BEWARE christianlewisphotography

What is worse is the one bad apple bad taste it leaves ...

Sorry to read of your misfortune, hopefully there is some way that you can get your money returned.

Jessica

Pinto wrote in post #3732400
Looks like this has been going on since at least the middle of July. If it wasn't him, I would guess that he would be all over the forums trying to clear this mess up.

Maybe he just hasnt visited the sites in a while. I'm just throwing that option out there just in case cause we don't know the whole story. I do know what its like to be scammed on the internet. Before ebay was the monster it is today I used to use an online auction site called haggle.com. A bunch of us got ripped off by some guy selling cdr drives for dirt cheap (100 bucks for an 8x cd-r drive...cheap back in 1998 ). After like a year, we all got a class action suit against this guy and he bailed and flew to back to Pakistan from Cali. It took that long because the USPS and Feds were new to this thing called "internet auctions".

Here's what I would do. I would make a "Rockford" call - named after Jim Rockford of the old TV series The Rockford Files. (Anybody who ever saw the show knows what I mean.)

• Call the reidsville police department at 336) 349-1011
  
• Ask to talk to a detective in the detective division. Preferrably the fraud, theft, or bunko division if they have one. It is important you know the purpose of this call is not necessarily to file charges. It is to get a valid name of a detective. Very important. Inform them of the fraud and ask about any courses of action.
  
• Now the good part. Contact this guy any way you can. Call (leave a voicemail), email, and even work thru his myspace account where he is active and logged on as recently as 8/14.
  
• Here is what you want to communicate. Be very business-like, formal, and direct. Say / write something to the tune of: "I recently talked with a detective XXXXX of the Reidsville Police Department Detective Squad about filing criminal fraud charges against you. Should I decide to pursue the charges, I have a cousin who lives in Eden, NC who is willing to go to Reidsville for me and file the paperwork. If I do not receive a full refund or the merchandise within 10 business days, I will pursue criminal charges against you.

umbra wrote in post #3732667
Maybe he just hasnt visited the sites in a while.

He logged into his myspace account less than 24 hours ago, so he has been recently "net active."

CannedHeat wrote in post #3732740
He logged into his myspace account less than 24 hours ago, so he has been recently "net active."

I saw that, but that still doesnt mean that he's browsed these sites. I haven't been to m1911.org in months because my interests have shifted and I been busier but I still go to myspace. I do agree with the rest of this thread about having the OP contact the authorities because stealing is, well, stealing. Don't matter if its 1 cent or 1mil dollars. I just have to interject and throw out another scenario just in case. Some of us here do live in the US and as our system goes "Innocent until proven guilty". I do have the feeling that this guy probably has turned to the dark side but I cant really say he has definately because its just a feeling. I do hope the OP does indeed get either his money back or the items that he paid for with his hard earned money.

-Tristan

Unfortunately, I used to be in a job dealing with fraud........... So, here's what you need to do.

First, be sure you have all of your documentation printed, with notes of actions on particular days. Stressing: printed. You'll need that to submit with items below, on paper.

PayPal:
Pursue, it may bear fruit; request that the vendor be suspended/expelled and tell them why, providing as much backup as you can about her/his pattern of abuse. If PayPal refuses to refund, contact your CC company, ask for the PayPal payment to be recinded.

The Attorney General:
Visit the web page for North Carolina, office of the Attorney General, find the consumer complaint form and fill it out/submit.

If you're not in North Carolina, do the same thing in your home state as well.

Why? The attorney general's office has real teeth, and will pursue. Thus it is also in your interest to make sure as many people file complaints as possible, if you want some justice.

IC3/FBI:
If the transaction was conducted via website/internet, then file the complaint here:
http://www.ic3.gov/

Local Police:
Police, in the jurisdiction where the perp resides. Do that in writing, providing a copy of the Attorney General complaint form(s), with a cover letter very, very briefly stating your claim and background. Why? The local police cannot go get your money for you, but they will remember the name/location. You might get a phone call from an officer asking you some questions and providing you with more options.

And here are the things you should not do, no matter how satisfying they may seem:
1. Confront in person
2. Make inflammatory / derogatory statements about the seller
3. Make harrassing phone calls
4. Send harrassing e-mails (other than demands for your money)

Why? Because those things give the perp cover in the process. For example, let's say PayPal gives you your money back, you no longer have damages, then the perp complains about your e-mails/phone calls....... get the picture? Perps are smart, at least a bit sociopathic, and, quite possibly, dangerous.

Best of luck. Sorry that happened.

Oh, and remember, you don't know this person -- You might find out s/he had a stroke, for example, and honestly cannot conduct business any longer.

^^ Listen to Sam^^

Unless the amount is above 5000.00 the FBI Internet Fraud unit will not get involved.

umbra wrote in post #3732833
I saw that, but that still doesnt mean that he's browsed these sites. I haven't been to m1911.org in months because my interests have shifted and I been busier but I still go to myspace. I do agree with the rest of this thread about having the OP contact the authorities because stealing is, well, stealing. Don't matter if its 1 cent or 1mil dollars. I just have to interject and throw out another scenario just in case. Some of us here do live in the US and as our system goes "Innocent until proven guilty". I do have the feeling that this guy probably has turned to the dark side but I cant really say he has definately because its just a feeling. I do hope the OP does indeed get either his money back or the items that he paid for with his hard earned money.

-Tristan

You need to google this ID and see what all has gone on over on other boards. Selling the same lens to multiple people takes a little active fraudulent effort on the seller's part, the only thing probably left is that a family member or friend hijacked the account, but that is doubtful too.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #3733150
You need to google this ID and see what all has gone on over on other boards. Selling the same lens to multiple people takes a little active fraudulent effort on the seller's part, the only thing probably left is that a family member or friend hijacked the account, but that is doubtful too.

Actually I been following this whole saga since I first read about it in the FM forums. I've read all the links there, but not only that, I clicked them and read the content that I was brought to. Like I stated in my previous post, I do have the feeling that this is indeed a scammer and that he has turned to the darkside...

It appears complaints started back in March and maybe he found out that there was no real consequence to not sending out a speedring here or a part of an order there, and now doesn't even bother, just takes the money, transfers from the paypal bank account to his personal, and keeps the equipment.

Most crimes are escalatory in nature, and reading through the different forums/posts, that is my opinion of what has happened here. I really hope somebody is able to use the local authorities to their benefit.

this happened to me a few times and I simply reversed the paypal charge through my credit card company. within a few days I had my money back and this puts all the responsibility in paypal's court to go after the douche.

~mike~

^^ I'm glad to hear that, because we've had one close call with a non-photog vendor recently w/PayPal. That makes it a perfect option for the OP as well.

hortonsl62 wrote in post #3734143
^^ I'm glad to hear that, because we've had one close call with a non-photog vendor recently w/PayPal. That makes it a perfect option for the OP as well.

Because the OP indicated that he was going to try to get a refund from his bank, we got the impression that he used a debit card instead of a credit card.