Scam Question
 

I'll try to make this quick.

Back in 2008 I found a item on craigslist. I called the guy and we agreed on $600. He lived in Florida and I lived in NY, I sent a USPS money order for the item. He was suppose to get it on Saturday but didn't sign for it. That Saturday night I found out a collector who lived in Florida went and bought the item in person. So long story short the guy kept my money and obviously never sent me the item. I emailed local PD and stuff but they didn't care. So I totally forgot about it.

Well today for some reason it got on my mind and made me angry. So I start looking for him again. I looked thru google, facebook,etc. I believe I found the guy and his facebook. The facebook has the SAME email that we first talked thru back in 2008. So has to be the same guy right??? So I wrote him on facebook and here's what he had to say...


Hello Mr. ***s,
I’m sure you don’t remember me but I remember you! You scammed/ripped me off of $600 for a Joe DiMaggio bat I was buying from you in 2008. I sent you a USPS money order thru the mail. But you decided to sell the bat to another collector and instead of returning my money you decided to keep it without providing me the goods. I have never forgotten about you STEALING from me. But now that I have moved to Florida recently, I have decided I’m finally going to take action against you. Luckily for you there’s still time that I can file a lawsuit against you and bring you to court! Also because you scammed me thru the mail and dealing with a USPS money order, that might count as mail fraud (federal crime but I’ll leave that up to the court). I will be going to the local police here soon with the police report I had filled out and filed back in 2008 and bringing charges to you.
And what I find sad is it looks like you have a good business going with growing ghost peppers and also your pool service. But I guess your coworkers/business partner and clients will have to see the type of person you’re and that steal from others. All I want is my money back… I believe that people can make honest mistakes and maybe times were hard in 2008 for you. But it doesn't give you the right to steal from others. We can end this just by returning my money! I look forward to hearing back from you soon, if not I will be going to the local police and moving forward with a lawsuit against you.
29 minutes ago"

"hey lewis i have no ideal wat u r talking about and im really shocked that someone would threaten someone they dont even know i feel for yea and all but u have the wrong Ron Elkins ...Im sure u look little further and u will see there are a few Elkins here n florida i do hope u look further .if u do slander my business then we will for sure be in court and i 1st adivise u to see just how easy here n florida i can take u to court for slander on a business.I do hope we dont have to go there but it will be your choice,Sorry for your bad ordeal and all"

How come the email on your facebook is the same email that we talked to years ago, *******@yahoo.comHave you ever lived in Daytona beach??


"hey brock well i dont know im nto into comps but i just got this address mmmmm 4 yrs ago i do feel for u sir but im nto the guy you are looking for i can assure u that,you know there is another Ron Elkins over in a town called yankee town couse i almost got there insurence check about 10 yrs ago here"

no we go to daytona at times and at events but no sir


Me asking

"If I may ask you another question...You say you got this email 4 years ago... Yet if you do a simple google search of it, it shows a online dating site showing your picture with that email from 2008

write me here so we can talk get to know ech other
www.datehookup.com"

His reply
"hang on let me check this out ...i dont know wat u r talking about so let me look at this
wow i have no ideal wat that is brock but im going to find out thanks for wat its worth (reason why i dont care for comps)"

What you guys think? I know it was stupid to send a money order. I don't live in Florida or plan on filing a lawsuit. Was trying to see if maybe someone would own up and admit what they did.

I wouldn't have waited 6 years to chase after this guy. I would have done it the day it happened.

+ 1

Let it go. It was $600 6 years ago. It sucks, but it will be way more trouble than its worth and you will never see that money again either way.

I know I'm not getting my money back... But I also did try 6 years ago but Daytona police didn't care.

I have no idea how facebook really works so please bear with me. Does this conversation with the scammer show up so anybody can see it? If so this is the best post I have seen in a while because all his friends are harassing him about scamming you and the dating site.

This is interesting...clearly you caught the guy in a lie....follow up with it....What did the Daytona police say?

No ben.. It is a private conversation, so only him and me can see it..

I was told by another member Florida law is actually only 5 years. They just never returned my call when I called the PD 6 years ago. I know I'm not getting my money back but I wanted to find the guy and let people he knows in life know who he really is.

I believe it is the same guy but based on background checks it does seem to be several people with the same name. So maybe he is telling the truth and maybe someone stole his email or something. I'm sure he's just lying though.

Keep after him. Make him squirm.

Then what's the point?

We wrote this after:

wow i have no ideal wat that is brock but im going to find out thanks for wat its worth (reason why i dont care for comps)
hey brock i am looking at that profile thing and it shows i a age of 51 when u add the yrs of this to that it makes me old lol im not this old
again sorry for your problem but thats not me and i really dont think my lady would like me on any dating sites either my pic yea but i didnt do that site"

ME:
Well either you're a really good lier or someone has stolen your identity..

Him:
well im not a lier and now i got to check this out and see wat the hell is going on hey dude im sorry for your luck but u do have wrong guy and for wat its worth and how funny it may sound thanks for bringing this to me couse now i got to find out wats going on here

Me:
If you say so Ron! Just find it funny all this info proves other wise.. Have a good one!

Him:
well i feel for yea and if i find anything out on this post u showed me as i am going to get a hold of that dating site i will pass on any information i get couse i am furthering the search myself on that

The point to find out who did it and then tells others so they know the type of person he is. If it is this guy on facebook and he's currently running a good business his clients should know that he likes to steal from people.

Wouldn't you want to know if someone you buy from stole from others?

Be careful Brock, this guy appears to be brilliant.

I hate to be the one to say it, but if you were careless (might be a bit harsh) enough to send unsecured funds, over state lines, with no receipt, to a complete stranger... then you kind-of had this one coming.

at least it was "only" a $600 mistake...you live and learn.

I think you should take him to the grammar police to begin and go from there. Do you still have his phone #? Find out where this guy lives now and that might help answer some questions. You could also ask the guy who he sold the Dimaggio bat to and have him describe any details about his appearance and see if it is the same guy.

Hey, you asked for opinions so I gave mine. It's your time and effort. I just try to avoid fruitless hassles when I can. If you want to keep on him for non-monetary reasons and entertain us all in the process, then by all means carry on. I like reading his responses......they make me feel like a genius :)

I called the old phone number but no answer. They did call back and I asked if Ron was there. They said there is no ron, so I asked how long have they had the number and they said 2 years.

I sent the Facebook link to the collector who bought the item. But they couldn't be 100%. All they remember was the guy was scruffy.

The guy on Facebook currently lives acouple hours from Daytona beach. But the city that's listed on the dating site ain't far from his current city. And then the background records show the guys town listed on the dating site is one or the older cities in the background check of ron **** in Daytona beach. I'm pretty sure it's him but background/people searches are messy info.

No more messages. I told him he's a liar and that I'm not stupid(besides mailing the money order years ago) and falling for his lies. I just wanted to see if confronted maybe he could be a honest person for once and admit what he did. But I guess people can't change in today's world.


All I know is people shouldn't try to scam me anymore. This just proves I will try to learn everything about your life and take it down.

+1. I hope that he was also a Yankees fan. Making the Sox look good again.:D

Ditto!!!

Don't let it go!!!!

Well I think I proved it 100% now. I did a phone number search on the number and it came back as Nathan Ronald ***. And listed as a relative is Ronald ****. It's the guys son, and it shows the same address I mailed the money order to.

If the person on the phone lied to you about how long they had the # maybe the Dad scammed you.

So I think tomorrow morning I'm gonna post on the company site that he is co owner of and tell people how he or his son scammed me of $600. I don't know whether it's slander or not but they stole from me. Plus I live in MA, don't think they will open a slander case.



Also the current address of the son is the same as the fathers. Plus I sent the dad the address and the number to the father on Facebook, I think he would have recognized his sons number.

I am guessing this is the guy that sells peppers?

Yep

The grammar (or lack thereof) was a dead giveaway.

It's been 6 years - I think you should drop it AND forget about it. This should be about how it affects YOU, not him. If you are feeling a lot of angst over it, and can't possibly get satisfaction, it isn't worth it. You can't prove anything at this point, since you sent him a money order 6 years ago, but anything that you do at this point, to him, will have a trail. Drop it.

Scott,
You're right. But I think considering the reverse phone number came back to HIS SON. Who lived at the same address I mailed the check to and he now lives with his father. And when I showed his the number and address he said nothing but he only visited Daytona beach.

Plus the collector who bought the item just remembers him being scruffy. I'm sure he would remember if the kid he picked up the item from was only 18 years old.

That was all I needed to read.

+1. I was getting a nervous twitch reading his replies.

Brock,
As a resident of the 'Ham myself-I say FIGHT it! You clearly have enough pieces put together that you should be able to make him squirm...I wouldn't post stuff on his work website yet.

Send him a certified letter...so that he has to sign....cc the Daytona PD....include the name of your (a) lawyer...mention that you're talking to the postmaster about this.....

None of these things will get your $$ back per se, but this guy sounds like a fool...maybe enough to rattle his cage!

I am not an attorney, so please do not construe this as legal advice. But in my opinion, Brock, you need to let this go. No possible good will come from it.

This person may very well be the one that stole $600 from you. I completely empathize with you. I get, too, that at this point it's more about the principle. But you need to proceed with extreme caution here. If you make disparaging comments about this person, you could be accused of libel, and a defamation suit could be brought against you, even across state lines. Everything you say might be the truth, but in a court of law, what matters is what you can prove. You don't have iron clad proof to support your allegations of theft, so as hard as it might be, you should chalk this up to experience, and move on.

that is a bummer Brock, I feel for you....The funny thing is that if you take the first 2 facts of your post..."Craigslist" & "Florida" THAT WAS A TELL TALE sign that it was probably a scam.:D Much like Auction ZIP "where nothing is real, ZIP".:)

You are obviously the type of collector that takes a leap a faith and is searching for the holy grail on the CHEAP, so these things happen. It was 2008, so you get a free pass. :cool:

Stick to Auction ZIP, where collectors get Hammered daily, but according to you " they have real autographs there"...needle in a Haystacks Calhoun boy.

Fudd
You don't realize there's more then just autographs. Maybe if you actually went on and spent more than 1 minute you'd actually see, instead all you do is complain.

I'm not the one complaining about getting scammed 6 years ago knuckles :D

I would not buy a Kewpie doll from Auction ZIP, "where nothing is real, ZIP".

I would not buy from craigslist or Auction ZIP...because THEY ARE FULL of scammers. If you want to navigate through shark invested waters, this is what you get. This scam you fell for was well deserved and you still haven't learned your lesson. It sucks you are out 600 beans however. Stay away from Craigslist and Auction ZIP Brock:D

Fudd,
Keep showing you know NOTHING. I'm sure many members here have found REAL items on auction zip. Hunt auction used it before, so I guess they sell all fakes.

This is off topic from OP, but since it was brought up, how can you say Auction Zip was all fakes? That is like saying the phone book is all fakes because there is some fraudulent business in the phone book. Auction Zip just gathers information from auction houses from all over. If a certain Auction house sells a fake that has nothing to do with Auction Zip.

Andy,
Fudd likes to push buttons. And he knows it aggravates some, which is the whole point. (sigh. White people) :D

My opinion, don't drop it. They didn't steal $600, they stole $60,000. Or some greater number assuming they didn't do it just once.

What's the phrase? All it takes for bad people to succeed is for good people to do nothing?

Give me $20 and I'll kneecap him. Not for the money, but due to the fact that his grammar is so terrible it makes me kneecappin' angry. The $20 is just for gas.


* The previous statement is intended solely for entertainment purposes.

Yeah, and I've found the Easter Bunny hopping around on Easter morning...

I know not to buy items from Craigslist. I know not to buy anything from Florida. I know not to buy anything from Auction Zip.

I know that you are boob. I'd say I know a few things....

Dearest Brockey,

They perpetuate the sale of Forgeries plain and simple. When I go to their website and filter autographs and Mickey Mantle...99% of what comes up is FAKE. THAT IS A FACT. If you want to look through that crap, go ahead and enjoy the minefield. I'm not buying SQUAT from a site like that. NOTHING NOTHING...Do you Comprendo!!!!!

Don't take what everybody says so literally...Of course there are exceptions to every rule.....and Now that you want to keep being such an argumentative dick, I'm not sorry you lost your money. You got just what you deserved.

[QUOTE=Pete Pyro;1247025]Give me $20 and I'll kneecap him. Not for the money, but due to the fact that his grammar is so terrible it makes me kneecappin' angry. The $20 is just for gas.

I love the knee cap maneuver!

* The previous statement is intended solely for entertainment purposes.[/QUOT

Brock, keep trying. I bought a fake Cobb on ebay. Could not get the buyer to budge and refund my money. 7 years later, yes 7 years later he won a card in one of my auctions. With lots of help from Leon and NET54 I finally received my refund.

Joe

So I ended up posting on his company facebook saying how this guy stole my money back in 2008 and that I have proof yet he continues to deny it.

He remove it pretty much right away and then sent this message.

"ok brock i talked to the state attorneys office yesterday and sent them the messages u sent me and i will now press charges against u for blackmailing a company for money she even told me u r now breaking the law and i can press charges against u,you can not blackmail a business for money as u did and we do have a message with u putting it that way,she ask me to wait for u to slander my son's buisness as u just did so 1st thing tomorrow i will b sending her copy of wat u just did and we will see u n court buddy,".

I bet I never hear from him or his so called lawyer.

A good lawyer knows the difference between slander and libel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEWhAQVfNew

Having worked as a prosecutor I can tell you that you will probably have to wait a month or so to find out.

Time to let this one go.

The guy got caught...no way he went to the Florida AG.

Is this not an obvious scare tactic by a less-than-intelligent guy?

Am I the only one who laughed at the idea of a lawsuit from a facebook post?

What percentage of the time has a ne'er-do-well who has been caught threatened legal action and actually followed through with it? My guess would be low single-digits.