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rm199 · Dec 13, 2002, 09:02 PM

Just a little friendly advice - I would keep your cards close to your chest from now on, you don't need some seemingly harmless information becoming part of this guys defense. In my experience legal matters are best kept under wraps until a conviction is actually laid down.

Good work btw maybe ebay will offer you a job in a related field

RM

ironknee · Dec 13, 2002, 09:24 PM

I can see it now...

Movie of the week: Jason and the iCrock

maybe a 2 parter

congradulations and great work.

OwlBoy · Dec 13, 2002, 09:54 PM

Wow!

Who ever took those house photos for you, you rock man/woman.

wow.

So happy that it ended happy!

-Owl

juanvaldes · Dec 13, 2002, 10:00 PM

Originally posted by keltorsori:
I think I'm going to go hide under a rock now. :-) The Chicago Tribune called me earlier. I'm famous. Only I'm not as cool as Ellen Feiss.

Thanks again everyone.

I agree with the guy on slashdot, sell them a exclusive interview for 5K

galarneau · Dec 14, 2002, 01:10 AM

Man, I wish I did what you did. I was scammed the exact same way by a guy back in 1998 (for a PowerBook 540c!!!) in New York City. The cell phone # he gave me was disconnected when I tried to call him, though.

Messed up my medical school applications since my account was also in the red when they tried to cash my check.

Kudo's to you man... I'm hoping this guy is the same one that ripped me off (I can dream, can't I?)

I think I'm experiencing a little "schadenfreude" for Mr. Christmas :-)

UnixMac · Dec 14, 2002, 01:16 AM

I have just one word:

BRAVO!

MindFad · Dec 14, 2002, 02:29 AM

Zowie, look how many views the thread has had already. I know I said it already, but great job again!

schalliol · Dec 14, 2002, 03:06 AM

This is incredible. As always, I am very proud to be from this community.

To all eBay sellers and buyers out there, a word of caution, in case you didn't pick up on these points from the story.

Closure of eBay sales
Never sell or buy an item via eBay that did not end officially with the sale result. Accepting via email only negates your eBay insurance. I have done it in the past as well, but not it's very clear that you really can get in bad shape without their insurance.

Additionally, one service I like for handling money is PayPal. At this point the use is so wide that I think you'll be ok with making it as the only payment option. There are fees associated with it, but the speed and security are nice. Another option is a US Postal Money order. I think the last time I saw these they had a fairly elaborate scheme of security on the money order and the feds will get really mad if they're counterfitting money through another government entity. I'm guessing if they sent the cashier's check first that I would have just cashed it and sent the item, but the likelyhood of the check being counterfit now seems to be increasing.

Great work everyone!!

Cubeoid · Dec 14, 2002, 03:18 AM

Just like to say; "A great job Eric!"

..and everyone here who helped Eric out!

This is one of those sweet blessings in the heart of the mac community that you can never explain to an ignorant PC user when debating about the infinite pros for using Apple.

HashPipeK · Dec 14, 2002, 05:05 AM

I just want to join in as well.
Way to go! I probably wouldn't have had the drive to stick with this thing if it had happened to me. it makes me proud to be a Mac user to have a community like this.

molala · Dec 14, 2002, 05:29 AM

woohoo!! well done, eric! i just saw this story from the powerpage link. i'm glad you didn't give up and followed nearly every lead from the mac community, the people who helped did an awesome job too. if it happened to me, i probably would not have persevered as much. hope you get your money back and that your exams went alright.

dillerX · Dec 14, 2002, 07:15 AM

WOW!

brentnurse · Dec 14, 2002, 09:35 AM

Great story.

What was Mr. Christmas doing with all the laptops he was collecting? Was he reselling on eBay? Did he have buyers in Chicago?

typoon · Dec 14, 2002, 09:50 AM

Originally posted by brentnurse:
Great story.

What was Mr. Christmas doing with all the laptops he was collecting? Was he reselling on eBay? Did he have buyers in Chicago?

Who knows but his Name shouldn't be called Mr Christmas. It should be shold be Mr, Stooge, That'll teach him to Mess with mac users.

Anyway, Good Job and congrats on a job well done. Hopfully you will get your money/laptop back so that you can actually sell it to an appreciative Mac user

Person Man · Dec 14, 2002, 11:29 AM

Originally posted by schalliol:
This is incredible. As always, I am very proud to be from this community.

To all eBay sellers and buyers out there, a word of caution, in case you didn't pick up on these points from the story.

<EDIT> Previous points can be seen above.

Great work everyone!!

One other thing... whenever I sell ANYTHING of value on eBay, I never send the item out until said payment has cleared the bank. And I make it clear in my listings too.

I make sure I have the money in hand before I send the item away. That policy has saved me twice.

Todd Madson · Dec 14, 2002, 11:57 AM

I remember reading a story about a guy who
tracked down thieves of his iMac with the
fact that he had Timbuktu on it and he was
able to remote into it.

Anyway, good show. Here's hoping Mr.
Christmas is in jail for Christmas.

xyber233 · 01:23 PM

Originally posted by Zimmerman:
You made the Chicago Tribune!!!! and MacNN Front Page! So did the US Mac community in general, Great job everyone

Huge Congrats, Eric. Expect a call from either Leno, Letterman, or Oprah You're gonna get your Mac back, one way or another.

PS. This is the coolest real life story ever. To see something on a hella big newspaper and have been there while the story developed is staggering for me.

Yup, just saw it in the Chicago Tribune

. YOU MADE THE BOTTOM OF THE FRONT PAGE!!!-"Victim rallies Net posse to nab suspect in eBay scam". I also saw it on the news. Nice!

foppie · Dec 14, 2002, 02:06 PM

Great job, Eric,

Whenever I have a problem with someone in the States I would be happy to pay you to be my PI

bstone · Dec 14, 2002, 08:38 PM

Originally posted by keltorsori:

If you have any assistance or can help me in any way, please let me know. I'm a student and this much money is going to put me under.

I live in Chicago. How can I help? Email me at [email protected]

bstone · Dec 14, 2002, 08:57 PM

Originally posted by keltorsori:
Your friendly daily update:
Well, I spoke today to "Tony" the new name for Melvin Christmas. Called his house again, "Tony" told me he'd relay the message. If only I lived in Chicago, I'd be knocking on his door.

Eric Smith

eric,
I live in Chicago and would be more than happy to assist you as I can. Please contact me. My email is [email protected]
Brad Stone

Mark Tungston · Dec 14, 2002, 09:01 PM

bstone,

i think he's done. he nabbed the dude already...

theres not much more you can do anymore

motoyen · Dec 14, 2002, 09:08 PM

when are we going to see the mug shot of this scumbag?

bstone · Dec 14, 2002, 09:22 PM

Originally posted by Mark Tungston:
bstone,

i think he's done. he nabbed the dude already...

theres not much more you can do anymore

Argh!! I read the first page and saw this all and didn't get to the third page till an hour later. Too bad i couldn't be of more use, I liv ein the City of Chicago and know where this dude lives (he town, not him personally). Well, Eric, I am glad it all worked out for you! If anything happens in Chicago let me know.

Brad

ThinkInsane · Dec 14, 2002, 11:23 PM

Seriously, congratulations on getting this guy. Good show by all involved (except the perpetrator, who is a piece of sh*t). I really hope you can get your machine back, or that some good-hearted soul will read your story and give you a replacement. That sort of thing happens quite a lot. And with the publicity this got, you might find yourself swimming in laptops before you�re through.

I remember a year or two ago there was an article in the paper about how this little kid had had his first bike stolen. This older kid literally ran up, knocked the little kid off, and took off with the bike. The day after the story ran, the little kid woke up and came down stairs to find 15 or 20 new bicycles waiting for him. They ended up giving them out to the other kids in the neighborhood.

Oh, and I hope you stick around the forums and become a regular contributor. You have more than proved your worth.

LtKernelPanic · Dec 15, 2002, 05:50 AM

Congrats on getting that scumbag off the streets! Now the $64,000 question is if you get the PowerBook back do you keep it or sell it?

Montanan · Dec 15, 2002, 11:32 AM

FYI ... this story is still in the news! It was briefly recounted on NPR's "Morning Edition" program today, and a nice statement about the Mac-using community was included.

Oneota · Dec 15, 2002, 01:39 PM

As The Apple Turns did a blurb on it in their current episode, too!
Alas, they omitted any reference to MacNN, saying that it was only the PowerPage folks who helped. I sent 'em an email referencing this thread, so hopefully they'll rectify the situation.

Such a cool story!

ThisGuy · Dec 15, 2002, 02:49 PM

lots o' stories:
http://news.google.com/news?num=30&h...9EST0584%2eDTL

Dec 17, 2002, 01:03 AM

CNN picked up the story now too:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/Midwest/1....ap/index.html

Wow, 15 minutes of fame! Save that for the scrapbook!

daSilVetZ · Dec 20, 2002, 09:28 PM

I just saw Eric on Connie Chung Live on CNN! great job, I got scammed myself from someone in Canada a couple of months ago, and had given up all hope, but this has no motivated me again!

ringo · Dec 20, 2002, 09:38 PM

10,000+ views! Daaaaaaamn!

CheesePuff · Dec 20, 2002, 11:28 PM

Originally posted by hayesk:
CNN picked up the story now too:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/Midwest/1....ap/index.html

Wow, 15 minutes of fame! Save that for the scrapbook!

Damnit I missed it! When was it on in the program? I'll have to watch it at its 11 PM showing.

clod · Dec 20, 2002, 11:32 PM

Originally posted by CheesePuff:

Damnit I missed it! When was it on in the program? I'll have to watch it at its 11 PM showing.

There was a segment devoted to it and he mentioned the MacNN Forums. Connie was impressed by his detective work.

CheesePuff · Dec 20, 2002, 11:37 PM

Originally posted by clod:
There was a segment devoted to it and he mentioned the MacNN Forums. Connie was impressed by his detective work.

Was it on 10/20/30 minutes into the show? I don't want to watch the useless other things she is discussing.

ironknee · Dec 21, 2002, 12:14 AM

CNN CONNIE CHUNG 11:12 DEC 20

Story called INTERNET POSSE

coming on in 5 mins

Zimmerman · Dec 21, 2002, 12:29 AM

It (Connie Chung) just got done. Right on! And boy was I right. Have you recieved the call from Leno yet?

It was nice to see MacNN get a mention.

Thanks.

CheesePuff · Dec 21, 2002, 12:49 AM

Someone called him for movie rights and about another interview with Peter Jennings on ABC News. Damn I wish I was scammed.

Avon · Dec 21, 2002, 12:59 AM

Originally posted by Zimmerman:
It (Connie Chung) just got done. Right on! And boy was I right. Have you recieved the call from Leno yet?

It was nice to see MacNN get a mention. Thanks.

Did anyone tape it? I missed both showings!

Can someone PLEASE post it.

Mac Zealot · Dec 21, 2002, 01:19 AM

LOL! Coolness! Now we just need the people to come here and congradulate you!

That'd be funny.

Oh yeah, while I'm at it I think I'll take the chance to include a +1

xyber233 · Dec 21, 2002, 01:22 AM

I missed it

.

Ozmodiar · Dec 21, 2002, 01:24 AM

I think Mac Zealot is trying to post in every thread. i think it's hilarious, but now he's going to have to post in this one again, xyber.

of course, my posting here doesn't help either...

Mac Zealot · Dec 21, 2002, 01:27 AM

Originally posted by Ozmodiar:
I think Mac Zealot is trying to post in every thread. i think it's hilarious, but now he's going to have to post in this one again, xyber.

of course, my posting here doesn't help either...

To reply to you... YES!

Nah, I did taht once before and had a horrible reputation.
This time I'm just getting bored, maybe the citizens of MacNN IRC will save me.

Fyre4ce · Dec 21, 2002, 02:10 AM

****! I missed it! Anyone have a video of it they could put up?