[keltorsori]

I recently was the victim of a fairly large fraud ($3000 for me is a lot of money). A man in Chicago bought a brand-new Powerbook 867 with a ton of extras from me Fedex COD (certified funds). Everything seemed OK, I've done this several times before with no problems. I even talked to the guy on the phone before I sent it out (I have his number). Turns out the cashier's check I got back was forged, phony, fraudulent. No such bank even. So now I'm out not only my computer, but also the $3000 and now my finances are in complete disaster area since I had already spent a good deal of the money on christmas shopping.

My question, and plea for help:
I figure this guy had the package sent to a drop, doing a reverse lookup on the address yields three phone numbers. Doing a reverse on the phone number he gave me, it turns out is a Nextel cell-phone, so I can't get a valid address without paying a private investigator. I've already filed police reports in Chicago, IL and New Orleans, LA (where I live). What I need help in is getting this guy's real address from his cell-phone. If there are any PI's out there or anyone with Nextel who can help, please let me know. Chicago PD isn't really going to do anything about this and I've got a trip coming up to Chicago, I thought I might at least try to track the guy down, at least have him arrested.

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.

[Mark Tungston]

sorry to hear that

can Nextel provide any info? or van you get the police to get Nextel to do so?

Call that number and and frighten him with legal babble...?

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by Mark Tungston:
sorry to hear that

can Nextel provide any info? or van you get the police to get Nextel to do so?

Call that number and and frighten him with legal babble...?

Nextel won't without a supeona, and the police have the number, but threatening the guy long distance isn't going to do any good. I'm hoping some kind soul working for nextel or a Private investigation firm will read this.

[jcarr]

Just a little curious about the fact that this was sent FedEx COD. I assume you shiped the PowerBook insured as well?

What does FedEx's insurance say about this? They were the ones that released the goods without legitimate payment.

Just a thought...

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by jcarr:
Just a little curious about the fact that this was sent FedEx COD. I assume you shiped the PowerBook insured as well?

What does FedEx's insurance say about this? They were the ones that released the goods without legitimate payment.

Just a thought...

I was fully insured, I'm going to pursue that avenue tomorrow (the department isn't open today). But as far as I understand it so far, Fedex isn't liable, they were told to pick up certified funds, and as far as the driver knew, the phony cashier's check was real. We'll see what they say, but I doubt I'll get anywhere with Fedex, afterall, they did deliver the package and the payment.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by keltorsori:


Nextel won't without a supeona, and the police have the number, but threatening the guy long distance isn't going to do any good. I'm hoping some kind soul working for nextel or a Private investigation firm will read this.

A kind soul from Nextel who releases that info will not only get fired but can get sued.
FedEx is not responsible nor can they cover your losses. If they delivered to the address you stated and the item arrived and was signed for they completed their part and in no way can be held liable. You are strictly at the mercy of the police as of now. You can hire an investigator and if they can secure the name of the person you have a better chance to get them to find the culprit. But on the scale of importance to the police this may not be addressed for some time in Chicago. It sounds like you did this via eBay. If that's the case you should get on them to help you out and possibly see if you qualify for some sort of insurance.

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:


A kind soul from Nextel who releases that info will not only get fired but can get sued.
FedEx is not responsible nor can they cover your losses. If they delivered to the address you stated and the item arrived and was signed for they completed their part and in no way can be held liable. You are strictly at the mercy of the police as of now. You can hire an investigator and if they can secure the name of the person you have a better chance to get them to find the culprit. But on the scale of importance to the police this may not be addressed for some time in Chicago. It sounds like you did this via eBay. If that's the case you should get on them to help you out and possibly see if you qualify for some sort of insurance.

<sarcasm>Thanks for pointing out the obvious Captain Obvious! I guess I should just pack it up and give up any hope I have of resolving this. If only I'd had your wisdom sooner I could have been saved all of this embarassment.</sarcasm>

[mikellanes]

deleted to protect the innocent [me]

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by mikellanes:
deleted to protect the innocent [me]

Thanks.

[PB2K]

Never thrust a stranger, expecially in business

[jcarr]

Originally posted by PB2K:
Never thrust a stranger, expecially in business

...or be sure to wear protection.

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by jcarr:


...or be sure to wear protection.

I think PB2K was a victim of Freud.

[denim]

Originally posted by keltorsori:
Turns out the cashier's check I got back was forged, phony, fraudulent.

I used to wonder why COD seems so rare. Now I know. Pre-payment is my friend.

File a fraud complaint with the appropriate local cops? I dunno. Hire a lawyer.

[Spliffdaddy]

Always send/receive payment via USPS money order.

Using the federal government to help you commit mail fraud is a crime. Using Fedex just ain't the same.

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
Always send/receive payment via USPS money order.

Using the federal government to help you commit mail fraud is a crime. Using Fedex just ain't the same.

As with all systems, there are pluses and minuses to each. Demanding USPS money orders is good, but they are just as easy to counterfeit as a cashier's check (and the crime is still federal). Taking prepayment is nice too, but most people I know, when sent a cashiers check or money order, assume its certified, genuine funds and send out the next day (only waiting for personal checks to clear), again, the same problem. 11 days later your bank gives you a call. I don't know if there is really any fool proof way except to just not ever sell any big ticket items for anything but cold, hard cash. Paypal is definitely not the answer (I have been ripped off through them before, but I think that's more just Paypal ripping me off than the person on the other end).

I don't really care so much about the money anymore (don't get me wrong, its a lot of money, but I'm trying to be realistic). Just want to put this mofo in jail. If I have to show up at his doorstep and then call the cops to arrest him, sounds fine to me.

Thanks again everyone for your responses.

[keltorsori]

Any chance any Chicago folk would be willing to at least let me know what kind of place this address is: 7616 S. Phillips, Zip 60649. Whether its a business, residence, or just a crack house? That's where the computer was shipped and signed for.

[mikellanes]

Hey, I called my area supervisor, I cant give out the information directly (as posted previously)...

but the cops in which the state which the fraud occured can contact nextel at 1800-639-6111

or he said you can call them and see if their fraud dept can help you out directly.

I can tell you the phone is registered in Chicago, IL nothing else is available.

My rep took the number and will try to find out more, ill keep you updated.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by keltorsori:
Any chance any Chicago folk would be willing to at least let me know what kind of place this address is: 7616 S. Phillips, Zip 60649. Whether its a business, residence, or just a crack house? That's where the computer was shipped and signed for.

Well, you know the person who did this is black. And before any of you PC sheep say anything I'll remind you that you probably don't know the city as well as I do.
Anyway, you are looking at a lower income neighborhood.. not projects poor but not quite lower-middle class yet. 99% black and 1% elderly Caucasian people who didn't move out before the neighborhood changed. Its also a side street so it's prob a house. Beyond that I can't help, its not anywhere near any place I am going to be tonight before I leave for Midway.

[dixiecoder]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:


Well, you know the person who did this is black. And before any of you PC sheep say anything I'll remind you that you probably don't know the city as well as I do.
Anyway, you are looking at a lower income neighborhood.. not projects poor but not quite lower-middle class yet. 99% black and 1% elderly Caucasian people who didn't move out before the neighborhood changed. Its also a side street so it's prob a house. Beyond that I can't help, its not anywhere near any place I am going to be tonight before I leave for Midway.

Thanks Captain Obvious for your ridiculous assertion. The neighborhood in reference was from what Keltorsori is saying more than likely just a drop. And I can't see why any one here would really give a sh*t whether this guy was black/white/asian or whatever, and I don't see what difference it makes. I think Keltorsori just wants to find him, if it turns out he's an alien from Mars, then we might care about his ethnic origin. Please keep any such non-help to yourself in the future.

[olePigeon]

If it's fraud, do these three things (in order): Call FBI, call Local Police, call state police of buyer, call Apple and report SN stolen (if you registered it.) Reporting the SN is important because if/when someone else buys the laptop from that person, they may need to get it fixed at some point. This will notify Apple and the police. If you have his/her cellphone the police and FBI will want that. Even if FedEx is willing to reimburse, call the FBI and police anyway.

Don't give it up. My brother was taken for $2500 when he tried to purchase a TiBook on eBay. He followed up by calling the FBI and police, little did he know that he would instigate a search and eventual arrest for the single LARGEST online fraud in eBay history. He hasn't gotten his money back, but at least he knows he chance to. Better than sitting around and crying about it.

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
If it's fraud, do these three things (in order): Call FBI, call Local Police, call state police of buyer, call Apple and report SN stolen (if you registered it.) Reporting the SN is important because if/when someone else buys the laptop from that person, they may need to get it fixed at some point. This will notify Apple and the police. If you have his/her cellphone the police and FBI will want that. Even if FedEx is willing to reimburse, call the FBI and police anyway.

Don't give it up. My brother was taken for $2500 when he tried to purchase a TiBook on eBay. He followed up by calling the FBI and police, little did he know that he would instigate a search and eventual arrest for the single LARGEST online fraud in eBay history. He hasn't gotten his money back, but at least he knows he chance to. Better than sitting around and crying about it.

Thanks Olepigeon, I'm definitely going to keep pursuing it. I figure if this guy can do it to me, he's going to do it to others. Anyway, for those interested in the ongoing developments:

I'm $85.00 even poorer than I was this morning, but here's what I've got. His cell phone is registered to an address only 2 miles away, a straight shot. And the name on his house (reverse lookup on the address) matches one of his AOL email addresses (his last name and part of the AOL address matchup). So I've found him, I think, but now I've got to wait two weeks (quoted time) for the Chicago Police Department to get back to me.

Any suggestions on what to do in the meantime? Or, do you prefer wooden or aluminium bats?

Know anyone around 7325 S Rhodes Ave in Chicago?
Here's a map link for those interested
http://maps.yahoo.com/py/ddResults....=Get+Directions

Olepigeon, can you tell me more about your brother's case, the FBI field office here told me the minimum for a fraud and counterfeiting of bank documents cases to be considered federal is $5000, even if it is interstate (and its $50,000 for credit card fraud). FBI told be they won't touch it (although the field agent here did offer to research and see if they could find something else to go after the guy on). So it looks like I'm stuck waiting.

One last tidbit. For those who ever have a computer stolen in the future: It's been suggested on other boards that Apple has a stolen serial database and that in the event the computer is brought in for service that it will come up stolen. This isn't true. I just got off the phone with Al at Apple Security (the guys that handle stolen stuff), he told me they do have a database at Apple Security, but it is really only used in the event law enforcement calls trying to do a merchandise recovery. The service people do not have this database. He told me that in the event the Powerbook comes in for service, as long as the serial comes up as being valid for the warranty, service will go on as normal. The service people do not have a stolen flag for serials. So the best you can hope for is a concerned buyer calling in to inquire about whether it's stolen merchandise. Al told me he hoped that the service people would be tied in soon but that it was something they had been requesting for a long time and has not yet been addressed. Are you listening Apple?

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by dixiecoder:


Thanks Captain Obvious for your ridiculous assertion. The neighborhood in reference was from what Keltorsori is saying more than likely just a drop. And I can't see why any one here would really give a sh*t whether this guy was black/white/asian or whatever, and I don't see what difference it makes. I think Keltorsori just wants to find him, if it turns out he's an alien from Mars, then we might care about his ethnic origin. Please keep any such non-help to yourself in the future.

Listen dumb@ss, first use your real user name if you are going to make comments directly towards me. Don't be such a p*ussy if you have something to say.


Second, let's say it is a drop. Its not likely to be an abandoned house. Why? Well, its not a neighborhood known to have abandoned homes. The residents are families and not displaced welfare recipients the City has scattered in subsidized housing. So many of the people who live there do not want to see their property value diminish by having empty houses around them. This isn't an area where nonresidents can just mix in and not be noticed.
So if it a drop its not one where the residents of the property would be oblivious to someone accepting a package in their home.
And if Keltorsori wants to find him its probably a good idea to have an idea of what the person looks like. He asked what kind of place that is and I told him.

So Dixie STFU and if you would like to say something else from your preacher's podium at least have the guts to do it from your real user name.

[dixiecoder]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:



Listen dumb@ss, first use your real user name if you are going to make comments directly towards me. Don't be such a p*ussy if you have something to say.


Second, let's say it is a drop. Its not likely to be an abandoned house. Why? Well, its not a neighborhood known to have abandoned homes. The residents are families and not displaced welfare recipients the City has scattered in subsidized housing. So many of the people who live there do not want to see their property value diminish by having empty houses around them. This isn't an area where nonresidents can just mix in and not be noticed.
So if it a drop its not one where the residents of the property would be oblivious to someone accepting a package in their home.
And if Keltorsori wants to find him its probably a good idea to have an idea of what the person looks like. He asked what kind of place that is and I told him.

So Dixie STFU and if you would like to say something else from your preacher's podium at least have the guts to do it from your real user name.

Don't you live in Washington, D.C.? How is it you're such an expert on Chicago? I don't recall that I was preaching, just stating that your comments regarding the race of the perp. were unrelated and irrelevant to the reality of the situation. No need to be so defensive Captain.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by dixiecoder:

Don't you live in Washington, D.C.? How is it you're such an expert on Chicago? I don't recall that I was preaching, just stating that your comments regarding the race of the perp. were unrelated and irrelevant to the reality of the situation. No need to be so defensive Captain.

Christ, go through the dammed posts I have made if you are so curious. I am from there smart guy, I also know about other places I have lived. And how exactly is it unrelated?
The reality is that if the guy lives two miles away in any direction but north or east the probability of him being black is about 90% And in this case it was 2 miles west. So I guess it wasn't a ridiculous assertion since in fact they traced him to an address close by in a worse neighborhood. The police were never going to going to go to Kenilworth or Winnetka looking for the guy. If you had wanted to know more about the address of the place, like keltorsori did, the first thing anyone would say is that it is a black neighborhood.

And I am not defensive. I find you needing to make up a new name to criticize me as a sign that you are a spineless wimp.

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:


Christ, go through the dammed posts I have made if you are so curious. I am from there smart guy, I also know about other places I have lived. And how exactly is it unrelated?
The reality is that if the guy lives two miles away in any direction but north or east the probability of him being black is about 90% And in this case it was 2 miles west. So I guess it wasn't a ridiculous assertion since in fact they traced him to an address close by in a worse neighborhood. The police were never going to going to go to Kenilworth or Winnetka looking for the guy. If you had wanted to know more about the address of the place, like keltorsori did, the first thing anyone would say is that it is a black neighborhood.

And I am not defensive. I find you needing to make up a new name to criticize me as a sign that you are a spineless wimp.

Would you two please stop it, this is ridiculous. I appreciate everyone's help and concern, except I take issue with your comments Captain. My name is Eric Smith, and I'm not afraid to speak the truth as I see it. I don't care what color this guy is, and your defense of your racist statements only makes me even angrier about it. People who make those kind of statements and then defend themselves saying that they are not being racist make me sick. Please don't bother posting anymore of that kind of "assistance" in this thread, I can do without it.

To everyone else, thank you very much for your support and assistance.

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:

The reality is that if the guy lives two miles away in any direction but north or east the probability of him being black is about 90%

Why did you even bring that up? How is the guy's race relevant in the slightest?

[pooka]

Originally posted by hayesk:


Why did you even bring that up? How is the guy's race relevant in the slightest?

I would have to say that the percentage of African Americans living in the neighborhood is not relevant. My primary concern would be what this individual looked like. Height, weight, build, race, etc. I would hate to kill the wrong person. That's just me.

Originally posted by pooka:
My primary concern would be what this individual looked like. Height, weight, build, race, etc. I would hate to kill the wrong person. That's just me.

Hmmm... if 90% of the people in the neighbourhood are black, how does mentioning he's black help at all? Besides, nobody's going to kill anyone, and a name and address would do a lot more than skin colour which may or may not be the same as most people in the neighbourhood.

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by pooka:


I would have to say that the percentage of African Americans living in the neighborhood is not relevant. My primary concern would be what this individual looked like. Height, weight, build, race, etc. I would hate to kill the wrong person. That's just me.

I agree, I don't want to kill the wrong person (joking, I'm against killing people, really), but since I doubt any of you are psychic and can provide that information for me, let's please move away from getting into a flame war over racism. I don't like racism, you don't like racism, it seems at least one of our fellow MacNN'ers does like it, but I'm content to let him wallow in his ignorance.

So back on subject, which kind of bat do you prefer for coercing those who have done you wrong, wood or aluminium?

[Nimisys]

neither... 2x4 with a nail in the end

[pooka]

Originally posted by hayesk:


Hmmm... if 90% of the people in the neighbourhood are black, how does mentioning he's black help at all? Besides, nobody's going to kill anyone, and a name and address would do a lot more than skin colour which may or may not be the same as most people in the neighbourhood.

I apologize for taking this thread even further off topic...

I can't explain the reasoning behind Capt.'s statement. That's for him to clarify if he so chooses. If I were looking for this individual I would find that information useful.

A long time ago... in a state far away... I used to handle bill collections for a small business. Information such as "99% of the residence in the area are African American" meant that a Caucasean male in his early 20's would stick out and draw just a little bit too much attention. If the collection attempt goes to **** the last thing you want is 14 witnesses who could place you at the scene.

But that's just me.

BTW, doesn't this fall under Interstate Commerce? Securities Act of 1933 - Section 17 - Fraudulent Interstate Transactions or something like that? Have you contacted the FTC? They probably won't do **** but if this guy is a pro it could help if they ever act. Can't hurt. Find yourself a law student who will work for beer.

(edited for spelling errors)

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by keltorsori:
I'm $85.00 even poorer than I was this morning, but here's what I've got. His cell phone is registered to an address only 2 miles away, a straight shot. And the name on his house (reverse lookup on the address) matches one of his AOL email addresses (his last name and part of the AOL address matchup). So I've found him, I think, but now I've got to wait two weeks (quoted time) for the Chicago Police Department to get back to me.

Any suggestions on what to do in the meantime? Or, do you prefer wooden or aluminium bats?

The best thing to do is keep emailing him regarding the check. Tell him it didn't go through and if he'd be kind enough to send you another one. Make sure he doesn't think he's in trouble yet.

Unfortunately the best you can do is just wait for the policie. Chances are the guy is going to keep stalling and hopefully won't skip town.

Olepigeon, can you tell me more about your brother's case, the FBI field office here told me the minimum for a fraud and counterfeiting of bank documents cases to be considered federal is $5000, even if it is interstate (and its $50,000 for credit card fraud). FBI told be they won't touch it (although the field agent here did offer to research and see if they could find something else to go after the guy on). So it looks like I'm stuck waiting.

He's correct. My brother's case was taken up because there was 3/4 million bucks at stake. The FBI forwarded it to their IFCC, which is their Internet Fraud devision. You should see if you can get in contact with someone there. I always do transactions through US Postal Service. In this case, comitting fraud through the Postal Service warrants federal charges.

Passing a bad check, counterfit, and forgery are ALL felony offenses. If you didn't tell the FBI that, you need to tell them quickly. 3 felony counts is more than enough to warrant an arrest. Once he's in custody you can persue your own case or see if the FBI will tack on additonal charges on your behalf (which is what the FBI is doing for my brother.) If they can't or won't, sue the man for the amount of the laptop, fees for tracking him down, and any legal fees. Since the man would already be convicted on a federal court, getting a conviction in a county court would be closed book; he'd probably settle out of court to avoid further repremandation.

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by pooka:
Find yourself a law student who will work for beer.

. . . and who doesn't mind risking being hauled up on ethics charges for practicing law without a license.

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by olePigeon:


The best thing to do is keep emailing him regarding the check. Tell him it didn't go through and if he'd be kind enough to send you another one. Make sure he doesn't think he's in trouble yet.

Unfortunately the best you can do is just wait for the policie. Chances are the guy is going to keep stalling and hopefully won't skip town.



He's correct. My brother's case was taken up because there was 3/4 million bucks at stake. The FBI forwarded it to their IFCC, which is their Internet Fraud devision. You should see if you can get in contact with someone there. I always do transactions through US Postal Service. In this case, comitting fraud through the Postal Service warrants federal charges.

Passing a bad check, counterfit, and forgery are ALL felony offenses. If you didn't tell the FBI that, you need to tell them quickly. 3 felony counts is more than enough to warrant an arrest. Once he's in custody you can persue your own case or see if the FBI will tack on additonal charges on your behalf (which is what the FBI is doing for my brother.) If they can't or won't, sue the man for the amount of the laptop, fees for tracking him down, and any legal fees. Since the man would already be convicted on a federal court, getting a conviction in a county court would be closed book; he'd probably settle out of court to avoid further repremandation.

Ok, here's what the FBI field agent told me. Yes, the guy did commit felonies, but that doesn't mean the FBI is going to investigate them. Basically, they have guidelines and certain thresholds that have to be met before the FBI will investigate a case. My case does not meet any of those thresholds, the amount of the fraud (bad check, counterfit, forgery) has to be in excess of $5,000 before the FBI will investigate. That doesn't mean that the local police won't, or that there are not other federal agencies that will, just that the FBI won't. That's the gospel according to Agent Clark at the New Orleans field office.

As far as suing the guy, they have to be able to serve process on him, and if they can serve process they might as well arrest him. Gotta find him before you can sue him (well, not exactly true, I can file a lawsuit, it just won't go to court until he can be served process). My ex-roommate is a lawyer for a large you-would-now-the-name-if-I-could-tell-you NGO, and suing would be nice, but I'd rather have him in jail.

Anyway, I have to pay attention to the real world today, but I am planning on following up on a few other leads as far as federal agencies that may have jurisdiction. I'll keep everyone posted. Again, thanks for your help and support.

[keltorsori]

The Plot Thickens...
Head on over to O'Grady's Powerpage. They were kind enough to post this as a news story, turns out I'm not the only guy who's been scammed by this guy... http://www.powerpage.org/story.lasso?newsID=10245

[keltorsori]

Update for the day:

O'grady's Powerpage was kind enough to post this as a news story, so I got lots of replies, turns out this guy has done it before, same MO, same outcome. I'm hoping I can add these together and convince the FBI that this guy is a serial con artist and hopefully they can also investigate.

I'm still waiting on getting the actual cashier's check back from my bank before calling the secret service or the federal reserve as was suggested by SickBoy. Thanks a lot for the tips.

I called the phone number I got from the reverse address lookup (the real landline) today. I spoke with a guy who wouldn't identify himself (his voice was the guy's though). So, I told him I'd like to leave a message. Wanna know who I left a message for? One for the irony meter. The actual name of the perp is Melvin Christmas. That's right, Mr. Christmas has ruined my Christmas. So I left a message with all my contact letting the guy know he had 48 hours before the dogs of hell would be let loosed upon him. I doubt I'll get a call back, but I at least have a confirmed address and landline number to give the police now.

Again, I'd like to sincerely thank everyone for their support and help. I'd like to see a bunch of Dell dudes offer this much help to strangers!

[CheesePuff]

Last year I bought a rare piece of merchandise on eBay for around $500. I got a phony. The guy on eBay had his account taken away soon after from past incidents. I never got my money back.

I flew down to Georgia (where he lived) and got my money back.

[Amorya]

My heart goes out to you. That must really suck! (Yeah, understatement of the century, right?)

I've never been scammed so I can't offer any decent advice. I've been accused of being a scammer once when I didn't post a Psion for about three days after recieving the money but the police just told the guy that he should wait a bit longer. (I blame circumstances, bad things happened at that time and it just went right out of my head).

Amorya

[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.

Anyway, I also spoke with the Secret Service field office here. Special Agent Polozola was very understanding of my predicament. Unfortunately, again, the amount is too low for the Secret Service to pursue it. Agent Polozola did offer to annoy the Chicago PD for me, see what he could do to cajole them into going ahead and grabbing this guy. So I guess I'm at the mercy of the Chicago PD, I only hope they are more competent than the PD we have down here.

Maybe I'll Priceline a plane ticket to Chicago for the weekend :-)

Also was contacted by another kind soul in L.A. who was scammed by the exact same guy, used same email and phone number (in October) so if this guy is clever, he's not being clever enough. I'm going to see if we can combine our cases and get the Secret Service to take it up, the L.A. connection was scammed with $6000 in cashier's checks, over the needed limit. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Once again, thanks to everyone for their help and support.

Eric Smith

[cheerios]

wow, I hope they do!! Good luck, man!

[Mark Tungston]

Originally posted by keltorsori:

Once again, thanks to everyone for their help and support.

eric

APPROPRIATE SUPPORT!

[gzl: er...be supportive, but don't go overboard here with the expletives ]

[keltorsori]

Anyone live in Chicago know a decent cheap hotel near the airport? I'm flying up this weekend and should have good news for everyone by Tuesday. (No, I'm not doing anything stupid, but I can't really talk about it on the board). If you know anywhere decent, please PM me or send an email to misterye at yahoo dot com.

thanks
eric smith

[mikellanes]

good luck man, ill be looking forward to hearing what happens

BTW how did you ever get the real address/phone number?

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by mikellanes:
good luck man, ill be looking forward to hearing what happens

BTW how did you ever get the real address/phone number?

Can't really tell you yet. But I did, and I've got this guy, just got to go make sure they pick him up. Thanks everyone for your help. Once this is wrapped up everyone can expect a full summary of recent events and exactly what has gone down. Stay tuned!

[keltorsori]

Daily Update:
Big things are afoot. I've been contacted by four other people who were scammed by the same guy (even used the same email addresses). Something is about to give and I have one last request for help from everyone.

If anyone lives in the Chicago area and can just drive by an address for me to confirm whether or not there is even a building there, please contact me by email, misterye at yahoo dot com

Thanks to everyone again for your help and support. With it I've managed to track this guy down and he will get caught. Thank you again

[MindFad]

Man, what a story. I really hope you catch the mother lover. Too bad you can't get pics or something when they take his ass down. I really am looking forward to seeing how this finally wraps up.

[iDriveX]

This is one of the first threads I've heard from beginning to end. This is gonna be one of those made for TV movies about your search for justice on NBC in a few months I can feel it...Good luck, and I'm waiting for the outcome so I can finish the script!

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by iDriveX:
This is one of the first threads I've heard from beginning to end. This is gonna be one of those made for TV movies about your search for justice on NBC in a few months I can feel it...Good luck, and I'm waiting for the outcome so I can finish the script!

Thanks, I'm trying to get this guy. A reiteration of the plea for any chicago people to drive by an address for me (its not one of the two previously listed). Please email me at misterye at yahoo dot com

Ya'll are the best (hey I'm from the south ok)

Eric Smith

[DeathMan]

More drama than as the apple turns
Good luck. I hope nobody gets hurt. Remember, even theives have rights.

[keltorsori]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
More drama than as the apple turns
Good luck. I hope nobody gets hurt. Remember, even theives have rights.

Hey, I may be from the south, but I'm pretty much a card carrying pacifist. No violence intended towards this guy (or anyone else for that matter). Although the funny thing is, all the cops and spooks I've talked to have suggested it...I think that's not a good sign :-)

The drama will continue and hopefully conclude very, very soon.

I'll keep you updated.