Has anyone seen this guys listings?

[Reverend JagDiesel]

So, what do you think of his listings?

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=mfirkus&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=50

[sisko]

It looks like he held up a video game shipment or something.

Great prices though. I'll wait until he gets reasonable feedback.

[Raccoon Lad]

For those of you nervous about bidding please note this account is two years old. I'm not someone new to ebay

Then how come your feedback is ZERO?!! Sounds a little shady.

[portnoyd]

If it is fake, he's doing a good job of fluffing it up as not being one.

dave

[Reverend JagDiesel]

I'm tempted to risk the $25 for Knights of the old Republic, but, man, $25 is $25 and would be worth sending him an ass kicking via my size 11 if he stiffs me. Hell, he even gives an address...

[Chunky]

not with a 10 ft. poll

[boatofcar]

I'm very tempted to get a GC...should wait until he gets some feedback I guess though...

[mumbai]

Hard to tell on this one. The eBay account may be two years old (though completely unused), but the domain name for the associated Web site was only registered on the 30th of July (for one year) through YahooDomains by either Aaron Ecker or Mark Firkus. According to the City of Tucson official with whom I spoke today, the business license referenced was registered on the 29th of July to Mark Firkus, but the address associated with the business doesn't seem to match the one in the eBay listing (they couldn't tell me over the phone what the actual address was without my signing a disclaimer, but I was told that it wasn't the address "405 E Wetmore ...").

You tell me.

-db

[nildem]

The phone number that he gives (520-498-2346) seems to be listed under a "J. Pennington" at a synagogue in Tucson.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=520-498-2346

Anyone want to confront him with this info? LOL

Or atleast notify eBay?

[mumbai]

OK. Maybe not so hard to tell... here's an email direct from the seller:

Return-Path: <pr@egdgames.com>
Delivered-To: xxx@xxx.xxx
X-Envelope-To: xxx@xxx.xxx
Received: (qmail 28786 invoked from network); 31 Jul 2003 22:44:27 -0000
Received: from fed1mtao08.cox.net (68.6.19.123)
by xxx.xxx.xxx with SMTP; 31 Jul 2003 22:44:27 -0000
Received: from none9fj1tb34wa ([68.105.129.126]) by fed1mtao08.cox.net
(InterMail vM.5.01.04.05 201-253-122-122-105-20011231) with SMTP
id <20030731224425.EYQI20038.fed1mtao08.cox.net@none9f j1tb34wa>
for <xxx@xxx.xxx>; Thu, 31 Jul 2003 18:44:25 -0400
Message-ID: <002601c357b5$4a15ddf0$6401a8c0@none9fj1tb34wa>
From: "EGD4u" <pr@egdgames.com>
To: <xxx@xxx.xxx>
Subject: (New GameBoy Adv. SPs! Shipping Included)
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 15:44:23 -0700
MIME-Version: 1.0
[...]
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165
[...]
----------------------------------------

I don't know what further proof I can give. Yes both were registered
few days ago. And you are correct the inventory is not on hand. I'm
actually having it drop shipped from our wholesaler.



Preselling, anyone?

[Funk Buddy]

So, what do you think of his listings?

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=mfirkus&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=50

Well, I emailed him and bid on one auction. I will just use PP and my CC, so if there are any problems I can back charge it! :) If you note some take PP and others do not. I would not bid on a check or MO auction at all, until the feedback got higher either. We'll see what happens.

[Funk Buddy]

Ok, update here. The auction was closed like the description states. Now to see if they email me soon... if at all to complete the deal. I bet they will not want to take PP. Any takers on that bet? ;) Tough shit if they don't, that'll be the first negative they recieve. :evil: I'll keep everyone posted on what happens.

[sisko]

The phone number that he gives (520-498-2346) seems to be listed under a "J. Pennington" at a synagogue in Tucson.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=520-498-2346

Anyone want to confront him with this info? LOL

Or atleast notify eBay?

According to whitepages.com, it comes up as Mark Firkus, but at a different address (3500 W Orange Grove Rd, Tucson, AZ 85741)

He says he has no room for paypal on all of his auctions now, but I'm tempted to offer $5.00 to use it, just in case it is bogus.

[Arkan]

he is http://pics.ebay.com/aw/pics/verify-icon.gif now ...



but his feedback was from fake account i think...
3038603703 was posted Aug-01-03
and feedback Aug-01-03 14:33:22 PDT

[oesiii]

Yeah those are very dubious feedbacks he's gotten. They supposedly buy the games today, and leave feedback right away citing 'fast emails' :?

Uh? And from newbie accounts too.

[kai123]

Very Fast shipment on those feedbacks as well. I would watch out. It took less than an hour for them to get a money order and ship it? Somethings up. x_x

[mumbai]

This has actually gotten more interesting, as he's peddling an Xbox / PS2 emulator now, for example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=182&item=3620754909

Which includes this little snippet:

"Hurry supplies are limited. Want more information? Well goto http://www.rush3d.com/software/12,00000338.php and see the interview Rush3d just posted with our CEO."

Which is interesting, given that the domain record for egdgames.com lists the CEO's (Mark Firkus) admin email as aaron@rush3d.com ???

Not to mention that egdgames.com now reads on the front page:

"Note: We have disabled all the links to save us Bandwidth. With the exception of Ordering. You can place orders on Ebay Via that Link. For those of you who don't wish to go through the hassle of waiting for ebay auctions , or if Ebay closes our account you can just send a money order to our CEO."

Where yesterday, there wasn't anything on the site apart from a lot of "coming soon" documents ... yesterday a hardware sale site-in-progress, today a software emulation sale site 'disabled' ... does this strike anyone as strange?

[oesiii]

A lot of the big ebay scams of the past few years were exactly like this guy's setup. Promised drop shipping of non-existant merchandise, usually computers/tech stuff. I think his auctions that take Paypal are a front to convince the other people willing to send money order to do that. Because it's pretty easy to get money back from Paypal or your credit card company.

At best, he's selling some crap like the old empty PS2 box trick and at worst he's looking to get a few $$$ and skip town quick.

[naturboy1]

I emailed and he said he would take paypal if I covered the cost. Might buy a PS2 (username kvctsc). I'll let you know the outcome. Wish me luck.

[Arkan]

don't forget
you can be fully refunded by ebay if the price is lower then $250 :)
no risk i think

[mumbai]

don't forget
you can be fully refunded by ebay if the price is lower then $250 :)
no risk i think

I don't think that's right. Maybe I'm missing something, but the most you can get out of eBay directly is $175, and only for items priced over $25, and then only after subtracting a $25 processing fee:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/fpp-guide.html

Am I missing something? If you file a claim with eBay (after failing on all the steps prior to an eBay claim) on a $50 item, you only get $25 back from eBay if they agree. If you file it on a $26 item, you only get $1 back.

That's why people should probably use credit -- it's far easier to get a refund from a credit card company than eBay. Last time I went through the steps, though, it still took two months to get a refund from my credit card company (seller misrepresentation, though, not failure to deliver), and reams of paperwork.

[Funk Buddy]

don't forget
you can be fully refunded by ebay if the price is lower then $250 :)
no risk i think

I don't think that's right. Maybe I'm missing something, but the most you can get out of eBay directly is $175, and only for items priced over $25, and then only after subtracting a $25 processing fee:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/fpp-guide.html

Am I missing something? If you file a claim with eBay (after failing on all the steps prior to an eBay claim) on a $50 item, you only get $25 back from eBay if they agree. If you file it on a $26 item, you only get $1 back.

That's why people should probably use credit -- it's far easier to get a refund from a credit card company than eBay. Last time I went through the steps, though, it still took two months to get a refund from my credit card company (seller misrepresentation, though, not failure to deliver), and reams of paperwork.

This is true, the $25 service fee for refunds so $26 will give you $1 back. A credit card is the only way to pay for an auction! I am so glad I used a CC with PP on a $1700 auction that I never received. I went straight to my CC company without going through PP and got a nasty letter from PP saying that I could lose my account if I didn't go through them first in the future. Anyway, it took a month but I got full credit on my CC! :D

Update on my auction win from this seller. I paid for my win with PP and my CC this weekend so we'll se if I get it this week or not. I will say they have been good with the communication so far. I hope it all works out for the best.

[SoulBlazer]

You're awfully brave to be a guinea pig. :) Keep us informed.

[naturboy1]

This is a followup:

After saying I could use paypal if I covered the paypal fees I sent $104 in paypal to him. This is a auto response I recieved:


Dear Customers,
Today we are having problems with Paypal. As such we are joining the Jacoby &
Meyers Class action Lawsuit against them. For those of you who paid via paypal
please do a buyer complaint form which will allow us to issue a full refund. We
want to resolve this problem as quick as possible so we can get all of you your
games and systems in the quickest possible manner.

Once you recieve your refund please goto http://www.bidpay.com which will allow
you to make payments via credit card/debit card.
We are sorry for the inconvience, and we look foward to your buisness.

Customer Service
EGDGames.com

[oesiii]

Pretty fishy, he only wants money orders then. eBay is going to get sued over these types of sellers one of these days. They monitor copyright violations like hawks because corporations make them do it but when there's an obvious bigtime fraud possiblity they just let it happen then try to clean it up. Maybe they need some kind of selling limit, sellers with only a limited sales history can only post so many auctions and certain price points without being verified or secured.

[nesuser2]

why did somebody bid on one of his games.......you can bid $25 or BIN for $25.......ummmmmm........i'm guessing his newbie friend couldn't figure out how to help out a friend the right way?

[oesiii]

Based on his last feedback, it looks like all his auctions have been cancelled and maybe he's giving refunds? Maybe he's just a too ambitious newbie business owner who got suckered in a pyramid scheme :)

[mumbai]

Just for the record, I did bid on one of his items to see what would happen. lol

I've been pestering eBay since. Here's the response I got just tonight:

----- BEGIN EMAIL (PERTINENT PARTS) -----

Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 19:59:33 -0700
From: eBay Customer Support <rswebform[at]ebay.com>
To: xxx@xxx.xxx
Subject: Re: TK91014 Your recent email to eBay's Trust and Safety Department (KMM86280322V92873L0KM)

Hello,

The recent items listed with this account were the result of an
unauthorized account takeover. Unfortunately, we were not aware of this
activity until some time after the listings appeared on the site. Once
we became aware of this activity, immediate action was taken. We are now
in the process of restoring the account to its true owner. At this time
the transaction in question should be considered null and void.

Let me suggest a few ways this could have occurred.

If the user had a relatively simple password or password hint question
it is possible that a third party was able to gain access to the account
by guessing the password.

It is also possible that the user could have unknowingly provided his or
her password to another party. Some eBay members have reported receiving
messages asking for User IDs and passwords. These messages appear to
come from eBay Support, but in fact are not. eBay will never ask for
sensitive information of this nature through email.

Finally, there are a number of computer viruses in circulation that log
and record keystrokes. It's recommended that computer users keep their
virus alert software up-to-date, and check their system often for
problems. A firewall for high-speed Internet users is also highly
recommended.

Please be aware that eBay urges caution when purchasing high-priced
items, especially if the price seems too good to be true.

We do not recommend the use of instant cash wire transfer services such
as Western Union and MoneyGram, and we ask that users decline sending
payment in cases where these are the only methods of payment offered by
the seller. Generally, if payment is sent using an instant cash wire
transfer service and the item is not delivered as promised, no recourse
is available for recovering funds. In most cases, a verified escrow
service should be used when purchasing high dollar value items. More
information on the benefits and risks of individual payment methods can
be found at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/payment.html

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards,

Risa
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team

----- END EMAIL (PERTINENT PARTS) -----

Case closed?

[oesiii]

Good for eBay, looks like they learned from their mistakes in years past. This kind of promised drop shipping scheme used to be a more common fraud but i think bidders are a little more savvy as a whole these days.

[naturboy1]

THIS GUY IS A FAKE!!!!! CANCEL ANY PAYMENTS TO HIM!!!

Just got this email from ebay:

Dear kvctsc(naturboy1@hotmail.com),

We have recently ended listings for 'mfirkus' due to our inability to confirm
the seller's contact information and/or the seller's failure to deliver the
merchandise advertised on our site. Our records indicate that you were a
participating bidder in the seller's listings. At this time we ask that you
consider this transaction null and void. Any correspondence from parties
claiming to be either eBay or the seller where you are encouraged to complete
this sale should be disregarded. This transaction will not be reevaluated by
eBay in the future.

If you have not sent payment for this item, we recommend that you do not do so.
We advise our members to take caution with all purchases, especially when
dealing with high dollar value items. Payment should never be sent in cases
where the seller's identity cannot be verified. This includes any requests
received from sellers who ask that payment be sent to a party or location that
differs from the contact information that appears on the user's eBay account.

Additionally, please be aware that eBay does not recommend the use of instant
cash wire transfer services under any circumstances. These services are designed
to allow you to send money to family, friends, and other trusted parties. While
sellers may offer this option, they cannot require you to pay this way. If any
seller insists on payment through an instant cash wire transfer, please decline
to send payment.

If you already sent payment, we advise you to take steps to protect yourself
depending on the nature of your payment. For example, if you paid by personal
check, you may be able to stop payment on the check. If you paid for this item
with a credit card, you should contact your credit card company's security
department right away to inform them of the potential problem with this payment.
If you sent payment by money order or instant cash wire transfer, please contact
the company you used to initiate payment as soon as possible. You may be able to
receive further information at 1-800-325-6000 (Western Union), or at
1-800-926-9400 (Money Gram).

We emphasize that there is no definitive information regarding the seller or the
items listed for sale. Our difficulties in confirming information about the
seller may be the result of a mistake or misunderstanding. Although this
transaction should be considered null and void, in the event that we are able to
confirm the seller's information, he or she will be permitted to submit new
listings for sale on eBay.

There are a number of tips related to how to protect yourself in any Internet
transaction on our Help page located at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buyerguide/bidding-tips.html

If you have any questions, please reply directly to this email.

Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay Inc

[Funk Buddy]

Damn, you beat me to it! I got around ten emails saying the same thing. I have no idea why I got so many since I only bid on one auction. Oh well, glad I used a CC. :D

[Funk Buddy]

Wow! O_O PayPal was on the ball this time. My full refund should be on my card in 2 - 3 days. It was worth a shot.

[naturboy1]

I also used paypal but they have not gotten back to me on a refund.

[Funk Buddy]

I also used paypal but they have not gotten back to me on a refund.

Did you use the safety link at the bottom to file a complaint? I did that this morning and they emailed back a few hours later. :hmm:

[naturboy1]

I also used paypal but they have not gotten back to me on a refund.

Naturboy1 sounds like a retard for thinking you could buy a Playstation 2 brand new for $100. Hey dumbazz if it sounds to good to be true then guess what, it is, IDIOT.

[ddockery]

In order to go "through" PayPl for a refund, do you have to buy the PayPal guarentee crap?

[Achika]

I also used paypal but they have not gotten back to me on a refund.

Naturboy1 sounds like a retard for thinking you could buy a Playstation 2 brand new for $100. Hey dumbazz if it sounds to good to be true then guess what, it is, IDIOT.

:hmm: :roll:

Yes, you both do.

[Funk Buddy]

In order to go "through" PayPl for a refund, do you have to buy the PayPal guarentee crap?

Not in my case. I think it has to do with eBay also. My other claim came in today and it came back they (PP) could do nothing. I'm out $34 in that case but got my $50 back from this guy we're talking about here.