I think I was ripped off for $4,000. Can you guys help me? | Page 4 | FerrariChat

I think I was ripped off for $4,000. Can you guys help me?

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by Eric C, Feb 26, 2018.

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  1. davidoloan

    davidoloan Formula Junior

    May 6, 2009
    584
    Full Name:
    David
    It has six residents in different flats so maybe they could enquire about him (if he’s really in Italy).
     
  2. fanigbo

    fanigbo Rookie

    May 2, 2011
    7
    My 2 cents. Why would he reply if the intent is to burn you? He may be a terrible business man but at the same time telling the truth. Try a bit more patience before you give up hope.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  3. PAUL500

    PAUL500 F1 Rookie

    Jun 23, 2013
    3,136
    Its probably a past rental of the scammer and used as a base address in order to get a UK bank account in that name. He is probably long gone from there now and has any mail redirected to an alternative address by the royal mail, so tracing him would be a pita. Same with any small claims, it will all just end up at the same dead address.

    We all take these gambles sometimes for something we really want/ need, but alarm bells would have been ringing from the off based on his ebay details.

    The money is gone, the bank wont want to know, neither will any UK authorities, as it will cost them more than the loss just to investigate a dead end.
     
  4. G. Pepper

    G. Pepper Three Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Mar 15, 2012
    33,708
    Texas/Colorado
    Full Name:
    George Pepper
    Wow, I was considering buying that Opus when it came up.

    I did buy a 360 tool kit last November that just arrived yesterday. DHS opened it up thinking there could be illegal bomb making components inside (!!!), and then DHL lost it. After an inquiry it was found and finally delivered.

    Good luck. I only use PayPal for these things unless I know the person or their reputation well. Even then I use a check.
     
    02360spider likes this.
  5. phil the brit

    phil the brit Formula 3

    Jul 7, 2013
    1,215
    Colchester+Clermont
    Full Name:
    Phil Taylor
    #80 phil the brit, Feb 27, 2018
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 3, 2019
  6. Meister

    Meister F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Apr 27, 2001
    5,516
    Duluth, MN
    Full Name:
    The Meister
    Whats the going rate for this book BTW?
     
  7. Thehawaiiangecko

    Nov 22, 2017
    26
    EBay states all over, never deal with a seller outside of EBay. It's almost always a scam and they have no intentions of sending you anything. As long as it is thru them and you use PayPal, it's refundable. They now have a guarantee to a quick refund. I have never lost out on a refund from anyone. I have even gotten my money back and been told to keep the parts with the guarantee. I only use EBay the prices are much better than Amozon and I use EBay to find all my parts for my 88 Testarossa.

    Sent from my SM-J727T using Tapatalk
     
    MalcQV likes this.
  8. JoeTSI

    JoeTSI Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 16, 2015
    1,433
    Huntsville, AL
    Full Name:
    Joe K.
    Eric, this is a good point. He is outside of the US and if a scammer probably knows there isn't anything you can do about it. I'd wait it out a bit and hope for the best.
     
  9. phil the brit

    phil the brit Formula 3

    Jul 7, 2013
    1,215
    Colchester+Clermont
    Full Name:
    Phil Taylor
    Buying time with multiple fraudulent deals going on at once is my guess.
     
    paulchua likes this.
  10. davidoloan

    davidoloan Formula Junior

    May 6, 2009
    584
    Full Name:
    David
    I think the tone of his email is too manipulative for that too be the case. It doesn’t read as a legitimate case of someone struggling with something distressing to them. Those people will be apologising in advance of a complaint, and apologising and promising to fix things when they can. He was suggesting his buyer would end up in jail if he took action against him. The whole email has a manipulative undercurrent.
     
    peterp, Rosey, Lusso123 and 3 others like this.
  11. HH11

    HH11 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 4, 2010
    3,317
    #86 HH11, Feb 27, 2018
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2018
    +1.

    Same feelings I had when reading his reply.

    Sorry this happened to you, Eric. For all that you offer here you'd think some good karma would be on your side when you're the buyer.

    From what you posted it doesn't look good, but there is always a chance.
     
    paulchua likes this.
  12. davidoloan

    davidoloan Formula Junior

    May 6, 2009
    584
    Full Name:
    David
    The wording of his email, with regard to the Police, is that the matter should be regarded as a civil matter, and therefore not something the police can investigate as opposed to a fraud. His words are a spin to that direction.
     
  13. FlyingHaggisRacing

    FlyingHaggisRacing Formula 3

    Jul 2, 2013
    1,368
    Suffered a similar fate some years back but for a smaller amount of cash and also from the UK fraudster.
    There are clearly people who pray upon users of this site / and other sites.

    The address is real, but he don't live there (mine was a flat above a chip shop).
    The Police (Internet crimes) will simply not handle it - 000's of cases.
    But by all means file the complaint there is a email and telephone number on the web.
    Funny as it would be easy to confirm the bank account address - but that needs a court order.

    I don't like eBay or Paypal much but at least it's some form of protection to outright fraud.

    The banks are somewhat to blame in the UK, for not clamping down on people using fake addresses to open bank accounts.
     
  14. 993Godspeed

    993Godspeed Rookie

    Dec 16, 2016
    49
    NYC- LI
    Full Name:
    Jay
    Best bet is to hire a lawyer in the UK. Hire a firm, send them all the evidence and correspondence, they will try to prosecute him over there on your behalf. If he has a valid address etc they will track him down and take him to court. Caution, I am not saying you will get success but worth a try.

    I went thru something similar with an idiot in Greece. I hired a law firm for 500 bucks and they took him to court on my behalf. I recovered 75% of my money, I had sent him originally 5K thru paypal but I waited months before suing him and paypal could not protect outside that window. Hope you get him!
     
  15. Wheels1

    Wheels1 F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 23, 2007
    3,520
    UK
    Full Name:
    Grant
    You paid someone with 0 feedback by bank transfer. I lost faith in people being honest years ago, now the sad thing is, that the first thing I consider is how could it be a scam! You must stick to pay-pal or credit card at least that way you might have some redress.


    If you think it is a con and it sounds like it you could call the police, the problem is you are not in the UK so to give the police a statement would be hard, plus tracing money from abroad might be a challenge, but given the amount and you have his bank details they might look into for you. Thinking about it you could try your local police and see if they would help by contacting the police over here.
     
  16. Continental AutoSports

    Sponsor

    Aug 22, 2006
    4,393
    Hinsdale, IL
    Full Name:
    Bobby Williams / Parts Manager
    For what it's worth, the "exact" same thing happened to us. While it wasn't a transaction via eBay, we wired money to a seller for a part we were in search of. LONG story short, the person was literally not real and originated from a Nigerian IP address, doing the exact same thing (claiming that he had a part someone was looking for) to many other people and forums. The scam was: e-mail people that were searching for parts on automotive forums (Mopar, Ferrari, Toyota, whatever), claim they have the part and then ask the victim to wire the money because of some bs reason. Eventually, they would send an invoice (like they did us) and ask for a wire. Done deal, money sent, scam complete. In finality, be very wary of wires in this day and age; what with all the other forms of payment available to the general public that are secured and insured.

    Good luck!
     
    Themaven, absostone and tifoso2728 like this.
  17. ReyF

    ReyF Karting

    Jan 10, 2017
    73
    Ouch! but with zero feedback, I wouldn't hold my breath. Any more money you throw at this would be a waste.
     
    Rosey likes this.
  18. rsmob

    rsmob Rookie

    Aug 2, 2011
    1
    #93 rsmob, Feb 27, 2018
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2019
    Long time member, first time responder. While I am not a lawyer, retaining local counsel and referencing the FFA laws in the UK with direct connectivity to Sr. M's bank, NatWest should help. The laws prevent enablement in fraudulent activities and provide protections for all consumers. Long shot, however, I am a fan of making sure the bad guys get their due punishment.
     
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  19. tinterow

    tinterow Formula 3

    Nov 1, 2014
    1,339
    Houston, Tx
    Full Name:
    Chaya Tinterow
    Drop it...you're screwed. Any more time or money spent on this is a waste. Hurts! Hurts real bad. But you will just have to move on. He responded to lead you on. Honest people like ourselves don't get it, but it's a fact of life. Bad things happen to good people. Try and not let it destroy you. So sorry you've had to go through this.
     
    Formula Uno likes this.
  20. Ferrari 308 GTB

    Ferrari 308 GTB F1 Veteran

    Feb 21, 2015
    7,716
    Tropical
    #95 Ferrari 308 GTB, Feb 28, 2018
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2018
    Nat West would of course have to investigate this,by law, if one of their accounts is possibly linked to criminal activity.

    http://locator.natwest.com/Branch/602216-Fulham Broadway.html

    Call them up today ,they will advise you how to proceed from there,for all you know there may be other complaints already in the system.

    Use the international +44 number of course. London is +6 hours from your location the bank is open today 10am-5pm London time . So call them between 4am-11am your local time.

    I hope you will be able to resolve this ,or at least find out the truth one way or another.
     
    Adam72 and galt like this.
  21. Ferrari 308 GTB

    Ferrari 308 GTB F1 Veteran

    Feb 21, 2015
    7,716
    Tropical
    To open a bank account in the UK you would have to produce at the very least a Passport/ID and proof of address eg utility bill etc..yes these could be fakes of course.

    However i would not be at all surprised if this guy actually does exist.
     
    galt likes this.
  22. Ninzi

    Ninzi Karting

    Jan 11, 2018
    147
    Long Island
    Full Name:
    Robert O'Malley
    My good man, you need to file a police report and notify your bank of this wire fraud scheme. You were the victim of a wire fraud scheme. Do it today.
     
  23. ryanbushell

    ryanbushell Formula Junior

    Mar 25, 2012
    713
    England
    Full Name:
    Ryan Bushell
    I was offered some items by Alberto in October 2015, including the Enzo edition Opus. I turned down the items as he wanted too much money for them at the time. Very sorry to hear about your situation, I hope you get your money back!
     
  24. davidoloan

    davidoloan Formula Junior

    May 6, 2009
    584
    Full Name:
    David
    #99 davidoloan, Feb 28, 2018
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2019
    Do you have contact details for “M***” other than the yahoo email address or the eBay account in question?

    (Strange that a con man would use the same name for two to three years)
     
  25. robert biscan

    robert biscan F1 Veteran

    Jan 17, 2003
    5,066
    Nashville and Palm b
    Full Name:
    robert s biscan
    I got scammed a few years ago looking for a challenge wheel for a 599 front. The guy was here and responded to me in the adds. I thought it was legit and he sent me several photos of the wheel. He asked me to wire the money and I was afraid and said no. So a little time went by. Nobody in the U S had a wheel so it had to come from Italy. Anyway this guy opens an ebay account and asks me to buy it there so I feel safe and use pay pal. No wheel. I felt it was ******** so I called pay pal before the sent the money but they would not stop the transaction and said I would have to go to the dispute resolution team which is awful. I contracted my credit card company and the charge did not hit but they had to pay and then I could contest. I contested the transaction and my credit card gave me my money back but the scam artist kept the money and pay pal was no help at all.
    Soooo my idea is to ask the seller to put a coffee cup next to the item and immediately send me a photo or a coke can or whatever you want to prove they have it and it's not a downloaded photo on the internet. Like right now.
     

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