EBay, Craigslist Scammers Busted By U.S., Romania

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Romanian police have arrested more than 100 people in a year-long effort to stop Internet fraud schemes that have cost Americans more than $100 million, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

Romanian police carried out 117 raids on Friday, the Justice Department said. They arrested 90 people in sweeps in nine cities, the BBC reported.

The schemes worked like this: Romanians posing as U.S. citizens would advertise on Craigslist or eBay websites that they were selling a car or boat or other expensive item, and offer delivery if the seller wired money to them.

Once the money was sent, people called "arrows" would retrieve it, often using faked identities.

"They would subsequently wire the funds overseas, typically to individuals in Romania, minus a percentage kept for their commissions," the Justice Department said.

Police have arrested "arrows" or money mules in Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas in the past 18 months.

Most are charged with wire fraud or related charges. Several have pleaded guilty.

This type of fraud -- failure to deliver promised merchandise in Internet sales - was the most common form of Internet fraud last year, according to FBI data in the 2010 Internet Crime Report.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions

Comments

[dbrett480]

07:20 PM on 08/06/2011

Why were people buying cars or boats over the internet?

[jcesar]

05:11 PM on 07/18/2011

wow didnt know that about ebay since i have never had that kind of problem. anywyas craigslist is full of this though.

[Mister Grumpy]

02:09 PM on 07/18/2011

Plus, if you have your resume on sites like CareerBuilder, you get lots of offers from individuals offering you jobs to become money forwarding mules..........

I sent one such offer to the FBI, and didn't hear a thing in return............. guess they were too busy watching porn on their laptops............

[liberalviper]

01:40 PM on 07/18/2011

Ebay has been a haven for scammers for several years now. I wouldn't touch that site with a ten-foot pole.

[skymuffin]

03:20 PM on 07/18/2011

I used eBay years ago and it was fine, but now it just seems like too much of a risk.

[Keil E]

01:26 PM on 07/18/2011

I bought an Operating system on Ebay last year. The auction stated that it ships from NJ. I paid by PayPal. After a few days of no acknowledgments I made an effort to contact the seller. I never received a response but I determined the seller was in China. I contacted Ebay regarding the matter and I received a full refund. A month later I got a package in the mail from China. The operating system was counterfeit. The seller had good ratings but those were probably created by his/her buddies in China.

[edenooch]

11:06 AM on 07/18/2011

you would have to be a fool to buy a car over the internet in the firstplace

[Erewhon7]

10:50 AM on 07/18/2011

Two people I would wire money to: my parents and my "better-half"
Everyone else gets an extended finger.

[J0E1]

12:25 PM on 07/18/2011

Hi son, hope things are going well.  We are in a bit of a snag here at home with money and would appreciate if you wired some to our moneygram account# 826155.  Thanks!  Hope all is going well!

[Erewhon7]

12:54 PM on 07/18/2011

I it highly doubtful that my parents would write to me in English.
Anyway you're writing in idiomatically correct English.
The scammers usual write " Please to accept exchequer for many Amereekan dollar. Thank you too much."

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

10:50 AM on 07/18/2011

You have to be SO careful using Craigslist. It's flake city most of the time.

[becky bradshaw]

11:01 AM on 07/18/2011

This story concerned Ebay, not Craigslist. Craigslist usually involves local transactions. This article concerned transactions conducted over long distances, that enabled anonymity. Craigslist has warned against precisely this type of scam for years.

If one is reasonably careful, Craigslist is safe.

P.S. : One point each for the Justice Department and the Romanian police.

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

11:51 AM on 07/18/2011

The story references the use of BOTH Craigslist and eBay.

[J0E1]

12:26 PM on 07/18/2011

Craigslist is for local sales only.  Anyone who buys something from another city or agrees to ship an item across the country despite the many warnings from craigslist themselves deserve to part with their money and/or goods.

[William J Unverferth Sr]

10:37 AM on 07/18/2011

I almost fell for one of these once, long ago back in the day. NEVER WIRE MONEY FOR A PURCHASE.

[sweetneocon]

10:15 AM on 07/18/2011

Anyone stupid enough to wire money before taking possession of the property deserves to be ripped off.

[barkingcat]

10:42 AM on 07/18/2011

Agreed.

This scam has gone on for some time.

Several years ago, I listed a vehicle for sale and received dozens of offers, many from scam artists. One even send me a fake (a clever fake, but still a fake) check for $22,000 in an effort to get me to wire money to him.

[J0E1]

12:28 PM on 07/18/2011

Vehicles get the most scam action on craigslist.  I've sold 2 cars on craigslist and put clearly "LOCAL SALE ONLY" then proceed to ignore everyone who wasn't in the area to test drive.

[RecreationalPilot]

09:19 AM on 07/18/2011

Germany has a boat load of them too. Where's eBay & Interpol?