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Dealing w/ Online Fraudulent Sellers?

Posted by Cliff on from the getting-what-you-paid-for-or-your-money-back dept.

Nicholas French asks: "I have recently made a couple of online purchases, one was an Ancient Bronze Amlash ring from The Antiquities Company which cost me *cough* 'a lot of money' and was backed up by a 'guarantee of authenticity'. The other was a second hand Book Crowds & Power, via the Amazon Marketplace, which I have not even received regardless of the numerous emails sent to both the seller and Amazon. I have since taken delivery of the ring and had its metal composition tested...turns out it is actually brass, and not exactly Ancient either! When I approached the seller via email, quoting my money back 'guarantee of authenticity' I was told politely to take a hike. I am considering speaking to Trading standards but am not really sure where to start, so have added myself to the growing numbers of reported Fraud victims on Fraud.Org. Have any other Slashdot readers managed to retrieve their hard earned cash from these Fraudsters, or had any similar problems with large online's such as Amazon?"

2 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Scamming the Scammer by MBoffin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    But what about the other direction? One guy found out he was getting scammed by a buyer and so instead of selling him a Powerbook, he sold him a P-P-P-Powerbook. :) Gotta love it.

  2. Re:Your postal inspector is your friend by geoswan · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Oh, the fastcompany article, "Catch me if you can", is available again.
    ...the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which is responsible for investigating most online-auction scams...

    Higgins, 45, has worked for the U.S. Postal Service since he was in college, when he took a job as a letter carrier in the town of Andover, Massachusetts, north of Boston. He had always wanted to be a federal agent -- maybe in the Secret Service or the FBI -- but the path to becoming a postal inspector seemed a little clearer. Despite the dweeby title, postal inspectors are indeed feds: Higgins packs a 9-millimeter Beretta Centurion whenever he leaves the office. "We're not as well-known as the FBI," shrugs Higgins. "That doesn't bother me." He has a low-key personality, a spiky gray brush cut with a shock of white in front, and a reputation around the office as a tenacious investigator.