how do i report a scammer?

[EricNau]

Or we can all attack his e-mail inbox, nicely asking him to do the right thing.

That is a great idea...

I was thinking about something similar, but I was thinking snail-mail, but I might as well save myself the $.37

 

[buffalo]

That is a great idea...

I was thinking about something similar, but I was thinking snail-mail, but I might as well save myself the $.37

haha nice
i'd probably support that

 

[adk]

Anybody live near Austin Peay State University in Clarksville,Tennessee? You could do some tracking down and footwork.

 

[Sdashiki]

he looks like a douchebag. wtf kind of photo is that?

tilted? is he being artsy? or stupid?

nice haircut too.

 

[iGary]

*cough* IM *cough* = ToyoSupraRacing

 

[adrian-cg]

P-P-P-Powerbook

Maybe someone should try to pull a P-P-P-Powerbook on him and try to get the iBook back.

 

[themacmaestro]

So I got scammed by a guy named "Alec Bradford". We were supposed to trade 'books. I sent mine. Never got his. Never heard from him again.

We were in touch for over a month before I got comfortable enough to send. He first wanted me to send to his dorm address, but had me change it when he had to go back home.

I searched for him on MySpace, found someone with the exact same name, same city/state for school, same city/state back home. Like an idiot, he had his number posted in his profile. It was different than the number he contacted me with, but the same area code. I gave him a ring, but he insisted he was not the same guy and has never used a Mac in his life.

But I knew it was him.

So I have his name, number, addresses, picture, and OH! His newly updated MySpace picture had MY IBOOK in the background.

I'm wondering if anyone knows what I can do to report him.

So which turnip truck did you fall off of?

Why were you swapping ibooks in the first place.

I would mark this under "tuition" from the school of hard knocks. I got frauded out of $1500 on ebay/Paypal because I got scammed. My mistake was that the address was not confirmed and verified. never make that mistake again.

 

[shane-o-mac]

Along with other great advice....really it is not that complicated. Internet fraud has really caught the attention of most all law enforcement agencies and I am certain that where ever this guy lives, the police department has an internet division just for this kind of thing. I assume you have the orginal reciept or some proof of ownership with the serial number. Contact the local authorties give them your info, his info and the serial number of the ibook. Let them follow up, no doubt this guy will be more then willing to return the stolen item if contacted by a dectective. However, the worst thing is to do nothing!!! It is rare that when scammed you are fortunate enough to get a hold of the crook's contact info..so do your best and good luck!!!

 

[matticus008]

There's been some good advice in this thread and I wish you luck, but in all honesty, it'll be a tough sell. Did you go through a payment service? Even if the actual money involved is zero, recording the deal in the comments of a third party transaction is a tremendous help in a situation like this.

For future reference, the way to do this with PayPal is to send a bill for one cent or some other trivial amount to each other, with the terms of the deal. You print a copy, so that you're protected to some extent if something goes wrong. You don't actually have to pay the bills--just print the records and then hit decline. This record (with matching terms in both the sent and received bills) makes documentation really easy. Providing the serial number and this information to the police along with his contact information is about all you need.

I'd be careful about the following, though:

However, I know you don't need a written contract, an oral agreement is binding under the law.

Not necessarily. It depends where you are and what the agreement is.

The other thing, is you can make it a criminal case, which means you are not so much looking for restitution (which is the civil case, small claims court)

Criminal on what grounds? The computer was sent voluntarily, without guarantee of payment. There was no coercion, no theft, no trespassing. Was it wrong and illegal? Sure, but not really criminal.

I wouldn't really recommend having a letter sent by a lawyer unless the police are unable to assist you. Having a lawyer buddy send a letter could be intimidation, and it's misleading unless it's a lawyer in the proper field who would potentially represent you. The less shady you look, the more likely you'll be successful.