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TOPIC: EBAY LOVES, PROFITS FROM, AND SUPPORTS CRIME WORLDWIDE:


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RE: EBAY LOVES, PROFITS FROM, AND SUPPORTS CRIME WORLDWIDE:


Police: N.H. Car Dealer Scammed Customers Out Of Thousands


(with vid and pix at link)
POSTED: 11:56 pm EDT March 22, 2007
UPDATED: 12:21 am EDT March 23, 2007
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PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- The owner of a car dealership from Portsmouth is being held on $1 million bail, accused of scamming customers out of several thousand dollars.

Investigators said that David Bridgham, 63, was accepting only bank checks so that payment could not be stopped by the buyers.

They said he would collect the cash but never deliver the goods.

Investigators said that in some cases, Bridgham was using the Web site eBay to scam people.

"He's been using some accounts on eBay front by his company name, which is Northeast Conversions Limited Liability out of Portsmouth, using his own name, David Bridgham. He's posting vehicles for sale and then taking bank checks, and vehicles are not delivered because he doesn't have custody of those vehicles," said Officer Christopher Kelby of the New Hampshire Highway Patrol.

Police said Bridgham is also facing similar charges in connection with transactions at his business in Portsmouth. Kelby couldn't provide specific information but said Bridgham had been charged with a few counts of title fraud relating to dealerships.

Court documents show that several other criminal complaints have been filed against Bridgham. They include failing to deliver a 2004 Ford and a 2005 Chevrolet van, obtaining control of $50,000 belonging to a van dealership out of state and obtaining control of a $28,000 vehicle sold to a construction company.

Kelby said victims are coming forward from Maine all the way to California.

Anyone who has had transactions with Bridgham is asked to call the highway patrol at 603-271-3339.



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Bulgarian Woman "Stole USD 350,000" from Americans in eBay Scam

27 March 2007, Tuesday

A Bulgarian woman has been arrested in Budapest and charged with participating in a scheme that used eBay to scam Americans out of at least USD 350,000, the British online edition The Register reported, citing a press release of the US Department of Justice.

Mariyana Feliksova Lozanova, a.k.a. "Gentiane La France," a.k.a. "Naomi Elizabeth DeBont," was indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She was apprehended by law enforcement officials from Budapest, Hungary.

Lozanova, an alleged member of a transnational crime group, stands accused of participating in a scheme to advertise expensive cars, boats and other items for sale on eBay. Prospective buyers were directed to wire payments through "eBay Secure Traders," a sham service designed to persuade victims the sales were legit. In fact, the funds were transferred into bank accounts controlled by Lozanova and her co-conspirators.

Victims who wired money never received the merchandise and never got a refund. Lozanova withdrew the funds shortly after they were wired into her account, which she opened using fake Canadian and UK passports, officials said.

Lozanova faces up to 30 years in prison and could be required to pay USD 500,000 in fines, in addition to forfeitures and restitution to the victims.

"The arrest is sure to be welcome news to critics who claim eBay officials don't do enough to police their site against fraud," The Register comments. "But it's also easy to see the arrest as little more than raking leaves on a windy day."

According to the article scams like the one Lozanova is accused of furthering are carried out on almost a 24/7 basis.

"A single search late on Monday afternoon California time, for example, uncovered eight auctions on eBay Motors advertising vintage cars and instructing interested buyers to contact the seller's gmail account."


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Weekends in jail



Friday, March 30, 2007 GRAND RAPIDS -- A former Project Rehab employee was sentenced to one month of weekends behind bars after pleading guilty in federal court to stealing $76,000 in computer equipment and selling it on eBay. Lee Smiley Jackson was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Robert Holmes Bell for embezzlement of government funds between January and October 2003. Project Rehab receives some of its funding from the federal government. Outside of jail, Smiley will be confined to home, except for work and church, and must pay restitution.


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Gas Station Manager Accused Of Selling Stolen Goods On Ebay

(with mugshot)
Apr 3, 2007 6:55 PM
Posted By: Brian Duerring

An Indiana gas station manager is accused of selling stolen goods on Ebay. Indiana state police say Jorge Carrillo took $48,000 worth of beef jerky, baby formula and other items and attempted to sell them on Ebay. Carrillo allegedly took the goods from the Bright Petroleum gas station he managed in Dearborn County. He's facing 22 felony counts of theft. Stay with WCPO.com and WCPO-TV for updates. Please click "refresh" on your browser to view the most recent version of this story.

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More Shocking ebaY scam related news:

FBI recovers astronaut's medal discovered on eBay

April 3, 2007

A rare Presidential Medal of Freedom that was intended for astronaut James Lovell and somehow ended up on eBay has been recovered by the FBI.

In 1970, the White House presented Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 space mission, with the medal, which is the highest civilian award recognizing meritorious service.

But a slight defect was found in the medal created for Lovell, who was famously portrayed by Tom Hanks in the movie Apollo 13. So the medal was supposed to be destroyed, and another one was manufactured and presented to Lovell, who donated it to a museum.

But, decades after the original medal was supposed to have been destroyed, it turned up recently up on the eBay online-auction site. Posted by a Pennsylvania woman, it drew a high bid of $5,000 its first day being offered online.

Another Presidential Medal of Freedom recently was sold legitimately, by its owner for $50,000, according to an FBI spokesman.

Lovell is now a restaurateur who lives in Lake Forest. His family heard about the eBay acution and contacted the FBI. The woman told the agencys cyber crimes squad that her late husband had purchased it as part of a larger collection of medals.

The woman was cooperative and turned it over, an FBI official said today.

The White House verified its authenticity. Investigators dont know how the medal escaped being destroyed or who intially snagged it.

The FBI is not pursuing charges against the woman who ended up with the medal.

nkorecki@suntimes.com

More related stories:

Missing Medal Of Freedom Recovered On eBay CBS2 Chicago

FBI recovers astronaut's medal discovered on eBay Chicago Sun-Times (picture here)


FBI recovers Lovell's Medal of Freedom missing since 1970 Belleville News-Democrat


-- Edited by budnonymous at 20:20, 2007-04-03

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budnonymous wrote:

Weekends in jail

Friday, March 30, 2007 GRAND RAPIDS -- A former Project Rehab employee was sentenced to one month of weekends behind bars after pleading guilty in federal court to stealing $76,000 in computer equipment and selling it on eBay. Lee Smiley Jackson was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Robert Holmes Bell for embezzlement of government funds between January and October 2003. Project Rehab receives some of its funding from the federal government. Outside of jail, Smiley will be confined to home, except for work and church, and must pay restitution.



 


Interesting that he only got week-ends in jail. Oh dear! The case took awhile to crack too. Wonder what that's all about?

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old news...

United States v. Mullaney, Crim. No. 03-15-01-M (D.N.H., information filed Jan. 15, 2003; guilty plea March 24, 2003). The defendant pleaded guilty to charges relating to her and her former husband's allegedly selling numerous items, via the eBay auction website, that had been stolen during home burglaries in New Hampshire and elsewhere.

United States v. Kruhlou, Crim. No. 02-266 (W.D. Pa., guilty plea Apr. 10, 2003). The defendant pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. The defendant, who was originally from Belarus, participated in a mail and wire fraud scheme that had two interconnecting parts. The first part of the scheme was that members of the conspiracy hacked into eBay's computer system and logged onto the system as if they were someone who had previously sold items and received favorable ratings from purchasers of those items. Once a seller received a favorable rating, it was much easier to sell items because there was a proven track record of delivering what was promised.




Visit: www.usdoj.gov

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I found another FBI press release which was LOADED with ebaY related fraud.
I will find that and post it.
WoW!!! What a scammer's paradise ebaY is.

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budnonymous wrote:

I found another FBI press release which was LOADED with ebaY related fraud.
I will find that and post it.
WoW!!! What a scammer's paradise ebaY is.



 

Yes, eBaY is a delicious venue for the crook.





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Steroid dealers use ruse to sell wares on eBay



By Mike Brunker
Projects Team editor
MSNBC
Updated: 2:30 p.m. PT Jan 20, 2005

While law enforcement agencies and professional sports organizations say they are doing everything they can to muscle anabolic steroids off playing fields and out of gyms, the drugs remain readily available to anyone either blind to the risks or willing to gamble their health in pursuit of a perfect set of ripped" pecs. Until last week such rash purchasers didnt even have to leave their homes to procure the illegal strength-building drugs they merely had to log onto eBay.

The public drug dealing on eBay screeched to a halt last week after a three-month investigation by MSNBC.com, when a phone call to eBays spokesman to inquire about the steroid sales triggered an all-out sweep to remove all listings and threats of legal action against the sellers.

In the course of the investigation, dozens of items that appeared to be anabolic steroids were advertised and sold on eBay. A few of the auctions occurred in the open but many used the simple ruse of listing the drugs as books about steroids to avoid detection by the sites security team.

That's our bad
Until you brought this to our attention, it wasnt getting as close a look as it should have, said Rob Chestnut, an eBay vice president, former federal prosecutor and the companys point man on rules enforcement. They were titling it as a book and we were missing it. Thats our bad.

To determine whether the goods were what they were purported to be, MSNBC.com worked with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, an organization that often aids law enforcement agencies in investigations of illegal sales of prescription drugs over the Internet, to purchase some of the apparently illegal products and have them tested.

In October and November, an NABP investigator purchased four items on eBay that appeared to be steroids, paying between $90 and $140 for each order. In two cases, eBay shut down the auctions before they ran their course.

I got a notice from eBay saying this auction was ended because of a violation of the rules, but the transaction still went through, said the investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Truth in advertising
All four products injectable solutions in factory packaging, oral tablets labeled in Spanish as being for veterinary use and unmarked pills in a plastic bag turned out to be just what the sellers claimed they were: anabolic steroids like Dianabol, Sustanon and testosterone propionate.

EBay STEROIDS
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
Photos show the four types of steroids purchased by a National Association of Boards of Pharmacy investigator.
All are Schedule III controlled substances under federal law, in the same class as barbiturates, LSD precursors, veterinary tranquilizers and narcotic painkillers like Vicodin. Simple possession of any Schedule III substance without a prescription is punishable by up to one year in prison and/or a minimum fine of $1,000 under federal law.

While the eBay sales represent only the visible tip of a much bigger problem of the illegal purchase of prescription drugs via the Internet, experts said the presence of steroids on the popular Web site is especially troubling because they could be seen there by the most vulnerable potential users teens and preteens looking to quickly bulk up for school sports or add some definition to still developing bodies.

I might search for weeks without discovering this, but I would not be surprised to learn that younger individuals would be able to find this easily and make a purchase, said Dr. David Black, an expert on steroids and president, CEO and medical director for Aegis Sciences Corp., a Nashville, Tenn., company that tested the steroids as part of the MSNBC.com investigation.

EBay alerted about problem last year
A congressional source, who spoke with MSNBC.com on condition of anonymity, said that both eBay and the Drug Enforcement Administration also should have had little difficulty in spotting the sales, since Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, alerted them to the presence of illegal steroids on eBay during a Senate hearing last summer.

At the July 13 hearing of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, Grassley called the easy availability of steroids on eBay outrageous and unacceptable and noted that young athletes can buy the needles used to inject the illegal steroids directly into their bodies on eBay.

To make matters worse, counterfeit steroids are being sold widely, he said. These fake drugs are very convincing in appearance. Fake steroids have been known to have mixtures of cooking oil and even motor oil in them. Imagine a high school student injecting motor oil into his or her body!

The hearing garnered no headlines, but it did result in letters being sent to both the DEA and eBay informing them of the problem and demanding action, said the source.

MSNBC.com also obtained a written statement from the DEA responding to the drug caucus in which it said it was working with eBay to prevent such sales.

The DEA now regularly conducts key-word searches of eBay to identify and removed steroid listings from the auction pool, it said. We have also provided eBay with an extensive list of Schedule III anabolic steroids (both trade and generic names) to add to their filters to prevent the substances from appearing on their site.




CONTINUED PAGE 2-3

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Indiana man sentenced for selling counterfeit software on eBay

By Staff writers, TechWeb 30 March 2007 14:34 AEST

More than US$700,000 worth of illegal software was sold in at least 32 online auctions, officials said..

An Indiana man was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in federal prison for selling more than US$700,000 worth of counterfeit computer software on eBay.

Courtney Smith, 36, of Anderson, Indiana, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in US District Court in the Southern District of Indiana for selling counterfeit computer software over the Internet in violation of criminal copyright infringement laws.

At the sentencing, Smith admitted to the court that he bought illegally copied Rockwell Automation computer software through the auction site, and then duplicated and resold the software, which is still copyright protected, to other eBay users, according to court documents.




"This kind of scheme is a recognized problem and fairly wide spread," said Assistant US Attorney Steve DeBrota in an interview with InformationWeek.

"This problem has significantly increased over time. An increasing number of businesses are seeking out and buying counterfeit software to save some money."

Between 6 March 6 and 26 May, 2004, Smith sold counterfeit copies of Rockwell Automation software in 32 or more separate eBay auctions, receiving Us$4,149.97. The actual retail value of this software was in excess of US$700,000, according to a release from the US Department of Justice.

DeBrota noted that while Rockwell Automation was hurt by the fraud, the people and companies buying and using the counterfeit software also could be liable. DeBrota prosecuted the case, along with trial attorney Matthew J. Bassiur of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Mr. Smith exploited eBay to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of counterfeit software at drastically reduced prices, thereby illegally profiting on the back of the copyright holder," said Assistant Attorney General Fisher, in a written statement.

"The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting individuals who exploit legitimate online auction sites to sell pirated software and commit other acts of fraud."

The government noted that the case arose from a DOJ initiative to combat online auction piracy. FBI agents executed a search warrant at Smith's residence in Anderson on 15 December 2004, seizing computers, CDs and devices used to manufacture and sell the counterfeit software.

According to the DOJ release, Smith admitted to the investigators that he knew it was illegal to sell copyrighted software and that he not only manufactured and sold the counterfeit software on eBay, but also made his own Rockwell Automation Software labels to affix to the counterfeit software.

Rockwell Automation, is a global provider of automation, power, control, and information software. The company produces specialized factory management software.

Earlier this week, a woman described by the FBI as a Bulgarian member of a transnational criminal ring was arrested in connection with what the government is calling an "elaborate scheme" to defraud eBay users of more than US$350,000.

Mariyana Feliksova Lozanova allegedly tricked prospective buyers on eBay to wire her money for major purchases, like motor vehicles and boats, which were never delivered, according to a release from the FBI, which investigated the case.


Copyright (c) 2007 CMP Media LLC

Source: http://itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?

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Have you seen this man??







Attorney General Corbett announces arrest of Bucks Co. man in insurance fraud scam; $23,000 diamond ring reported stolen- auctioned on eBay....




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Another shocker.

They are even talking about this on FoxNews.com TV today.

Civil War documents stolen by intern and sold on eBay

(pics @ article)

By MaryClaire Dale,
Associated Press

A recovered Civil War document, a letter from famed cavalryman James Ewell Brown Stuart is displayed in Philadelphia, Wednesday, April 4, 2006. A 40-year-old intern with the National Archives pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing 164 Civil War documents and selling most of them on eBay.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia | A 40-year-old intern with the National Archives pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing 164 Civil War documents, including an official announcement of President Lincoln's death, and putting most of them up for sale on eBay.

Prosecutors said Denning McTague, who has master's degrees in history and library science, put about 150 of the documents online and had shipped about half of them.

All but three of the items, worth an estimated $30,000 in all, have been recovered.

McTague told investigators that he used a yellow legal pad to sneak the documents out while working at the National Archives and Records Administration last summer. As an unpaid intern, he had been responsible for arranging and organizing documents in preparation for the upcoming 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

A Gettysburg company that publishes books on the Civil War spotted some of the items on eBay and alerted authorities last fall, officials said.

The stolen Civil War-era documents included telegrams concerning the troops' weaponry, the War Department's announcement of Lincoln's death sent to soldiers and a letter from famed cavalryman James Ewell Brown Stuart, prosecutors said.

McTague pleaded guilty to one federal count of stealing government property. He could receive up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced July 12, but federal sentencing guidelines call for much less.

Paul Brachfeld, inspector general for the National Archives, said getting the documents back was not easy, especially since some had been sold overseas.

The buyers, mostly history buffs, surrendered the documents after learning they were stolen. Prosecutors said they could get some reimbursement from McTague.

more...

all 228 news articles »

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Students accused of selling stolen school equipment on eBay

Thursday, April 5, 2007

The Courier-Journal

Two students -- one from Bellarmine and the other from the University of Louisville -- have been arrested after computers and electronic items stolen from the schools were sold on eBay.

University of Louisville police, who made the arrests Tuesday, say the students stole plasma televisions, laptop computers, monitors and other equipment from education buildings on the two campuses.

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Arrested were:

Nicholas Tisdale, 22, of the 4100 block of South Fifth Street, a U of L student. Tisdale is charged with receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking over $300 and several counts of third-degree burglary.

Matthew Fritsch, 20, of Buckner, a Bellarmine student. Fritsch is charged with several counts of receiving stolen property over $300 and one count of third-degree burglary.

Both were arraigned yesterday in Jefferson County District Court. Their next court date is April 13.

Police recovered some of the missing property when they searched Tisdale's home.

Maj. Ken Brown, assistant chief of the U of L Police Department, said police started looking for the stolen goods at pawnshops and trade shows after the thefts began in January, but nothing was found. Then Detective Jeffrey Jewel started seeing some of the items listed on eBay.

Louisville Metro Police, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Secret Service Electronics Crimes Task Force aided the investigation.

Be sure to go to the article and read the comments...

(maybe submit one...)

The teaser;
Is e-Bay the biggest "fence" in the world??!




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Williamsburg Woman Sentenced For eBay Fraud Scheme

Rachel Reyes, age 29, of Williamsburg, was sentenced Tuesday to 55 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $415,754.84 in restitution, in connection with her role in distributing fraudulent celebrity memorabilia items on eBay.

According to court documents, Rachel Reyes, her husband Jeffrey Reyes, and her mother, Nancy Selisker, operated their own eBay accounts for the sale of the counterfeit memorabilia, which included record albums and photographs of celebrities with forged signatures.

To conduct the fraud scheme, the three defendants purchased unsigned memorabilia from various locations in Virginia, and then forged celebrity signatures on those items. The items subsequently posted the items for auction on eBay's Internet website. The listings falsely described these items as authentic and offered fraudulent certificates of authenticity.

From July 5, 2002 through March 11, 2005, using eBay account RICHIEGECKO, Rachel Reyes personally completed 5,265 sales of memorabilia with forged signatures to 3,359 victims, with losses totaling approximately $314,773.97. From July 21, 2003 through March 11, 2005, using eBay account MMASGRL, Selisker personally completed 1,620 sales of memorabilia with forged signatures to 1,104 victims, with losses totaling approximately $118,114.07. From August 10, 2002 through March 11, 2005, using eBay account WOLFIE88, Jeffrey Reyes completed 1,317 sales of memorabilia with forged signatures to 1,124 victims, totaling approximately $130,520.72.

Victims were located throughout all 50 states of the United States as well as 33 other countries.


--------------------------------------------------

user
richiegecko still shows registerd in Canada. Mistake?
, (or snafu?)



 


-- Edited by budnonymous at 15:48, 2007-04-05

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Great story, Bud! So what does eBaY have to pay in restitution for allowing that sham (illegal activity) to go on for so many years?



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Cyber Diva wrote:

Great story, Bud! So what does eBaY have to pay in restitution for allowing that sham (illegal activity) to go on for so many years?



Aint IT funny how that question is never asked?

Oh, how about that other one, I keep asking, but I have never seen anyone else ask anywhere;
What DOES ebaY do with Its cut of/from all the scams?

In my very first video, Surplus Stock I coin the term Passive Conspiracy

(Say NO to Passive Conspiracy)

[BTW, that looks rough and crappy because it is punk rock]

That is about a good a name as any for what IT does, normally, with the typical sleazebaY scams.

All this HACKFEST STUFF, they played/are playing a much more active role....

whooo-haaaaa-ha-ha...

mu-ah-hahahahahahahaha

 



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DCF investigator sold stolen items on eBay, cops say

OCALA -- A child-abuse investigator accused of selling state property on eBay was fired Tuesday and charged with organized fraud.

David French, 48, of Ocala, an investigator with the Department of Children & Families since December 2001, used the Internet auction house to hawk supplies from DCF's Ocala office. The items included inkjet cartridges and digital-camera battery chargers, said Susan Livoti, the Marion County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

< Livoti said the probe was a combined effort of the Sheriff's Office, DCF and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which followed up on tips from French's co-workers. Investigators traced online sales of more than 40 state-owned items to French.

During an interview Monday with investigators, French, who also sold antique toys on eBay, admitted he had taken supplies from the office and sold them online. DCF has estimated its loss at $1,747, said Tim Bottcher, a spokesman for DCF's Gulf Atlantic Zone.

The zone includes DCF District 13, which supervises child-protective services in Lake, Marion, Sumter, Citrus and Hernando counties.

Bottcher said the internal probe began Feb. 28 while French was on vacation. His leave was extended without pay, partly at his own request to attend to personal matters. Bottcher said French had no contact with agency wards during the monthlong investigation.

French was booked Monday into the Marion County Jail but posted bail and was released. He could not be reached for comment by phone.

DCF officials expressed outrage at the crime.

"Public service is a sacred trust," District 13 administrator John Cooper said. "There is no place in this department for someone who violates that trust. We are appalled that a person charged with the safety of children would steal items, some of which are tools in the investigation of child-abuse and neglect cases."

Stephen Hudak can be reached at 352-742-5930 or shudak@orlandosentinel.com.

-- Edited by budnonymous at 12:17, 2007-04-06

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Cop Of The Week

by Melissa Bailey | April 6, 2007 11:18 AM

As a mental health clinician itching for a new career, he applied to police department on a friendly bet. Thirteen years later, Officer Jeffrey Fletcher found himself in detectives' shoes, hot on the trail of a city contractor suspected of stealing computers out of City Hall.

Fletcher, who's 49 and hails from the town of Colchester, got assigned the case as part of a 180-day stint with the detective bureau. Unlike the assignments in his prior career at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, this case didn't require a deep psychological probe. It took some common sense, a few City Hall cameras, and a trail of footprints left on eBay.

The case began with a call from the city comptroller's office. Computers had been disappearing left and right. Staff had pegged a suspect -- a reclusive technician who commuted from a small town 35 miles away to work with the city on a one-year contract.

Hearing the technician had been carting off computers out of City Hall, Fletcher turned to the watching eyes inside City Hall; there are 15 to 20 surveillance cameras in and around the building, he recalled. He searched through the tapes from the past couple months, stopping around the times the employee came and left the office.

The suspect came and went alone. Coworkers had described him to Fletcher as "a little strange." "There wasn't a lot of fraternization going on."

Cameras showed the man walking in empty-handed around 9 a.m. At the end of the workday, he'd leave the office, this time hauling boxes "emblazoned with HP," the logo for the Hewlett Packard computer company.

Suspicious? For Sure. But grounds for arrest? "It was still not enough."

"Lo And Behold"

Luckily for Fletcher, the employee's computer was city property -- fair game to be searched without warrant, said the officer.

"I turned his computer on. Lo and behold, eBay comes up." The employee had apparently been selling the stolen goods on the online auction site, eBay, right from his desk at City Hall. The footprints were as large as Godzilla's.

"Stevie Wonder and Helen Keller could've figured this one out," said Fletcher, recounting the episode months later at a desk in the detective unit. A former University of New Haven basketball star and psych major, once on his way to medical school, he speaks modestly of his endeavors.

The eBay ID, he said, came from the employee's home -- Terryville, Conn. The account showed several computers had been sold, matching the unique serial numbers of the computers stolen from City Hall.

"At that point, we had an arrest."

For the theft of eight computers totaling $6,000 to $7,000, the 36-year-old Terryville resident was arrested on Jan. 17 on charges of larceny, punishable by up to two years in jail. The suspect, who could not be reached, has denied the charges. The case is still pending in court, and eBay has been notified.

At stake in cracking the case? "The number one issue was principle, not the computer values," Fletcher said. The employee had landed a city job on a recommendation, then "betrayed the person who recommended him for the job" by using the position to steal city goods. Fletcher credited the well-kept records of the comptroller's office for making it easy to follow the suspect's tracks.

In other cases, when police work gets more fraught and dramatic, Fletcher doesn't usually deal with the same level of psychosis-- patients diagnosed with both substance abuse and mental illness -- as he did in his prior career. But mental health training "helps me put in perspective the people I work with every day." It helps him "cope" with daily drama and walk away at the end of the day, leaving the baggage behind.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 

 




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Just watched this one, Bud... very cool! I sent it to an associated press friend, he'll get a big bang out of it!!

...In my very first video, Surplus Stock I coin the term Passive Conspiracy..

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.....The eBay ID, he said, came from the employee's home -- Terryville, Conn. The account showed several computers had been sold, matching the unique serial numbers of the computers stolen from City Hall.

"At that point, we had an arrest.




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Cyber Diva wrote:

Just watched this one, Bud... very cool! I sent it to an associated press friend, he'll get a big bang out of it!!

...In my very first video, Surplus Stock I coin the term Passive Conspiracy..


Wow!!! LMAO all over again with a lot of residual maniacal laughter here!! BWHAhahahahaha!!!

I had a prior version of that. It was originally uploaded on youtube 10-31-06,
the very same night as the so-called explosion at PP HQ
Synchronicity?

Lends it self perfectly to the famous beatnik quote in the tagline, does it not?

OK, gotta go LMAO some more.
Then, I have videos to make.

 



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Police: Couriers Sold School Property On eBay


(Mug shots @ link)

POSTED: 2:04 pm PDT April 9, 2007
UPDATED: 2:29 pm PDT April 9, 2007
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WILSONVILLE, Ore. -- Two couriers who work for the West Linn-Wilsonville School District were arrested on theft charges Friday.

Brian Johnson, 50, and Brian Searls, 25, are accused of stealing school computers and other electronic equipment and then selling it on the online auction Web site eBay.com.

West Linn police detectives searched Johnson's home in Wilsonville and said they found several computers, DVD and videocassette recorders, televisions, monitors and microphones that they said had been stolen from the school district.

West Linn police said they were notified by eBay that Johnson was selling items labeled "Property of West Linn-Wilsonville School District."

Investigators said the thefts began around November 2005 and that Johnson sold the items he and Searls stole.

Searls was a full-time employee since November 2003 and Johnson was a full-time employee since August 2005.

The two men were fired by the West Linn-Wilsonville School District on Friday.


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'Authentic-looking' eBay listing a costly scam

April 8, 2007
Costly lesson

James saw an ad for a very cool-looking Harley Davidson motorcycle on Craig's List. The seller was someone named Brent Jones in Helsinki, Finland, and the two men haggled back and forth online over the sale.

Jones said the only way he'd sell the bike to James was through eBay, since it would be safer, and he sent James a link to an authentic-looking eBay listing. James has a spam-blocker on his computer, so he figured the listing must be the real thing.

James sent $3,800 by Western Union. "Supposedly, there was an agent on the other end to verify the check was there, and the shipping would start and I would be notified," James wrote The Fixer. "Well, that never happened."

Jones disappeared . . . and so did James' money.

"Believe me, if you saw all this info I have, there would be no doubt in your mind that this was all the real eBay," James wrote.

Sadly, that's the thing about the scammers -- they're expert at making it all seem so real.

Have you been scammed by an UNFIXABLE problem? If you've got something to warn the rest of us about, e-mail it to szimmermann@suntimes.com with "Costly Lessons" in the subject line. And don't worry -- with Costly Lessons, we leave out last names to prevent further embarrassment.

'Buyer Beware'

Attention, parents: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has just issued yet another recall of kiddie jewelry that contains high levels of toxic lead, this time for "Groovy Grabber" bracelets made by A&A Global Industries and sold in vending machines in malls, discount stores, department stores and groceries nationwide. If your kids have these, get rid of them. For more info on recalled items, check out www.cpsc.gov.

Fixer's fave Web site

For unvarnished reports from other consumers who've endured the runaround, check out one of The Fixer's favorite Web sites -- www.ripoffreport.com. Especially funny: victims' tales of revenge.


Continues, with stories from ripoffreport.com

-- Edited by budnonymous at 18:59, 2007-04-11

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  I ran into a friend in town and he told me while he was at his brothers, someone pulled a truck up to his garage and took his lawnmower, ATV and tools.  The first thing out of my mouth was, " go look for them on e-bay".  I didn't even have to think about it.    e-fence. What a shame.

evileye 

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Yep Ice, not only is IT the world's biggest efencing operation (read: organized crime), but IT is also;

Ebay: the counterfeit capital of the world

From 247WallSt

Imagine this. Some large brand companies believe that 99% of the items sold under their names on Ebay (NASDAQ: EBAY) are counterfeit. Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior are suing the online auction company to try to get fake versions of their products off Ebay's site.

According to the FT; "One designer clothing and accessories brand said it had seen the number of fakes using its brand name on Ebay rise dramatically in the past year, from 16,400 in 2005 to 20,827 in 2006."

It puts Ebay in a bit of a bind. It can try to police fakes on its websites but with hundreds of thousands if not millions of counterfeits that would be almost impossible. It could take some of the offenders to court and make examples of them.

But Ebay makes money on the knock-offs so it is a bit hard to say how diligently they are willing to work to harm their own business. Whether it is their legal responsibility to check all the credentials of every seller is an open question.

What is not an open question is why the US government is spending its time complaining to China about pirated and counterfeit items sold in the big Asian country when it could just go over the Ebay headquarters and watch the world's best fakes being sold on any PC in the universe.

Douglas A. McIntyre


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eBay cheat must repay £100,000


A NORDEN man who made £103,470 from selling counterfeit goods has been ordered to pay the money back.

Last October Matthew Zac Bunnell, of Doldrum Farm, Wood Lane, was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence for two offences of selling goods or packaging which bore a sign identical to or likely to have been mistaken for registered trade marks without the consent of the trademark owner.

He was also ordered to do 180 hours unpaid community service work for five further offences under the Trade Marks Act 1984 and ordered to pay court costs of £4,421. The court also ordered the destruction of the seized counterfeit items.

Following his conviction, Rochdale Council trading standards service asked the court to confiscate the money he had made from his crimes.

A judge at Bolton Crown Court has now ruled that Bunnell had gained £65,494.88 indirectly and £37,975.60 directly from his criminal conduct.

Judge Melton made a confiscation order that means Bunnell must pay all his available assets of £15,279 within the next six months or face nine months in jail.

Bunnell will also have to pay back the rest of the £103,470 from any assets he has in the future.

In August 2004, trading standards and the police raided Bunnells then home in War Office Road, Bamford, with a warrant and seized 127 items, including counterfeit Ray-Ban and Gucci designer sunglasses and Burberry and Armani designer watches.

In total, Bunnell sold over 1,000 counterfeit items on eBay, the internet auction website, netting him more than £30,000.

Andy Glover, Rochdales chief trading standards officer, said: "Working with the police, trading standards will use every sanction possible against criminals who try to use counterfeit goods to defraud the public and legitimate traders.

"Anyone involved in counterfeiting risks losing not just their liberty but also large amounts of money."


First published by the Rochdale Observer



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Thieves caught by selling loot on eBay


A QUICK thinking Huntingdon businessman who had thousands of pounds worth of equipment stolen helped catch the thieves after he saw his goods advertised on eBay.

The stolen items were specially-made paramotors, which are strapped to the backs of paragliders.

Geoff Soden of Paramotors UK, based in Alconbury, had been exhibiting at the NEC in Birmingham when the Sky 100 paramotor and the SMN 130 paramotor worth a combined value of £8,000 were stolen.

The motors had been imported from Italy especially for the show. A month after the theft, Mr Soden of Ash Close noticed the motors on the internet auction site eBay.

Mr Soden who has been teaching people to fly for 13 years, said bidding on one of the items had started at £2,000.

He said: "As soon as I read the description on eBay, alarm bells started ringing in my ears. I don't think the thieves knew exactly how valuable or rare these motors were or they wouldn't have put them on eBay for all to see."

When Mr Soden enquired about the objects, the thieves sent him pictures of the motors and gave him a genuine email address and telephone number, which he passed on to Solihull Police. He added: "They really signed their own arrest warrant by giving me their name and address."

The theft is believed to have halted manufacturing at the Fly Castle Luccio plant in Italy by four months because one of the motors was a prototype. Stephen Cresser, 46 and Donald Bennett, 43 both from Marston Green, Solihull who had been working as sub contractors at the NEC at the time of theft pleaded guilty to the offence and were fined £500.

Sgt Charlie Cain from Solihull crime team said: "Geoff stumbled across the items on eBay and informed us. Within five hours we were able to track down an address and secure search warrants. It might have taken us longer to track down the culprits without the information provided by Geoff. We do police the eBay on a regular basis but the majority of goods are legitimate, you just have to beware.


 


 

Hmmm... Had a buddy of mine get ganked for an ultralight, guess I need to tell him to look on sleazebay.



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My my my... This certainly went on for quite some time... No mention that I can see about what ebaY do with IT's cut.

--------------------------------


For Williamsburg couple, crime doesnt Paypal

10 April 2007 | By Carl Siegmund, Assoc. News Editor | The Flat Hat » news

Rachel Reyes, 29, of Williamsburg, was sentenced Tuesday to 55 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $415,754.84 in restitution, in connection with her role in distributing fraudulent celebrity memorabilia items on eBay.

According to court documents, Reyes, her husband Jeffrey Reyes, 30, and her mother, Nancy Selisker, operated their own eBay accounts for the sale of the counterfeit memorabilia, which included record albums and photographs of celebrities with forged signatures.

More than 5,550 people were victims of the scam that lasted from July 2002 until March 2005.

Reyes was sentenced to 55 months in prison with three years of supervised release. Her husband was sentenced to 33 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to repay almost $100,000.

To conduct the fraud scheme, the three defendants purchased unsigned memorabilia from various locations in Virginia and then forged celebrity signatures on those items.

They subsequently posted the items for auction on eBays Internet website.

The listings falsely described these items as authentic and offered fraudulent certificates of authenticity.

From July 5, 2002 through March 11, 2005, using eBay account RICHIEGECKO, Rachel Reyes personally completed 5,265 sales of memorabilia with forged signatures to 3,359 victims, with losses totaling approximately $314,773.97. From July 21, 2003 through March 11, 2005, using eBay account MMASGRL, Selisker personally completed 1,620 sales of memorabilia with forged signatures to 1,104 victims, with losses totaling approximately $118,114.07.

From August 10, 2002 through March 11, 2005, using eBay account WOLFIE88, Jeffrey Reyes completed 1,317 sales of memorabilia with forged signatures to 1,124 victims, totaling approximately $130,520.72.

Victims were located in all 50 states and 33 other countries.



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IceBlueEyes wrote:

I ran into a friend in town and he told me while he was at his brothers, someone pulled a truck up to his garage and took his lawnmower, ATV and tools. The first thing out of my mouth was, " go look for them on e-bay". I didn't even have to think about it. e-fence. What a shame.

evileye



Looks like someone gets,  uh... errr, ummm...deserves a great big shiny gold star...  biggrin

Deja-Vu!


Three charged in suspected "e-fencing" schemes

(links to various networking/news sites at link)

Posted by Damien G. Guevara April 11, 2007 15:04PM

Categories: Breaking News, Crime

Lakewood -- A police task force has broken up two theft operations that sold stolen retail goods on the Internet, a task force agent said.

The operations exchanged shoplifted items for cash at Target, Home Depot, and Dick's Sporting Goods, said Jeff Capretto, special-agent-in-charge for the Westshore Enforcement Bureau. Officers from six western Cuyahoga County suburbs comprise the task force.

James and Julie Gawronski, a Rocky River couple and both 33, face criminal charges for running one racket out of storefront in the 16500 block of Detroit Road. Middleburg Heights resident Rick C. Smith, 31, who ran another scheme out of a nearby storefront, also faces charges, Capretto said.

Capretto said the two enterprises worked separately but shared information about their illicit trade, known in law enforcement as on-line fencing or e-fencing. It's a growing trend across the country, according to retail security experts and police.

"They're creating a market," Capretto said. "It affects all of us as consumers."

The fences would rely on drug addicts who shoplifted DVDs, video games, gaming systems, kitchenware and sporting goods from Greater Cleveland retailers. The fences would pay the shoplifters, or "boosters," one-third of the retail price. In turn, the goods were sold on Internet sites such as e-Bay for a healthy profit.

Investigators are awaiting records from eBay to determine how much the suspects made. Both operations began within the last two years.

Addicts learned to take their booty to the two storefronts through an underground network, Capretto said.

The trio, along with five people who worked for them, face charges of theft, receiving stolen property, possession of criminal tools and telecommunication fraud.

 



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