Been Robbed Recently? Check Ebay

fistfullast33l writes "A man from Great Neck, Long Island has been arrested on charges of stealing electronic equipment and selling it on Ebay. The police were tipped off when one of his alleged victims was searching for a replacement GPS device and found a perfect match on eBay — almost too perfect. A quick check of the serial number (note to cyber-criminals: don't post those) showed that it was the exact device that had been stolen." From the article: "Police and prosecutors were hesitant to provide details of how they determined all the devices had been stolen, but at least two of the laptops were stamped 'Property of St. John's University.' Detective Ray Cote noted that the GPS devices specifically had the addresses of the legitimate owners programmed in and police were now contacting those victims to eventually return the items."

Comments

note to cyber-criminals: don't post those

[iminplaya]

Hmmm...Aiding and abetting are we? :-)

Re:note to cyber-criminals: don't post those

[Kadin2048]

There are lots of reasons why you'd want at least partial serial numbers; wireless cards and routers are two examples. I'd never buy one at least I knew the H/W revision or had the serial number to determine it by. There are totally different devices sold under the same 'model' number; unless you have the version or serial (which is sometimes the only / easiest way to determine hardware version), you don't know what you're buying.

In general you don't need to know the whole serial, only part of it, but I don't think there's any reason for an honest person to care. If someone was refusing to disclose the serial number, I'd start to wonder what was up. That would definitely set off my "hot goods" alarm. That's sorta like picking up an item in a store and finding out that it has the SKU or serial number removed from the packaging.

Idiots

[PinkyGigglebrain]

I've always said that the prisons are full of stupid criminals. And no, I am not counting those who are wrongfully convicted or getting unfairly prosicuted. Only the ones who did a crime and then did something that made it easy to catch them, like putting stuff up on eBay, looking right at the camera, or sending a letter to the FBI taunting them about how they will never catch you, only to have them pull DNA from the back of the stamp linking you to more crimes you didn't mention and giving them a starting point to search thanks to the postmark.

Re:Idiots

[PinkyGigglebrain]

Validates my point, Your friend was not in full possesion of his faculties at the time he commited the offense(s?).

As to the status of the police, also correct to a degree, you have to take into account that the police are bound not just by the laws that you and I are but by a second set that governs, and restricts, their conduct to the point that even though they may KNOW that someone is guilty, even to where they have evidence of someones guilt, unless it was collected in accordence with the laws protecting a citizens civil rights or is from a source that would be credible to a jury its useless. I've know several cases where the police had the person dead to rights, but they couldn't hold them due to some technicality or flaw in the way the evidence was collected, so they walked. The only thing that kept me from staying really pissed is the fact that the laws that let them walk are the same laws that would also let me walk if someone wanted to plant evidence against me.

The Law is a double edged sword, one side cuts the wicked, the other defends the inocent. At least that how it is supposed to work, its still evolving.

Re:What happens to the buyers?

[Chabil Ha']

They will certainly not get into trouble for the purchase of stolen goods, and if they do, any reasonable judge would automatically acquit them.

Unless eBay was being used to launder them...

good to know that....

[Rooked_One]

A quick check of the serial number (note to cyber-criminals: don't post those) showed that it was the exact device that had been stolen."

Because /. is full of criminals???

Serial #s

[LordLucless]

Actually, it would be quite beneficial if listing the serial # of items on eBay became a de facto SOP. If legitimate traders started including identifying information, such as serial #s, as a way of verifying that the goods were not stolen, other merchants would be pressured into doing the same. Listings without a serial number would be regarded as suspicious, so people wouldn't get burnt dealing with crooks.

Re:Serial #s

[LordLucless]

I agree that serial numbers are a good way of adding good faith to the sale, but they can just as easily be forged/fudged/made up, and only someone very familiar with the product might catch an oddball serial number. Either way, they're not the grand solution it seems like at first glance.

It wouldn't necessarily be the buyer confirming the serial number, but victims of theft who know what they're looking for that check them out. So no, it's not really the serial number that's giving the purchaser reassurance; its the fact that the serial number was published, and the sale hasn't been taken down yet that gives the faith.

As to the registration argument, the only reason I've registered any of my devices is to streamline warranty claims, which isn't really applicable, since you still need the busted device to claim warranty.

You don't know most thieves

[Stephen Samuel]

There are mastermind thieves (PhD in Mech Eng who learns how to crack safes with a magnet), then there are 'most' thieves (meth head looking for an easy way to get his next buzz). The former are gonna cover their tracks really well, but the latter are gonna think that they're geniuses just by the fact that they thought of selling their (your) stuff on ebay.

but most thieves aren't going to be moronic enough to leave behind identifying marks. Although I can just imagine the Q&A...

I think you'd be shocked at just how stupid some of these people get. I had a roommate who relapsed to using meth, so I got to meeting some of them. A few of them start intelligent, but a couple hundred hits of meth (or whatever), and your brain starts to yearn for some of those missing cells.

Re:Dilemma

[Dark_Gravity]

Would you rather be able to 'buy back' a hard-to-find stolen part from eBay, or have to either source this part from a supplier (more expensively) or abandon the device altogether?

Would you rather be beaten with a nickel chain or a lead pipe?

No, really: "FUCK YOU," you thief apologist!

Scarcity is no free-pass to a black market of fenced stolen goods.

Re:Want to be robbed soon?

[wombert]

5) Seller has been burned by negative feedback for "item never received" (or is just paranoid) and wants to ship with tracking to prove the item got sent.

Re:Fourth path...

[Splab]

Dude you got some issues. This is your second post advocating violence to deal with lost property. You really should get some counseling.

Re:What happens to the buyers?

[dr_d_19]

I would rather think that using good faith as an excuse is good in theory but not in practice. The problem is that there are too many gray areas, and people wouldn't mind buying stolen goods when cheaper even though they suspect (or know) that they are dealing with stolen goods.

Re:What happens to the buyers?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd prefer they "waste" their time on their charter, rather than listen to my phone calls.

Re:The Seattle Police were not as curious

[hemorex]

Hmm! Perhaps the police would have been more interested in your vehicle had it been moving a few miles per hour over the speed limit. (Never ceases to amaze me.)