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Fraud alert Fair warning to Audiogoners.

I recently came across a scam on Ebay. Persons of Arabic descent using Anglo or Jewish surnames are fraudulently auctioning cameras, and now seem to have found their way to audio sites. I noticed a suspicious ad here not long ago, but it has disappeared. There was no email address for it. The seller was in Spain, which is where one of my suspect's is located. Now I noticed similar ads popping up on other audio sites. I found two ads today on another audio site. The ads all have the following properties:

The items advertised are very desirable

The items are priced below market value

The feedback, if any, is recent and contrived

The payment method always assures no recourse for the buyer (Postal Money Order, Western Union)

Spain and New York City area seemed to be where these scams are coming from. Once I discovered the people in New York, the ads started to come from Spain.

The ads are very well done and includes pictures

Many of the ads have cryptic messages built into them

Yes, I am in law enforcement, but the jusidiction here is with the FBI and possibly the Postal Inspectors, depending on how payment is made. They are aware of it. If you see any of these ads, please let me know where the ads are listed. I'm keeping a file of other possible ads with the case I turned over to the FBI. If you are a victim of this, please let me know.
glreno
natatmvs's avatar
natatmvs
7 posts
 
Glreno, Thank you so much for the warning. I will definitely email you with any suspicious ads that I notice. I have been too complacent because most people on this site are very honest. I was almost burnt here recently from an auction. I asked for cod and that is what saved me. But another guy sent him money and he lost over 250.00 in another transaction. I'll email the guys name to you later.
I do wonder if this is Al Queda's way of continuing to finance a war against US. Anyway THANKS AGAIN.
bishopwill
369 posts
 
I think we're all grateful to Glreno for putting us wise to this apparent fraud. At the same time, I think we should give ear to the questions raised by Gary Boren. In times of national crisis, or even ongoing national stress, the temptation toward racial/ethnic stereotyping is strong. I encourage everyone to be cautious and deliberate in their use of potentially misleading or defaming language. I'm not for one second suggesting that Glreno is racist or intended to condemn Arabic people in general. OTOH, a friend of mine was buying vegetables in mid-September when a redneck walked up, spun him around, punched his face, and said, "Take that home to Osama, you raghead son of a bitch." My friend, as it turns out, is from Trinidad...

Just a caution, please accept it in the spirit in which it is written.

will
glreno OP
224 posts
 
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.
asa
662 posts
 
People need to get over themselves; as in, being watchdogs for political correctness, culturally-based or not. It is a fact, that no amount of cultural relativism can cure, that different cultures possess different general modes of discourse, including economic discourse. Those cultures that are more tribal in their level of civilization tend towards seeing other cultures as "the other", i.e. xenophobic, and categorize their negative treatment of them as more accepteable because they are not part of their group. Groups of minds do this and it is a fact. This does not mean that an individual can not transcend his group's norms of discourse - western norms or arabic norms, or any others - but respecting individuals does not necessarily negate a general observation on the norms of a given culture.

There was nothing in gleno's post that should lead anyone to believe that his motivation was to denigrate a particular culture. Those that feel the need to warn others' in such circumstances should ask themselves whether their warning has more to do with their idea of themselves -being always the one who is culturally sentitive - than the merits of any actual warning.
gboren
143 posts
 
Asa,
You seem to know an awful lot about abstract theory of social systems. But to bring it down to earth, are you suggesting that Glreno's inadvertent mention of the ethnicity of his suspects was a "general observation on the norms of a given culture" (ie, Arabs' dishonesty)?

I neither assumed nor implied that his inadvertent reference to the culprits' ethnicity was even intentional. But people do make innocent slips and these are often indicative of subtle but harmful stereotypes held by otherwise well meaning people. In this case, Glreno's allusion to ethnicity added absolutely nothing vis a vis the information necessary to help the reader spot a scam. It would have been just as meaningful if he had replaced "persons of Arabic descent" with "persons with red hair" - but that would have sounded quite out of place.

You can call it "political correctness" if you want. My experience is that that is a term bandied about by people who are unable or unwilling to consider change - another group of people who "need to get over themselves".
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