Slashdot Mirror
P-P-P-PowerBook for a S-S-S-Scammer...
kormoc writes "It all started with a ebay auction when the seller got a email from a dude who wanted to scam him. It was a normal setup and it went horribly wrong... for the scammer. This has turned from a awful plight for a ebay user to a wonderful prank on the scammer. Throw in some crazy brits with digicams and you have the making of a great story.
Mirror
Mirror"
That should get the coffee out your nostrils on a fine sunday morning. Note that you have to download the PDF to read the story.
The government hasn't been scammed. If anything they've been unscammed. The government collected taxes way in excess of what they'd otherwise get if the package had been valued correctly.
On Apple Input Peripherals: They're okay, I guess, but I was really hoping for a one-key keyboard and a 109-button mouse
The scammer (buyer) faked an escrow service that disappeared shortly after the "item" was shipped. The escrow service was the way both parties agreed to send payment. Since this agreement was obviously violated on several levels, I cannot see how the "buyer" has a leg to stand on.
You know it's coming: Scammer auctions P-P-P-Powerbook on eBay to cover cost of customs duty.
This story is getting popular enough that it just might work.
My instinct tells me the prof in Terre Haute has nothing to do with it, and just had his name pulled out of a directory to be stuck on a domain registration, as a red herring.
How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
Except that there's not law in either the UK or USA that says you have to send a REAL powerbook to someone who DIDN'T pay you for it. He pretends to pay, you pretend to send him a real computer.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
Or, to put things another way: the scammer started it.
[1]wikipedia
"What is right is not necessarily legal. What is legal is not necessarily right."
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
That logic doesn't follow in this case, unfortunately. It would be fraud because he didn't send the item described in the auction. If I sold you a stereo valued at $500 and sent a computer valued at $500 with no intention of sending the stereo you purchased, that is fraud. The customs declaration said "PowerBook," not art. Again, fraud. I have the feeling though, since the guy who started it was committing computer fraud (fraudulent web site for the purpose of theft), he's probably not going to press charges. :)
What you missed was that he listed an actual PowerBook on ebay - and actually SOLD said PowerBook on eBay to a legitimate buyer. The events of this story all take place SEPERATELY from the eBay sale, outside of eBay. No defrauding of eBay went on here.
As for defrauding PayPal - all he asked for was donations for shipping an item to Great Britain, and said funds were used for that purpose. I think that accusing him of defrauding PayPal is a bit of a stretch - you might make the argument, but I don't think anyone would really swallow it.
The only defrauding that went on here is FedEx - the contents of the package and value were both misstated.
<mode="pedantic">What auction? The e-bay auction was rescinded, so there could be no fraudulent transaction.</mode>
Since no money changed hands, the buyer cannot claim he did not receive the article he paid for.
As to what was on the customs declaration, your assertion seems likely, but you are arguing facts not in evidence. Maybe the pranksters honestly filled in "p-p-p-powerbook"
How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
The concept of "lesser of two evils" also comes into play... which is to say that it's okay to comitt a crime if it's being done in order to get in the way a larger crime.
In order for the scammer to claim that he was the victim of a fraud, he'd end up confessing to the original scam which was much more serious. Most judges and prosecuters would grant immunity to the people who sent the "P-P-P-PowerBook" in order to bring down the larger scam artist.
So, there goes that silly export fraud claim..
While this is a great story, did this guy really need to register p-p-p-powerbook.com for it? People register domains for the stupidest reasons.
Also, what's with the 28 page PDF? What's wrong with just HTML? That alone would cut down his bandwidth usage, especially in light of all the publicity this story is getting.
Yeah, I know, -1 Flamebait.
I like my women like my coffee... pale and bitter.
Why would UK customs be upset? More money for the UK piggy bank.
This is someone getting their just desserts, and in a damn funny way too. Just as good as sending the box, marking it "MUST BE CHECKED BY CUSTOMS" and sticking a polythene bag of flour in there.
PocketGamer.org - For the gamer on the go!
Yeah, this guy had balls. I've heard of cases where there has been murders over stuff like this- not sure if it is true or not but think about the quality of people that you are dealing with on the other end and then ask yourself whether it was worth it.
Amusing, none the less, and entertaining to read. But overall I think you are better off just reporting the scam and letting it go. Sure, reporting it probably won't result in anything, but it is about the most we can legally do.
Actually, the reason you got a canned response is most likely the fact that this scam was sent to many many people, and eBay (more specifically, PayPal) was dealing with an overwhelming number of inquiries into what it was about. I personally know 4 people (including myself) who recieved that e-mail.
The coordination that existed all under the nose of the target is amazing. They had three operatives just waiting there, and dozens of others investigating the crime and tracing every possible connection.
If just some guys on a message board can do this, what does this say about organized crime? About the police? I can't even imagine the possibilities for the group that stays connected like this.
The Political Programmer
This kind of vigilante approach is risky, because while you may or may not have guessed correctly that someone is trying to defraud you, sending a piece of plastic instead of a PowerBook is definitely attempted fraud.
For example, if the guy at the other end has a mean streak and some spare cash, he may just send the $2100 and then charge you with fraud. Try explaining to the police and judge that you thought you were being defrauded because some WHOIS information didn't look right to you when the other guy can prove he sent the money to you and you sent him a worthless piece of plastic. Or maybe you are just dealing with a very unprofessional operation, but not necessarily a fraudulent one.
If you believe someone is trying to defraud you, just don't do business with them, contact eBay's fraud department, and maybe go to the police. That's better for everybody involved.
There is an old saying: "You can't scam an honest man".
Now you understand why that is true.
PDFs take a bloody long time to display (unless you have a top of the line 'puter and a broadband connection, it takes as long to load a PDF as it does to load Photoshop).
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
This is a great example of turning the tables on a scammer. If more people had the intelligence and creatvity to do this sort of thing, we could really put a dent in the activites of on-line crooks.
The way I see it, the scammer got what he deserved and you've really got to scrape the bottom of the barrel of technicalities to find something that the seller did that was "illegal".
IANAL, but the only thing "illegal" that was done by the seller was mis-stating the value of the item on the customs form. And even that could be debated. If I paint a picture and declare that it's worth $10,000, who is to say that it's not?
1, Ebay was not defrauded. The seller sold the real Powerbook to a legitimate buyer on Ebay. Ebay got paid.
2, Fedex was not defruaded. They got their $80 for shipping the package.
3, Paypal was not defrauded. Every day, thousands of people use Paypal to collect donations for various things. The seller said he needed money to cover the cost of shipping a package and that's exactly what he used the money for.
4, The government was not defrauded. They got paid their customs duties when the scammer picked up his package.
5, The P-P-Powerbook seller never received a penny from the buyer (the attempted scammer).
My school had a policy that anyone involved in a fight/assault was suspended, even if you didn't hit back you were gone. And yes, that was enforced. I got a 3 day vacation for being on the receiving end once.
Although unfortunately common, this sort of policy reflects a fundamental contempt for the concept of justice, and sets a terrible example for students. What it reflects is a fundamental laziness and irresponsibility on the part of the administration. They take the easy course of punishing the innocent rather than going to the trouble of investigating the situation. It gives great power to bullies, who are able to force the suspension of an innocent student by attacking him. Although the intent is to discourage fighting, it tends to make fights worse, because once a fight begins, you have nothing to lose by retalliating. It would be terribly unfortunate if you happened to have a sharpened pencil in your hand when you were attacked. Somebody who started a fight with you could suffer a horrible accident...