The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Looks like someone is at it again. The ebay listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1909-FANCY-VICT ... 500wt_1413

for this XX is cloned from the "LIve Auctioneers" site. If you search "VTLA XX" you can call it up, including all the photos.

What they do is find an inactive ebay account and through phishing get the password and account info, then use that account to post a scam auction. I've seen this happen with fake winners where scammers have stolen a real ebay account to place bids.

I've sent a report to Ebay, we'll see if they take action.

I see they've already got four bids. Hopefully, eBay will shut it down.

I see the original auction took place back in 2007:


http://www.burchardgalleries.com/auctio ... _page1.htm (#26 on the list)

Details -- http://www.burchardgalleries.com/auctio ... es/l26.htm

And did you ever notice that when you click "see sellers other items" that there are NEVER ANY OTHER ITEMS BEING SOLD? Has EBay gotten back to you yet? I contacted EBay once last year about something like this and they NEVER got back to me! And it's next to impossible to speak to a real person at EBay over the phone - has anyone ever tried calling EBay and speaking to a real human being on the other end of the line? Just curious.

I saw this listing a few minutes ago when doing my usual eBay phonograph prowl and wondered why this was the seller's first listing in a long time and they had no current % rating. Thought it looked a bit fishy, so nice to have the realy story on it to confirm that.

Clay

It's been a while since I've reported a fraudulent auction. I see that eBay has now eliminated the option of adding an explanation. They're unlikely to act on the report if I can't give supporting evidence to prove fraud.

Maybe if several of us all report this auction it will help push ebay to pull this one.

I too saw this auction and thought something was fishy in that the seller had not listed since 2007 but I guess this could be a possability. I don't understand how even after taking over someones Ebay account that they can relieve payment via Paypal to a different address. Oh well, I guess the crooks can always figure out a way.

To my surprise, it has already been removed. eBay finally did something right for a change.

In the interim I found a direct link to contact eBay and give an explanation to prove fraud. Worth bookmarking for the future:

http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... 27t+bid%29

I hate to admit it, but I put in a small bid on the machine without checking the seller's feedback. But on the bright side, because of it, I got an interesting email from ebay about their pulling the listing:

Thank you for your interest in this listing:

140684798733 - 1909 FANCY VICTOR VTLA VICTROLA PHONOGRAPH XX CASE

Unfortunately, the listing is no longer available. We can assure you that this wasn't the seller's fault in any way so, if the seller relists the item, we hope you'll consider buying it.

In the meantime, we have other great deals on eBay. Visit www.ebay.com to continue your shopping today.

We can assure you that this wasn't the seller's fault in any way

Whats up with that????


fmblizz