M
mixologist03
Guest
Hi there.. I reside in the state of Missouri, and the fraud in question took place in California.
I purchased an item on eBay last September. I paid promptly via a USPS money order, sent certified/tracked to a person in California. I have this person's full contact info and have spoken on the phone with her many times about this issue before never hearing from her again.
Let me preface all this with that I've been trading on eBay since 1998, so I'm very well aware of the risks and how to avoid the simple and easy fraud activities. I checked out everything in regards to this auction -- honest communication was had at first, traceable information was provided, good feedback was on the account, and everything checked out.
I purchased this item and paid as requested. A money order, while not my preferred method of payment, was politely requested. I abliged due to the honesty the seller showed me (and due to their record on eBay, apparently).
Weeks and then around a month went by. I no longer got any response from the seller who I sent the money to. Frustrated, I started making calls and doing research, and the truth came out: the seller whom I sent the money to was simply doing work by taking the money orders and wiring them overseas. She was hired and worked from a home office, unaware of what was truly going on. I don't believe the story for a minute since I think any reasonable person who has the skills to, at very least, open an envelope, cash the contents in their name, and send the cash via wire has the skills to know right from wrong in their line of work.
Since I have no record of who this money was going to via wire, my only choice has been to go after the person who cashed my MO.
I retain an attorney for my business (hey, it's the smart thing to do in my opinion, you never know when they'll come in handy), and discussed it with the attorney assigned to the problem. She said that they'd send an "intimidation letter" to see that my money was sent back. A letter was sent to me as well, and lo and behold a ton of gramatical, spelling, and punctuation errors (including the misspelling of my name 3 different ways), and to make it worse the lawyer herself signed off on the letter. I called in very irate and demanded another letter sent with corrections, which they did. They never followed up any further on the case for me, and I have never heard anything back from either the lawyer or the person, and getting another lawyer to go after the amount wouldn't cost me more than the actual amount it self ($1300, and I have a base-rate monthly agreement with the lawyer that I was using).
It's now been several months and attempts to contact this person has been futile, and the USPS fraud department has been slow to help as well, doing absolutely nothing despite repeated requests. I still want my money back.
What are my options? I have absolutely everything in writing, from the receipts for the money orders, paper trail of emails, phone call records, proof the money order was accepted/delivered to this person, everything -- absolutely everything needed to show what happened here.
Thanks much for your time and advice ahead of time.
I purchased an item on eBay last September. I paid promptly via a USPS money order, sent certified/tracked to a person in California. I have this person's full contact info and have spoken on the phone with her many times about this issue before never hearing from her again.
Let me preface all this with that I've been trading on eBay since 1998, so I'm very well aware of the risks and how to avoid the simple and easy fraud activities. I checked out everything in regards to this auction -- honest communication was had at first, traceable information was provided, good feedback was on the account, and everything checked out.
I purchased this item and paid as requested. A money order, while not my preferred method of payment, was politely requested. I abliged due to the honesty the seller showed me (and due to their record on eBay, apparently).
Weeks and then around a month went by. I no longer got any response from the seller who I sent the money to. Frustrated, I started making calls and doing research, and the truth came out: the seller whom I sent the money to was simply doing work by taking the money orders and wiring them overseas. She was hired and worked from a home office, unaware of what was truly going on. I don't believe the story for a minute since I think any reasonable person who has the skills to, at very least, open an envelope, cash the contents in their name, and send the cash via wire has the skills to know right from wrong in their line of work.
Since I have no record of who this money was going to via wire, my only choice has been to go after the person who cashed my MO.
I retain an attorney for my business (hey, it's the smart thing to do in my opinion, you never know when they'll come in handy), and discussed it with the attorney assigned to the problem. She said that they'd send an "intimidation letter" to see that my money was sent back. A letter was sent to me as well, and lo and behold a ton of gramatical, spelling, and punctuation errors (including the misspelling of my name 3 different ways), and to make it worse the lawyer herself signed off on the letter. I called in very irate and demanded another letter sent with corrections, which they did. They never followed up any further on the case for me, and I have never heard anything back from either the lawyer or the person, and getting another lawyer to go after the amount wouldn't cost me more than the actual amount it self ($1300, and I have a base-rate monthly agreement with the lawyer that I was using).
It's now been several months and attempts to contact this person has been futile, and the USPS fraud department has been slow to help as well, doing absolutely nothing despite repeated requests. I still want my money back.
What are my options? I have absolutely everything in writing, from the receipts for the money orders, paper trail of emails, phone call records, proof the money order was accepted/delivered to this person, everything -- absolutely everything needed to show what happened here.
Thanks much for your time and advice ahead of time.