What should I do about THIS situation?

[moltencore]

Hello, here's a weird one for you. A friend of ours who is NOT selling on eBay and in fact is NOT even on the internet (they don't even own a computer) received a call the other night at their house. It was from a very disgruntled eBay buyer who had not received the goods they paid for. They had called his house asked for him by name after pulling the seller's contact info on eBay. It appears this seller is using our friend's NAME and PHONE # in their contact info. Our friend is really freaked out by this (is speculating who would do this (he has a few ideas - but no proof). I have the user id of this seller (which my friend obtained from the irate caller) but I don't what to do. should I get involved and report this possible fraud and have eBay deal with it? Or...should I just stay out of this one. thanks. Gail

[shoplineca]

Gail
First of all your friend knows who the person is, or at least believes that he does. As far as I am concerned this is far more than an eBay matter which may only result in the person getting booted off eBay (BIG DEAL, THEY WILL STEAL ANOTHER IDENTITY AND START P AGAIN).

This is a criminal matter and should be reported to the local police authorities IMMEDIATELY.

Have your friend call the local police. They will refer him to a 1-800 number where the agency operates a joint task force between federal, provincial and local police authorities as well as the 2-Canadian credit bureaus.

What has happened to your frined is known as "identity theft" and is far more serious a matter than a prank. I know as I have been the victim of identity theft when I lived in the US.

Again, this should be done immediately or it could take your frined years to recover from the damage that other person could do to your friend.

Malcolm

[moltencore]

thank you - that was what we discussed yesterday although he thinks it is not that serious. I do. I will contact him and try and persuade him to do the right thing and stop this guy. Thanks for the help Malcolm.

[shoplineca]

Not serious???
Wait until the Buyers who dont receive the product that they paid for contact the local police and the police show up at your friend's house with a warrant for his arrest.

Using a stolen identity to set up a PayPal account and move funds fraudulently taken from consumers in Canada and the US and worldwide is a major offense and your friend will have at least the first night in jail to think about why he didnt react sooner (not to mention the legal expense at trying to prove his innocence).

What would he possibly be waiting for unless he was somehow in on the deal? Man I would be on the phone in 2 seconds flat putting an end to this as I am sure most people would. He sounds too calm to be so innocent!

Malcolm

[shooger]

Hopefully the buyer reported that the seller had invalid contact information, so the seller's account gets looked into and closed asap. That will help your friend in the short term (no more calls from angry buyers, for one thing). I agree that your friend should report this to the RCMP. Good luck.

[moltencore]

Hi,
I called him a while ago and told him to report it to the police. He was surprised that its against the law. (rolling my eyes). I think he's a "might" naive about his name being attached to this in any way (especially since he now knows that someone is using his name etc without his consent - the onus is now on him to stop it.) Since the seller is selling pricey DVD box sets my personal thoughts are that they might be stolen (otherwise why use someone else's name and phone # etc.) the one good thing is my friend does NOT hav ea credit card - so the seller's registration on eBay must have been with his own credit card (you'd hope.)