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4/22/05- SACRAMENTO, CA-  A dangerous new scam, directed at Ebay customers, has emerged.  If you think you're not vulnerable, you may want to think again.  The new "second chance offer" scam works like this.  A person puts a bottle on Ebay, it gets, say, 20 bids.  It finally sells, and the buyer and seller are happy as clams.  Meanwhile, this thief emails the underbidders.  Maybe one, two, who knows?  They claim that the winner decided he didn't want the item (which does happen from time to time).  They also say that, since you are the underbidder, you are given first right to purchase it as a "second chance offer".  The underbidder thinks how lucky they are, sends a check to this sleazebag, then waits for the item to be sent to them. Unbeknownst to them, this person never had any intention of sending this victim anything.  His only intention is to cash their check.

A friend of mine was recently a victim of this scam and it cost him over $3000. Then, shortly after hearing about my friends unfortunate experience, American Bottle Auctions sold a Corn for the World on Ebay and the third underbidder sent me this message-- "Someone sent me a second chance offer on this item, Corn for the World . I was the 3rd highest bidder, the email they gave me is (email address)...  just thought you might want to know."  We've left out the true email address and we've forwarded it to Ebay.  They quickly responded and said that indeed it's a problem.  Here's their response in regard to the "second chance offers":

They also pointed out that we could report these rip-offs by sending a message to the company that manages their servers.  In other words, if their email address is [email protected], you send it to [email protected] and explain what happened.  They can suspend their accounts or report them to authorities.

What about my friend who lost over three grand?  He's reported it to the FBI in the town where he sent the check.  He also has forwarded a copy of the check, front and back, and it has the signature of the cheat who cashed it.  They are following up on it and are making motions like they're going to make a little visit to the address obtained through the bank and phone records.  He's also so pissed, he's going to drive halfway across the country to confront him, or at least try.

No one can take away the fact that sometimes we fall in love with a bottle, don't get it, and may fall into the "second chance" trap.  It's not legitimate and the people doing it, when they get caught, which they will be, are going to jail.  It's a federal offense and just as bad as sticking a gun in someone's face and stealing their car and/or money. As for the two offenders described above, you may be hearing a knock on your door soon... and it ain't gonna be Publisher's Clearinghouse.

Howdy Jeff. I must say and tell you I like your site. I find it interesting,  informative, interactive and enjoyable. Remember years ago we had that conversation about black and white pictures in your auction catalog. This was a time when color photos were being contemplated. You were one of the first for color, and the others followed. Nice job on the site. You have a interesting heads up warning in reference to second chance bidding. I had a very similar experience during a auction my wife ran on Ebay.Item # 6149492766 Dr Phelps genuine. And it goes like this. A person is the high bidder, but the item did not reach reserve. The high bidder receives an email as follows Hello! you are the highest bidder in my auction #614949xxxx. Dr Phelps Arcanm Genuine O/Pontil blackglass. Unfortunately reserve was not met. Nevertheless your price is very close to the reserve and I agree to sell the item. If you are still interested in it please let me know, I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks. Of course, the high bidder emailed us and inquired if this was in fact us. Are reply was no and asked to see the email and header information. Apparently the sewer scum send the mail to the high bidder through Ebay. Under an I/D ctpicker ctpicker. This persons email of all things was [email protected]. Evelyn is my wives name! I did some work on the I/D and found a ctpicker with 500 good feedback. We could not find ctpicker twice. We finalized our work and emailed the FBI with our finding. The intent was clear what this black hearted scum was trying to pull. At any rate within 15 minutes the FBI calls our home, and basically said that if no money was actually stolen then they could not help with the mater. Well you can bet that it will be on a government hard drive that may match something other, or later in the future. People have to take the time and stand against predator scum, and not be driven by a couple extra bucks to join them. Jeff are there any organizations or committees I should be aware of in regards to this or have I done enough.

Secondly I have been speaking by email to John pastor, who agrees that the "Osborne fake bottles by the numbers" should lend a insight, and differentiate themselves among other fakes to be displayed at this summer's National show. I am slandering a written narrative from about 800 pages of diaries that explain the sequence of events from the beginning of our troubles since 2000. I am changing names that are involved, to protect the innocent. Its purpose is to make people aware of the type of hits and attacks that I have suffered in many different ways. Its not only the fake bottles and the court trial. You said on your site a statement " they may as well put a gun to your face and steal your car and your dental fillings. What this anti Christ did to me is worse by far. The narrative will be viewed, I'm not sure to the extent or whom. The sad truth is that this sewer scum are people I know of that are bottle collectors and dealers among us. At any rate I think it will be designed with cartoon names that sort of depict, and people can make up there own minds as to which characters are guilty as sin. This may form intelligence as to how large and how deep this situation is. I will be an active advocate for the honesty and integrity of are community. But this community has to first be informed and develop a means of disciplinary action. I hope I have not elaborated too much. Let me know your thoughts, and or how your top shelf web site can help inform. It was good typing to you.  -Clark R Roberge 5/27/05

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