Please Help Stop A Fountain Pen Thief/fence - Ebay User Dort1463

[lahlahlaw]

Hey John!

 

I can't imagine what you were feeling when you saw all of this going down on Ebay! I'm sure it felt awful seeing your beloved collection being sold off for cents on the dollar, but at least now you have a lead. I hope the police follow up on it thoroughly! Even if you don't know who the guy is or anything the odds of recovering any of your pens just went way up, as opposed to were the situation stood with no info whatsoever. Also, I understand your line of reasoning for not contacting Ebay about the guy so far, but I really do think you should probably notify them. If nothing else, at least you can stop your collection from becoming scattered all over the country if they were to shut him down, and they would probably be more than cooperative should your local P.D. or the FBI were to contact them. I hope it works out for you friend! Keep us posted.

 

Stay well,

Nick

I wouldn't notify eBay just yet, the seller will disappear. In any case the police can always subpoena the sales info on the completed sales.

[Snargle]

I assume that you filed a police report when the pens were stolen in June? If so, you need to contact your local police immediately and let them know that you've located your stolen items. They should be able to work with eBay (and possibly the FBI) to track down the seller and trace the merchandise. Like people have mentioned before, the seller may not have been the thief, but the sale of stolen merchandise, even by an unwitting seller, is illegal and action can be taken by law enforcement to stop the sales and recover your items. Don't waste time trying to play detective...let the professionals handle it. They have the tools and the laws on their side.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Snargle

[serpent]

When I searched it says he's in california. right now he has nothing new listed. I would contact a seller he bought from and see if they will divulge his info to you. looks like he started selling FP's 2nd week of july.

Edited August 15, 2014 by serpent

[Lyander0012]

I saw the original post you'd made some time back, and feel your pain. Fountain pens are a very personal thing, and for someone to steal FIFTY of them and sell them off as his own, not to mention some of them being very valuable ones to boot? I'm tempted to risk swearing in a post at how completely criminal it all is.

 

I can't do much save for wish you all the best, since online transactions are still foreign to me. But I'm glad you finally managed to track the (self-censoring) down. I hope you get the entirety of your collection back, or at the very least all the ones that truly matter to you.

 

 

Godspeed,

 

Kevin

[Icywolfe]

Concerning the Sheaffer stub, he wrote “the writing tip is missing. everything else is in very good condition.”

 

clearly someone who doesn't know about fountain pens, so i dont think this ebayer bought in 'good faith' from the thief if he doesn't know jack about FPs.

 

I wonder if it is possible to contact people who bought items from him and try to completely ID him (paypal payment to person's name etc)

I've seen some stupid stuff written in the description of items.

 

If he isn't the thief more than likely it's one of the theives's friend or family member.

 

This might be the only time in my life I'll say: "Somebody should hack his eBay profile."

 

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

 

@OP Do you possibly know who stole your pens in the real world?

Edited August 15, 2014 by Icywolfe

[Chrissy]

Remember that this seller may have bought the collection "in good faith" from the thief. Daniel O may not be aware that these pens were stolen.

Yes he may, but that still doesn't make them his pens to sell. Selling stolen goods is still a criminal offence whether you know they are stolen or not. He stands to lose the pens, that remain the property of the original owner, and the money he has sold them for

[Icywolfe]

Yes he may, but that still doesn't make them his pens to sell. Selling stolen goods is still a criminal offence whether you know they are stolen or not. He stands to lose the pens, that remain the property of the original owner, and the money he has sold them for

The thing that happens with most stolen items is they either get pawned or sold/give to family and friends. A smart thief almost never hangs on to them. Then again we could be looking for a moron.

[paultyler_82]

As others have mentioned, you need to contact the FBI as internet sales are inherently considered interstate. One other agency tyou need to contact is the USPS Postal Inspector's office. Using the mail to ship stolen goods is something the Postal Inspector frowns upon and though largely unheard of, they enforce mail regulations quite zealously.

DO NOT contact EBay. They will pull his listings and suspend his account which will, if he is the thief, give him a big red flag that someone is on to him. Let law enforcement coordinate with EBay, they will do so on their own when they need to.

If he is not the thief, law enforcement will sort that out, regardless, even if he unknowingly received the goods, they, and the cash from the sales will be taken from him, and if he knowingly did so, most states have a criminal charge for knowingly receiving stolen property. That said, now that everyone here knows that this seller is selling stolen pens, you should avoid buying anything from the seller or there is potential for YOU to be charged with that offense.

If anyone here has already bought one of the stolen pens, you need to contact John, your local law enforcement and/or the FBI and arrange to return the pen to it's rightful owner and report the fraud to try to get what you paid back. Retaining the pen or selling it back to John now that you know it is stolen could also potentially open you up to being charged with knowingly receiving stolen property.

[alc3261]

Yes he may, but that still doesn't make them his pens to sell. Selling stolen goods is still a criminal offence whether you know they are stolen or not. He stands to lose the pens, that remain the property of the original owner, and the money he has sold them for

Of course I understand that, if you buy stolen goods no matter how unknowingly you don't get to keep them.

There are many instances of innocent (but naive) people buying stolen cars and just losing all the money when the car is recovered by the rightful owner/insurance company.

I just wanted to point out that Daniel O may not be a thief or a fence.

[kazoolaw]

Selling stolen goods is still a criminal offence whether you know they are stolen or not.

England must be a frightening place to live.

 

gary

[alc3261]

England must be a frightening place to live.

 

gary

If you genuinely had no idea the item was stolen it is very unlikely you would be prosecuted.

And your chances of being shot (by anybody) are very low.

[kazoolaw]

...it is very unlikely you would be prosecuted.

 

"Unlikely" - cold comfort

 

And the crime would be?

 

gary

Edited August 15, 2014 by gary

[Blue_Moon]

Yes he may, but that still doesn't make them his pens to sell. Selling stolen goods is still a criminal offence whether you know they are stolen or not. He stands to lose the pens, that remain the property of the original owner, and the money he has sold them for

 

So, if a perfectly honest merchant buys merchandise, that he does not know is stolen, from someone he believes to be honest, and turns around and sells it with the intention of making a little profit, then the honest merchant has committed a criminal offense that can result in serious consequences?

 

I know that he would be the victim, losing the merchandise, when it was returned to the rightful owner, but "criminal offense"???

Edited August 15, 2014 by Blue_Moon

[jar]

 

So, if a perfectly honest merchant buys merchandise, that he does not know is stolen, from someone he believes to be honest, and turns around and sells it with the intention of making a little profit, then the honest merchant has committed a criminal offense that can result in serious consequences?

 

I know that he would be the victim, losing the merchandise, when it was returned to the rightful owner, but "criminal offense"???

 

Hopefully, "Yes!"

 

If it seems too good to be true, it very likely is.

[Mezzie]

I agree with those saying to deal with law enforcement, not ebay. The seller could disappear very easily if tipped off.

 

I sincerely hope the thief gets caught and you get your pens back. It would be nice to have a happy ending.

[Kimo]

^{I would guess that if the crook who is selling these pens on Ebay has two brain cells to rub together he would be reading this forum to learn what he can about values and what collectors are seeking. It would also be the place to monitor whether anyone had caught onto him so he would know when to disappear and later resurface with a new Ebay account.}

Edited August 15, 2014 by Kimo

[Snargle]

From eBay's Rules & Policies page:

 

 

What to do if you see stolen property on eBay

 

If you see stolen property on eBay or items with missing or altered serial numbers, please contact local law enforcement immediately and ask them to contact us using our form reserved for law enforcement officials. Under eBay's privacy policy, our attorneys will provide important records about pending and past listings in response to an official request from law enforcement officials.

When the law enforcement official contacts us, ask that he or she include all relevant information, including the case number and any item numbers or user IDs. This information appears on the listing page.

Please don't use the law enforcement form to contact us unless you are a law enforcement official.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Snargle

[Ernst Bitterman]

"Unlikely" - cold comfort

 

And the crime would be?

 

gary

 

Transferring stolen goods. I'm pretty sure it's the same in Canada, and I wouldn't wonder that diverse states have kept it in place. That Latin tag I used earlier is "you cannot give what you don't have" is in law specifically because it doesn't matter how many hands a thing passes through; the thief had ho rights in it, so no one down the chain does, either.

[kazoolaw]

Hopefully, "Yes!"

 

If it seems too good to be true, it very likely is.

And if it's not "too good"?

 

If you buy a vintage pen from Y, who bought it from Z, sell that pen and it turns out to have been stolen by X, you are a criminal?

 

Hopefully criminals aren't lynched anymore in the Deep South.

 

gary

[jar]

And if it's not "too good"?

 

If you buy a vintage pen from Y, who bought it from Z, sell that pen and it turns out to have been stolen by X, you are a criminal?

 

Hopefully criminals aren't lynched anymore in the Deep South.

 

gary

 

 

Yes, I am probably a criminal. Whether I would be prosecuted or not is another story and would depend on whether I should have reasonably know the property was stolen.

 

And lynching was not just a southern problem.