that sucks ass man...sorry to hear that dude

my friend got ripped off once to so don't feel alone...it happens to the best of us

 

That's clearly fraud. Like JRM suggested, go to the FBI. They can at least get a court order to look at Paypal records. This guy has to be stopped. With three of you burnt, it leaves no doubt as to his intent. Sic 'em and good luck. Those kind of transactions are clearly "buyer beware"; your story may save a fellow S2000 owner.

Perhaps s2ki.com should consider a special page, BAD BUYER EXPERIENCES, or something of that sort -- so newbies have a place to look.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jaded41
[B]I asked her, "So Paypal sees no problem in doing business with felons and the only way to punish them is if they put money into their account?".

 

I'm certainly not laughing at your gullibility at all; it's the kind of thing I'd have done myself, I'm sure. It's just a very sad story, and right now, I feel as mad as you must be feeling.

There is definitely something wrong with the PayPal system if there's no method of verifying people's identities before allowing money transactions. It wouldn't be difficult to manage, but I guess PayPal aren't really interested in spending money in areas of security if it's going to cost them money to implement.

I don't know the ins-and-outs of the PayPal system, but you might want to consider investing in a consultation with a lawyer to see if there are any steps you can take to recover the money through PayPal. Other than that, you should definitely set up your ebay to notify you if that guy's name ever pops up on any of the auctions again. Also, you might want to keep an eye on ANY S2000 parts which come up for sale. You might come across clues from the write-up, if the same person is offering any expensive items for sale.

I wish you good luck, and hope that someone will catch up with this ba$tard soon, and strings him up by the ball$. (If that happens, call me. I want to be there for that!)

 

Did you use your credit card to pay him using paypal??? If you did, you can probably ask your credit card company to put the amount into dispute.

Sorry to see this happen to you. I hope JRM can help you out.

 

I disputed all the charges with my credit card companies, but I don't know how that's all going to work out.

 

Dude, that really sucks. I'm sorry about that!

 

If your CC company tries to make you pay the amount I suggest taking either them or Paypal to court. Get yourself a lawyer, after you call the FBI of course. Get a case number going. You should come out of this alright. Keep us posted on what happens! Best of luck!

 

Here's more info on the culprit. I called the number to this address and the guy plays dumb about the whole thing. So unless a crook stole this guys identity, then this is the guy and this is where he lives.

Michael Bitondo
38 Apollo Dr.
Trenton(Yardville), NJ
08620-1013

Man, I wish I lived in NJ so I could go over for a "visit".

 

Who's up for a lynching party? It would be a great reason to hold another S2K meet. Perhaps we can post this in "Meets and Events"!

Jaded41: I presume you've given this info to the FBI and asked if they'll check into this guy's bank statements and credit card history?