Strange Ebay transaction? Uhh... what?

[Leland Pate]

I won an auction two days ago for a set of 996 exhaust tips and emailed the seller to tie up the deal.
Below is a copy of the email I sent him and his reply.
What do you think of this?

I told him I couldn't get involved due to my position, but the whole thing just seems fishy to me.
I want this transaction to go down smoothly and don't want any problems.
After I read the first sentence I thought, "oh, no it's that damn Zimbabwe scam thing again"... but it appears to be different.

Has anyone ever encountered this sort of thing before?




> >From: Leland Pate
> >To: navigator_321@hotmail.com
> >Subject: eBay Item: Porsche 996 911 POLISHED
> Exhaust tips (Item
> >Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 06:19:42 -0800 (PST)
> >
> >Morning,
> >I still haven't heard from you, but again, I am in
> no
> >rush.
> >I wanted to let you know that I'm going to be away
> >from the computer until Thursday evening.
> >At any rate, I just wanted to let you know not to
> flip
> >if you don't get a response.
> >
> >If you like, my cell number is XXXXXXXXXX
> >
> >I'll be waiting to hear from you on Thursday
> evening,
> >Take care,
> >Leland

To which he responded with:



--- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:
> Hi, Hope you got my last reply. I said basically
> that it is fine to pay me by money order. However,
> perhaps you would be interested in providing me with
> a quick service and I will ship the tips at no
> charge and I will even cover shipping. What I need
> is a letter to go to someone who owes me money that
> I paid in advance for work. and for damage he did to
> my property. If you are interested I can provide
> his address. You just have to send a firm letter
> stating that you are representing me and will assist
> me to take legal action to recover all costs
> associated with the damages he has caused to my
> property and for the full amount paid him for work
> which he has not provided, if his Insurance does not
> fully compensate me, as he promised it would on
> several occassions.
> Basically Leland, you just have to include what I
> have mentioned on your letterhead. You don't need to
> go into all the details. I have already gone over
> all details with him and his insurance co. This guy
> is a slippery character and has zero integrity and
> has scammed many others. I've contacted the Police,
> the BBB, and Attorney Generals office but they say
> it's a cival matter to be resolved in court.
> Possibly, if he reads from your professional
> letterhead he just might live up to his
> responsibility. I would need this letter very soon
> as his Insurance company's decision is pending and
> may be made tomorrow or Monday. To date he is
> denying the damage to my property. You don't have to
> give details of damages in your letter. If you have
> already sent payment I can return it with the tips.
> Let me know. Email me at my office tomorrow or call
> me. I'm at [XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXor call me at
> XXXXXXXXXXXXX. Hope you can help. If you help me
> get this guy to pay me back, even if it's thru his
> insurance, I will throw in a bonus, a cold air
> intake for your Porsche. This is a $350 item. See my
> auction.
> Thanks in advance, XXXXXXXX
>
>
To which I replied:

Hi Mark,
I am sorry to hear of your unfortunate situation with this fellow and I'm sure it has caused you quite a headache.
However, I must tell you that I am a Special Agent with a Federal Law Enforcement Agency. Due to my position, I hope you can understand that I cannot involve myself in this sort of thing. I do wish you luck with the deadbeat and hope you get the situation resolved, but I can take no part.
Just out of curiosity, what happened?

I will have that money order out the door to you by tommorrow at the latest,
Thank you and good luck,
Leland Pate



Did I do the right thing?
What should I do next?
He could be legit and just looking for options, but I don't like the way it reads.

[Rot 911]

Sounds to me like he wanted to make you an accessory to fraud.

[304065]

More like extortion.

[anh911]

Or he could be trying to get you to use your Fed creds to pressure this guy. Are you required to have your credentials on your personal email? I wouldn't think it's a good idea.

[Emission]

Interesting, very interesting.

You did the right thing - you don't ask that type of "favor" from someone you met on eBay.

[epbrown]

Originally posted by Leland Pate
Did I do the right thing?
What should I do next?
He could be legit and just looking for options, but I don't like the way it reads.

I don't like the way it reads either. You did the right thing, especially as you don't know the entire situation or have both sides. In my opinion, the recipient of the letter in question isn't the only person that's sleazy and lacking in integrity - this guy sounds like it as well.

There's something slimey about the entire proposition, but I'll concede it's not unusual. A couple of friends of mine are lawyers (one an ex-cop at that) and get the same thing - requests from friends and family to write "scare letters" on their firm's letterhead or similar phone calls. One of them does this all the time for family or close friends, but neither would out themselves out there like that for a stranger. Neither should you.

Emanuel

[Leland Pate]

No way, ever, would I ever think of ever thinking of ever doing something like that.
What kind of thought process would that take?

"Hello, I am from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. It has come to my knowledge that you have failed to pay for a paintjob on a 1973 Opel GT, you are hearby warned that the AFOSI is no on to your sorry ass and will be sending remote controlled aliens which we have used for years to get cooperation from people like you. Do as I say or experience the rump-probing."



Wha???

Give me a break.

[howiee]

Smart move. With his wording you could have been dragged into helping him pay for his crap. If he gives you a hard time make sure you let Ebay know about him. He may be trying to scam others as well.

[swbsam]

I hope this guy has some great feedback, cause I don't think I'd be sending him any money orders after that kind of come on.

[dc914guy]

Originally posted by swbsam
I hope this guy has some great feedback, cause I don't think I'd be sending him any money orders after that kind of come on.

I suppose the ? is, do you have anything in your e-mail that would lead this guy to think that you are a special agent, or could offer help to him?? If not I would not send him money.

Let us know how it goes.
~Eric

[surflvr911sc]

Leland, I think it’s a mistake to volunteer what you do by having it in a signature or header when conducting unofficial correspondence. That kind of information just makes you a target for something like this or worse. You’ve done the training, you know wearing who you are on your sleeve is a mistake when off duty, and this is the same thing.

Many cops, or their loved ones, have been killed while off duty do to the bad guys finding out what they are or by them going into cop mode when loved ones were w/ them. Work is work, leave it there.

Anyway, I just want you to be careful, and yes, you did the right thing.

[addictionMS]

If you can change 1973 to 1988, and Opel GT to Carrera, I think I can use this, what do you say....

Hello, I am from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. It has come to my knowledge that you have failed to pay for a paintjob on a 1973 Opel GT, you are hearby warned that the AFOSI is no on to your sorry ass and will be sending remote controlled aliens which we have used for years to get cooperation from people like you. Do as I say or experience the rump-probing."

Jim

[Leland Pate]

Ryan,
No I didn't say anything about being LE until I told him I'm a Fed. I only said it to let him know that I know what's what and will not get involved.
It is not in my signature on my yahoo account, and only on the Pelican BBS as a half/joke.
Perhaps you're right in that I should remove it from the BBS.

[surflvr911sc]

I didn’t really mean here but now that I think about it…

This forum is open to the world and not just the few hundred guys that post. Be careful out there, need to know basis only. If they don’t need to know, terminate them.

[Leland Pate]

...And he did have good feedback.

shrug... I dunno, I guess I'll just wait and hear his reply before jumping to too many conclusions.

[DonDavis]

This thing doesn't pass the smell test!

Good move, my man!

[RickM]

What Emission said.

You did the right thing...although, I probably would have been spooked completely out of the deal.

[DavidI]

It sounds fishy to me. I would let the seller know that I am not interested in anything other than the purchase. It is a simple transaction. An item for money. Nothing more and nothing less.

surflvr911sc, it sounds like you may be tipping your hand as to your profession as well.........

[ubiquity0]

I would be hesitant to give a guy like that a shipping address that also happened to be my home address!!

[FenderGuy]

This is what you need to do report this gay to Ebays safe harbor for fraud and let me them email telling you they cant tell you anything about what they are doing is confindent. I would stay away from that deal, I would also stay away from ebay when it comes to big items. Efee and Payfee are really worthless these days, the place is overun with scams and they are not doing a thing, you want real proctection? Pay only with credit and you will have yourself covered, I will never pay with MO OR CASHIERS CHECKS ever again in that place