Well, it happened to me -- $1000 Bal Bag Fraud Case

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Jan 30, 2011
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The short and the sweet of it: over a month ago (March 17, 2011) I received payment for a 2011 Balenciaga and sent it to the address listed on the Paypal form. As the transaction was for over $250, I also chose signature confirmation and insured it. The transaction went smoothly - he received the bag on March 21 and left positive feedback.

At 2am today (over a month after this transaction), I received an email from Paypal notifying me that they are seizing that amount from my account because the buyer is claiming an unauthorized transaction. Needless to say, any thought of sleep dissipated and anger took over. I immediately provided Paypal the tracking information showing delivery to the address listed on the Paypal form (where it says "OK TO SHIP") and also requested the USPS records as to the signature confirmation they have on file. I cannot provide the PDF of the signature confirmation yet (which, by the way, clearly lists the buyers name as the signor) because the case is now "Pending Paypal Review" and the offices are closed.

This thief could not have picked a worse target: I'm a lawyer and my husband is a federal agent. Not only am I angry at suddenly having a negative balance on my Paypal account, I'm also angry that he had the balls to pull this stunt. Unsurprisingly, I took the opportunity to email him.

My emails to him are below:

I'm writing to inform you that what you have done by purchasing a new Balenciaga bag from me, receiving that bag, leaving me positive feedback on that transaction, and then filing a chargeback with your credit card company is illegal - classified as grand larceny as it is theft of over $1000 (and a class G felony in his state) - and is a state crime as well as a federal offense. As an attorney who is also married to a federal agent, I would like to inform you that YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED unless you contact your credit card company and tell them the truth. I have sufficient evidence to win this case with Paypal but if you force me to fight this, I will also make sure you go to jail. In fact, I promise you that I will not stop until I see you behind bars.

I look forward to a swift and speedy resolution to this case.


My second email to him wasn't nearly as nice:

In addition to what I've already written, not only does the USPS track where they ship packages, they also keep records of who signed for them and I have YOUR SIGNATURE on file (attached) which proves that you received the bag in question and have kept it (not to mention all of the other evidence of your active involvement in this transaction, not least of which was you leaving positive feedback on my account for this transaction).

Be advised of the following:

1) tomorrow morning, I am calling your local police station tomorrow to file a police report charging you with theft
.

2) I am also going to contact your credit card company to notify them of your fraudulent claim. Unfortunately for you, this is EXACTLY the field within which I practice and I can't even begin to describe how seriously credit card fraud is viewed and pursued by these companies. Yes, this means jail time for you.

Again, as an attorney who also happens to be married to a federal agent, you could not have picked a worse person to try and steal from. I hope you can afford legal representation - you're going to need it.


This thief's eBay name is leo1329

I'll keep you updated of the developments. And I'm NOT going to stop at just getting my money back. I think it's time these scammers got what they deserved and I PROMISE that I'll do everything in my power to make sure this bastard ends up behind bars.
 
I literally shudder every time I see another one of these threads- it makes me so upset that honest people are being put through so much trouble/headaches by POS scammers.

2 months?! Seriously. Do some people even have brains?
You go girl! I would not want to mess with you!! :biggrin: Keep fighting to put this thief behind bars!! Like what was your buyer thinking? That all the records of the transaction would magically disappear? I am so sorry OP that you have to deal with this bull%^$ and I will be sending good vibes you way :hugs:. However seeing as you are a lawyer with a fed hubby I think you will have no problem bringing this guy down. I think that your e-mail was completely justified btw. I'm guessing your buyer was in the U.S.? If so that will make things a whole lot easier (but not at all more pleasant). This whole situation is just wrong-he is claiming that someone used is ebay account without his knowledge yet he signed for the bag and left a pos? Please keep us updated as I do not want to see another scammer get away scotch free.


p.s. Thank you for posting the ID, I could not add someone to my block list fast enough!


ETA: OMG I just looked him up and he lives in my state!! :yucky: If you need me to do some drive by private investigating let me know lol
 
I'm writing to inform you that what you have done by purchasing a new Balenciaga bag from me, receiving that bag, leaving me positive feedback on that transaction, and then filing a chargeback with your credit card company is illegal - classified as grand larceny as it is theft of over $1000 (and a class G felony in his state) - and is a state crime as well as a federal offense. As an attorney who is also married to a federal agent, I would like to inform you that YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED unless you contact your credit card company and tell them the truth. I have sufficient evidence to win this case with Paypal but if you force me to fight this, I will also make sure you go to jail. In fact, I promise you that I will not stop until I see you behind bars.

I look forward to a swift and speedy resolution to this case.

My second email to him wasn't nearly as nice:

In addition to what I've already written, not only does the USPS track where they ship packages, they also keep records of who signed for them and I have YOUR SIGNATURE on file (attached) which proves that you received the bag in question and have kept it (not to mention all of the other evidence of your active involvement in this transaction, not least of which was you leaving positive feedback on my account for this transaction).

Be advised of the following:

1) tomorrow morning, I am calling your local police station tomorrow to file a police report charging you with theft.


2) I am also going to contact your credit card company to notify them of your fraudulent claim. Unfortunately for you, this is EXACTLY the field within which I practice and I can't even begin to describe how seriously credit card fraud is viewed and pursued by these companies. Yes, this means jail time for you.

Again, as an attorney who also happens to be married to a federal agent, you could not have picked a worse person to try and steal from. I hope you can afford legal representation - you're going to need it.


I absolutely LOVE your emails to him!! I wish everyone who got scammed on Ebay had the knowledge and the ability to take care of the scammers this way. If they did, there would be no more scams. I can't wait to see if he responds, but in the meantime, I think he deserves a criminal record! Please let us know if you hear back! :smile:
 
absolutely, you go girl... this is unbelievable .. it looks like we are finally going to

see a scammer get what they deserve... and to top it off you are an attorney &

your husband a federal agent... you certainly won't be intimidated by stupid

excuses.. everything is in black and white.. delivery conf, signature conf & positive

feedback.... did theyactually think they were going to get away with this... keep

us posted and certainly hope they get what they deserve...jail time...
 
So sorry this is happening to you too!

I've heard of instances where a buyer will dispute unauthorized charges on their credit card, but a number of other transactions will also be included inadvertently. Perhaps this is what happened in this case?

NOT trying to defend the buyer, just hoping for a better angle.
 
Wow- so sorry to hear you are going to have spend your time dealing with this! And as everyone else has said... they really messed with the wrong person! Your advice and knowledge were so helpful to me in my scammer case- thank you. I am just so sorry you now have to deal with a similar situation. Good luck and please tell us what PP says- interesting the person is using the unauthorized transaction claim... we have seen empty box, different item, INR- but, I am curious how this case will proceed.
Good luck.
 
Fingers are crossed that this works out for you. Sorry that you even have to deal with this headache!

I had an unauthorized charge on one of my credit cards. I reported the charge to my credit card company and they did remove the charge .... but they also removed other charges from the same day! Ummmm .... I didn't ask for that to do be done! Another call to the credit card company straightened out the authorized charges. Maybe something similar happened in your case?
 
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