Something looks weird about this auctions?


I was just looking at around the net and stumbled upon this auctions on ebay that have their descriptions taken from Audiogon adds word for word and picture by picture.
Check this links,

Auctions by the seller on ebay

Same exact Dynaudio speaker pictures and description on Agon

Same pass labs X350 add description on Agon

Same McIntosh MA6500 description and picture on agon

I'm sure the legit sellers on Agon are probably not aware that their add are being copied.Now if this seller on ebay doesn't smell fishy I don't know what is? Buyer beware.
128x128rmml

Showing 4 responses by glreno

Thanks for the listings. These guys use stolen credit card numbers to place the ads. The guy who owns the credit card probably lives in the UK, and they had to use his location to get the card number to clear. They will ask that the money be sent to Barcelona, Spain. These are all fraudulent ads, and there are many more.

As near as I can tell, the card holders many times don't know that the card numbers are being used, as they are probably obtained by hacking into e-tailer's files. The most recent of such occurences traced the source of the information flow from the e-tailers files back to Yemen.

If you are familiar with my previous thread, you know that they were using Western Union almost exclusively for the money tranfer. That's because Western Union was only requiring 1 form of ID in Spain, and fake IDs are easy to come by over there. Now they are requiring 3 forms of ID because of these problems. Now it seems Western Union is not as viable an option in Spain as before, hence the money order, personal check method of payment. These guys are posting ads with US addresses again also, and are still using Western Union for the transfers within the US. Western Union still currently only requires 1 form of ID in the US, but is working on getting that changed. Keep in mind that the address for a recipient listed on a wire tranfer may not (and in this case will not) be anywhere near the location where the money is received. It can be picked up in any Western Union office in any adjoining State where the recipient lives (or claims to be living). Romania is another location they have been giving in some of the ads.

Information passed along to other potential buyers is, at the moment, the best way we have to shut them down. They are using the accessibility and broad reach of the internet to perpetrate these frauds. We can use the advantages of internet too, just as you did with this posting. Also, when you see these ads, please notify the posting site so they can investigate and remove the ads.
These guys generally don't know much about high-end audio. That's why they copy the ads. The other thing they do is use a picture of the back of an amplifier....and nothing else. How many real audiophiles would only put up a picture of the back of an amp? There are many on Audioweb using US addresses. One guy supposedly in Ft. Collins, CO (doesn't exist, I checked) is advertising a McIntosh car amp as home audio. That's our advantage. If it looks weird, it is.
Here is the latest list of alias usernames posting bogus ads or feedback on Audioweb:

nattsc

davidoi

kevinpc

danres99

mikegus

ttimwr

robciliberti

marchim - ripped off someone already, and may have already been deleted

shadihanna

frumosu - may have been deleted

brandonharris

benpinkston
The guys from Spain now have a website. www.variusss.com. They now require a Moneygram wire transfer because of new restrictions imposed by Western Union.