Another Scam on E Bay

I recently ran into a VERY "funky" situation on Audioweb.

I found a product for sale listed as used that i was not even aware was in production. The seller had a very nice picture of the unit, full description, etc... and the price was right. Checking his feedback, i found three positives with all of them taking place within the last 2 - 3 weeks. I fired off an instant email to him letting him know i was VERY interested in this specific product. I also called his house and left a similar message with all of my pertinent contact info.

After doing this, i went to the company's website and checked to see what i could find out about this piece. While they did show it listed, there was no info available. I ended up calling them up and spoke to their distributor. During the conversation, the distributor mentioned that the unit will be in production at the end of July. HUH ?!?!?!?!

As it turns out, there were only two of these units in existence. The distributor had one to demo to their dealers and the engineers had one to work with. I then made him aware of the unit being advertised on Audioweb for appr 45% of retail. Needless to say, he became rather excited very quickly. He asked for the web address, etc.. and i gladly forwarded the pertinent info. The distributor then contacted the seller privately and who knows what was said between them.

When all was said and done, the seller did not have this unit. His ad disappeared that same day while i was at work. I spoke to the distributor the next day and he did verify that it was a scam. However, the seller did contact me via email and let me know that he had found someone that was interested in it and they were working through a deal. If the deal fell through, he would let me know. There is more to this than i've covered here, but you get the idea.

I forwarded an email to Audioweb questioning them about their policies on fraudulent ads and scammers. That was four days ago and i have not heard a peep back from them.

As such, i'm somewhat torn about what to do about this individual and the over-all situation. Obviously, this person planned on stringing someone ( who knows how many people ) along and probably bilking them for pre-payment and shipping fees. The way he worded his ad, he could simply contact me ( and who knows how many others ) at a later date and say that the original deal fell through. As such, he could sell me the unit but i would have to contact him ASAP as he had others waiting in line for this piece. With that type of a situation at hand, i think that many people would simply jump without thinking and agree to terms just to secure the deal. Know what i mean ???

Any thoughts or suggestions as to what should be done in this situation ? According to the little bit of detective work that i've done, this person does not have an account here on Audiogon. Sean
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Sean, this sounds like a matter that the local police could provide some assistance with. I think the seller's city is identifiable on Audioweb as it is here on A'gon. Depending on the seller's location and his surname, it might be possible to VERY QUIETLY track down his identity with the assistance of local police. This request would be best if it were to come from either Audioweb or the manufacturer. The problem is that many online scam artists operate under false identities from large cities and use P.O. boxes, etc. Once they know somebody is on to them, they're gone!

I recently had a scam where somebody user my user ID sell nonexeistent merch.Like an idiot I had my user password and ID be the same (must have been not thinking when I set up account).Anyway somebody says he's "chazzbo" and sells 4 Playstations for $500 a whack.Only one of the 4 folks fell for it as they say that in past I was in western mass from my ads and then I moved to POLAND?!?Anyway this creep isisted that people only send him cash wired through Westerm Union.Feel bad for the guy who got stung.I wish I had used ebay while it was going on to see that "I" was selling something but ddidn't catch it in time.And my guess is ebay won't back this guy who lost out for mor than $100 or maybe $200 but certainly not $500.As always Caveat Emptor.

there are rules -- ask before bidding.
if you do not trust seller please submit this listing to the manufacturer and this situation will be handled.
that is the best thing to prevent before the illness takes place and cure the virus whilt it's in the development period.

The "funny" part about my situation is that the seller has his home address and real name listed in his Audioweb member "bio". Through this information, i was easily able to track down his phone number and that is how i was able to call his house. As such, if he is a "scammer", he's not a very bright one. Sean
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