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You Can Get Anything from eBay, Even Years in Jail!Thief gets two years in jail for $94.000 fraud |
By Alexandru Dumitru, Security News Editor
10th of September 2007, 07:26 GMT
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So now you get years in jail, from eBay. Well, it's not as easy as you would expect it to be - Prerequisites: Be desperate for money, be evil, have an eBay account. Mission: scam
people on eBay, get caught, receive years in jail. It's not too complicated, if you have the right skills; Jordan Dias surely had them and now, he got a sentence for 2 years behind bars and 3 on parole.
What the criminal did was a classical "you give me money, I give you nothing" scam. He went and opened an account on eBay and displayed online what he wanted to "sell". It was computers of course, some of the most frequently web-bought things. Buyers would order them and send him the money. Biiig mistake! He would never send the buyers their products. So, he actually sold nothing - there were just pretty pictures of computers, but no actual products on his stock. As I've said before, this is something common, it's standard issue eBay scam. A lot of people have been the victims of such frauds, as a matter of fact, Dias himself ripped off about 100, and imagine how the numbers grew, as he had many peers.
As for eBay, well, they can't really be blamed for this, because they didn't directly harm the guys that were scammed. eBay and other similar sites just offer a virtual market for users, they do not police it - it's up to users to avoid getting ripped off. Just like in real life, a policeman will help you if you get scammed, but he can't stop the crook before scamming you; there are so many people selling stuff, that checking if each one is for real would take ages and would seriously slow down commerce. What you need to do when buying stuff online is to be careful - look for users that other people have bought from and have noted as serious. This way it's less likely you'll get scammed.
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Good (3.8/5) |
5 vote(s) so far |
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User opinions: |
| Comment #1 by: Anonymous on 07 Feb 2008, 16:38 GMT |  reply to this comment | "eBay and other similar sites just offer a virtual market for users, they do not police it – it's up to users to avoid getting ripped off. Just like in real life, a policeman will help you if you get scammed, but he can't stop the crook before scamming you; there are so many people selling stuff, that checking if each one is for real would take ages and would seriously slow down commerce. "
Taking a look at this statement bothers me. That is why there are places like a chamber of commerce and local inspections and certifications. If this can not happen online, then sites like eBay should be shut down. There must be at least some form of control. |
| Comment #2 by: Anonymous on 10 Oct 2008, 22:20 GMT | reply to this comment | Well, if there is some form of control then you defeat the purpose of ebay - that anyone can sell items. Do you want low prices? It's perfect as it is now. If there is more control, you will end up paying for it, just as you end up paying taxes when you are employee.
You don't have to buy on ebay though, I'm sure you can get most items you want from reputable online seller who are "more under control".
When there is risk there can be great deal too! Risk-free and great deal does not go hand in hand just as risk free saving account does not provide high return rate. |
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