Scammer on the loose

[8x10 user]

I found this ad and I know for a fact that it is a scam. What should I do?

http://www.habitamos.com/post/3931969

[Bob Salomon]

You know it or you can prove it?

[8x10 user]

The lens in question is currently in my possession, so it shouldn't be hard to prove. The bogus seller says he is located in the UK.

[mikec]

You could post a mail from the sites contact page to get them to remove the ad. They might be able to take further action if they can localise the scammer.
Inicio > Contáctenos > Abusos/ Estafas
I would suggest category
Quiero denunciar anuncios fraudulentos / artículos prohibidos en Adoos

[walter23]

Uhh, don't buy it. And report it to the sales site operator.


I found this ad and I know for a fact that it is a scam. What should I do?

http://www.habitamos.com/post/3931969

[Antonio Corcuera]

The lens in question is currently in my possession, so it shouldn't be hard to prove. The bogus seller says he is located in the UK.

The ad says he is located in Huesca, that is Spain. The description is clearly ripped off from an english written ad and gone through an awful automatic translator. It will be suspicious for anyone fluent in spanish and the price is not a bargain, so it won't attract LF addicts.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

It could very well be a stolen auction listing for a legit lenses. check with the site if the serial # matches.

[8x10 user]

The pictures and description were stolen from my listing.

I could just report the ad and have it taken down but then the scammer would still be out there to try steal from someone else. I have been ripped off for a large sum in the past and it was very hard for me. I'd like to do whatever I can to prevent others from having a similar experience.

I was thinking about contacting law enforcement to see if we could do some type of way cool sting operation.

[8x10 user]

This might be a little off topic; moderators feel free to move the thread if necessary.

The Internet can definitely be a dangerous place. I have had people try to scam me at least a dozen times in the last five years. On a couple occasions I very much enjoyed messing with potential scammers by wasting their time and tricking them into repeatedly going to the bank to pick up funds that I never sent. It was a lot of fun but now I realized that I really should do what I can to stop these people from taking advantage of honest hardworking people.

So lately I have forwarded many scams to eBay and that internet-crime website that the FBI runs. I've actually had to call the authorities a couple times, with a least one instance leading to an arrest. I just thought that perhaps some of you might have recommendations on which authorities to contact for this case.

I bet this not the only thing this scammer is up too either. One time I had someone try to do a western union scam to me through the eBay. I figured out that it was a scam; that incorporated a fake email from ebay. A quick forward to spoof@ebay.com confirmed that it was a fake so then I contacted ebay and western union right away. It turned out that the scammer had almost 30k heading his way until I called western union and they canceled the payments (at least according the customer service rep.). That scam was also run out of the UK; or at least that’s where the payment was to be sent.

Another time I purchased some equipment off of the ebay from a newer seller. I paid by sending a cashier’s check via the US post office, it turned out to be a poorly planned scam. The address that I sent that payment to was actually a box at a UPS store. I reported the scam to the local authorities. It turned out that the person in question is engaged in some other questionable activities because this not so wealthy person just deposited something on the order of 30k. The funny thing was that the scammer was stupid enough to return to the UPS store to pick up some more checks, right then the officer who was investing the case happened to stop by to ask some more questions when he saw the suspect. After being arrested the police searched the suspect and found another 15k in her purse. She pled guilty to grand theft and spent some time in jail. As of right now I have received a small portion of the stolen funds as restitution and it has been several years since the incident took place. I have no idea what happened to my money or all of the cash that the authorities confiscated. I heard that the police suspected a connection with someone in Italy who I believe set up the scams. The information was forwarded to higher up law enforcement, not sure if they made any progress.

On two more occasions I found the item re-listed with the same description and photograph. To prevent anyone else from getting scammed I placed the high bid on both items. The seller never contacted me and would not respond to my messages so I'm guessing that he or she remembered me. I left a good warning feedback and wrote to ebay but I don't they did anything. I tried to contact the feds about this but they never followed up with me.

[mikec]

I also once sent data to the FBI site concerning an internet scam but heard abolutely nothing since. I presume that if it doesn't fit some high level profile they don't give a ****. I should have mentioned that I was convinced the scammer was a member of a pedeophile terrorist drug ring.

Back to the guy trying to sell your lens.

There are a couple of email addresses on the Spanish cops site below and phone details. I expect you could get an english speaker easily enough.

Policía nacional

Oficina Virtual de Denuncias de la Dirección General de la Policía. Desde esta web usted podrá interponer denuncias ante el Cuerpo Nacional de Policía
Internet: http://www.policia.es
Téléphone: + 34 900150000 / 091
Fax: + 34 915372410
Direction: calle Rafael Calvo, 33
28010 Madrid
Spain

The first address is probably suitable for internet scams:
delitos.tecnologicos@policia.es,

Worth a try.