RETURN POLICY:
30 Days MBG.

We gladly accept DEFECTIVE EXCHANGES on products within 30 days of
original invoice date.
Provided you have contacted the product manufacturer and been issued a
defective confirmation
code. (Manufacturer phone numbers can be found on your invoice).
We may issue a credit, ship a replacement product, exchange or we may
repair the item and
return it to you. ALL products being returned must be 100% complete
and must be packaged in ORIGINAL PACKAGING.
All packing materials, manuals, diskettes, CDs, digital media, blank
warranty cards and other
accessories and documentation must be included in the original
packaging, as provided by the
manufacturer. A return will not be processed, or a restocking fee may
be charged in the event
ANY item(s) included in the original shipment to you is not present in
the returned package.
The return pachage will NOT BE HONORED in the event that a return
shipment is received by us improperly packaged, altered or physically
damaged. ALL ITEMS WILL BE INSPECTED AND TESTED UPON RECEIPT.

Any discrepancies including, but not limited to, the following list
will result in the
package being returned to the customer and credit or replacement will
NOT be issued.

Let us know if we should call our dealer and send him your address.

Please reply at:

We thank you in advance, "


From:
To:
Subject: Question for seller -- Item #3805730655
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 20:03:50 PST

Hello, please tell me what is your Seller's payment instructions & return policy. I am in the USA. Thx in advance.
--------------------


Question from: Capped Crusader
Title of item: Meade » 4" Model 102ED
Seller: jagdpanther2003
Starts: Mar-23-04 07:14:24 PST
Ends: Mar-28-04 07:14:24 PST
Price: Starts at C $3.00
To view the item, go to: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3805730655


The seller also emailed this referencing another item inquiry...

"The BIN price for this item including shipping and insurance is
1450.00 USD

The item will be shipped from Europe because most of our producers
have

their local dealing facilities inside Europe and also in order to
minimize the

charges to our customers. We have a number of strong partnerships in
place

with our producers that ensure us and our customers of a fast and
reliable way

to meet the timeframes required. Thus we are commited in brining a
fast,

reliable and cost effective shipping method and at the same time
provide you

as customer with a solid e-support system.

Please let us know if you are interested. We will reserveone item for

you from our stock and provide the bank account information to make
this

transaction possible.

Please reply at:

Thank you."


From:
To:
Subject: Question for seller -- Item #3805730296
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 19:49:18 PST

Hello, I am interested to bid. Please tell me what would be the shipping fee to send them to (State/Zip) USA ?

Thx in advance,

Pete

Question from: Capped Crusader
Title of item: Kowa » High Lander 32x82 Binoculars - Waterp
Seller: jagdpanther2003
Starts: Mar-23-04 07:12:35 PST
Ends: Mar-28-04 07:12:35 PST
Price: Starts at C $3.00
To view the item, go to: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3805730296


I hope the above information is helpful to serve as potential warning
to my amateur astronomer associates who may happen across indicated or
other offers this seller lists. They may be fraudulent. I will have
to leave that to your discretion.

I will be notifying eBay immediately.

Use prudence and avoid ever being taken!

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY EBAY SELLERS. MY COMMENTARY
IS ONLY OF MY OWN OPINION BASED UPON HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE INFORMATION I
HAVE ACCUMULATED. MY SOLE PURPOSE SIMPLY TO INFORM AND EDUCATE MY
FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATE AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS READING THIS NEWGROUP.
THERE ARE NO OTHER PURPOSES STATED OR IMPLIED TO THE CONTRARY.

Clear skies to All,

The Eyepiece Capped Crusader