posted on November 4, 2002 08:25:06 PM new
Well, tonight, on the evening news in Seattle, there was a story of an Ebay Gold Power Seller who had people shop lift for him. He then sold the goods on Ebay. They said he has been doing this for about 5 years (I'm not sure Ebay has been around quite that long). He had rented 5 apartments in a building and had 12 people working for him, wrapping, shipping, etc. They showed large rental trucks with the police bringing out the loot to fill them up. Also videos of piles of Priority boxes all ready to ship. He sold a little bit of everything, from linen sets to dog invisible fences. The only reasn he got caught is that a disgruntled employee turned him in. I imagine we won't hear the end of this for a long time!
posted on November 4, 2002 08:58:57 PM new
Well, I've been with eBay since July 1997 which I believe makes it at least 5 years and there are many around who registered in 1996.
posted on November 5, 2002 05:33:18 AM new
This is the story. Sorry about not being able to do a link. It's very interesting. It seems the disgruntled employee actually posted on a message board about problems with PayPal.
posted on November 5, 2002 08:18:25 AM new
I'll give this a try. It has been on Seattle channels 4 and 5. I have not heard them give his Ebay name. This is from Ch.4 --
High-Tech Fencing Operation Busted In Olympia
November 5, 2002
By KOMO Staff
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OLYMPIA - Olympia police have broken up a what's described as a major theft ring that sold stolen items on the Internet auction site eBay.
Investigators say a man living in an Olympia apartment was the operation's ringleader. He allegedly had a dozen people out stealing items and five others who helped with shipping and handling, with items being shipped to customers all over the world.
Officers had been undercover for months investigating the case and even got help from local businesses.
"We had, uh, items given to us by Office Depot and from Microsoft that we presented as stolen property." Tor Bjornstad, Olympia Police Department commander says those items then appeared for sale on eBay.
Police suspect the operation had been working for several years.
This year alone, they say more than 4,700 items have been stolen and sold on eBay bringing in more than $300,000.
Investigators believe the suspects used the money to support their drug habits.
