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Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Jan 24th 2002 12:29pm





Forming An eBay Posse

from the taking-the-law-into-your-own-hands dept

Weren't we just talking about identity theft? What if you could use the same techniques to track down someone who stole from you? That's what it appears a group of eBay users are doing. They got scammed by a guy who sold them laptops, cashed their checks and never sent the merchandise. They found each other online and started investigating the guy. The investigations seem to have gone a little overboard. They called his mother. They got control of his email address. They talked about getting a copy of his birth certificate. It certainly sounds like they went beyond the realm of what is legal - but they say that eBay and various law enforcement agencies weren't doing anything (though some are now), so they felt the need to take the law into their own hands.

3 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Vigilantes!

    identicon
    msykes, Jan 24th, 2002 @ 1:38pm

    Sure it sounds like vigilante justice... and maybe they even went a little farther then they could without getting in some legal troubles of their own... but let's face it: the guy deserves it! If you are scamming people out of lots of cash, you are clearly an asshole and sometimes you are going to get what is coming to you.

    msykes

    PS: Too bad they had to call his mom though, she might qualify as an innocent bystander

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Re: Vigilantes!

    identicon
    thecaptain, Jan 25th, 2002 @ 6:35am

    I totally agree there. Fact is, most of these guys, even though they rip a few people off of thousands of bucks do NOT get caught...and authorities are either unwilling, or lack the resources (and savvy) to hunt them down. EBay is commendable in having an insurance ...but lets face it 200$ when you're out 3000$? That's a slap in the face.

    I am totally cheering these people on. I mean maybe the NEXT con artist who reads this story will think twice before ripping people off.

    I understand that their means could be illegal (or in a legal grey area) and that there are risks of "might makes right" (which totally sucks)...but I would think some leniency is offered when its clear that these victims had little recourse other than to fill out a form, and bend over and smile...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jan 25th, 2002 @ 7:32am

    So, the feds and other authorities don't have the manpower or resources (sounds more like a lack of desire to me) to catch this slimeball, but they presumably have time to take enforcement action against the group trying to track him down? Figures.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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