eportuk - this is a scam, isn't it?

Here is other victim of EPORTUK.

Im from spain too, so if there is anybody who need or can give any help it is welcome.

Any news about the seller or out money?

thanks
 
Please everyone join and comment on the ebay group, link on page 5 of this thread. So important to have strength in numbers.
 
Alex Maidenhead said:
Thanks for all your messages and help with all this. If i may ask snappy media how you know the details of how much money is in the account and those details-not being funny or suspicious just wondering how you know! My bank cant give me any info. thanks
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I read this on the group for the victims of the scam on eBay, I believe the information came from the police.

What I find more worrying is that the banks aren't actually taking this fraud seriously, I received a letter from my bank today regarding this

Unfortunately, this situation does not represent fraud but a dispute with the company concerned and I must ask you to contact them to arrange reimbursement - Fraud Officer, Financial Crime Unit
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So someone opening multiple business accounts for the reason of obtaining money from people by deception is normal business practice?
 
If anything good can come out of this I think people will be more aware of this type of scam. Maybe a scammer spotting guide could be posted with a sticky in the an appropriate section including current warnings of new scams. It was well spotted by Andy, its a pity his warning couldn't reach more people other than TP viewers.
 
I would strongly advise Against going around to the address listed in the whois and leave that to the police etc.

When you register a web domain name you’re just sat at your computer typing into a web form. There are no checks to make sure the information you enter is correct or true.

If my intention was to scam people I wouldn't be putting in my real address that’s for sure.
 
foggy4ever said:
If anything good can come out of this I think people will be more aware of this type of scam. Maybe a scammer spotting guide could be posted with a sticky in the an appropriate section including current warnings of new scams. It was well spotted by Andy, its a pity his warning couldn't reach more people other than TP viewers.
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Well there is nothing new about this scam, but it does show that both PowerSeller status and good feedback are meaningless. In fact what is the point in the Power Seller status except to give buyers a false sense of security.
 
SnappyMedia said:
Well there is nothing new about this scam, but it does show that both PowerSeller status and good feedback are meaningless. In fact what is the point in the Power Seller status except to give buyers a false sense of security.
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I have heard of this type of scam with concert tickets but that's small change compared to some of the posts on here. Sometimes when you see a bargain you forget to be careful. I am not passing judgement on anybody that has been scammed but if its too good to be true :nono:.
 
it's alive said:
Why do you think that? His attitude and spelling are fairly representative of a lot of British people that I have met.
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Dont get me wrong I have nothing against non brittish people and have lots of friends from all different parts of the world. It's just the way he wrote, reminded me exactly of a couple of spanish friends I have.
 
foggy4ever said:
I have heard of this type of scam with concert tickets but that's small change compared to some of the posts on here. Sometimes when you see a bargain you forget to be careful. I am not passing judgement on anybody that has been scammed but if its too good to be true :nono:.
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Its known as short-firm fraud, kind of similar to long-firm fraud.

With regards to the bargain prices, when the pound actual had some value you could buy some of these items from abroad for not much different. Also some people actually received the items as well. Which is also how the scam works, by initially selling these items at discount prices and possibly taking a loss on them he shows that not only does he have the products, but he can sell them at that price.
 
SnappyMedia said:
What I find more worrying is that the banks aren't actually taking this fraud seriously, I received a letter from my bank today regarding this

Quote:
Unfortunately, this situation does not represent fraud but a dispute with the company concerned and I must ask you to contact them to arrange reimbursement - Fraud Officer, Financial Crime Unit

So someone opening multiple business accounts for the reason of obtaining money from people by deception is normal business practice?
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As fustrating as it sounds I think the bank have a point. Surely this is E-Bays fault and should be taken up in court with them? Eportuk were able to get a powerseller status regardless of the fact that reports were being made from as early as Sept last year. More reports were sent to them in March and even on the day a report was sent people were still able to win 'goods' from them. Not only that but when E-bay finally take action they dont even email the recent buyers to say Eportuk have been taking part in fraudulent activities and to cancel any transactions that have been made to them. Surely this is negligence on E-Bays part?
 
Kermit21 said:
Surely this is E-Bays fault and should be taken up in court with them? Eportuk were able to get a powerseller status regardless of the fact that reports were being made from as early as Sept last year. More reports were sent to them in March and even on the day a report was sent people were still able to win 'goods' from them. Not only that but when E-bay finally take action they dont even email the recent buyers to say Eportuk have been taking part in fraudulent activities and to cancel any transactions that have been made to them. Surely this is negligence on E-Bays part?
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There certainly is something that, with hindsight, Ebay could have done if they had clear evidence.

But, from Ebays' perspective Eportuk may have simply been a seller with a supply problem. How many of us have tried to get a Canon 5DMark II battery, Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8, Canon 5DMarkII body even? All of these items show as available on many "reputable" web sites but are actually on back-order. This applies to people like Calumet on Canon goods, when they are the major Canon retailer in the UK. Right now it is actually the norm for high value items to be hard to obtain and slow to deliver. What actual evidence did Ebay have that goods would not be delivered?

The fact remains that Eportuk did obtain the feedback by legitimate means. Goods were delivered at the agreed prices. Ebay are not really at fault there.

Is it therefore not reasonable for Ebay to be cautious in taking action? Precipitous action could actually cause a legitimate seller huge problems.

There are two distinct issues here too. First the false advertising of goods as in the case of the PS3 HDDs. That's clear-cut and Ebay should have reacted to it. No question. Second, the non-supply of goods for which payment was taken. In this case I see Ebay as a victim too. I suspect that they will be able to successfully defend that position.

I really don't mean to be unsympathetic here but a little perspective is in order if any serious claim on Ebay is to be made. Unrealistic expectations of their ability to identify issues and take action will not help a case.

The only way to make Ebay change is to force it to do so by voting with your feet. As long as the community continues to use it as it is, it will not subtantially change. Of course if a group action can succeed in getting this onto the TV or otherwise into the wider public domain then I 'd say the chances of Ebay taking some positive action will increase markedly.
 
Kermit21 said:
As fustrating as it sounds I think the bank have a point. Surely this is E-Bays fault and should be taken up in court with them? Eportuk were able to get a powerseller status regardless of the fact that reports were being made from as early as Sept last year. More reports were sent to them in March and even on the day a report was sent people were still able to win 'goods' from them. Not only that but when E-bay finally take action they dont even email the recent buyers to say Eportuk have been taking part in fraudulent activities and to cancel any transactions that have been made to them. Surely this is negligence on E-Bays part?
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I was actually just informing my bank and asking them if they could do anything. Their response shows a lack of understanding to what went on. For example this person setup multiple bank accounts with the purpose of gaining money from people by deception and this is what he did. The company itself is not a real company in the sense they are unlikely to be filing any returns, VAT, etc.. The whole purpose was fraud. Neither my bank nor Barclays seem to accept that anything wrong has been done.
 
it's alive said:
The fact remains that Eportuk did obtain the feedback by legitimate means. Goods were delivered at the agreed prices. Ebay are not really at fault there.

Is it therefore not reasonable for Ebay to be cautious in taking action? Precipitous action could actually cause a legitimate seller huge problems.
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I don't think it is quite that clearcut, firstly eBay failed to act on clear violations of their TOS. i.e refusing to accept paypal. By forcing this issue after numerous complaints, many people would not have lost money, although eBay may have been more out of pocket.

When the scam did eventually come to light eBay didn't even tell people listings had been removed, they may have been able to save some people from losing money, but instead they decided to almost cover up some of the evidence and censor members from communicating.

eBay could have been very proactive when the scam came to light dealing with the police and banks to try and limit the damage as much as possible, but instead they have given limited information to users and according to some police I have spoken to been extremely obstructive.

Also eBay created the power seller badge to let people know of trust worthy sellers, but it is so simple to become a powerseller it is pointless and just gives the seller more rights and opportunities to scam people. It seems the powerseller status is more to show they pay eBay a lot of listing fees.

Although eBay are not completely responsible, their lack of action before, during and after the incident has cost people countless more thousands of £'s. eBay could have been proactive and actually use this incident to show how effective they can be when this happens, but instead they sit on their hands and don't know what to do. In fact eBay have pretty much told me I can take civil action against them if I wish and told me where my solicitors should get information from.
 
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it's alive said:
Of course if a group action can succeed in getting this onto the TV or otherwise into the wider public domain then I 'd say the chances of Ebay taking some positive action will increase markedly.
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I know a journalist and he wrote a story which all started off with my Facebook status and appeared in last Saturday's edition of The Sun and Star. Before the end of the weekend, it was on the BBC news Website, Canadian sites, Australian, Dutch and sites covering most of the English speaking Far East. Whoever knows what other sites it appeared on which don't speak English.

The only problem is there is no sexual element to this story so he may not be interested.

I'm sure there are plenty of other media outlets interested in the story given the scale of the fraud.

Before we all start whistleblowing though, bear in mind that eBay know full well we can approach the media and another massive fraud story will have a detrimental affect on their business, so should be helpful in order to keep the story out of the press.
 
Al de Man said:
....

The only problem is there is no sexual element to this story so he may not be interested.

....
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I am sure something like that can be overlooked, if you're friend is keen enough! But may be a bit premature at this stage :shrug:
 
SnappyMedia said:
When the scam did eventually come to light eBay didn't even tell people listings had been removed, they may have been able to save some people from losing money, but instead they decided to almost cover up some of the evidence and censor members from communicating.
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Agreed. Clearly there was more that Ebay could do to ensure that those "at risk" were advised and could take action that may have protected their funds.

eBay could have been very proactive when the scam came to light dealing with the police and banks to try and limit the damage as much as possible, but instead they have given limited information to users and according to some police I have spoken to been extremely obstructive.
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You have more primary evidence than I so I won't dispute that. However there are legitimate cases which have very similar symptoms, such as supply issues. Ebay may be guilty of working slowly but that, sadly, isn't a crime.

Also eBay created the power seller badge to let people know of trust worthy sellers, but it is so simple to become a powerseller it is pointless and just gives the seller more rights and opportunities to scam people. It seems the powerseller status is more to show they pay eBay a lot of listing fees.
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But a great many customers were satisfied with this seller. The badge was duly earned. If there was no such badge but still the amount of positive feedback would it have changed the decision to purchase? I think not. Whilst this is something to bemoan after the fact I suspect that it actually didn't have a great deal of influence on the situation.

Although eBay are not completely responsible, their lack of action before, during and after the incident has cost people countless more thousands of £'s. eBay could have been proactive and actually use this incident to show how effective they can be when this happens, but instead they sit on their hands and don't know what to do. In fact eBay have pretty much told me I can take civil action against them if I wish and told me where my solicitors should get information from.
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Agreed. They don't know what to do? Would you? This is actually a complex issue from Ebay's perspective. If they take precipitous action with legitimate traders who might be in difficulty then they will be in trouble there too. Hopefully there will be improvements as a result of this incident. Not to make changes would be criminal.

It's a minefield, In this instance they got it wrong. Don't misunderstand me, I am not advocating that Ebay hold no responsibility, I am simply suggesting that things are not completely clear and that there is more to consider than protecting buyers. Good luck with the civil action, I hope it allows you to recover at least a fraction of your loss.

Buyer beware is a well known and well earned saying.
 
Al de Man said:
I know a journalist and he wrote a story which all started off with my Facebook status and appeared in last Saturday's edition of The Sun and Star.
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Do tell..... :popcorn:
 
I think that all this talk of it being difficult for Ebay to do this and do that yadda yadda doesn't really hold much water. In the last week or so it was highly probable, if not clear as day, to anyone who did 15 minutes of reasearch with a cynical eye that this was almost certainly scam. What Ebay should have done is to contact the seller to discuss the issue and withdraw any further listings with immediate effect and contact any 'winning bidders' to advise against payment while the issue was investigated. If this had been done and the seller was proven to be legit then the worst case scenario was that he'd have lost a few sales, which he'd soon recover at those prices, and everyone would be happy in the knowledge that the safety and security systems were actually effective.
You have to bear in mind that we're not talking about a few DVDs here....
 
ROFL2K9 said:
Do tell..... :popcorn:
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Google Tesco porn.

It wasn't strictly porn, but a Danish/British arthouse movie playing on the BBC HD channel called "Red Road".

Certainly the clip we walked in on was at least the level of a soft core porno. Or so I've been told. :shrug::LOL:

If the Sun had put that in their story it would take away from the sensationalism and given the number of people that took up the story, it clearly worked.

Anyway, back to eportuk...
 
Dont know if it's of any use but according to E-Bay they review Powersellers every month. The question has to be asked again if they had a report back in Sept 08 that are suppose to be taken very seriously then again on the 15th March 09 how the hell did Eportuk manage to keep their powerseller status right up until the day they were removed? It almost feels like E-bay were condoning Eportuk's fraudulent actvities?!! They cant have these policies to keep buyers safe if they dont practice them and when they dont they should pay the price.

Just for the record you've probably seen it but this link explains E-bays duty to check on powersellers monthly.
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/services/buyandsell/powerseller/criteria.html
 
it's alive said:
Buyer beware is a well known and well earned saying.
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Well there is an issue. A distance selling auction relies on buyer/seller trust, without that how can it operate?

They need to create a safe/free payment alternative i.e. some kind of bank transfer escrow or not charge paypal fees for ebay sales
 
Its all about trust - in a community such as here, I have no problem sending Bank Transfers. In fact I sent over £1k here yesterday and I have the items less than 24 hours later - both superb. Never any doubt in my mind.

I wouldn't never BT on Ebay though... trust is earned I think.
 
The fact that one of the gang has actually been posting on the forum plus the Ebay feedback comment (be it true or not) about St Lucia lends me to believe they are not that professional and will let their guard down at some time, if not already and be brought to justice.
 
Galaxy66 said:
The fact that one of the gang has actually been posting on the forum plus the Ebay feedback comment (be it true or not) about St Lucia lends me to believe they are not that professional and will let their guard down at some time, if not already and be brought to justice.
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Every criminal will let his / her guard down sooner or later. It's a fact of the psychological imbalance that make them what they are.

The key to this is to keep pursuing them relentlessly. They will fall, it's just a matter of when, not "if".
 
Wail said:
Every criminal will let his / her guard down sooner or later. It's a fact of the psychological imbalance that make them what they are.

The key to this is to keep pursuing them relentlessly. They will fall, it's just a matter of when, not "if".
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There have been a few opportunities to catch at least a few of them, but because the banks did not seem to take the complaints seriously it made it harder.
 
Hello, I´have been an other victim of eportuk.I´m from Italy, I send a payment for 3074 BPB .I have made the denunciation to the postal police and my bank has contacted the Barclays bank, then they are enrolled me to the forum on Ebay.I hope that we will succeed to make something.

my bank says that it is difficult that the Barclays firm a its client.
I apologize for my English.
 
I would never have believed it had I not heard it here ... as a matter of fact, I had to check in case this was a belated April's fool joke or something :shrug:

Sorry, but I have never been a big fan of e-bay.

All that negativity aside, :clap: and (y) to e-bay for taking care of their clients ... this is the true spirit of an honourable business-person.

I hope it's true and that all those who've lost got their money back; while I also hope the original con-person is now suffering from an incurable form of cancer.
 
Hi Guys, I too was taken in but as I was a tad suspect I only offerred to pay Paypal, which was accepted. My refund arrived Friday and actually came from his Paypal account which he can't have had time to clear before it was blocked (good!!).

Well done Ebay on refunding everyone. I'm not your greatest fan but credit where credit is due.

However, this is the second time he's tried this. This first time under 'Visionssoundexpress' a year ago they defrauded Ebayers for over £250k and their case was pending court preceedings. There are two guys now on the run, the police have put name watches out on them and we wil wait to see if they get caught.

I find it mind boggling the arrogance and nerve to come on here giving people stick?!!?

Only problem for Ebay is the Ebayers scammed by Visionsoundexpress have heard about blanket refund for eportuk victims and now also want their money back......

IF ANY OF YOU WANT DETAILS OF POLICE DEPARTMENT AND CONTACTS DEALING WITH THIS, THEN PM ME.
 
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This was sent to all victims earlier today...

To all.

This investigation is still ongoing and I apologise for not providing you with an update as to where we are.

Please note the following:

From the early stages of the investigation, we were satisfied that FOZLUR RAHMAN, a 21 year old male from the Haslingden area was heavily involved in this fraud and that he appeared to be carrying it out in association with another male.

It is also clear that shortly after matters were being reported to Lancashire Police, the two suspects left the area and we have since ascertained that they made their way to Manchester, London, Scotland and eventually to North Wales and it is clear that they were both avoiding capture.

They were eventually arrested in North Wales following an assault and were eventually charged and remanded to HM Prison Altcourse in Liverpool.

They were produced by us from the prison yesterday, the 22nd of April, and were interviewed about their involvement.

The Crown Prosecution Service then assessed the evidence and were satisfied that there was sufficient evidence to charge FOZLUR RAHMAN but were less satisfied with the evidence against the other suspect.

Today, the 23rd of April, FOZLUR RAHMAN was charged with 6 counts of fraud and was bailed to Rossendale Magistrates on the 13th of May.

FOZLUR has clearly involved himself in a very high-value fraud and the charges that have been laid against him today, are what we commonly call 'holding charges', therefore, charges that enable us to keep him remanded in custody even though the investigation is not complete and due to the sheer volume of victims, amount of fraud and the seriousness of the crime. Further charges may, and probably will follow as the investigation continues. He was then released on what we call 'technical bail' which means that although he is effectively on bail for our matters, he is still in custody at Altcourse Prison on the offences being dealt with by North Wales Police and when he then appears in Lancashire on his first appearance for our fraud, we will seek to further remand him in custody and therefore endeavour to keep him in custody up until his trial.

The investigation continues and I will be contacting a number of you soon to discuss your formal evidence as a witness which will be presented at court in due course.

At this stage, not all victims will be asked to provide this evidence due to the shear number of you as the court will not be able to cope with that many people giving evidence and it is anticipated that those of you from overseas, will not be asked to give formal evidence due to the potential problems that may occur with travelling and dare I say it, the expence, which is a matter that cannot be ignored.

We are still in the early stages of the investigation and the preparing of the case against RAHMAN and other suspects may possibly be arrested as the enquiry continues.

Thankyou.

TIM MADDOX (DC 352)
 
Well done puddleduck on your cunning instinct, you will be getting a job with the scs next.

After reading all the posts here and on avs I can't but help thinking I would like to meet the little prick in a dark alley whilst polishing my claymore. :naughty:
 
God it took me longer to read through this than expected! Don't know how I missed this. Was well worth it though, it was like a nice movie, started with a little bit of mystery (is it a scam or not), went on with a little bit of action (eportuk being abusive, and Marcel coming to the rescue), a little bit of suspense (will they get their money back or not), and the happy ending! I'm really really happy with this particular ending! Everybody got their money back, the crooks are in jail, and we all learned a valuable lesson. Whatever happens, if you are using ebay, ALWAYS pay through paypal. :)
 
"Canon V. Nikon argument flares into violence at NEC; seventeen dead."...... All Canon owners, their powder was wet....:LOL:
 
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