Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with scammer

How much trouble am I in?

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:52:07 -0800

So, I inadvertently sent my phone number and address to a Craigslist Scammer. What problems could this pose me? So, I fell for one of those "seems a little too cheap" Craiglist housing ads. I didn't send the guy any money, but I did send him an e-mail, and I foolishly forgot to leave off a signature containing my phone number, name, and address. What's the worst thing he can do with this information, and is there anyway to stop it?

How to protect an elderly man who keeps giving money to a con artist?

Redruin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:22:07 -0800

How do we protect an elderly man who keeps voluntarily giving money to a con artist? So on Monday a stranger flagged down my grandfather ouside a hospital and told him a sad story about how his car was stolen and he needed money for various things. My trusting 88 year old good catholic grandfather believes him and drives him around and gives him money, and now it's the end of the week and every day the guy has promised to pay, but ends up calling him up with another story about his bad luck, and getting more money out of him.

My grandfather suffers from various physical ailments which sometimes impair his ability to reason and remember things, and think rationally. He hasn't asked for the guy's full name, doesn't know where he lives, and has never seen any corroborating evidence for any of the stories the guy has told him. Of course my grandfather, perhaps hoping to store treasure in heaven, continues to believe every word, and loses hundreds of dollars every day.

So we filed a police report, but they said they can't do anything at all if he is giving the money voluntarily. So the question is... what kind of recourse do we have?

Should we get a PI to investigate the guy? Is there no legal remedy for this? Or do we have to get vigilante?... Any interesting ideas would be appreciated. It's pretty crucial for me to get this solved as soon as possible, and we are sort of worried about what this guy may be capable of.

How do I sue someone in small claims court across state lines?

procrastination — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:17:03 -0800

Despite my very best efforts, I got scammed on eBay. Now my only recourse is to sue someone who lives in Chicago, while I live in DC. I know YANML, but can people provide me with an idea of how difficult and expensive this might be? I would need to be able to subpoena information from a couple of companies. I suspect it would be a small claims issue, since the value of the item was about $540. So questions: does small claims court work across state lines? Would I need to file in DC to be able to subpoena things from companies (PayPal, and if I could his cell phone company to show that he was using the phone on their network) and then file in Chicago? Or if I filed in DC, would they have to respond to me here? Would I be able to sue for my costs, including travel? If I needed a lawyer, could I sue for legal fees? If I won, how could I make the guy pay? In general, since I have no idea what to do or how to do it, how would I proceed myself, and what is the cheapest way to go?

I know you are not my lawyer, and I accept that this is not legal advice.

Can I trust PayPal's seller protection? If not, what can go wrong?

procrastination — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 10:53:07 -0800

Can I trust PayPal's seller protection? If not, what can go wrong? I placed a nice piece of electronic cell phone gadgetry up for sale on eBay. It sold for a bit over $500. The person who bought it has a relatively new account (Jun of 2007), with no prior feedback. They already paid via PayPal, and I initiated transferring the money out of the separate bank account I keep for PayPal stuff.

I am, of course, concerned that this person might be a scammer, so I did a little google stalking to find out about them. My results were mixed: they have been at the address listed for at least two years, but an old friendster profile has lots of comments congratulating them on being a computer hacker. So I don't know if they are trustworthy. My concern, looking around at horror stories, is that a chargeback will occur after I ship the device, either at they buyer's request, or because the buyer might have used a stolen credit card.

The good news is that I am eligible for PayPal's Seller protection policy, as long as I ship with a tracking number and a signature requirement, which I will do. This should protect me against chargebacks. But I don't know what can go wrong with this. Reading around, it looks like some scammers might be able to reverse charges much later, after the online tracking and signature information have expired.

Does anyone have any experience with this? What can go wrong? Other than reimbursing the buyer and relisting the item, what can I do to protect myself?

Scammer scamming

pantsrobot — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 11:17:08 -0800

I'm exchanging emails with a scammer who wants me to buy his "car". What should I do? I've tried to get him to give me a number so that I can discuss some payment options. He's responded with a fake escrow and told me email them at support@craigslist-pay-safe.org (<- not connected with craigslist in any way)
So AskMe, what do I do now?

Do I have to pay for something I bought through BidPay but never received?

reflexed — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:42:39 -0800

CollectionAgencyFilter: I bought an item on eBay in July and paid with my Visa debit card using BidPay. When it became clear that the seller was a scammer and wasn't going to deliver, I contacted my bank and they issued a chargeback on BidPay, and I got my money back. Today I received a somewhat threatening email from BidPay saying that I still owe them the full amount, and if I don't pay they're going to sic a collection agency on me. Do I have to pay it? BidPay says:
Under the Terms & Conditions of BidPay, you are responsible for the amount of the auction payment and the charge for the BidPay service fee (see BidPay Terms & Conditions):
d. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement, if, as part of the BidPay Services, you purchase a money order or instruct us to provide Direct to Bank Services, (i) in addition to the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement, you are also subject to all terms and conditions appearing on the face of such money order or imposed by the originating, intermediary and/or destination banks and you hereby agree to comply with and be bound by all such terms and conditions; (ii) in the event that such money order is fraudulently cashed or stolen or the money is fraudulently directed to the wrong bank, BidPay assumes no liability and you agree to assume all liability; and (iii) BidPay's obligations with respect to such Direct to Bank request or money order are complete upon BidPay’s (a) deposit with the designated financial institution, or (b) deposit of such money order in the mail or with a recognized courier service.

The email later says:
If we have not received remittance within 15 days, we will place your account with a collection agency.

Should I be worried? It says I assume all liability, but that only seems to refer to the money order being stolen, "fradulently cashed" or misdirected, nothing about the seller never delivering. I don't want to ruin my credit over $84 (though they do only have my debit information and none of my credit info). I figured that my bank would go after BidPay and BidPay would go after the scammer, not me. They deposited my money into his bank account, after all.

Should I just pay it and be done with it? Should I tell BidPay that the seller never delivered and I'm not paying? Do nothing? Or is there some advocate/attorney general/senator/better business bureau i can contact to help me out?

Thanks in advance for your help.

It was a Buy-It-Now auction and I think 20-30 people also got scammed. Many of them are going after the guy in NY small claims court (he's in Staten Island). I declined to participate because I thought I had already gotten my money back, and I'm in PA and wouldn't have been able to make it to court.