The pen scammer is back

[purpledog]

Look at eBay item #300221589333.

 

This is the third or fourth time (might even be more) that someone registered in Thailand with zero feedback (falkovd) won sakura_9999's items. Although the seller has high positive feedback, such colluding act is really not to be condone. Probably, in a couple of weeks' time, there will another eBayer by the name of falkovd selling fountain pens and watches again.

 

purpledog

Edited May 10, 2008 by purpledog

[sumgaikid]

I bought a pen from send2pong and paid using paypal. is there any way i could get paypal to reverse my transaction while his paypal account is still active.

 

on the same note, send2pong gave me a tracking number, but it is not valid. i messaged him on 2 occasions and have yetto hear from him.

 

purpledog

 

 

 

Hi - I think that you'll have to contact eBay's Trust and Security division and start a complaint ticket ... i.e "item not received or as described" in conjunction with filing a complaint with Paypal (doesn't eBay own Paypal???)

 

 

I filed a complaint with eBay (maybe 3 weeks out) who subsequently contacted the seller .... who then sent me a slew of pigeon-English emails begging me to not make trouble ... "item ship ... you no get ... you good customer ... make right you ... " or something similar

 

as noted ... no pens ever came and NO reimbursement of my $400+ USPS money order ... and then the seller either dropped from or was forced off eBay before I could get any resolution ... didn't even have the satisfaction of ripping him in feedback

 

I knew I was in trouble from the git-go ... the bidding process was strange ... the seller above me was removed by "administrative action" ... making me the high bidder ...

the seller below me suddenly became "no longer registered" which froze my bid at a much higher amount than it had been earlier in the auction ... it's my contention that

the seller employed shill bidding and I got snared

 

We need to band together and stop this (Potty Mouth) from continuing!

 

later,

 

Jim

 

I've heard that ebay scam called the "trimming method"- where a legit buyer bids and a sham bidder outbids (artificially forcing your bid up to the max). Then the shammer is removed by the seller (because he's also the sham bidder!) through some vague "administrative" move. Sometimes, like your case, they also have a sham low bidder to help force your bid up above a certain bar too. Some scammers use one or both of these methods. These sorts of scams will plague the internet so long as people are on the web buying and selling goods for money. The plain fact is that internet buying can be very wonderful and efficient, but it is also the best opportunity for scammers because there is no real person-to-person interaction.

 

Ebay's system of doing business has helped these sorts of scams to flourish. You're on the hook for the item because you technically won it, but the whole thing is a big trap. You don't pay and you get negative feedback. You pay and you get scammed. I'd have an inclination to do the former and at the same time file a report with ebay.

 

I have noticed a lot of that strategy happening lately with vintage and contemporary Italian fountain pens .

 

John

 

[sp1nitalo]

Hey Purpledog - glad to hear that you've contacted Paypal - hopefully they will make it right!!

 

in looking over the posts today, I see that I failed to add the seller known as kittiwat_x to my "rogue's gallery" of suspect eBay vendors. I might add that I'm tempted to bid to win one of sakura_9999's low-priced items just to have a chance to snag a current address for her ...

 

BTW - are there any lawyers on board? ... does RICO apply here ... it certainly seems like there is a pattern of ripping people off using data transmitted across state lines and/or national borders

 

best,

 

Jim

 

 

[purpledog]

Duplicate post. Sorry.

 

purpledog

Edited May 10, 2008 by purpledog

[purpledog]

I have messaged send2pong for the correct tracking number. he has failed to respond to my many earlier messages, and in my last message, i told him i will do something drastic if i do not hear from him. if i dont hear from him in another 24 hours, i am planning to leave a negative feedback, telling others not to bid on his items. I really don't care about getting a retaliated negative feedback. But I don't know if that is a bit harsh, given the fact we really do not have real concrete proof he is a scammer. I would like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

 

I am in a fix. On one hand, I don't want to have a person wronged, but on the other hand, I don't want more people to get cheated if this is really a scam.

 

purpledog

Edited May 10, 2008 by purpledog

[sp1nitalo]

Purpledog - please refer back to post #25 in this thread ... Bob has indicated that send2 and losacbw are one and the same ... losacbw bailed on Bob when he said that he (Bob) wanted to collect the pens in person in Bangkok ...

 

further proof that something's afoot is the fact that sakura_9999 left the only two positives that loascbw had ... I agree with you that we don't want to trash someone's rep without cause ... however trashing their rep isn't going keep a scammer from plying their trade ... as Ray-Vigo said a few posts back ... the scamming is inherent with internet transactions of the type we subject ourselves to on eBay ...

 

the only thing we can do is exactly what we're doing here ... freely exchanging information about our online experiences in the hope of making life difficult for those that would prey upon us ... trashing reps and subsequently getting someone kicked off eBay is only a minor inconvenience for these folk ... until we find some legal venue that makes it difficult for them to function ... we're going to continue to be plagued by their ilk

 

In researching the problem confronting us, it appears that the Thai scammers have a completely different take on things. They seem to be only concerned with the present ... with no concept of consequence for their actions. I've been told that the whole idea of auctions is relatively new to them .. so eBay is like a kid in a candy store ... or perhaps ... shooting fish in a barrel ... those of us that aren't vigilant in the pursuit of our pleasures often suffer at their hands

 

am tired ... late here in Ohio .. will check in tomorrow AM

 

goodnight all!

 

Jim

[ginigin]

I purchased a Pilot pen from thaigoodwill and although I like the pen, it was advertised as having a gold nib, but it's only gold colored, not real gold. I blame myself for not asking - paid way too much for it. At least it works! Be sure to ask questions of this seller and don't assume a plated nib will be listed as plated. I think Bob has the same pen for half what I paid - and accurately labeled.

[mehitabel]

Add to the list:

 

I bought a pen advertised on ebay as a black Pelikan 1000, O3B nib. The pen turned out to be an 800. The seller did offer to refund. I did not return the pen as I would have bid the same amount on an 800 (it was the nib I was most interested in). But, I did ask for the Paypal surcharge to be refunded as ebay sellers are not allowed to pass on the Paypal surcharge to the buyer. When the seller did not respond after 3-4 email requests (and I allowed plenty of time for the possibility that the seller went away for a few days, the time change, etc.), I reported him/her to ebay and the seller did change his/her Paypal policy.

 

The seller was puget2005. He/she is still selling on ebay. I did have the impression that the seller was probably an honest seller and that the pen size was an honest mistake. What was more worrisome was the seller's failure to respond to my request asking for a refuund of a fee that was illegally charged.

 

mehitabel

 

[purpledog]

All of Send2pong's sale items have been retracted, either by himself or eBay. Earlier on, I was planning to leave a warning message in my feedback to other potential buyers, but I guess there is no point in doing so now.

 

purpledog

[sp1nitalo]

PD - I just checked and send2pong is still listed as being a registered seller who currently has no items up for sale. Doing an advanced search for completed listings ... 4 pages totaling some 96 or so items have closed within the last 2 weeks. Maybe he's just in between listings ... however I DO find it MOST strange that of the 12 total positives he's racked up ... three of them came from our buddy sakura_9999 who posted her positives some 45 minutes after the auctions closed.

 

What I want to know ... is how is it possible to get the item from Bangkok to California in less than an hour so that she may examine it and post feedback?????

 

ROTFLMFAO .....

 

even our beloved Speerbob can't pull that one off ... his items generally take 2 weeks

 

 

just amazing ...

 

best,

 

Jim

[torbich]

Send2Pong listed more items, now all with "Buy it now" price.

BTW, he received lots of positive feedback (all get on buying 0.01 items ), and seller feedback shows one more possible scammer:

annakun2112.

[sp1nitalo]

Definitely bears keeping an eye on this "new" seller ... all of his purchases to date have come from sakura_9999.

 

thanks for the "heads-up!

 

Jim

[speerbob]

Hi Everyone. Well I hope no one gets ripped off and I to have wondered about Sakura_99999. He is certainly a shill bidder for these Thai sellers who are all the same group of people with the real Artit the most well known and part of the group. I did what I could while in Bangkok and mostly kept them off eBay but now I'm leaving so they are going to go all out. So it's very simple: Do not buy from any Thai seller who doesn't have very, very high feedback. I mean like 500+! Even Puget2005 who I know is not part of this group has some negative comments here. Don't give up on overseas sellers, there are great deals, but let someone else take the chance until the dealer is very well established.

 

Thanks for all the great things you said about me here. I'll be back when I get set up in Virginia! Thanks, BOB

[purpledog]

I did what I could while in Bangkok and mostly kept them off eBay but now I'm leaving so they are going to go all out.

 

Bob,

 

I would like to thank you for doing your best to ward off scammers during your time in Thailand. But would you in some sort of danger when these scammers know you are working against them?

 

Take care,

purpledog

[purpledog]

Just an update, Send2pong is no longer a registered member, and I received a message from eBay's Loss Prevention Department telling me not to pay for the item I bid on, although this message came too late.

 

purpledog.

[sp1nitalo]

THANK YOU PURPLEDOG !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just got an email advising of your recent post - earlier this AM,

 

I noticed that a friend had sold a Sheaffer set to send2pong on Saturday ...

 

I just called her and was relieved to find that she hadn't shipped the items ...

 

she also thanks you

 

Jim

Ohio

[purpledog]

THANK YOU PURPLEDOG !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just got an email advising of your recent post - earlier this AM,

 

I noticed that a friend had sold a Sheaffer set to send2pong on Saturday ...

 

I just called her and was relieved to find that she hadn't shipped the items ...

 

she also thanks you

 

Jim

Ohio

 

Jim,

 

You mean Send2pong won your friend's auction? Has Send2pong paid for your friend's item? If so, why shouldn't your friend shipped the item?

 

purpledog

[sp1nitalo]

Hey PD -

 

I do not have all the details - send2pong won the auction on Saturday ... one generally doesn't ship over the weekend ... again, I have to assume that Paypal was involved

 

since send2pong is in Bangkok and the pens are here in the US ... no paper payment could get here that fast .. a Scammer isn't going to use overnight courier ... LOL

 

What I do know is that apparently the seller had been alerted to a problem with the transaction ... either by eBay ... or Paypal ... whoops ... just got an email from my friend

 

who says that eBay sent her notice there was a problem ... she further informed me that our "friend" send2pong wanted her to ship after receiving ONLY A PARTIAL

 

PAYMENT - I mean ...What's

 

UP with THAT??

 

As to your query about my friend shipping upon receiving payment ... I would say that one should make every reasonable attempt to ship as expeditiously as possible upon

 

receiving a CONFIRMED payment ... however there are mitigating circumstances in this instance .. I wouldn't be surprised if the payment has/will be reversed ...

 

kindly remember that we aren't dealing with reputable people here ... otherwise you, I , and others wouldn't have suffered the losses we have in dealing with them

 

Jim

 

 

[purpledog]

Jim,

 

Thanks for letting me know. I hope you don't take any offense on my earlier questions. The reason that I was asking those questions is because I am trying to understand Send2pong's intention. It seems very clearly Send2pong is trying to cheat your friend by asking her to ship the pen with a partial payment made upfront first, and then refusing to pay the remaining amount after receiving the pen.

 

thanks,

purpledog

[sp1nitalo]

PD - no offense taken - I realized that you were asking questions to better understand the situation - had posted a reply to you earlier ... guess that I hit the wrong button ...

 

Jim