FBI Targets Online Auction Sites' Criminal Element

coondoggie writes "The FBI has made a number of big busts using the eBay and other online auction sites this year. Today comes news that it played a big role in the indictment of an Alabama man for wire fraud. Joseph Davidson, has been charged in U.S. District Court with wire fraud in connection with an eBay scheme in which he allegedly received approximately $77,000 for stolen goods sold on the auction site. "Online auction houses present an opportunity for a thief to turn a stolen item into cash. Thieves should know that law enforcement can surf sites too in investigating crime," the FBI said."

Fence Feedback

[yintercept]

This article was about catching people selling stolen merchandise and not about fraud on ebay.

I would think that fences would have good feedback ratings. It is not like they are trying to cheat the ebay buyer. A fence would want to get the stolen merchandise out of their garage and into the hands of the buyers as quickly and with as little fuss as possible. Since the entire sale is profit, the fence would make enough from the sale to expedite the whole process, package the goods well and communicate with the buyer.

Someone who has stolen merchandise to sell would probably want to sell it with as little fuss and notice as possible. So they would have a good feedback. The complaints would all be about people committing fraud.

It would be interesting to study the different feedback rates for different types of criminal.

Re:Proof Of Ownership

[lunartik]

how does the FBI decide if you are selling stolen items?

I worked for a large US manufacturer, and we noticed some of our tooling was going missing and seemed to be ending up on eBay. We marked similar tooling in the area where it was disappearing. Showed up on eBay. No problems proving it.

Another perspective...

[courcoul]

We've been hashing out how Joe McThief is pawning off the stuff he stole using eBay's gullible bidders. How about money laundering? Here's a quick example: USB flash drives. Small or large, we all have one, right? Nowadays, 1GB are going for around $15, 2GB around $25, 4GB around $40, 8GB around $55, 16GB around $75, a few 32GB for $100: there's a linear progression of the prices as the devices double in size. However, suddenly some "shop" starts offering 64GB drives for $5,000!!! FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Heck, you can buy a high-end portable with 180GB of internal HD for that kind of money! Try and convince me that this is not some sort of money laundering scheme...