HELP! Got scammed out of $750, dunno what to do

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
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0
hey everybody, been posting here for a few months, but all along the while i was trying to get this deal off of some guy on eBay for a computer.

apprently, this eBayer (compsellr) was offering computers for pretty darned cheap, and i e-mailed him and configured a cheap computer about $750. it had a ti4400, pentium 2.2A, 80gb hard drive, 512 samsung, etc. and i thought i was getting a pretty good deal (at the time - about april)

he said the computer would be shipped in like 3-4 weeks so i paypaled him and waited patiently, writing e-mails here and there, and then the e-mails started to barely come in about every other week or so, and his excuse was that he was waiting for the cpu to come in. he would appease me with pictures and stuff, and i was never really pissed off cuz i was still getting a good deal. well, about late june/early july a few other people (totalling approximately 15) started e-mailing each other about compsellr, and we were all kind of mad at him for the huge delay. then it happened- he disconnected his phone line (he would take messages) and his e-mail had been deactivated. also his eBay id is no longer registered and we can't seem to get a hold of him anymore.

For about a month, we've been digging up information about his whereabouts (we found out he had purchased a car on eBay and supposedly we found the address of the computer company) but everything we tried kinda led to a dead end. The county where he worked at said that the names we provided did not live there (but they worked there) but they could not give us any more information (we wanted to know where they lived). Also, the AOL account he had been using and the P.O. box are under weird aliases, and the person that would e-mail us (J.Fisher) was different than the owner of the company who was different than the person who owned the PayPal address ("Julia Garnett")

I tried calling up my bank account as a last resort, and while it seemed that i could dispute my money and get it back, now they're saying that it's beyond the allotted time for a dispute, and there's a decent chance that i won't get my money back. I really don't know what else to do, other than hiring a lawyer, but that would probably take a big chunk out of what I deserve back.

I'm not too sure about the law on these things, but i'm sure that "compsellr" can't just take my money away and appease me with a few e-mails here and there then disappear with no hope of me getting my money back. Just hoping some AT members can help me out here *crosses fingers*
 

Talon

Golden Member
Oct 29, 1999
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If you haven't already done so, contact your local police department and provide them with everything you've found. From their website, it appears they've investigated internet fraud in the past.
 

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
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well yeah, i know that, but that doesn't help me get my money back. plus seller had like 50+ positives

i didn't post this to ask what people thought, but if anybody's dealt with a small claims lawyer in these situations or something like that any experiences might be helpful
 

bmacd

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
10,869
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Originally posted by: hamburglar
let this be a lesson: if its too good to be ture, it probab ly is.

this is one of the worst responses to read. It almost makes your heart ache. Sorry d00d...but you got the shaft.

-=bmacd=-
 

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
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Talon Thanks for the linky, i'll look into it.


Has anybody dealt with this kinda problem before? I'm sure some FS/FTers have been scammed like this before
 

RaySun2Be

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
16,565
6
71
Post a link to this thread in For Sale/For Trade.

TrollHunters may be able to help and offer good suggestions.

I hate dasm thieves and trolls. :|

Bummer about the lost $$.

My brother got scammed by this one guy. Built him a PC, worked fine. One day the guy calls up (local dude) and says he needs to do a critical upgrade to some recalled hardware, or something like that. Promised to install a CD Burner or memory upgrade for the inconvenience. He comes over, wanted to take the PC, monitor, etc. My brother didn't want him to take it all, so he takes the case and leaves. My brother never heard or saw him again. Phone was disconnected, went by the address the guy had given him, he had split.

So he's out $$, and only has a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and printer. :(

Too bad he didn't talk to me first. I would have told him it sounded funny, and should make the guy do the upgrade at the house. *sigh*

and I offered to build him one, but he could get a better deal from this guy. He got a better deal alright. :(
 

Talon

Golden Member
Oct 29, 1999
1,426
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RaySun2Be is correct. The Trollhunters have some good information on their site (I don't think they deal with Ebay fraud). They also have several links at the bottom of their site such as FBI, Web Police and such. Try those links. Good luck.
 

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
2
0
well technically this wasn't eBay fraud- i just found the auction and he stated on the auction to e-mail him for more details if i wanted to deal directly with him, which i did. i'm waiting for the dispute results to come back in the mail from washington mutual, so i'll have to wait on that before much more action.
 

Legendary

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2002
7,019
1
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Do you have copies of all the correspondence you had? Anything can help. Check the headers, find out what his IP was and trace it to a general area if possible.
 

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
2
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I kinda know the general area where he worked, montgomery county, alabama, but that was about it. no phone number, real address or anything.

I've e-mailed a few people who dealt with this guy a long time back on eBay and received their computers, and they all have said that he was pretty helpful and they got their stuff. I made sure to check out his reliability before buying form him, but apparently that wasn't enough. funny thing is that the people who bought from him don't even know his name either, he always initialled it.

and yes i do have copies or can get copies of every e-mail that was sent between compsellr and his customers
 

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
2
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Mister T: Already tried to do so, but PayPal has some stupid 30 day dispute limit. I actually disputed the transaction at 29 days because I hadn't received any word for about a week then, but then compsellr was quick to inform me that he would not be able to ship out the item if i had a dispute claim going, so i retracted the dispute.

I tried contacting PayPal about a month later, but they said that I had passed the limit and it seemed like i couldn't do anything about it but wait for compsellr to ship my stuff
 

mastertech01

Moderator Emeritus Elite Member
Nov 13, 1999
11,875
282
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Originally posted by: NewSc2
Mister T: Already tried to do so, but PayPal has some stupid 30 day dispute limit. I actually disputed the transaction at 29 days because I hadn't received any word for about a week then, but then compsellr was quick to inform me that he would not be able to ship out the item if i had a dispute claim going, so i retracted the dispute.

I tried contacting PayPal about a month later, but they said that I had passed the limit and it seemed like i couldn't do anything about it but wait for compsellr to ship my stuff


He just did that to free up his funds and run like hell. You probably had him cold with funds in the account and should have never retracted the dispute. :(

 

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
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MasterTech01: in hindsight i wish i didn't, but at the time i really believed that he would still ship out the system. he had shipped out systems to people before so i thought he would keep his word, dunno what really happened there.

also he actually seemed offended that i had placed a dispute. i wish i'd saved more e-mails (reformatted my computer a few times since) but i even checked up on his info and it all seemed legit.


Update: found some info digging through old e-mails:

"From: Compsellr@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 6:11 AM
To: aglin@uci.edu
Subject: Re: Please Read Regarding Computer Transaction
Your system should be shipped out next Wednesday. We will inform you of a tracking number when it does.

Nu-Comp Solutions
Bethesda, Md. 20814
Visa/MC/Amex/Disc
Tele: 301-806-8456
Fax (call first): 301-528-2578
"...time and money well spent!""


 

Legendary

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2002
7,019
1
0
IF you had his phone # for messages, trace it. Get to an address, if you need help file a complaint or something bigger with your local police and get them to help you track the guy down. Also, with a phone # trollerhunters (assumedly) could do a lot for you.
 

XCLAN

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2001
2,401
0
0
i bought my first computer on ebay for 900$ plus shipping never got the computer....the guy had sold 24 computers and robbed all of us....never saw a dime from anyone....except 200$ from ebay insurance.
 

Talon

Golden Member
Oct 29, 1999
1,426
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Nu-Comp Solutions
4938 Hampden Ln. - #118
Bethesda, MD. 20814
PHONE: (301) 806-8456
FAX: (301) 528-2435?..please call first
Email: darksom1@msn.com

Found this. Nu-Comp appears to be a pyramid scheme. (Geocities link - drag and drop).

link
 

Type-R

Senior member
Oct 18, 1999
922
0
71
Originally posted by: hamburglar
let this be a lesson: if its too good to be ture, it probab ly is.

i guess you weren't in the hot deals forums a year or two ago, huh?

ps. this is theft and can be treated as so. might also count as fraud or something. contact his local police department and report a robbery or something.
 

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
2
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Originally posted by: RaySun2Be

My brother got scammed by this one guy. Built him a PC, worked fine. One day the guy calls up (local dude) and says he needs to do a critical upgrade to some recalled hardware, or something like that. Promised to install a CD Burner or memory upgrade for the inconvenience. He comes over, wanted to take the PC, monitor, etc. My brother didn't want him to take it all, so he takes the case and leaves. My brother never heard or saw him again. Phone was disconnected, went by the address the guy had given him, he had split.

that's exactly what happened to one of the people in the group that compsellr scammed... compsellr sent a computer out that didn't have the right video card and didn't have a cdrw, so the buyer sent it back. The buyer never got the computer back.


Originally posted by: XCLAN
i bought my first computer on ebay for 900$ plus shipping never got the computer....the guy had sold 24 computers and robbed all of us....never saw a dime from anyone....except 200$ from ebay insurance.


Sounds all too familiar :(
 

NewSc2

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2002
3,325
2
0
talon: Thanks for all the information, i'm going to send it back out to the group and write all this down in some file somewhere (which i should've done a long time ago =\)
 

Talon

Golden Member
Oct 29, 1999
1,426
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I found a Welch Enterprises website and it has Nu-Comp listed as a link. Go to "opportunities" and check the name and address at the bottom of the page. In fact check all the links (some are broken).

link
 

blade

1957 - 2008<br>Elite Moderator Emeritus<br>Troll H
Oct 9, 1999
2,772
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I'm very sorry to hear of this NewSc2, but unfortunjately there is nothing we can do for any ebay'ers. I've tried getting ebay to work with us many times, not once have they ever bothered to reply back. Not even a simple "thanks". And many at first were for their members getting ripped off and later we were letting them know known thieves are trading on ebay, still not one reply. It was clear, they do not care.

If we get no assistance from that site, there is nothing we can do because we have zero power.


As for this person, what email did he use? If he used an isp like aol, earthlink, etc.. try contacting their abuse department and tell them your story. Also do check the sites listed on the bottom of trollhunters.com. Talking to his local police and the FBI may help. Sadly, very few take net crime seriously. But some will try and help.

Save all records of this transaction, everything from emails, im's whatever you have may help that is proof. And most of all, what the police ask of you, you must follow through. It could take a while, so patience is needed.


Good luck :)