ASTRO EQUIPMENT SCAM - EBAY REPLIES

Hello, SAA,

Here is the very informative email response I received from eBay. My
thought being it especially useful to share with the many reading that
are not up 100% on matters. Everyone choosing to use the auction site
really should be or become familiar with the ropes:

"Hello Pete,

Thank you for taking the time to write with your concern.

The recent items listed with this account were the result of an
unauthorized account takeover. Unfortunately, we were not aware of
this
activity until some time after the listings appeared on the site. Once
we became aware of this activity, immediate action was taken. We are
now
in the process of restoring the account to its true owner. At this
time
the transaction in question should be considered null and void.

Let me suggest a few ways this could have occurred.

If the user had a relatively simple password or password hint question
it is possible that a third party was able to gain access to the
account
by guessing the password.

It is also possible that the user could have unknowingly provided his
or
her password to another party. Some eBay members have reported
receiving
messages asking for User IDs and passwords. These messages appear to
come from eBay Support, but in fact are not. eBay will never ask for
sensitive information of this nature through email.

Finally, there are a number of computer viruses in circulation that
log
and record keystrokes. It's recommended that computer users keep their
virus alert software up-to-date, and check their system often for
problems. A firewall for high-speed Internet users is also highly
recommended.

Please be aware that eBay urges caution when purchasing high-priced
items, especially if the price seems too good to be true.

We do not recommend the use of instant cash wire transfer services
such
as Western Union and MoneyGram, and we ask that users decline sending
payment in cases where these are the only methods of payment offered
by
the seller. Generally, if payment is sent using an instant cash wire
transfer service and the item is not delivered as promised, no
recourse
is available for recovering funds. In most cases, a verified escrow
service should be used when purchasing high dollar value items. More
information on the benefits and risks of individual payment methods
can
be found at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/payment.html

I sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this
matter.

Regards,
(eBay spokesperson)
Fraud Prevention Group"


Clear skies,

Pete

"John Savard" wrote in message
...
But nothing about the end recipient of the wire transfers, at the end
of the auction, being in police custody.

It certainly is good that a crime has been prevented, but it is still
distressing that apparently a dishonest individual is at large.

John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html
Well I have some experience with the end recipient of one of these wire
transfers. It appears to be very hard to prosocute these sorts of cases.
Quick story. A dubious friend decided to run a scam. He borrowed another
innocent but gullible friends ebay and paypal account. He then proceded to
run a number of legetimate looking auctions. Paypal is not wire transfer
persay so people have faith in it. They were high value items but the price
was not to good to be true. He managed to pull in between 5 and 6 grand.
About 6 months later the FBI started investigating both of them. It has now
been a year and I have no idea where the investigation is at present. It
seems that the reason the FBI got involved was the paypal part of the scam
but I'm not entirely sure about that.

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 11:17:58 GMT, lid
(John Savard) wrote:

It certainly is good that a crime has been prevented, but it is still
distressing that apparently a dishonest individual is at large.

The key word there is "apparently." After all, you don't *know*
anything about what's happening next, do you? And there's really no
reason at all that you should be privy to such information, especially
if there's an ongoing investigation.

The entire "apparent" supposition in your post is that, having shut
the auctions down eBay is now going to forget the incident. What's
more, this supposition entirely ignores the fact that identity theft
and online fraud are rapidly becoming two of the hottest items on law
enforcement's agenda.

Or, would you rather that the perpetrator were apprehended and put on
trial before the authorities were satisfied they had a good case?

--------------
Beady's Corollary to Occam's Razor: "The likeliest explanation of any phenomenon is almost always the most boring one imaginable."


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

Well, hundreds or even thousands of these auctions show up
several times a week and are usually deleted in a day or so.
But they still show up. One would think eBay would put a filter
in place, a NEW user listing dozens of pages?

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 07:10:27 -0500, John Beaderstadt
wrote:

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 11:17:58 GMT, lid
(John Savard) wrote:

It certainly is good that a crime has been prevented, but it is still
distressing that apparently a dishonest individual is at large.

The key word there is "apparently." After all, you don't *know*
anything about what's happening next, do you? And there's really no
reason at all that you should be privy to such information, especially
if there's an ongoing investigation.

The entire "apparent" supposition in your post is that, having shut
the auctions down eBay is now going to forget the incident. What's
more, this supposition entirely ignores the fact that identity theft
and online fraud are rapidly becoming two of the hottest items on law
enforcement's agenda.

Or, would you rather that the perpetrator were apprehended and put on
trial before the authorities were satisfied they had a good case?

--------------
Beady's Corollary to Occam's Razor: "The likeliest explanation of any phenomenon is almost always the most boring one imaginable."


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

Jack Daniels:

Well, hundreds or even thousands of these auctions show up
several times a week and are usually deleted in a day or so.
But they still show up. One would think eBay would put a filter
in place, a NEW user listing dozens of pages?

But they're *not* new users. They're accounts hijacked from legitimate
account users who used a trivial password, or foolishly responded to a
fake message asking for the password, or -- worst of all -- didn't have
the sense to dump the Typhoid Mary of Computing and get a Mac.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

John Savard:
But nothing about the end recipient of the wire transfers, at the end
of the auction, being in police custody.
It certainly is good that a crime has been prevented, but it is still
distressing that apparently a dishonest individual is at large.
John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html

The fact that the perpetrators of these scams are frequently located in
Eastern Europe or Central Asia greatly complicates law enforcement.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 07:26:56 -0500, Jack Daniels
wrote:

Well, hundreds or even thousands of these auctions show up
several times a week...

How did you collect this data?

--------------
Beady's Corollary to Occam's Razor: "The likeliest explanation of any phenomenon is almost always the most boring one imaginable."


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

In article , Davoud
wrote:


The fact that the perpetrators of these scams are frequently located in
Eastern Europe or Central Asia greatly complicates law enforcement.

Davoud


A good friend of mine was attempting to buy a Harley from an eBay
overseas seller. I had all I could do to keep him from losing $10K of
his hard-earned money. Fortunately, I could eventually show him that it
was a scam, as it became part of a news story on CBS.

Starry Skies,
Rich

Davoud wrote:
The fact that the perpetrators of these scams are frequently located in
Eastern Europe or Central Asia greatly complicates law enforcement.

However a lot of them are also located in the US -- the emails in this
latest one originated from an IP address registered as being in
Connecticut.

Best,
Stephen

Remove footfrommouth to reply

--
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ Stephen Tonkin | ATM Resources; Astro-Tutorials; Astro Books +
+ (N51.162 E0.995) | http://astunit.com +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Davoud:
The fact that the perpetrators of these scams are frequently located in
Eastern Europe or Central Asia greatly complicates law enforcement.

Stephen Tonkin:
However a lot of them are also located in the US

Indisputably true.

-- the emails in this latest one originated from an IP address registered as being in
Connecticut.

Or at least *appeared* to have originated from an IP address in
Connecticut. Considering the amount of illegitimate e-mail sent every
day from hijacked Wintel machines, one can't be too sure these days.
There are folks out there with broadband connections who are sending
hundreds of thousands of e-mails per day without being aware of the
fact.

Thank Steve for Macintosh!

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com