Fraud alert Fair warning to Audiogoners.

Further info: They are copying ads from real sellers on Audiogon, and posting fraudulent ads on Audioweb. These ads are copied verbatim including pictures. I have emailed most of the persons affected, but recent postings have occurred since then.

Names or user handles used so far by this fraud ring are: mickeykaiser, davidknight, johnbrighton, afrank, dave2k, robertshef, johnbroughton, angelo_calic, andrewsmith. Also the email [email protected] (cryptic message?). Most of these aliases use Yahoo email addresses, but I did find an Earthlink email address for one of the aliases. I have talked with Arnie at Audiogon. They became aware of these guys when I first noticed them on this site. They have instituted safeguards to make sure these guys don't sign on here. There are still ads and aliases on Audioweb. I have found their management to be less responsive.

Gbroten:
It doesn't take a genius to find an ad on Audiogon that has been duplicated on Audioweb and know what's going here. But for your sake, an example: Find the Audioweb ad titled "Martin Logan Ascent like new - hybrid speaker" being sold by davidknight. Now look at the feedback. Looks like they have already been successful in ripping someone off. I have been in contact with that person, and it's confirmed. Now look at the positive feedback for any of the names under any of the copied ads on Audioweb. All the feedback is left by the aliases used by this group. Go to the personal information left under the aliases. Try calling the telephone numbers for the aliases. Do they work? Nope! Are they similar? Yep! Try finding the addresses for the aliases. Do those streets exist? Nope! Compare the email addresses to the user names. Why is davidknight's email address [email protected]? Why is his user name davidknight, and yet his informational name listed as Robert Knight? Now go to Audiogon and find the ad under #1025728542 being sold by Digitalcanuck. Isn't this the same ad, word for word, that you just read on Audioweb? Are the pictures the same? Now look at davidknight's other ads. See if you can find them on Audiogon.

Why has mickeykaiser and many of the the other aliases listed above now posted negative feedback on my user name, and even posted an ad on Audioweb copying my own, making me out to be the fraud suspect? Could they be connected to "afrank"? Why does "afrank" have two positive feedbacks left by two of the aliases on the same day his ads were posted? Look at the feedback on all the aliases. They are giving positive feedback to each other. Have you checked my feedback on Audiogon? Does it match what I now have on Audioweb, thanks to these guys? Incidently, that was one of the dummer things they did, because it exposed more of their aliases to me. Why would they care if I left poor feedback for "afrank" if they weren't tied to him in some way? How did they become aware of it so quickly? I also said Postal Money Orders, not money orders. Why don't you check the information already given before you doubt my veracity line by line in a public forum. We have a term called Community Policing in Law Enforcement these days. Basically, it means get the community motivated and have them take some responsibility for being aware, being informed, and being involved. Not everything can be done for you. There just aren't enough cops out there to do it. You could have discovered all this for yourself had you taken the time to do it.

I have been in Law Enforcement for 26 years. When you read the above information line-by-line, I'm sure you could rationalize each one of those events. But the totality of the events causes one to draw a more accurate conclusion than any single event. And there is so much more that I haven't mentioned, and won't. So much for your lesson today in criminal investigation.

I have an active case that has been turned over to the FBI. I have been following these guys for 6 months, ever since I found them on Ebay selling cameras under the name andrewsmith. I followed them to Ubid. I found them there selling Plasma TVs under the name angelo_calic. Looks like Rockhead did too. I haven't the room here or the time to outline the entire case I have, nor do I think I need to. That certainly would only be helpful to the suspects if I did. I have emailed a more detailed explanation to the affected members whose ads have been copied, and even talked to them on the telephone. But for the purpose of this thread, I think I have provided enough information about the way they do business to hopefully prevent others from getting taken advantage of. I am gathering information for my file on these guys as I see them move around the internet. My goal, since this case is beyond my jurisdiction, is to keep them from obtaining any more funds illegally, and provide any other information to the investigating agent. If you've ever worked with the Feds, they work very slowly. Internet fraud is not a major priority, no matter where it leads. If I sound a bit hard core here, I apologize. But I am passionate about my work. I hate criminals, and I hate seeing people victimized. I will do what I can to prevent it, and to catch those responsible.

Criminals love nay-sayers and doubters. It keeps them in business. My words to you....you want to deal with these guys, go ahead. I've done my part. Please let me know when you don't receive the item, so that I can add your transaction to my file. By the way, what hysteria are you talking about?

First of all, the information given was not meant for prosection, only as a warning to consumers. It is not necessary for you to receive a case ready for prosecution to take precautions in purchases made on the internet. If you choose to ignore that information, that's your business. More information was available to you, just as it was for me, simply by exploring the websites with your eyes open. That was the purpose of this posting.

I understand your concern about labeling. I considered carefully what I wrote in that posting. It is certainly not my intention to be inflammatory or cast a shadow on any particular race or ethnic group of people. Nor do I think I have done that. Facts are facts, and I have them to support what I have said. My intentions were to only provide as many indicators or clues to the identification of these false ads as possible. I based the indicators mentioned in the original and follow-up postings on what I use to identify these false ads. Some of the email addresses I have found use Arabic surnames. Some of them are indicative of a certain political philosophy. When you see this in email addresses of sellers, it is just one more caution to be aware of. As I said, look at the totality of events. Fraud cases in particular are like small snowballs rolling downhill. As they pick-up speed, they grow in size. With fraud cases, one clue leads to many others, until a pattern is apparent and obvious. The information I gave was the results of that first small snowball I "discovered" that has now grown to an enormous size. I can't begin to tell you how complex and far reaching this case has become. And consider that I probably only know bits and pieces of it.

Would I have pointed it out if they were British or German? Absolutely! I don't care what race or ethnicity they are, I just want them caught. As far as "satisfying you", after being involved in many newsworthy events over the course of my career, and having been interviewed and quoted (and misquoted) by various forms of media, I have learned one thing: You can't please everybody.

As far as the "hysteria", in our city there were some minor, isolated incidents, and nationwide there were a handful of newsworthy events related to September 11th. But those occurred within two months after that tragic event. Maybe it's different in your community. If so, that's unfortunate, and it makes it easier to understand your concerns. Feel free to email me at my personal email address of [email protected]. This discussion has veered to far away from the intent of this original posting.

More to the purpose of this thread, if anyone has become a victim already, and don't wish to send the information to me, at least notify the FBI at www.ifccfbi.gov. If you would also cross reference your complaint to the original complaint # I02030713598991, I would appreciate it. This group may also be currently attempting to establish accounts with Paypal. They do have access to numerous stolen credit cards. I will post more information if possible as I come across it.

They have found their way to Audioshopper. Check out http://audioshopper.com/cgi-bin/classifieds.asp?action=showad&id=63658. Same email as "afrank" on Audioweb ([email protected]). He moved to Audioshopper because his membership was revoked from Audioweb.

These guys are now using Lycos email addresses as well. They are now asking for half now (by Western Union or money order), and half later. Shipping charges will sometimes be ridiculously low. Example - a 43 inch Toshiba rear projection TV shipped from Spain to Colorado for $200. Audioweb has removed all of the names listed above, but others are now appearing. They are still many aliases being used at Ubid for Plasma TVs under the Consumer Exchange forum.