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P-P-P-PowerBook for a S-S-S-Scammer...

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the thats-just-a-good-laugh dept.

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.

31 of 540 comments (clear)

  1. A bit hard to follow...... but funny.... by ewwhite · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I loved the photos. This seemed like a big production. Any idea of the status of the "buyer" now?

    --
    Edmund White
    http://flickr.com/ewwhite
    1. Re:A bit hard to follow...... but funny.... by ScottGant · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It all started with an eBay auction for a new G4 Powerbook. My friend Cory wanted me to sell it for him just days after he bought it. Probably because he realized, aside from looking cool, he had no real use for it.

      Does anyone else think this is fishy in itself? After buying a new Powerbook, you say "Hey, it looks cool, but I really don't need it...here, sell it on eBay for me".

      Couldn't he just return it? He had just bought it a few days earlier. Also, he must have known that he wasn't going to get back what he paid for it...so just for the sake of "looking cool" for a few days, he wasted a few hundred bucks? Yet the writer of the story says that he needed people to "kick in" for shipping to London for the scaming of the scammer...couldn't he just ask his rich friend that throws away money for the cash?

      The whole thing sounds like it's totally made up, that there was no eBay auction and the guy that wrote it just was going for basic laughs...and everything in it is pure fiction. I'm probably wrong and everyone will say "but I saw all the stuff and was watching the posts"...but couldn't one person have done everything themself, stringing the viewers along for the laugh?

      Funny? yes...real? I'm not so sure. Either way, real or fake, the guy that wrote it is very creative and a gifted writer!

      --

      "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
    2. Re:A bit hard to follow...... but funny.... by Ayaress · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The hole in your suspicion lies here: To pull a stunt like this, they had to run an eBay account as legitamte for quite a while, then turn it over to another person and intentionally violate eBay TOS. Then, lie to the postal service, break laws in two countries, and then NOT EVEN LINK THE PAGE back to SA. That would be like Nintendo paying a bunch of people dance naked through the streets, but then forget to have them all carry GBA's with them.

    3. Re:A bit hard to follow...... but funny.... by mp3phish · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Per apple's policy, all sales are final on their laptops unless you buy the default config. Even then, you have very few days to return it. If you have opened the box it makes it even worse.

      This isn't walmart or dell we are talking about. This is Apple Computer. Their draconian policy is just yet another reason why their business has been failing all these years.

      --
      Your ignorance is infinitely greater than you realize.
  2. What a great way to start a dreary Sunday! by Geraden · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've often thought of doing something similar, but....

    Even if they are being scammed, aren't this person and his/her accomplices committing mail/wire fraud?

    I just wouldn't want to be on the other end if the scammer tried to fight back.

    Scott

    1. Re:What a great way to start a dreary Sunday! by YankeeInExile · · Score: 5, Interesting

      who says the value is far above the real value of goods sent?

      As far as the beef with customs goes:

      An artist can take ten dollars worth of canvas, smear five dollars of oilpaint on it, and sell it in a gallery for tens of thousands of dollars

      By the same token, a sculptor can take a three ring binder, some magic markers, and a broken keyboard and make a sculpture easily worth two thousand.

      Art is in the eye of the beholder

      Since the eBay transaction never occured, they have no beef with him -- he merely used the contact made with the person who stole the german account to sell some artwork in a separate transaction

      --
      How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
    2. Re:What a great way to start a dreary Sunday! by nycsubway · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I love it. Nothing like screwing a scammer. I nearly fell for something like that about 5 years ago, although in reverse. Someone advertised a computer for sale for a really low price. I knew little about internet fraud at the time, so I beleived that because they advertised this computer for a low price, it must be true... otherwise they'd be lying, which people couldn't do! (duh)

      So I emailed the person to express my interest in buying the computer. He writes back with a long description of their 'operation'. They hacked into 'major computer makers' and re-routed shipping containers to me because they felt that computer makers were overcharging, etc. They were doing it for the good of the public; stealing from rich computer makers to give to the public.

      I almost fell for this, until I started to think about it. What if it was a scam? I couldn't contact the police, because I would have knowingly bought stolen goods. Wait! it must be a scam then!

      Scammers come up with incredibly diverse kinds of scams, because someone will eventually fall for one of them.

      --
      http://github.com/gbook/nidb
    3. Re:What a great way to start a dreary Sunday! by cloudturtle · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well it could quite possibly be both mail (UPS) and wire (internet to access e-mail and escrow account).

      Basically the elements for mail and wire fraud are
      A scheme to defraud (about a material fact)
      Intent for the person to rely on the false information
      and a mail or wire interaction.

      What is interesting under the law is that an actual fraud does not need to be commited if the elements are met (unlike commom law fraud/misrepresentation which requires damages). The point is that the orignal scammer is still liable even though he never actually got the chance to defraud MyNameIsJeff (becuase he never recieved the real Pbook).

      Now the scarry part is not the M&W fraud but the fact that Jeff had help. This would be a conspiracy to commit M&W fraud which is a federal felony as well. So even if they meet the M&W fraud (which would be real hard considering that they posted EVERYTHING to the web for evidence) there doesn't need to be a conviction on the substanitive crime for a conspiracy conviction.

      Conspiracy might be a bit more attenuated becuase the second person (Gizmo_gun) just kind of jumped in, so there may not be the requisite agreement...

      But i am going to stop now. I don't like the feeling that i am analyzing stuff on slashdot better than i did on my white collar crime final.

    4. Re:What a great way to start a dreary Sunday! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      >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

      http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.12/murder_p r. html

      Murder by Internet

      Chris Marquis was a 17-year-old Vermont hustler running a small-time scam online. His virtual business was going great - until somebody killed him.

      By Scott Kirsner

      On the afternoon of March 19, 1998, a UPS driver named Armand Gevry delivered a cardboard box to the pea-green house at 3 Washington Street in Fair Haven, Vermont. Gevry lives two blocks away, and when Sheila Rockwell opened the door, she recognized him as the deliveryman who often brought shipments of citizen's band radio equipment to her son.

      It was a cold, gray day outside - light snow changing to sleet changing to rain - so she quickly took the package from Gevry, thanked him, and shut the door. Rockwell, a weathered woman of 52 with hard blue eyes and wispy brown hair, carried the box down the hallway of her modest home.

      Chris Marquis was talking on his new Ranger RCI 2990 radio with his girlfriend, Cyndi McDonald, when his mother brought the package into his wood-paneled bedroom. His 6-foot frame was hunched over the microphone on his desk, his dirty-blond hair was swept forward across his forehead, and a thin mustache fuzzed his upper lip.

      Rockwell handed the 2-foot-long box to her son. She didn't recognize the return address, so she sat down on Chris's bed, curious to see what was inside.

      Chris continued chatting with Cyndi. The name and address on the box - Samantha Brown, 1863 South High Street, Bucyrus, Ohio - didn't ring any bells for him either.

      "I got a package in the mail," Chris told Cyndi. He'd met her two years earlier as a quiet, sweet voice on Channel 1. Cyndi was now in the 11th grade, a year ahead of Chris, but she attended school in Whitehall, the next town over. Their favorite date was a meal at the McDonald's on the far edge of Fair Haven.

      "What is it?" Cyndi asked. "Who's it from?"

      "Hold on. I don't know," Chris answered, as he grabbed his jackknife from the holster on his belt and slit the box open. Inside was a slightly smaller box made of styrofoam.

      "Well, it's probably a bomb, then," Cyndi joked.

      The explosion knocked Chris and his mother to the floor.

  3. Re:Where did I see this... by AgBullet · · Score: 1, Interesting

    muaha. that was my first ever greenlighted fark submission. /me bows deeply.

  4. A bit confused by Jonathan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've read the pdf and I still don't quite get it all. What did the professor in Indiana have to do with anything? Was his site merely hacked, or was he in cahoots with the scammer?

    1. Re:A bit confused by Jon+Kent · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My thoughts exactly!

      There was absolutely zero followup with regard to Mr. Saral Surakul - our esteemed college professor. It would be interesting to know whether his identity was simply hijacked/spoofed for the purposes of domain registration or whether he was in fact complicit in the scam.

      An entertaing read nevertheless.

  5. Legality? by gabeman-o · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is it legal to do this even though he "knew" this was a scam?

  6. Re:The end isn't quite clear... by TehHustler · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Er they did get the van arriving on video, and there was a guy inside when the package was opened, and he was arguing on the phone with the person picking it up, saying there was something wrong. No pictures of his face when he opened it up, unfortunately Another SA Goon checking in, I cant believe this made Slashdot.

    --

    TheHustler
    http://www.elmarko.org/ - Useless bilge
    http://www.asylum-games.co.uk/ - Co-Founder
  7. Re:Truly an awesome story. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Seriously...

    My suitemate is a SA goon (that's what they call themselves...) and he's been giving me updates on the situation almost every day.

    Go read the article/PDF; it's what I'm going to do after posting this. Or at the very least, look at the pictures... they're hilarious. Instant classic. I'm glad this got out to the outside world.

    My favorite is the bluetooth mouse....

  8. All for it .... but by adzoox · · Score: 1, Interesting

    You know, I'm all for this but some points have to be brought up:

    Potentially the recipient could file a fraud charge against the seller AND against FedEx.

    Take this example into mind:

    When on the playground as a child if you were hit and DID NOT hit back - you were safe. But if you hit back, even if in self defense, both of you went to the office.

    I would also like to point out that this seller defrauded Paypal, Fedex, eBay, the scammer and it just (in my opinion) tells scammers what mistakes to avoid in future, more sphisticated scams.

    Lastly, I'd like to say - as I am an Apple parts dealer on eBay - selling or buying a PowerBook on eBay or Yahoo auctions is the riskiest thing you could POSSIBLY do. If you even bid in ANY POWERBOOK auction or SELL ANY PowerBook (newer than 3 years) you are deluged with offers from Romania (usually) for $800 PowerBook G4 17". What's funny, is that some even offer AppleCare.

    The story was interesting and entertaining - but the outlets to properly "report a crime" are readily available and much less costly.

    --
    Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
    1. Re:All for it .... but by adzoox · · Score: 0, Interesting

      Yes I read the whole thing - he DID use paypal to get funds to ship the item.

      He DID use eBay to sell a real item but ACTUALLY shipped a fake item

      He DID use fedex to ship a fraudulent item.

      Vigilante justice is NOT legal no matter how cute the story or punishing to the criminal.

      --
      Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
    2. Re:All for it .... but by MO! · · Score: 4, Interesting
      he DID use paypal to get funds to ship the item.

      Wrong!

      As far as PayPal is concerned, he received funds to ship an item - they have no involvement in what item was involved. Since he shipped an item, he has completed that transaction properly and PayPal has not been defrauded in any manner.

      He DID use eBay to sell a real item but ACTUALLY shipped a fake item

      Wrong!

      He used eBay to advertise the sale of a real item. The "purchaser" in this transaction persued the sale completely outside of eBay. Thus, eBay has not been defrauded in any manner.

      He DID use fedex to ship a fraudulent item.

      Wrong!

      He used FedEx to ship an item. They are not a party to the contents of the box - they were simply the transport medium. They were paid to ship a box, they shipped the box. Thus, FedEx has not been defrauded in any manner.

      The only debatable fraudulent actions were between the buyer and the seller directly. But since the bogus escrow site disappeared and the seller was never paid for an actual PowerBook - the buyer has no basis for a fraud claim!

      This can be wrapped up as: the buyer used PayPal to pay the seller to ship a box via FedEx to his address. The buyer payed taxes on the declared value of the box's contents - which as was said elsewhere, could be a $2000 piece of contemporary art for all the government cares. That the buyer did not receive an actual Apple Powerbook is due to the fact the buyer never paid for an actual Apple Powerbook! So there was no actual fraud from the buyer's side. The seller still has a claim though - since he was never paid for the piece of $2000 art he shipped in the box!

      --
      I AM, therefore I THINK!
    3. Re:All for it .... but by russotto · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Your school has a stupid policy. However, it does have some useful consequences. Namely, if you're in a fight, hit back and pound on the the other guy to the best of your ability. After all, you're going to get suspended either way. To put your school's policy in persepctive: it's like if this scammer had tried to scam the powerbook out of the seller, the seller had sent him the powerbook, and then the law had punished the SELLER for being defrauded.

  9. Bitter Sweet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I highly doubt our scammer paid his own money for the customs duty. Despite absolutely retarded scam techniques, he did use a buggered box and failed to reveal himself at each step. My instincts tell me he paid the tax with a stolen credit card probably.

    So he got made the fool and wasted some of his time. Unless he gets caught and charged with various fradulencies he's just going to do it again to someone less astute.

  10. Here are the pics mentioned in the article by Psychic+Burrito · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Fake Escrow Website (zipped).

    Pics of the shop (scroll down, shitty forum...)

    :-)

  11. Street Justice by Weaselmancer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Personally, I think it's pretty horrible to defraud someone in this manner. While I'm sure this guy in the UK is not totally without blame, it seems pretty goddamn stupid to send someone a fraudulent package with a ring binder instead of a laptop and make them pay ~$300 in VAT

    It's called street justice, my friend.

    This guy wouldn't have gotten nailed for $300 if he hadn't tried to rob someone in the first place.

    And as for the publicity, good. Maybe it'll stop the next guy from trying.

    I always view calling a policeman or getting the law involved to be a last resort. If you can solve your problems on your own, more power to you. Here, we have crime, and we have just punishment. Bravo, guys.

    Weaselmancer

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  12. Re:Turning the tables is funny, but also... by adzoox · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The "sale" resulted as an advertisement for the item on eBay. He listed it legitimately by posting an auction.

    It is a stretch - but vigilante justice often blurs the diffrences of what is right and what is wrong. It's really hard for me to see that no one understands this.

    This guy went too far and HE stretched a lot of venues to get back at this scammer.

    You CAN NOT COLLECT money through paypal (even from willing benefactors) to defraud someone. He collected monies for the SOLE purpose of paying for a FedEx package that was listed as a PowerBook and insured for $2200.

    Although it would be a bad PR move, FedEx should prosecute, then "settle out of court"

    --
    Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
  13. Something similar went down here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    [Registration required but fear not for your data, they're good guys!]

    http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s= &t hreadid=275779

    Similar story involving a P900 phone and a package including tissue paper, dirt and some old French Fries. :)

  14. misleading customs by chillax137 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If customs ever found out about this, would they be very very upset. He knowingly misclaimed the value of the package by a couple thousand dollars. The scammer can claim that he actually wasn't a scammer, right? I mean...maybe he didn't know that the escrow site was a fake and doesn't like to conduct the final transactions through ebay..

    --
    chillax137
  15. Wanted: Missing Conclusion by Eil · · Score: 3, Interesting


    Is it just me, or is this an incomplete prank? I read through the entire PDF and found, to my surprise, that it ended with them waiting for the package to be delivered. Hello? This would be just a little more amusing if there were some sort of punchline. The whole point to this is to get the guy's reaction in some form. So have they waited two weeks without hearing anything more from the scammer? Are there still people staking out the barbershop? WHAT'S GOING ON?

    Amusing little prank, but it's just a little prank as long as nobody knows what happened in the end. C'mon, I could send someone a marked-up binder in lieu of a computer anytime I wanted. For those of you who haven't read it yet, don't waste your time. The pictures of the P-P-P-Powerbook itself are worth a giggle but that's pretty much the climax of the whole scenario.

    1. Re:Wanted: Missing Conclusion by Doctor7 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The PDF is out of date. Unfortunately, after reading through 74 pages of the original thread - just past the point where the UK goons had confirmed that the P-P-Powerbook had been delivered - SA decided it wasn't going to let me read the remaining seven pages without being registered.

  16. Re:The end isn't quite clear... by TC+(WC) · · Score: 2, Interesting

    He wasn't arguing on the phone. He was talking to the barbershop owner. I think you read Rhig's posting of the events wrong. He heard the barber on the phone. Then, after, he heard the eastern european reciever of the package talking to the barber about his packages.

  17. Assault != fighting... something very wrong here by Starrider · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.

    This sounds very, very wrong. If you do not fight back, it isn't a fight; it's assault. My parents were schoolteachers and one thing I had to learn was if/when someone actually picked a fight with me on school property, I had to put my hands behind my back and take it to avoid suspension. The victim had to be completely passive. It wasn't fair, but that was sufficient proof of assault rather than fighting.

    I doubt this policy would stand up to due process standards. By the same logic, a girl who is sexually assaulted wouldn't a victim, but a "willing participant in conscentual behavior". A ludicrous notion indeed.

    Considering my parents and their friends and families have been in education a very long time, and have never seen a policy where assault was classified as "fighting". Either your school policy was blatantly illegal, or you aren't remembering/telling things the way they actually were.

  18. Not an elaborate joke... by Irafas · · Score: 2, Interesting
    At least in that this Brit did try to scam them out of a Powerbook.

    I sold my iBook on eBay a few weeks ago and got an email from the same scammer asking me if I wanted to sell it off eBay for well above the market price, with two day shipping to the UK. Sounded funny from the start, but the fake escrow site was the clincher. Glad he's had his comeuppance.

    Copies of emails here if anyone's interested.

  19. Re:Was this even a scam? by fishbowl · · Score: 2, Interesting

    > It's a scam and everyone knows it.

    It would be good closure to know whether the actions our hero took, constitute a crime. It would be a completely separate crime. The original fraud might be a mitigating factor, or it might not. It would suck to have to explain to the court why you told customs that your $2.50 worth of stuff was a $2000.00 computer. It would REALLY suck if you weren't allowed to tell the jury about the supposed scammer, but still had to explain what you did.

    --
    -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.