Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Nokia N95 Cell Phone - Do Not Buy it on eBay



The Nokia N95 cell phone will probably be the most sought after cell phone in 2007. But, don't plan on buying one now, because it isn't available for sale yet. Nokia expects that the cell phone will be available for sale in March 2007, but the various technical boards are saying that the Nokia N95 most likely will not be available until the summer of 2007.



We are seeing hundreds of listings on eBay for this cell phone every day. Every listing on eBay for the Nokia N95 is a bogus listing. The listings are created by thieves that have hijacked innocent members' accounts.



Besides the listings on eBay, plenty of fraudulent websites are trying to steal your money saying that they have the Nokia N95 in stock. If you can't buy the cell phone on Nokia's own website, what makes you think you can buy it elsewhere?



Plenty of people have attempted to buy the cell phone either on eBay or on a bogus website, but each person has been ripped off by a thief and their funds are unrecoverable. Do not put yourself at risk. Look at Nokia's website for yourself and check out the release date.



One more thing, Nokia presently is not planning on marketing the N95 in the United States and Canada. The cell phone will only be available in Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Africa.





Thursday, December 21, 2006

If you emailed an eBay scammer ...


WARNING!

By contacting your 'seller' outside of eBay, you are in danger of being defrauded. The item/s you are interested in do not exist!

Scammers are hijacking eBay IDs all the time and listing thousands of non-existent items every day.

The scammers want you to contact them outside of eBay via an email address shown in the listing. Scammers never want you to use eBay's Ask the Seller a Question feature.

Scammers lure you to 'strike a deal' whereby they give you a fake invoice that looks as if it comes from eBay e.g. aw-confirm@ebay.com or transaction@ebay.com, but it is all bogus. They can do this with any Yahoo! Mail Plus account.

Scammers can even send you to a fake shipping or escrow site where your item is shown to be held. They then want you to pay via Western Union or Money Gram while you think your item is held by a 'trustworthy' third-party. Of course, once payment is made the scam is complete.

Do not be fooled! There is NO buyer protection whatsoever and you will have NO recourse through eBay.

Remember eBay's Marketplace Safety Tip:

Never pay for your eBay item through instant wire transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know. The fraudsters rely on you to pay via these unsafe methods so that they can stay anonymous.

I apologize for the 'full on' nature of the warning. Time is of the essence in some cases.

Please do not tip off your scammer as it may stop me getting more warnings out to others.

Stay safe.

A scambuster
and member of Team Whack a Hack

PS ~~ Please be aware that since you have revealed your email address to the thief, in days to come the scammer can send out fake 2nd Chance offers or fake eBay security emails to try and phish YOUR login details. Do not click on ANY links within their emails as they could send you to phishing sites. Always login to eBay from a trusted bookmark and check for the padlocked https:// secure address URL.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

An Ode to Hackers from Team Whack a Hack



Peek a boo, we found you!
It's our belief, you are a thief.
We couldn't resist,
So you're now on the list.

We don't mean to be snide,
But you just can't hide.
A life of crime
Is such a waste of time.

You're going to fail
And end up in jail.
Instead of causing strife
GO GET A LIFE!!



Sunday, December 10, 2006

Do you want something for nothing? So do the scam artists!

Do not become a victim of fraud on eBay.

This public service information is brought to you by the members of Team Whack a Hack and The Nekkid Truth Blog.

Crime has moved high-tech and one of its biggest playgrounds is eBay. The international online auction giant has been playing host to thousands of scam artists. The thieves use a variety of tools to hijack legitimate accounts, list items for sale that they do not have, and fool people into sending money via Western Union and Money Gram, which can be picked up with virtually no identification at scores of locations worldwide, often with corrupt WU employees participating in the scam. The ploys they use to cheat innocent buyers and sellers is limitless, with new ones being thought up everyday.

Hundreds, thousands and possibly millions of American consumer dollars are being funneled to criminal outfits overseas as a result of fraud on eBay. Money lost is money not spent here at home.

With eBay's sophisticated software, it seems unbelievable that the company doesn't do more to protect its members. Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, said in a radio address December 2, 2006, that eBay catches 90% of the fraudulent listings before they are uploaded into the categories for public view. With software that detects third-party intrusions, it seems reasonable to expect eBay to run scans of every account on a daily basis. However, eBay conducts these scans only on accounts that have been reported as suspicious by its members. This ounce of prevention would drastically cut down on the number of Account Take Overs (ATOs). Instead, thousands of unpaid volunteers, eBay members themselves, manually police the accounts and ferret out the ATOs themselves. Without special software, this is a time-consuming, and often thankless task.

Because of its status as a selling "venue", eBay claims it has no legal duty to police the millions of listings and accounts in its possession. Rather than being proactive about fraud, eBay's approach is to send Technical Knock Out notices (TKOs) that are frequently received by winning bidders after the fact. A conscientious buyer might have already sent payment and lost their money. eBay - you are doing too little, too late! This is not a "venue" - this is people's livelihoods!

eBay profits handsomely from both buyers and sellers. The auction giant has an obligation to provide a safe and secure marketplace in exchange for the fees it charges. eBay should not be a "buyer beware" marketplace where members must solely watch out for themselves. eBay has fostered a false sense of security, leading many to trust unsafe transactions. That is exactly what the criminals are counting on. If eBay does not cooperate now and implement safeguards, the company might find itself facing more and more lawsuits.

Once an ATO has been uncovered, the volunteer completes eBay's web form for reporting a site violation. With the resources available to this $40 billion corporation, it should only be a matter of one or two hours before the fraudulent listings are taken down, and the account returned to its rightful owner. However, listings often remain on the site long enough for an unsuspecting buyers to complete the sale outside of eBay and lose their money. Volunteers have pleaded with eBay, often through their "Live Help" online function, to take the listings down before users get duped and lose money that is almost never fully recoverable.

One area of high fraud includes consumer electronics. Topping that category are listings for Nokia N95 cell phones, which are not scheduled for release until March, 2007. Shopping for Sony Play Station 3, Alienware laptop computers, or GPS devices, is like walking through a minefield and hoping you have made the right step.

So, how does it work? This type of fraud usually begins with a fake email, sent to gather the identification and password of unsuspecting users. This type of email is known as a phish or a spoof email. A person gets an email that looks very much like it originated from eBay or PayPal, with a link for the recipient to click on. It might be a fake "Ask The Seller A Question" email with a link to "Respond". The person clicks on the link and is taken to a site that requires them to sign in. Phishing software at the other end collects the keystrokes entered, and the scam artist now has the sign-in ID and password of the eBay member. There are many variations of this, such as a redirect button within the fraudulent listing itself that takes the user to a bogus sign-in page. In the event you should ever receive a phishing email message, report it to Phishtank.

Armed with this information, the thieves take over that eBay account and put up phony listings. In an attempt to hide the fraudulent nature of their activity, they list the items in the wrong category. For example, Sony PS3 might be listed in the Health and Beauty category. Just as one would not look for toothpaste in the supermarket's deli department, one would not expect to find a Sony PS3 in eBay's Health and Beauty category.

Another telltale sign of fraud is an extremely low initial bid -- for example the Alienware listings that begin at $.99. There is a Buy It Now mentioned in the listing, however eBay's official "Buy It Now" button is absent. Instead, the buyer is encouraged to contact the seller outside of eBay at an email address included by the scammer in the listing. After contacting the seller, the buyer is instructed to send the money via Western Union or Money Gram. The buyer complies, and never receives the item. Money and thief have disappeared!

One sad example of this is of a woman that entered into a transaction with a hijacker in November. The buyer desperately wanted four tickets to a Dallas Cowboys football game and sent $1,100 to the scammer. She saw a listing that aroused her interest, contacted the email address in the listing, received a fake eBay invoice, and soon sent a Western Union wire transfer of $1,100 to a thief in the United Kingdom. Even Western Union tried to warn this buyer, but she was adamant about purchasing these tickets. All the red flags mentioned above to not get involved in this transaction were in the listing. However, greed consumed this naive buyer. The $1,100 loss is unrecoverable, and the buyer learned a very expensive lesson about the necessity of researching her trading partners. Instead of being a fan at the game, this buyer will have to watch it on television.

It isn't just the buyers that need to beware. There are several scams run on sellers as well. One is known as the Nigerian 419 scam. After hijacking a legitimate eBay account, the fraudster bids on a listing for a price so high that others are unable to win the auction. Immediately after winning, the seller receives an email from the so-called buyer asking that the item be shipped immediately to Nigeria. The Nigerian scammers even offer to pay an extremely high shipping fee, provided the seller ships the item immediately. Within minutes, the seller receives a fake PayPal email stating that the money has been deposited in the seller's PayPal account and it is now safe to ship the item. However, savvy sellers that check their accounts will see that no money has been deposited. The unlucky ones ship the item.

Another twist on this scam is the one in which a scam artist offers to send a money order in excess of the winning bid amount. The buyer gives an excuse as to why the money order is over the amount due and requests the seller to refund the excess cash through unsafe methods, particularly Western Union, a favorite among scam artists. Upon receiving the money order, seller ships the item along with the refund. The money order is counterfeit and the seller loses both the item and the refunded amount.

With so many schemes proliferating on eBay, what is a buyer or seller to do? The key as a bidder or seller is to arm yourself with information. There are dozens of sources of information on and off eBay. Start with eBay guides. They provide tips for protecting yourself. Also, check out eBay's Trust & Safety Discussion Board and the many other community boards that are related to specific categories.

Here is a checklist of things every buyer and seller should be aware of:

1. Thoroughly read the feedback of the seller, not just the aggregate number or the percentage. To weed through read all of a member's neutral and negative feedback, use the tools on Toolhaus or Goofbay. Look at not only what the seller received, but also what the seller left for others. This gives you an insight as to the personality of the seller.

2. Some say if the seller's percentage is less than body temperature, beware!

3. Look at what the seller has sold in the past. Was the seller selling inexpensive doilies for years, and then just began selling Dell computers and plasma TV's for a week or day?

4. Check the auction terms closely. Look for what the seller has to offer. Is there any hidden text, such as "You are bidding on the picture of the TV only"?

5. Use eBay's Ask The Seller A Question feature, (ASQ) to find out more about the seller or the product. DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING!

6. Research the retail value of the item. Is the seller offering it for less than retail?

7. Be realistic. Is this deal too good to be true? If it is, then don't enter into the transaction.

8. Check for penny auctions in the feedback score. This is a quick way for a scam artist to build up to 10 positive and get the star beside the user ID, (eBay's "sign of honesty" so to speak).

9. How does the seller want to be paid? Are the payment options satisfactory for you?

10. How fast does the seller require payment? It is unreasonable for a seller to require payment within 24-48 hours. Scam artists want their money fast so buyers won't have time to discover their mistake.

11. Beware of the seller that requires you to contact them outside of eBay. One frequent scam is to say that the seller cannot get into his My eBay messages. Scam artists use every excuse in the book for not wanting a buyer to use eBay's ASQ. All ASQ messages are sent to each member's My eBay mailbox, along with a copy going to the registered email address of the member. If an ASQ message is sent to a member, the true member will be alerted that his account has been hijacked. NEVER send messages to members via any means other than ASQ. ALWAYS check to make sure that any messages sent to your email address are also in your My eBAY messages mailbox. NEVER COMPLETE A SALE OUTSIDE OF eBAY!!

12. Beware if the listing has a lot of common words misspelled. How is their grammar? Poor grammar is a clue that the seller might be a scam artist operating from another country. The Internet knows no boundaries. Someone from Hong Kong, Greece, or Romania can steal your money just as easily as someone from the USA.

13. Look at the photos in the auction. Does the photo have another user's watermark on it? Does the listing have stock photos?

14. It takes time to be safe. If you are in a hurry, do not buy that day!! Make sure you research your item thoroughly before committing to bid.

15. What category is the item in? Most experienced sellers will have the doilies in the Collectibles category. If you see a laptop computer in the Health and Beauty category, beware! Don't even consider entering into a transaction when the item does not match the category.

16. Compare the item to other sellers that are listing the same or similar item. How close are the values for like items? Laptop computer from a retail store - $1,500. Laptop from a (10) feedback seller with questionable history - $600.00. DO NOT BID.

17. If an item is something you are familiar with, make sure to ask the right questions. If you are not familiar with it, get a second and third opinion.

18. Do not get greedy! Do not rush! Pay attention when warned what to look out for.

19. If an auction looks like a scam, report it.

20. Keep all ad-aware, spyware and anti-virus protection programs up to date. Scan regularly!!

21. Do not be foolish!! If it is too good to be true...IT IS!! It is far better to lose out on a "good deal", than to lose all of your money.

22. Change your passwords regularly. Use a combination of upper case and lower case letters along with numbers. Make your password more than 6 digits long. Never use the same password for more than one account. If you have the same password for your email, eBay account and PayPal account, a hijacker only needs that information once to hack all three accounts.

23. Never click on links within emails, especially if it looks like it is coming from eBay or PayPal. Thieves use the phishing emails to obtain your information. When a message appears to come from eBay or PayPal, go to your eBay or PayPal account and look in the My Messages section. Only there are you safe to click on a link.

24. If a listing contains a button or link that takes you to a sign-in page, DON'T CLICK ON IT! This is known as a redirect. It takes you to the crook's fake login page where your sign-in information is captured.

25. Always Google the email address in a listing and see what comes up. Check The Nekkid Truth Blog and see if the email address is listed. The list is updated daily. Report any suspect email addresses and fake domains not listed to the blog.

26. Make sure the country the seller is registered in matches the country the item will be shipped from. For example, if the seller is registered in the USA and the item is located in Greece, beware!

27. Does the currency accepted match the currency of the seller's registered country? Do they accept Euros but have an account registered in the USA? Don't bid on this item!

Team Whack a Hack has a few suggestions for eBay. First, inactivate any member's account that has been dormant for more than 30 days. If the member is not buying or selling on a regular basis, they probably are not checking their account for bogus listings. They most likely have no clue that their account has been taken over. What a shock it is when this member receives a bill from eBay for hundreds of dollars in listing fees for listings the thieves used to steal from other members. When members decide to become active again, they could simply go to a special web form to activate their accounts.

Second, eBay should have more safeguards in place to detect and terminate accounts set up for the sole purpose of defrauding the public. If volunteers can detect these accounts from the comfort of their homes, why then can't eBay, a company that possesses far more resources than the volunteers do?

With all of the redirects, keyloggers, and viruses hidden in the listings created by the hijackers, surfing on eBay is about as safe as having unprotected sex with a stranger. And, what is worse is that as eBay hides behind its venue status, it is doing little or nothing to solve these problems and protect its members.

Team Whack a Hack strongly encourages any person that has lost money due to fraud on eBay, to contact their local government representatives and demand they take action to hold eBay accountable for the rampant fraud on their site.

One final note: Putting a hijacker's email address on The Nekkid Truth Blog is for Eternity. Team Whack a Hack reporting hijacked accounts, protecting bidders and shutting down hijackers ... Relentless!!!

For further information please send email to always.the.nekkid.truth@gmail.com.

Thursday, November 2, 2006

eBay's New Feedback Policy

eBay's Trust & Safety Department has finally established a policy that makes sense regarding feedback. Borrowing from Martha Stewart, "this is a good thing".

Excerpted from an announcement by eBay on October 31, 2006:

We're restricting the use of Private Feedback on eBay. Effective today, members with private feedback may no longer create new listings. Members who wish to make their Feedback profiles private can still do so – however, they will only be able to bid on items and must cancel their existing listings. Members with private feedback profiles cannot create new listings.

The original announcement was made on October 2, 2006, and is excerpted:

Feedback is the cornerstone of trust on the eBay marketplace. A seller's Feedback provides buyers the opportunity to make informed decisions about their bids and purchases. It helps instill buyer confidence, and it helps protect the marketplace against fraud.

We believe that buyers should have access to a seller's complete Feedback record before choosing to trade with that seller. For this reason we are restricting selling activities for members who have private Feedback. This is a global change and will affect all eBay sites. The expected date of this change is October 26, 2006.

What will change


Members who have private Feedback profiles will no longer be allowed to list items after this change goes into effect. Only members with public Feedback profiles will be permitted to list items.

Any items listed before the change will not be impacted. However, they may not be re-listed by sellers who keep their Feedback profiles private.

Members who wish to make their Feedback profiles private can still do so. However, they must cancel any existing listings, and they will not be allowed to create new listings as long as their Feedback is private.

It's easy to make your Feedback profile public – just sign in and click on the "Make my profile public" option.

Why we're making this change


eBay offers the ability for members to make their Feedback private as an option when they have significant concerns about a comment. They can hide their comments in this way until they are able to resolve the issue. (Read about Mutual Feedback Withdrawal).

Buyers should have all the information available about their prospective sellers' past trading histories. This helps them make knowledgeable choices about doing business with that seller. Prohibiting members with private Feedback profiles from listing items will ensure we help maintain a safe and well-lit marketplace.

Whether you're a buyer or a seller, your Feedback Profile is a valuable asset that helps earn the trust of other eBay members. We strongly encourage members to keep their Feedback profiles public so everyone in the marketplace can benefit from the Feedback other eBay Community members have left them.


What is so great about this new policy, is that it prevents sellers like the one below from keeping feedback private. Potential bidders will not just have numbers and percentages to evaluate, but can see the actual feedback comments. Note, how many mutual withdrawals this seller has.






To review all of sherinhouston's eBay feedback, click here or here.

Had this seller not coerced her trading partners to agree to mutual feedback withdrawal, her feedback percentage would be in the low 90s, and she would not be a PowerSeller. It's too bad that the trading partners were afraid of the negatives, because the red donuts would not have impacted their future trades at all. Anyone reviewing the feedback can see that the seller does nothing but leave hot headed remarks and retaliatory negative feedback.

Just in case this seller does lose her eBay privileges and becomes NARU, she has already established herself with another selling ID - sherismedia - to continue selling her shoddy products (primarily bootleg copies of karaoke CDs and DVDs she burns herself) with over-inflated shipping charges. Feel free to check the feedback here or here. Both selling IDs have terrible reputations.

To top it off, this seller has a terrible combined shipping policy. She isn't doing her buyers any favors offering combined shipping, and, in fact, the seller makes most of her profit from her shipping and handling fees. This practice is called fee avoidance, and is another eBay violation. And, she won't replace items lost in the mail unless the buyer pays for insurance. Insurance protects the seller - whether insurance is purchased or not, per eBay, every buyer is supposed to receive the items purchased.

Let's do the math and prove the bootlegging seller is making her profit on the shipping and handling fees:

  • Most of the karaoke CDs the seller lists have an opening bid of 99¢, and the eBay listing fee is 20¢.
  • Many of the items sell for the opening bid of 99¢, so the eBay final value fee is 5¢.
  • Buyer's are charged $4.49 for shipping, plus 99¢ for the CD, for a total invoice amount of $5.48.
  • Buyer makes payment through PayPal, and seller must pay a PayPal fee of 43¢.
  • Cost of a rewriteable CD and cheap white envelope, purchased in bulk - 25¢.
  • Cost of a padded mailing envelope, mailing labels and toner for printer - 30¢.
  • First class domestic postage (2 ounces) - 63¢

Being informed about a bootlegger on eBay ... priceless!

Seller bills out $5.48, less expenses of $1.86, for a net profit of $3.62 - more than 3 times the sales price. That's quite a bit of profit for a karaoke CD that sold for only 99¢. Think about it, the seller charges $4.49 for shipping and handling, yet the rewritable CD and envelope cost 25¢, shipping supplies and postage cost 93¢, and eBay and PayPal fees are 68¢ - how much labor is required to stuff and mail an envelope? Is it reasonable to charge $4.49 for shipping and handling when the shipping supplies and postage amount to 93¢? The seller makes the bulk of her profit not from selling a bootleg karaoke CD that she burns herself, but from the postage and handling she charges. eBay says that sellers may charge a reasonable handling fee, but charging $4.49, when the out-of-pocket expenses are 93¢ is gouging.

Here's a photograph of one karaoke CD a buyer received in 2005. Note that there isn't any cover art, just a simple, cheap white CD envelope that can be acquired anywhere.



The next photograph shows the real sleeve that this specific karaoke CD is supposed to be in. Note the glossy cover art and the green label (a price tag).


sherinhouston/sherismedia is an eBay seller that everyone should avoid. Do yourself a favor and avoid the headaches. Buy quality merchandise from sellers that have sparkling reputations. For further information, do a Google search on the selling IDs - you might be surprised about what others have posted about her all over the 'Net.

Each time you purchase a bootleg CD or DVD, you are depriving the artists, actors, producers, directors, etc., of the royalties that they deserve to be paid. Do not condone the behavior of criminals like this eBay seller. Do not buy merchandise from known bootleggers.

Always check out your trading partners before you enter into a transaction. Just remember, you have been warned here at The Nekkid Truth.

UPDATE

On January 2, 2007, eBay finally NARU'd the account "sherinhouston", and followed up by also NARUing the account "sherismedia" on January 4, 2007. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Her eBay "Me" pages were also destroyed.

If you recently purchased items and made payment to either selling ID via PayPal, but have not received your merchandise, immediately file a claim with PayPal to get your money back. If PayPal denies your claim because there aren't any funds in the seller's account, immediately contact your credit card carrier or bank (if you used a debit card) and request a chargeback.

If you have not made payment and received a TKO notice from eBay, you do not need to follow-through with the transaction. If you have not received a TKO notice for any recent transactions, you should check with eBay.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Since this information is public record, and found on other websites on the Internet we are providing Ms. Schrader's contact information in case anyone needs to reach her.

Sheri Schrader
872 Bettina Ct #127
Houston, Texas 77024
(713) 365-0051

We are sure that the Texas State Treasurer's Office will be contacting Ms. Schrader soon for tax evasion, as we do not believe that Ms. Schrader ever paid taxes to the State of Texas on the income she derived from selling bootleg copies of CDs on eBay. For that matter selling bootleg copies of CDs is illegal too, so perhaps, either the District Attorney's office in the county Ms. Schrader lives in or the State Attorney General's Office also might be interested in contacting her.

UPDATE - APRIL 9, 2008

It has been reported to this blog and through posts made to this specific blog entry that Sheri Schrader and her partner in crime, Doug Collett have re-emerged on eBay selling their bootlegged CDs and DVDs, and other sundry junk under the user ID starbooksnstuff, registered on October 2, 2007, exactly 10 months after the IDs sherinhouston and sherismedia were NARU'd. It appears that eBay has not NARU'd this new ID, and we call for Matt Halprin, Vice President of eBay's Trust & Safety Department to appoint someone in his department to investigate. The NARU'd IDs and the current selling ID are all based out of Houston, TX, and the new ID is selling the same bootleg junk, with the same gouging shipping and handling fees that the old ID's were selling, and were subsequently NARU'd for. eBay needs to investigate - if the contact information doesn't match up, everything else does - location of seller, same bogus karaoke CDs, DVDs and books sold previously, outrageous shipping and handling fees, and the same arrogance as before. To top it off, as a buyer, the same type of baseball cards are being purchased. eBay does not need to have a 10 point match (as the detective shows say about fingerprints) to determine that the sellers are one in the same. This new selling ID needs to be NARU'd. There is enough evidence for eBay to see that the NARU'd sellers are operating under a new selling ID. Unfortunately, it is possible that eBay needs the fees it is getting from this arrogant selling team as it continues to allow these unscrupulous sellers to operate against eBay policy.

Below, is a recent exchange of emails that has taken place with an eBay member that purchased a bootleg item from starbooksnstuff aka Sheri Schrader, Doug Collett and their former NARU'd eBay IDs sherinhouston, sherismedia, and doug_in_houston. The email responses from starbooksnstuff wreaks of arrogance.

I have recently purchased from the claimed new version of this person "starbooksnstuff". I received the CD, a copy anyways. It works even...but, three weeks ago when I paid, then asked him if he recieved payment...a whole new person emerged. Please read this (I posted it on a local forum for thoughts):

I purchased an item from ebay about 2 weeks ago. After purchasing the item, I did not receive any conformation or notification of monies spent, so I messaged the seller. All I said was: I am writing in regards to my item, I would like to know if you recieved payment and know when its going to ship.

He responds with: I am super busy, I will be shipping it out, don't worry. Pretty much blowing me off.

So, another week goes by. Now Im a little irritated. The seller lives in houston, crap you can mail something to me regular postage and it will get here in three days TOPS.

So I email him again, simple message: Has the item been shipped? I have not heard from you?

His response (copied from email): Item has been sent and tracking was also emailed to you. Please check your bulk email folder as sometimes it goes there. Thanks.
- starbooksnstuff

So I checked, no email (Im thinking we're having a simple friendly business transaction), I write him: There was no email, can you please resend it?

His response: I can't get to that computer right now as it is at the office. Please just allow the proper time for it to get there and be patient like the 100 others that ordered this week. Give it one week. If it isn't there by then, let me know. This doesnt' have to be this difficult nor does it have to become an issue. I send out that information the day it is mailed which I won't know unless I can look it up which I can't right now. It would have been this week sometime. Can you just give it a few days please

So, again he blows me off. Now Im irritated, he's a dick. The product finally shows up yesterday. So, I go to write feedback and leave him with:

seller seems too busy for his clients. Poor transaction service, product is ok. Buyer: crazee240sx ( 39) Apr-07-08 14:50
Reply by starbooksnstuff (Apr-07-08 19:51):
I answr all emls & snd trking right away - excess emls frm custs do take up time
Follow-up by crazee240sx (Apr-07-08 20:42):
2 emails sent. now is harrassing me through email and leaving unwaranted feedbak

Reply by starbooksnstuff (Apr-07-08 21:19):
crazee240sx, pls stop sending your emls then accusing ME of the harrassment

Now, here is the behind the scene bullsh*t:

Dear crazee240sx,

You know, it is sad when people have spam blockers set up so when you ARE sent emails with tracking, you never get them and then I have to deal with all the emails and finally poor feedback because you didn't get your hand held or cuddled in a transaction. I try hard to please hundreds of customers each week and yes, I do get busy and I do the proper things to inform my customers of shipments, but it is just as important as a cutomers that YOU not be overbearing - this is why feedback works BOTH WAYS. Hopefull you learn from that not hassle others - you're VERY overbearing and it isn't necessary. You truly should realize that some sellers spend a LOT of their time to make people like you happy and hourly, we don't make a whole lot responding to unnecessary emails. Maybe you should realize that instead of your 'customer rights'. This isn't a Walmart and I'm a human being. Thank you.

- starbooksnstuff

My response:

Dear starbooksnstuff,

Arrogant emails like this is the reason for my feedback. You have time to write me a paragraph about your lack of business etiquette, when you could be filling orders. Being polite and resending some simple tracking information is pretty simple. It took you a week and I had to contact you for information regarding our transaction. Pardon me for being concerned for my money. Good luck with your company.

- crazee240sx

Him: Dear crazee240sx,

Well ignorant emails like yours is the reason for you negative feedback...that's right loser, I have the time to respond to emails...and when an idiot like you who needs to be constantly babysitted comes along because you're so pathetically INSECURE, then I deal with trash like you the way I always do, I just kick it to the curb...judging by your ignorance, you're used to that - now get lost loser. I sent you tracking information and it isn't so simple to send it again - why not practice some SIMPLE patience like every other eBayer who don't need THEIR little hands held and stop directing your emotional issues at others. Your greedy concern over your money is meaningless...you can be concerned when enough time passes by that there is something to be concerned about - the fact that I emailed you should have been reassuring enough - you don't need to cry every day until your item shows up - it isn't like you spent 100.00...How far do you think your 9.48 takes you with my time? If it wasn't for jerks like you, I'd HAVE the time to spend getting stuff done - think about it - now get lost.

- starbooksnstuff

Him again: Dear crazee240sx,

That's right - for someone to cry like you did and leave ANYTHING less than positive deserved a negative from me. Unless there was a real issue other than your emotional selfish issues, then there is no reason for ANY poor feedback. You got your item in a timely manner - sorry I didn't hold your hand along the way.

- starbooksnstuff

Him again: Dear crazee240sx,

And yeh, I don't talk to customers this way, but as far as I'm concerned, in case you didn't get the memo, you are no longer a customer - take care and have a nice day. I have 99.5% of my customers happy - if you do the match, that's 199 in 200 - 1 out of 200 unhappy - gee, I must be doing something right - I'm glad I don't have more insecure customers like yourself - I mean, geez, 9.48 - wow, you need to protect your investment - what a schmuck.

- starbooksnstuff

Finally me: Dear starbooksnstuff,

Ok greg, here's the deal. I have copies of all of this slander. Hard copies that I am ready to make public. Now, would you like to quit acting like this and resolve this "feedback" issue, or would you like to keep sending me slander? Your attitude is not necessary. Feedback is an honor system that you have abused. I left you a nuetral feedback with nothing more than "room for improvement". You take my 9.48 for granted, well, I dont understand why you're in the business if 9 bucks aint "worth your time". I would love to remove both feedback scores from our accounts and bid each other good day if you so choose.

- crazee240sx

Now him again:

Dear crazee240sx,

Print out the copies and hand them to all your wah wah friends, I could care less..what you MIGHT want to do though there Einstein is learn the difference between someone putting you in your place and 'slander'. I honestly care less that you got your little feeling hurt. It only solidifies my position in you needing your little hand held in the first place. Now go whine to someone else who might care - email eBay. They won't care. I have every right to respond to issues and you weren't cursed in any manner. Now go wah wah wah to someone who might care you little loser. There's nothing to resolve and your threat by the way IS against eBay policy whereas you can't make threats to someone to thwart a feedback change. Now why don't you go shut your hole and get a life. Bye bye.

- starbooksnstuff

And AGAIN:

Dear crazee240sx,

What I choose is for you to shut your mouth, get a life and move on. I don't take lightly to your pathetic threats of 'going public' with your hurt feelings which I could care less about. I don't take anyone's 9.48 for granted, but your 9.48 certainly wasn't worth the TIME if you can get that through your ignorance that I had to spend to deal with it, now was it? Are you truly that stupid to understand that? But for you to sit there and need your little hand held because you were so worried about little 9.48 doesn't say much about your as a person. Now I'll say it again - GET LOST LOSER!

Thats all him...I have all documents saying these things..Who do you recommend I contact??


UPDATE - NOVEMBER 7, 2008

Evil pirating duo, Sheri Schrader and Doug Collett are selling their bootleg CDs on eBay again under the user IDs houstonsportz and texasbaymusic. I wonder why these fools always gravitate to creating user IDs relating to Houston and Texas. Check their feedback --

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=houstonsportz&ftab=AllFeedback

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=texasbaymusic&ftab=AllFeedback

Contact information is:

The address for houstonsportz and texasbaymusic is as follows:

houstonsportz on eBay
PO Box 841055
Houston, TX 77284

In feedback, there are too many mentions of bootleg CDs being sold as originals and ridiculously high shipping. But, alas, buyers may leave honest feedback and do not have to fear receiving retaliatory feedback from this evil duo. Best of all buyers, can put these cretins out of business by dinging the Sheri's and Doug's star ratings by leaving 1 star at each level instead of 5. eBay will quickly give this evil pair selling restrictions. Unfortunately, these poor sellers will just reappear under new selling IDs. But, keep track of them and report the information here.

On another note, this evil selling pair charges $2.00 for optional insurance. Please report this seller to eBay, as it is against eBay policy to charge more for insurance than what the United States Post Office charges. This seller may not profit from insurance. In fact, it is ABSOLUTELY NOT NECESSARY to purchase shipping insurance from a seller if you pay through PayPal. PayPal requires all of its sellers to get their items to their buyers in the condition stated. If items are damaged during shipment, sellers are required to rectify the problem. All buyers need to do is file Significantly Not As Described or Item Not Received claims through PayPal. If sellers do not cooperate, buyers should escalate their disputes to claims and wait for PayPal to resolve the issue. Remember, that if you do win a Significantly Not As Described claim through PayPal, you must ship the item back to the seller with online trackable delivery confirmation to satisfy PayPal. Once proof is provided to PayPal that the item was received at the seller's location, PayPal will refund the buyer up to the protection plan stated by PayPal.

At least eBay has implemented restrictions on shipping charges; unfortunately, this evil selling duo does not offer combined shipping. But, with just one mention of the words "bootleg" and "fake" in the seller feedback, it makes absolutely no sense that anyone would buy from these selling IDs at all. CAVEAT EMPTOR!!! BUYER BEWARE!!!

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Indiana Dad Thoughtlessly puts Daughter at Risk in Order to Obtain Super Bowl Tickets on eBay


Super Bowl XLI
Indianapolis Colts 29 - Chicago Bears 17

And now a sports report ...

My Daddy's a Big Fat IDIOT! He thought it was okay to put my picture and birth certificate in an eBay listing that finally ended on Saturday. The nice people at The Nekkid Truth even told him it wasn't a smart thing to do. But apparently my daddy is dumber than a stump because he wouldn't listen. Yup! My Daddy's a Big Fat IDIOT!

Daddy said that he didn't care what the nice people thought. But you know what Daddy? I CARE! Some bad man might see me now and kidnap me. He knows my name, and yours and Mommy's names. He might very well know where we live. You gave out all of this information just because you had to have tickets to Super Bowl XLI. What's up with that? My safety should be more important to you than football. How come you used my picture and birth certificate to make people feel bad for you just so YOU could get Super Bowl tickets?

And why the hell am I dressed in this stupid football memorabilia outfit anyway? In case you forgot, I'm a LITTLE GIRL, not a big "WE'RE NUMBER ONE HAND!"

This is a picture of a pretty little girl that is a few months shy of her first birthday. She doesn't have a big vocabulary. She is not old enough to protect herself. She is just old enough to take her first steps, she can't even run away. She hasn't been to school yet and she has not been taught to say NO to strangers.

Unfortunately, her dad is not the brightest bulb in the patch. He had the audacity to include her photograph and birth certificate in an eBay listing for Super Bowl tickets. Neither the photograph, nor the birth certificate were pertinent to the listing, other than to show that the dad is a Chicago Bears fan. But, the dad put himself and his family at risk for a whole slew of problems.

First of all, the dad was seeking Super Bowl tickets but went about it the wrong way. Instead of placing a free listing in the Want it Now section of eBay, he put up an auction-style listing on eBay. This is not particularly a good idea, because it is an eBay violation to put up an auction-style listing and not have anything for sale. However, worse than that, is that the dad posted his daughter's picture and birth certificate in the listing. The birth certificate (which is not posted on this blog) states the name of the hospital, the child's name and the birth parents' names. With the information on the birth certificate, it took about 3 minutes to find the family's home address and telephone number. By the dad putting this information out on eBay he opens himself up to trouble.

Unfortunately the dad isn't bright enough to be aware that there are all types of predators that lurk on the Internet. He is unaware that in his stupidity he exposes his daughter to being abducted. Does he care? Not at all. All this man was interested in was obtaining Super Bowl tickets at any cost, including jeopardizing his daughter's safety.

The dad doesn't seem to see that he made a mistake. He is too selfish and ignorant to understand that pictures can be copied and posted anywhere. The above picture was copied right out of the dad's eBay listing and then altered for the blog. People like this dad should be forced to take an aptitude test before they can procreate.

Feel free to email this stupid parent and let him know your opinion. Tell him that you are outraged. The dad exposed his email address in his eBay listing, so there should be no problem providing it to our readers either. You may contact the dad at this email address: joemarsh34@yahoo.com.

Your children's privacy and safety are much more important than obtaining tickets to any sporting event. Keep their pictures off of the Internet. Keep them safe. Do not put information in your online auction listings that allow people to find out where you live with minimal effort. Protect your children from predators. For further information on how to keep your children safe, read the FBI's Educational Pages on child abduction and the Online Safety Pages.