The worst kind of scammer...

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Posted By: Gary B.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31719&item=5125609871&rd=1

The person selling this didn't even bother to change the creases from the T206 proof in the scan he stole. He also has other auctions that he got from an old house, estate sale, etc. saying things like "these are not graded, but many of the cards from this house i graded and they came back legit." Most of the bidding is by the same people, often people with 0 feedback. He himself has 7 feedback all from purchases, none from sales.

The worst thing is I e-mailed this guy about 8 times, each time he writes back vigirously defending his point of view, and he won't admit that he's a thief. I went ahead and sent an e-mail to every person who bid on one of his auctions letting them know it was a scam, including all the shill accounts as well. i told him i will continue to do that if anyone else new bids on one of his auctions. what else can i do? ebay doesn't listen, so hopefully i can at least save some people their hard earned money. you should hear this guy rant and rave to defend himself. After my e-mails, he even added something to each one of his auctions to try and defend himself, but all he ends up saying is he thinks these are real - he doesn't buy fake cards - give me a break!

like many of you, i'm SO tired of this. there's not much we can do with scammers except resort to being vigilantes and going after them 1 auction at a time. hope i save someone some money...

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Posted By: Julie

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Posted By: jamie

while i applaud your efforts, the sad fact is he is one of a very small number of thieves who use ebay as their playground. youre going to worry yourself sick trying to get rid of all of them.

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Posted By: Gary B.

I thought they didn't care about scammers, and besides, why would he go to ebay to defend his scam auctions and shill bidding? Wouldn't that just be shooting himself in the foot?

What else can I do besides this?

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Posted By: steve k

Gary - Your trying to help fellow baseball card collectors is admirable. I applaud your effort. Bill Cornell inspired me to also do this when he posted a thread a number of months ago on successfully getting a bad scammer's auction delisted. As was noted, you could go crazy doing this all the time and no one has that much time, but when I see an auction that particularly irritates me (about 8 or 10 of them over the past three or so months)I report it to ebay. To my surprise, every single one of them has been delisted within approximately 12 hours. The only mistake you made is going back and forth with the scammer - won't help you or the bidders - just report the auction to ebay to get it delisted.

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Posted By: Gary B.

i COULD do that, but i thought from a lot of the posts around here i've seen that people try all the time to get stuff delisted from ebay and are unsuccessful because ebay doesn't care. i don't want to put any more time into this than i have if it's only an offchance it will work. and don't worry, i don't spend much time trying to get through to scammers or protect people from them, i do have a life, it's just that every once in awhile it gets one auction will get me particuarly annoyed and it's hard to keep looking the other way all the time.

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Posted By: Bill Cornell

There are 2 effective ways to report scammers like this, both of which are found through the eBay Help links.

- The authenticity disclaimer, which has been discussed here before.
- False contact info. Sellers must provide legitimate info, including a phone #. Scammers don't do this.

I am on an unbeaten streak with these 2 methods that is approaching DiMaggio's '41 number. I don't know this for sure, but I think a calm tone probably aids complaints.

Posting on the board about a lame scam like this is, I think, not really necessary. Report the guy and watch him disappear.

Bill

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Posted By: jamie

more importantly, you should know that emailing the bidders, even if it's to warn them about a possible scam, is called bidding interference and you can be suspended for it. ebay does not protect the good guys. follow the advice offered and never deal with these guys directly.

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Posted By: dennis

and ebay does indeed end A lot of them. when you contact a person dumb enough to bid on a scam auction they probably think you are trying to keep the price down so you can bid on the item..IF they think that, they will report you for bidder interference. REMEMBER THE SCAM ARTIST SELLING THE MONUS LISA of cards.(WITH THE PIC OF THE DUMP HOUSE)--THAT IS NOW AN INVALID ITEM.his scam came to an end.

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Posted By: runscott

The authenticity disclaimer does nothing. The false contact info is only good if you win the auction and then try to contact the seller, and even then I've tried it and I'm 0-fer. It's amazing that you have a perfect record using these techniques, but I'm glad to hear it.

I don't trust ebay at all to take care of things like this, and certainly not to be fair about anything. As long as they are making money off transactions, and can continue their practices without being sued or shut down, they will continue with business as usual.

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Posted By: runscott

I sent him an email mentioning that scammers have been getting prison time and that I planned on reporting what I knew to the government. Amazing response:

you have by far too much time on your hand
i took it off, but i was offered 200.00 for it from someone who CAN
READ and knows that is was being listed "as is" christ, you are
pathetic

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Posted By: David Smith

You're E mail to the seller resulted in THAT auction being stopped early but what about the other auctions? There are still 2 Goudey Ruth's and 2 T206 Cobb's up for auction.

There was a Cracker Jack Wagner but it looks like my E mails (which I will post next) resulted in that being taken down.

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Posted By: David Smith

The first paragraph is what I wrote to the seller:


"It's funny how you only have star cards listed for sale. It is also funny how one person has all the high bids and that angel has also bid on these cards but retracted bids that are higher than the current highest bid. I think the Ohio Attorney General's office will be interested in looking into this matter."


This is what the seller wrote back:

i have other cards i just dont wish to put them up at the current time. I state what i know about the cards i dont know who these bidders are. the angel person contacted me about purchasing but never returned my emails


This is the sellers second response to what I wrote them:

"It's funny how you only have star cards listed for sale. It is also funny how one person has all the high bids and that angel has also bid on these cards but retracted bids that are higher than the current highest bid. I think the Ohio Attorney General's office will be interested in looking into this matter."

and that angel person also is the winning bidder on a couple items. thanks

I just went to "Completed Auctions" and the Cracker Jack Wagner auction WAS ended early. When I clicked on the auction itself, the reason for ending the auction early was, "Item no longer available for sale". Funny how mentioning the Attorney General suddenly gets the card "No longer available for sale".

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Posted By: dennis

he ended the auction with this sad note....DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING HARASSMENT BY ONE MAN IN PARTICULAR I WILL STATE THE OBVIOUS THAT SINCE AUTHENTICITY IS UNKNOWN AND STRIP IS UNGRADED, THAT IT IS BEING SOLD AS A REPRINT. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE ASK. i HAVE MANY GREAT CARD AUCTIONS AND MANY LOTS TO COME

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Posted By: Gary B.

I would post my conversations with this seller, but they're ridiculously long. Let's just say this person will say ANYTHING they need to say to defend what he and I knew was bull**** to begin with. I even found the image he used to copy the Wagner proof and he said that was the image used from when he bought it. Ok. He bought the $85,000 proof sold in 1999? I thought he found it in an estate sale? I told him how all the creases were the same and he ignored that totally. He said I should read up on my periodicals because at least 3 have been found now.

It's like a criminal denying they robbed a bank, but I have a security film of his face very clearly for 5 minutes robbing the bank and he still denies it. What a guy!

Thanks everyone for jumping in on this one. I'll be more careful in the future about HOW i go about trying to end scams, if I even bother at all - it's kind of tiring. I just wish people knew enough to do proper research before buying something, but they just don't. I consider myself an intelligent person, and STILL I came REAL CLOSE to getting scammed a few months ago, which is how I found out about this board in the first place. Everyone it seems (myself included) wants to get a GREAT DEAL, and some will abandon their senses and hope for the best. I wish there was a way to let the entire ebay community know about the problem and that they need to do thorough research when making (especially a large) purchase. That way at least they know what's out there and I wouldn't worry about them.

I must be incredibly stupid or naive, because I thought if I told this guy that he was being watched and that he should get his life together, that stealing was wrong and he can stop any time he wants, that he would listen, but all he did was add lie upon lie upon lie to his theft attempts. At least I said my piece to him. Oh well...

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Posted By: steve k

Ebay out there sometimes is like Dodge City in the "wild west" of the 19th century as far as unlawfulness. Funny that if we are scammed out of $500 from a con artist of some type in our local town, we don't think twice about legal prosecution. We get scammed on ebay out of $500 and some say "oh well" or just complain to ebay about it. Hopefully one day a sheriff will come "to town" and cleanup many of the con artists who run rampant on ebay, but I'm certainly not sure when.

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Posted By: David Smith

I did some investigating (I am unemployed right now and yes, I DO have too much time on myt hands and not enough money to buy old cards). The seller, mopeds_r_us, had been a seller under the name ashleyvig and had tried to sell the 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth. eBAY shut them down before it sold.

I found that angel6571 had bid on ALL of mopeds_r_us' "vintage" cards and had retracted bids that were higher than other people's bids (shill bidding?). I contacted eBAY, through their live chat help, and Charmaine M. said she would alert her supervisor to this.

So far, eBAY has not closed the auctions or shut this seller down.

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Posted By: DENNIS

this guy is selling reprints and has a shill bidder --i contacted the high bidder on the ruth and told him real goudeys have green print.last i look he did not retract his bid--he could also be a shill for the seller(or the seller himself)

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Posted By: steve k

There is an old Hebrew proverb which I happen to fully believe in; "He who saves one life saves the world entire." I don't think they had baseball card collectors in mind because I don't think there were baseball cards back then, but if you can save one fellow baseball card collector from a scammer, that has to be a good thing.

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Posted By: dennis

all his auctions are over and he's no longer a registered user!!

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Posted By: David Smith

Don't get too excited, this seller previously had the eBAY ID of ashleyvig. eBAY also shut that one down. As far as shill bidding, the seller did it himself.

If you look under ashleyvig completed items, they sold a moped. One of the bidders was mopeds_r_us. When you look at the contact info for ashleyvig, it is kwhitmore@wowway.com in Columbus, Ohio. When you look at the contact info for mopeds_r_us, it is kwhitmore@gmail.com in Columbus, Ohio. Obviously this person was committing fraud (a felony). Maybe Warshawlaw can give some more insight into this area...

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Posted By: Gary B.

I'm so tempted to write this guy again and say something to him, but better to leave him alone - don't need to get junk mail for the next 50 years or whatever else he might decide to do. I told him very clearly several times what he was doing was wrong and to please stop, and that I e-mailed all the bidders including all the shills to let them know they were getting scammed.

Instead, here are some highlights from his e-mails to me:

"how am i ripping anyone off. i'm auctioning off cards i won in an estate sale???? whoever angel6571 is (his shill bidder), that person has bid on a lot of my auctions because i told them if they won many, i would give them a better deal. they had emailed me

"i write what the card shops tell me"

"i have a T206 Plank and Cobb that i got from the sales and they are graded a 6. those are for me to keep to give my kids, not to put on ebay."

"oh and another thing. i get upwards to 20,000 cards at estate auctions, do you think these are the only ones i get. i have plenty of cards that are not of HOF'ers, etc, but i sell those in lots and i keep a lot of them for myself, such as many T206 cards."

"i get my cards legally, i sell them legally"

"i'm getting sick of you. i'm reporting you to ebay for harassment. my auctions are perfectly legal. You are a stalker, that's what you are. my aucitions are within ebay standards. I have ONE ebay account which i do business on. You are just too funny for words. I have not lost any money. "

"i am buddhist and do not appreciate being told i am ripping anyone off"

Isn't it amazing how he defends himself and adds lie upon lie upon lie no matter what I said to him? This guy is something else - definitely one to keep our eyes out for when he does the same thing yet again under a different account.

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Posted By: Gary B.

Two separate quotes in regards to the Wagner proof from different e-mails:


"I paid 450.00 for the proof sheet plus a box of miscellaneous cards."

"and i didnt steal a scan. i use the same scan from the item that was used when i bought it. thanks"


So, he bought the proof sheet from an estate sale AND used a scan from when he bought it? Wow!

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Posted By: David Smith

If you look at mopeds_r_us completed auctions, he had a Cracker Jack Honus Wagner for sale. If you read the description, he says he, "does not knowingly buy reprints, only the real deals".

Now, if you go to the completed auctions he has won, you will see that he bought the Cracker Jack card and in that description the seller clearly states the Wagner is a reprint. mopeds also bought a T206 Wagner listed as a reprint. There was a third reprint card he bought but I can not remember it right now.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Why do these knuckleheads always drag religion into it? Isn't there enough stupidity in the name of the Lord already?

He's not the worst kind of scammer, though. That would be reserved for liars whose lies get people killed.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I think the board is doing a great job of hunting these ebay idiots down and either getting them banned or at least getting them to remove bad items. If ebay is too big or too busy to police their sellers, then the network54 crowd can do the hobby a great service by bombarding these cretins with constant emails about their fradulent material. Eventually they will go away.

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Posted By: runscott

mopeds_r_us is no longer registered, but Kim Whitmore is back as "sportscardsmcgee", and actively petitioning sellers to give her quick feedback.