Munku

Finally one of those people scamming others by selling them photos of pricey items has been charged...

http://wbz1030.com/water/watercooler...241154143.html

Teen Accused Of Unusual eBay Scam

Charged With Hawking Photos Of Television

Aug 28, 2004 3:40 pm US/Eastern
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) Andrew Aquilini thought he snagged a great bargain for a 52-inch plasma screen television on eBay. Instead he ended up paying $2,000 for a 52-inch photograph of a TV set.

Aquilini, 51, of Edison, N.J., said he was enraged when the photograph arrived at his home, and e-mailed the seller, 18-year-old Brian J. Kim, for an explanation.

"He said I should have known that the advertisement was for a picture of a television," Aquilini said.

Kim, of Buford, was arrested Thursday at Phoenix High School and charged with theft by deception for allegedly cheating at least three people with the TV photographs, Gwinnett County police Cpl. Dan Huggins said. Kim was being held Friday in lieu of $5,600 bail.

"He felt he did not do anything wrong because he put the word `picture' in the ad," police Sgt. Bill Jack of the financial crime unit said.

Christian Farris, 40, of Sedalia, Mo., said he also thought he had found a real deal when he encountered the ad on the Internet with a $1,600 price tag, a fraction of the high-end set's typical cost. Instead, he received the large photo.

"I was floored. What am I going to do with a picture of a TV?" Farris said.

Aquilini, Farris and another purchaser from Pelham in southwest Georgia all complained to eBay, which forwarded the information to Gwinnett police.

sailor

How the hell could the kid think he did no wrong because he included the word "picture"? OK, so technically I suppose its not fraud, but he still did it with every intention to defraud people. I hope he gets nailed.

Asshole.

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la petite moi

What an idiot.

maleficent

I still remember the one from about 2 or three years ago, when a person sold a box - -just a box - for a Playstation 2 or some other game of the moment that was impossible to find. The ad was written in such a way that it was pretty clear it was the box only - but you wouldn't expect people to be that dishonest. I think the person bought the box for about 600 or 700 dollars, and Ebay let the sale go thru.


However, the buyer has to have some responsibility too - -if something seems to good to be true -- it generally is...

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MooseMan3000

Hm. While I don't agree with his intention, I certainly hope he doesn't get busted. He did say it was a picture of a TV, not an actual TV, for one. More importantly, the fact that law enforcement cracks down on individual cases like this but won't try anything with large corporations (how many computers come with "DDR RAM" instead of "PC 2700?" as an example...) is annoying, at the least.


BESIDES which, these guys tried paying $2000 for 52" plasma flatscreen TVs. They retail for $8000 (or more). Had they even BEGUN to use their brains, they would have realized there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that could be the correct price. I think they deserve to lose their money more than the kid deserves to be put in jail. He outsmarted them, and they called the cops. Do you call the cops when you lose at a carnival game because it can't be won? Meh.

sprocket

I remember something like this a while back. Just before the XBox's came out, someone was auctioning off a picture of an XBox. The seller made it perfectly obvious in every way that he was only selling a picture. He explained in full detail how he grabbed the image off the internet and how he was going to print it on stanard computer paper and send it to the winner. When I saw the auction, bids were up to around $500...

Suckers are born every minute.. and they love ebay.

Cant say I really feel sorry for the people who spend that much money on ebay and dont read the fine print in the auctions.

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Halx

even better than the X-Box Box

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xepherys

It was a PS2... the Christmas they came out. Personally, I was pretty amused. It WAS clear it was only a box. "Buyer Beware" anyone?

Terminal Frost

I agree. Who cares if he was dishonest? People are dishonest all the time. This guy just tricked some imcredibly stupid people, which in my opinion is completely OK because stupid people deserve to be tricked. I bet they thought they got a "great deal" on a plasma TV on ebay - lol - I can just imagine them bragging to all their friends and family about what a great find they got and how good they are at eBay.

moonstrucksoul

"a fool and his money are soon departed"

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iamnormal

How could some one think they are getting a plasma screen tv at that price and it not be stolen if it was real?
Isn't buying stolen goods illegal?

Eric640

Well he did have INTENT to defraud the people. No one sells pictures for 1600$ unless it's premium artwork. I highly doubt he put the auction up as artwork.

He WANTED people to think they were going to get something they were not. The fact that he legally covered his ass fine print only partially makes up for that. It still feels like fraud to me.

I guess I would have to see the text that went with it. It depends on how outrightly deceitful it was. If it was a clear explanation of the item and the buyer in haste just bidded without really understanding it, so be it, but I highly doubt that is the situation.

Afterall, if you're about to spend 1600$ you'd probably at least read all the text on the page... or so one would hope.

MORAL: Buyer beware... especially when buying expensive things off of ebay.

Cynthetiq

until you are the stupid person who got duped, then you'd be up in arms...

people tend to forget that a deal that sounds too good to be true usually is.

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yournamehere

I can't believe how many of you are siding with this asshole. He deliberately misled people for the sole purpose of stealing their money.

Since when did it become better to be the deceiver than the deceived?

As for me - I hope this kid gets enjoys a full dance card in prison. There's nothing lower than a thief, IMO.

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Strange Famous

I guess it just goes to prove, if it seems to good to be true it probably is.

I dont think the kid deserves jail, but he was taking advantage of these people, I hope he is forced to refund them at least.

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iliketoast

If I were judge and ruling on this case the buyer would end up with a tatoo of 'Dumbass' on his forehead. Really if ppl still fall for this kinda scam, serves them right.

Manic_Skafe

I know a guy who does this same scam on E-bay with lists of where items can be bought at extremely low prices and adverts that look like they're selling the items on the list. He's made about $300 in one shot from doing this.

Maybe this will smarten him up.

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maleficent

It's not so much as siding with the asshole, and by asshole, I am guessing we're talking about the kid who posted the ad, not the person who bought the tv set picture.

Caveat Emptor -- Let the buyer beware... I'd love to have seen the text of the ad, as well as the feedback for the seller, the buyer(s) are not without blame here, why did they think they were getting such a good price? Goodness of the buyers heart?

IF they did actually get a tv set, and it was stolen goods, does the buyer have any responsibility then?

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xepherys

Even rapists and murderers are not lower than thieves? Wow!

Like mentioned several times, if they thought they were getting such a great deal, they'd have to assume it was stolen, right? Except that they were stupid enough to get duped in the first place. I guess then, that they probably wouldn't have thought it through that far. They couldn't think it through far enough to read the whole auction text. *shrug*

Stupid people...

iamnormal

I'm not siding with anyone. I say they are both wrong for what they did.
This is just the hitech ver of the “brick in a box” scam.

basmoq

I'd definitely side with the kid if it was properly described as a picture, but I'd have to see the ad...

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yournamehere

Okay - I'll give you those two - and throw in "nitpickers" for free

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Fly

no there isn't..............fucking maggotts




*yes still bitter about being robbed*




fucking maggotts..........

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Rekna

Well technically murders and rapists are theives. They just steal different things.

nothingx

This reminds me of something I saw on cockeyed.com awhile back. The acution was for an "Awesome 36½ inch flat screen", which would make you think television, but the photos revealed it was clearly a flat WINDOW screen. He wasn't attempting to fraud anyone, he just thought it would be something funny for his website and dupped eBayers would surely figure out the joke when they saw the pictures.... saddly, some didn't! They wrote him emails asking if it would be compatable with their Playstations and high defintion sets!

The aution price went up to a little over a hundred dollars before eBay pulled it citing a violation of their user agreement. I do believe that this kid was probably trying to rip people off by misleading them, but I also think that the poeple that paid for his auctions got what they deserved. C'mon people, a little more attention to detail will serve you well.

Awesome Flat Screen

Email feedback

TheKak

Kid shouldn't go to jail, people just be more careful. If I was going to pay that much money for ANYTHING I would read the whole page and all the fine print.

That flat screen ad is hilarious! Its VERY obvious that it isn't a TV, unless you don't look at the pictures. Someone had bid over $100 for it, what a tard!

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smooth

attention to detail?!

the lady is holding a remote control at the "screen." And every picture looks pretty much like a plasma screen--not to mention his widescreen emblem, how well it would go with entertainment components, etc. BTW, projection screens go for a lot more than $100, so even if it was a "screen" those bidders weren't necessarily being stupid or anything.

He would have certainly ran with the money if he had received it, his claim to not want to dupe anyone, notwithstanding.

But whatever, this kid took some money. He needs to give it back, not go to prison. That's just a sick attitude to have about what constitutes appropriate punishment.

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Journeyman

That's true in light of revealed facts, but what isn't revealed (and may even be sealed) is any prior run ins with the law he had whilst still a minor. If the kid's got a record, a slap on the wrist is as good as a pat on the butt in terms of sending messages.

jackassidy

To the people that are defending this shithead, I hope he stops by your grandparents house and neatly deceives them out of thier liitle money they have saved. Then you can say "hey gramps your an idiot for falling for one of the oldest tricks in the world. You should have dumbass stamped on your forehead".

//Sorry for my tone, I will be more respectful in the future.

redarrow

Remember: What's right isnt always the law.

This kid took advantage of the system, let him fucking enjoy it!

Flyguy

It's not really the kid's fault that dumb ass people can't read.....

Strange Famous

I dont know how the law is in the US, but in the UK this would almost certainly be classified as misleading advertising and the buyers would be legally entitled to refund. Assuming the kid is not a trading entity, short of declaring himself bankrupt and proving he cannot pay, I cannot see how he would be able to hang on to his money.

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Cadwiz

It seems that not too long ago, I heard about a guy selling copper Lincoln stampings (penny). He was selling them for like $10.

Bill O'Rights

*looks up from his quiet stoicism*
*adjusts ten gallon hat, so that it no longer hides his eyes.*
*rolls cigarette butt from one corner of his mouth to the other, with his tongue*

Get a rope.

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bigoldalphamale

i would stomp on that little puke's trachea and stab him in his f*cking eyes with my thumbs if i could.

the fuctards who fell for the scam could use a boot to the head also for being ignorant.

but mostly, that thief pile of shit should die. work for a living like the rest of us!

Cadwiz

I like they way you think man. But, tell me how you really feel.

Rekna

A scam is a scam. He put that auction up with the intent to dupe people into buying crap. If we don't do anything about things like this everything purchased on ebay is brought into question. Pretty soon people will be selling broken equipment, boxes that items are packed in, ect. I already have issues with buying stuff on ebay just because you don't know the condition. Add in the fact that there are scammers and you have no recourse and I could see ebay go down the drain fast.

maleficent

I personally don't like Ebay -- because I would not trust another human being where there is money concerned... This kid can't be the only scammer out there, he's just the only one who got caught -- right now.

Ebay does have an Escrow service that they reccommend for purchases over 500.00 - why wouldn't this buyer have protected himself by using a service... The service is listed right on the Ebay Services page.

Does Ebay have any responsibility to make sure that the items are not scams- they've set a few precedents in pulling ads, but should it be completely caveat emptor?

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aurigus

I don't know how many times I have seen auctions that describe in detail an item, and then at the bottom they say "note, this is a link to where you can get this item for $40" or whatever. Misleading yes, but not if you read the whole thing. Plus thats what the ebay feedback rating is for. If I am buying an expensive item, there is no way that I would purchase it from someone with less than a 20 rating (or more, depending on item).

They are annoying, but buyer beware. This guy probably didn't do anything illegal if he said it was just a picture of the TV. But I'm almost positive he had a crappy feedback rating.

TheKak

Thieves have to STEAL money. These people GAVE him money.

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