I filed complaints with the Attorney General's in my State and the state that the seller is supposedly in. I haven't really heard anything from those complaints. I also filed a complaint with the IFCC, which is the Internet Fraud department of the FBI. I have a case number but I've heard absolutely nothing from them in email or calls, and it's like impossible for me to get a hold of anyone at the IFCC to find out how the investigation is coming along.

Oh well, I got all my money back so I'm happy.

And Dawn, sorry I sounded like a spoiled 5 year old. I am 25 years old and live in Kansas City. There aren't a ton of S2K's in KC, but there are a few I see every now and then. I like my car to stand out from the other S2K's, so that was part of the reason I was getting the hardtop. I've met the kid who has the hardtop I saw. He's only 19 so I jokingly call him a punk. Sorry if I offended you by speaking immaturely. I am a man. We will do that from time to time.

 

Great to hear that you got your money back. That's definitely one good thing about using credit cards.

 

this is the key to buying things online, ALWAYS buy from someone that is local, where you can meet and actually see the product you are buying.


i would never buy anthing or trust anyone online.

 

At least you got your money back, that's the main thing.

 

OK, OK, UPDATE!

I will preface first of all by saying that I'm not 100% sure that what I'm about to add to this thread isn't more BS from the individual that scammed me, but he did sound sincere on the phone when I talked to him this morning.

The Michael Bitondo in the Trenton, NJ area called me this morning wanting to find out why I was complaining about him to the FBI and Attorney General's offices. He said that this must certainly be a case of identity fraud over the Internet and that he actually just registered himself on Ebay a month or so ago to start buying and selling items.

He did sound truly honest when he said he has no idea how this could have happenned and he also had no idea of the scope of how badly the fraudulant selling had gone under his name. He seemed like a nice guy. I'm sure that the Attorney General's offices and the FBI will be able to find out if he is the correct Mike Bitondo or not, but it looks like identity theft probably was the case here.

Just thought I would update. It was a surprise to hear from him this morning.

 

I wonder if he's BS'n you, or if that is truly the case. Interesting twist to the whole scenario!

 

Well, he didn't try to get me to stop the investigation or anything. He actually just wanted to find out exactly when all this happenned. I even told him, "I don't know if you are the crook or not, so I'll just leave it up to the FBI and Attorney General's to figure out." I've gotten my money back, so I really am not overly concerned anymore about wasting any more of my time on this. I told him to call me if he got any information as to who the real fraudulant party is. So I'm sure it will all be figured out in time.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jaded41
[B]OK, OK, UPDATE!

The Michael Bitondo in the Trenton, NJ area called me this morning wanting to find out why I was complaining about him to the FBI and Attorney General's offices.

 

Well, If he is the guy who scammed me then I have no idea what he hopes to gain by calling me. All I said on the phone was that a guy that is or is using this name is the guy who scammed me and that may or may not be you. I said I'd let the authorities figure it out because I've already gotten what I wanted, and that was my money back.

He did say that the NJ Attorney General's office sent him an copy of the complaint I filed. Which included a breakdown of what happenned chronologically and a copy of all email correspondence between me and the supposed Michael Bitondo. I guess it would make sense that they would send that to the accused so that they can defend themselves if needed. Again, I've got my money back, so it would be nice if they actually caught the guilty party, but I really don't care anymore.

 

I guess I scammed myself a bit.

I am in the process of setting up rules in Outlook Express to direct spam to the Delete folder.

One of my rules includes filtering any email with the word "Hardcore!" in it.

My notifications of the new messages in this thread disappear from my inbox. Since "Hardcore!" appears in the notice, Outlook Express thinks that I think this must be spam.

By the way, keep us posted. It would be awful if signing up for eBay made one susceptible to indentity theft.

Barry