Internet Scam

Tom-D

Tom-D

Taxi to Parking
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Feb 23, 2005
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Tom-D
I have been scammed by a perp using an AD on rvSearch.com as a come on.
Yes I know now that I didn't do my home work as I should.

I answered the Ad by E-mail, and bought the motorhome but after sending the ernest money, the perp is asking for more money.

I would like to know if there is any way of tracing the e-mail address?
 
You can look at at the full header of the email, but if it's from a yahoo or hotmail account, they're pretty safe.

Can you ask to see the motorhome before you send more money?
 
Tom-D said:
I have been scammed by a perp using an AD on rvSearch.com as a come on.
Yes I know now that I didn't do my home work as I should.

I answered the Ad by E-mail, and bought the motorhome but after sending the ernest money, the perp is asking for more money.

I would like to know if there is any way of tracing the e-mail address?
Click to expand...

How did you pay? If it's by check, can you stop it?


Trapper John
 
Most likely, its not worthwhile to trace the email. You sent money somewhere, right? That should be traceable, somehow. Either the address you sent it to, the check you wrote, something. I would follow the money instead.
 
If it's a check, then your bank can probably help out, too, especially once the check has been cashed. They can probably find out what institution cashed the check and what account it was credited to.

Also, I'd definitely make a police report as documentation....
 
Jack Spectre said:
You can look at at the full header of the email, but if it's from a yahoo or hotmail account, they're pretty safe.

Can you ask to see the motorhome before you send more money?
Click to expand...

Now that he has cashed the mailgram he refuses to reply to e-mail.
 
SkyHog said:
Most likely, its not worthwhile to trace the email. You sent money somewhere, right? That should be traceable, somehow. Either the address you sent it to, the check you wrote, something. I would follow the money instead.
Click to expand...

the money was picked up in Huston, the moneygram folks were good enough to tell me that.

3k ain't the end of the world to us, but it is enough for the FBI, and the state attorny general to get involved to shut the perp down.
 
Tom-D said:
the money was picked up in Huston, the moneygram folks were good enough to tell me that.

3k ain't the end of the world to us, but it is enough for the FBI, and the state attorny general to get involved to shut the perp down.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's felony territory alright, but the feds have a lot of big fish to fry, I hope they have the bandwidth...
 
Tom-D said:
the money was picked up in Huston, the moneygram folks were good enough to tell me that.

3k ain't the end of the world to us, but it is enough for the FBI, and the state attorny general to get involved to shut the perp down.
Click to expand...


Tom, did the Western Union folks require any ID to pick it up?
 
The local cops might be interested in this as a fraud case - you can get in touch with them, ask for the fraud investigations detectives. I did similar cases when I was a police detective.

Depending on the email address, it may or may not be worthwhile - but I would expect that someone who was going to be doing this kind of thing would use a hotmail or other similar type of account.

If you want to talk, I'll send you my phone number by pm.
 
That suxs Tom. Makes me want to never buy anything off the net ever again unless I know who I'm dealing with or just buy local so I could see the product before paying. I hope you get your money back.
 
Tom-D said:
the money was picked up in Huston, the moneygram folks were good enough to tell me that.

3k ain't the end of the world to us, but it is enough for the FBI, and the state attorny general to get involved to shut the perp down.
Click to expand...

Tom, sorry to hear of your troubles.

E-mail him that you're ready to send the next batch of $$$ and buy Nick a plane ticket to Houston!
 
To add to the others about email header, I believe many email sites will add the sending computer's IP to the header as "originating IP" or something. Possibly, you can use that IP & do a WHOIS to locate the ISP & possibly the location (My IP reveals a city ~60 miles way, YMMV). Perhaps the police can use that to locate the perp, unless he used a public hotspot or something.
 
rpadula said:
E-mail him that you're ready to send the next batch of $$$ and buy Nick a plane ticket to Houston!
Click to expand...

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Sorry, Tom. I've gotten scammed before as well. That said, almost all of my internet dealings have been good ones.
 
My advice would be to contact the police in both Washington and Texas, and maybe the Feds (although, frankly, they've got bigger fish to fry). There could have been crimes committed in both states. For instance, it could be that the fraud was committed in Washington, because that's where you were. And in Texas, because that's where the money was sent and taken.

But, I think you ought to have some luck at the state level. $3K is a pretty significant amount - your average theft is actually far lower.

Good luck.
 
Yup, email him that you sent the next amount, give him the "tracking number" (make it up) and let the WU / MailGram folks in Houston (at whatever store he's using for a pickup point) know that if somebody comes in looking to pick up $$$ with that ##, they are the perp--call the cops.
 
Save everything you possibly can. There are headers in the email that may or may not give the perp's IP address. There are also logs on rvsearch's server that will have the IP address(es) used to access the site. The police will have a lot better luck convincing the ISPs to cooperate. Good luck regardless.
 
I don't the first thing about these types of money transfers, but it might also be worthwhile contacting whatever service you used. They might have some suggestions and, who knows, maybe they have some tracking ability of their own (i.e., maybe a signature for the money on the delivery end?).
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Yup, email him that you sent the next amount, give him the "tracking number" (make it up) and let the WU / MailGram folks in Houston (at whatever store he's using for a pickup point) know that if somebody comes in looking to pick up $$$ with that ##, they are the perp--call the cops.
Click to expand...

Problem with WU is that you have no idea where they'll pick up...

They can pick up at any story anywhere in the world, regardless of where you send to. That's why scammers love WU!
 
Tom-D said:
3k ain't the end of the world to us, but it is enough for the FBI.
Click to expand...

Yes it is enough for the FBI to get involved, and I wish you well, but with the down economy, and the uptick in scams, they are probably buried.

gee, $3k. With that, I could balance my checkbook for 3 months ....
 
Obi Heed Kenobi said:
I don't the first thing about these types of money transfers, but it might also be worthwhile contacting whatever service you used. They might have some suggestions and, who knows, maybe they have some tracking ability of their own (i.e., maybe a signature for the money on the delivery end?).
Click to expand...

Surveillance video at the pickup location?
 
I'm pretty sure you know this by now, but stay away from internet deals that use Western Union. Those are almost always guaranteed to be scams. In the past I've paid for stuff using postal money orders, but that was either for relatively inexpensive merchandise, or dealing with a known party.
 
rpadula said:
Surveillance video at the pickup location?
Click to expand...

Who knows? It's very possible.

But, in all honesty, if I'm sending money via some kind of delivery service, I at least expect that the service would ask for an ID and signature upon delivery!

So, it'd be worth a shot. The service might at least be able to say, "here's what you need to do."
 
rpadula said:
E-mail him that you're ready to send the next batch of $$$ and buy Nick a plane ticket to Houston!
Click to expand...

I'd gladly donate 3 rolls of quarters and a sweat sock to ensure that the "seller" is counseled appropriately...


Trapper John
 
Tom-D said:
the money was picked up in Huston, the moneygram folks were good enough to tell me that.

3k ain't the end of the world to us, but it is enough for the FBI, and the state attorny general to get involved to shut the perp down.
Click to expand...

Mailgram = USPS = mail fraud = Feds.

If it really was a mailgram and/or any part of it traveled in the USPS system, contact the USPS inspector. They WILL be interested.
 
wsuffa said:
Mailgram = USPS = mail fraud = Feds.

If it really was a mailgram and/or any part of it traveled in the USPS system, contact the USPS inspector. They WILL be interested.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Postal Inspector's take these things more seriously than you might imagine.
I might mess with some parts of the Gov't but not the PO. Having dealt with the them in my work for over 20 years I know they get down right vicious at times and mail fraud is one of those times.

Mark
 
wsuffa said:
Mailgram = USPS = mail fraud = Feds.

If it really was a mailgram and/or any part of it traveled in the USPS system, contact the USPS inspector. They WILL be interested.
Click to expand...

Good suggestion. The USPS has its own investigative arm (I believe the mail inspectors) that handle these types of investigations.
 
Todays activity

Thomas ,

Thank you for submitting a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General on 10/21/2009. Your complaint is very important to us and we have assigned it to a consumer resource center specialist. Due to the volume and complexity of complaints made to our office, normal complaint processing time is approximately 4 weeks. We are currently experiencing an increase of incoming complaints which may result in a longer processing time. We apologize for the delay and thank you very much for your patience.

Please do not respond to this email address. The mailbox is not monitored. If you have questions, please contact our Consumer Resource Center at 1-800-551-4636.
then..........

Thank you for filing a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

Your complaint has been successfully submitted. Please retain the following information for future contacts with the IC3:

Complaint Id: *******
Password: *********

If you wish to view/download your complaint or have any additional information to provide to the IC3, please use the following link and login with the above complaint id and password.
http://complaint.ic3.gov/update

The IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 aims to give the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism.

Complaint Status
The IC3 receives thousands of complaints each month and does not have the resources to respond to inquiries regarding the status of complaints. It is the IC3's intention to review all complaints and refer them to law enforcement and regulatory agencies having jurisdiction. Ultimately, investigation and prosecution are at the discretion of the receiving agencies.

Evidence
It is important that you maintain any evidence you may have relating to your complaint. Evidence may include canceled checks, credit card receipts, phone bills, mailing envelopes, mail receipts, a printed copy of a website, copies of emails, or similar items. Please keep the items in a safe location, in case you are requested to provide them for investigative purposes.

Plus the Oak Harbor PD is in the act, interfacing with the Huston PD.

And the RV Search web page is removing his ads. and for you folks watch for these pages.

http://www.trader-publishing.net/

click the "business purchace protection" button and it takes you to

http://www.trader-publishing.net/bpp/overview.html

these pages are clones of the la-git pages of

http://www.traderonline.com/security/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What are the odds? Dated yesterday, FTC settlement:

MoneyGram to Pay $18 Million to Settle FTC Charges That it Allowed its Money Transfer System To Be Used for Fraud

Company Also Required to Implement Comprehensive Anti-Fraud Program and to Monitor its Agents

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/moneygram.shtm

Tom, I know you did the IC3 thing (good); do the FTC report, too:

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
 
I helped a Cessna 150 club member get his money back from a guy who was offering some 0-200 cylinders. The guy sent the money but never got the cylinders. It just so happened he was opperating on my priviate airstrip and I had heard his name. I called the cops and he was busted. The guy got his money back.
 
Hm..That isn't the actual username/password is it?
 
Tom-D said:
the money was picked up in Huston, the moneygram folks were good enough to tell me that.

3k ain't the end of the world to us, but it is enough for the FBI, and the state attorny general to get involved to shut the perp down.
Click to expand...

Is Huston a typo for Houston?

Have you contacted the Huston police?
 
Tom-D said:
Todays activity

Thomas ,

Thank you for submitting a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General on 10/21/2009. Your complaint is very important to us and we have assigned it to a consumer resource center specialist. Due to the volume and complexity of complaints made to our office, normal complaint processing time is approximately 4 weeks. We are currently experiencing an increase of incoming complaints which may result in a longer processing time. We apologize for the delay and thank you very much for your patience.

Please do not respond to this email address. The mailbox is not monitored. If you have questions, please contact our Consumer Resource Center at 1-800-551-4636.
then..........

Thank you for filing a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

Your complaint has been successfully submitted. Please retain the following information for future contacts with the IC3:

Complaint Id: obscurred
Password: obscurred

If you wish to view/download your complaint or have any additional information to provide to the IC3, please use the following link and login with the above complaint id and password.
http://complaint.ic3.gov/update

The IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 aims to give the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism.

Complaint Status
The IC3 receives thousands of complaints each month and does not have the resources to respond to inquiries regarding the status of complaints. It is the IC3's intention to review all complaints and refer them to law enforcement and regulatory agencies having jurisdiction. Ultimately, investigation and prosecution are at the discretion of the receiving agencies.

Evidence
It is important that you maintain any evidence you may have relating to your complaint. Evidence may include canceled checks, credit card receipts, phone bills, mailing envelopes, mail receipts, a printed copy of a website, copies of emails, or similar items. Please keep the items in a safe location, in case you are requested to provide them for investigative purposes.

Plus the Oak Harbor PD is in the act, interfacing with the Huston PD.

And the RV Search web page is removing his ads. and for you folks watch for these pages.

http://www.trader-publishing.net/

click the "business purchace protection" button and it takes you to

http://www.trader-publishing.net/bpp/overview.html

these pages are clones of the la-git pages of

http://www.traderonline.com/security/
Click to expand...


Whoa man, password, password! You gotta obscur that!
 
Tom-D said:
Complaint Id: **************
Password: XXXXXXXX
Click to expand...

Tom: for security you should not be posting your complaint password. Anyone of us or someone stumbling onto your post can go in an edit the complaint. Please go back and remove that password and ID from your posting!!!
 
Scary thing is, you can now already Google the complaint ID and get the password. So it's probably too late for that. Tom, if you have the capability of CHANGING the password, please do so immediately!
 
Definitely get the USPS involved. Very definitely. I think that's your best bet.

And Tom? Let's be careful out there.:nonod:
 
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