 
Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA
1 edit | In Romania... In Soviet Russia Romanian eBay scammer pay you! | |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT
| Re: In Romania... said by Jerm  :In Soviet Russia Romanian eBay scammer pay you! LMAO! That sums it up perfectly!
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Legal ATVing in Connecticut? | |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
 ·Qwest.net
1 edit | Remember the Apple Laptop burn This reminds me of the Person who burned a crook in England who had a habit of getting stuff and scamming people with fake payments. Somebody knew about this and sent him a fake Apple Laptop and we all followed the fakes progress and they even had spies in the pub where this scumbag worked out of and actually watched him take delivery of the fake laptop. I tried to find the link to it as it went down here on BBR but is might have been purged. This was a great burn but this Russian Mafia burn is better, on a scale of 1 to 10 it is at least 2,000 
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Remember safe sex does not prevent crabs. | |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | Re: Remember the Apple Laptop burn Yup that's it | |
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StreetSpirit
Premium
join:2002-08-13
Roslyn, NY
 ·Optimum Online
·Verizon Online DSL
1 edit | Re: In Romania... Sir "macS retsuB" aka MGD , I and all honest folks on the net, especially those who have had a hand at scambusting salute you!
As an American, born of Russian/Jewish heritage, I salute you. The situation with Romanian scammers is out of control. Many honest people all over the world, as you can see, some of whom can hardly afford it, have been taken for a ride by these bastards and their Nigerian counterparts.
The Romanian scammers or Vlads that I have had a few run-ins almost always have a "smarter then you stupid American" attitude. They're highly belligerent as this news item clearly shows.
While you might be able to lead a Nigerian half-wit Lad into sending back your money, it's almost always futile to do so with a Vlad.
The way every-day reconnaissance was skillfully used to intimate Red Mafia connections belies a veteran scam-baiter/buster.
Sir your name should be up in lights! Russia is not a place where someone can just write off $2,000 dollars, especially when the average Russian makes 1/20th that monthly.
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Impressive,
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Elite
join:2002-10-03
Orange, CT | Awesome Loved the Russian Mafia part. Completely awesome!
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AMD, because it's just better. | |
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BellBoy
Obama racist? Then Bush is Hitler.
Premium
join:2001-02-20
Los Angeles, CA
clubs:
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| Re: Awesome said by Tzale :said by Elite :Loved the Russian Mafia part. Completely awesome! Amazing, this is f'ing AWESOME! I second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth that...F'ING AWESOME! Well done!! | |
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Premium
join:2004-07-05
Sahuarita, AZ | Re: Awesome i lold once i saw that part i give it 6 out of 5 eggs ! | |
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Pirate515
Premium
join:2001-01-22
Brooklyn, NY
| said by Elite :Loved the Russian Mafia part. Completely awesome! They should have snapped the ZHRI TVAR' snapshot from "Brigada", attached it to e-mail, and said that a very unpleasant looking Russian individual will be showing up on his doorstep to make him eat this paper right before shooting him in the head. That would have made it even more hilarious. But this has worked regardless, and in a pretty funny way too.
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Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies...
A MESSAGE to the RIAA and the MPAA: You shouldn't wound what you can't kill... | |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | Re: Worse than FoxNews Yeah and word travels fast. This won't work again. | |
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Topmounter
Sent By Grocery Clerks
join:2001-02-20
Evergreen, CO | Re: Worse than FoxNews Unless it is actually the Russian Mob next time  | |
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| | | | emptywig
Huh? What?
Premium
join:2002-08-05
Pasadena, TX
| Re: Worse than FoxNews That is why it will work again, given the same sort of detail and convincing delivery. The scammer has NO IDEA whether the caller really is the Russian Mob or not. And the next scammer won't have any more idea.
I think it was brilliant. Way to go. I'm glad the Russian guy got his money back. He is one VERY VERY fortunate man.
wig
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| | MGD
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| said by tiger72 :Wow, as if no one had ever thought of doing that before!  The reason it works isn't because people are surprised to hear it - it's based upon quality of the scambuster's delivery, the personal facts that the scambuster had at his disposal, and the scammer putting the two together and believing it all to be true. Very astute !!, I commend you for your very accurate statement, you hit the nail on the head.
It also helped that Florin was in Spain, and had just partnered with Ghiuri in the last week or two. They were friends but did not appear to operate together before now. Had I hit on Ghiuri at the Velveteen Lounge in the comfort of his hometown, he probably would have said "come and get me". It appears that Ghuiri was seeing diminishing returns by telling his victims that the sub priced state of the art phones were shipping from Romania. In addition, it was getting harder to clear Western Union cash to Romania, due to the frequent scam alerts. Changing the operation and the money drop to Spain would increase the rate of return.
Since they believed they were operating incognito, telling him his real name and that I knew where he was from right up front got his attention. The name that he gave the Russian kid, which means he has a picture id with it was Voicu Vasile:
Incidentally, they change names/addresses for the drops constantly. Earlier this evening a potential victim from Brazil who was alerted, sent me this which has a new name/address, so add another picture id to the list:
Hearing the name Florin and where he was from, he knew it had be someone who knew a lot more about him than the victim did, or anyone else for that matter.
As you can see we only missed alerting the victim by less than a few hours. I told the kid his money was as good as gone. He repeatedly pleaded for help, it was his life savings and more, lured away by the chance for several cheap Iphones. What made it worse is that the hijacked auction was on a phished account that had excellent feedback. The fact that it was $2,000, and his current mental state, was what motivated me to try and think of something that I could do.
I knew it had to be quick, so in a matter of minutes I came up with that plan to use all the data that we had accumulated on them. Much credit goes to SnowyOne who did some major cyber forensics on this scammer's original phish mail submits to »/phishtrack. SnowyOne cracked and uncovered his modus operandi early on, which enabled us to track many of his activities. We then began to steadily accumulate data on him.
I told the kid to standby, that I was going to try something, but its chances of working were next to none. He said he had to take a walk, I said to pray a lot while walking, then check back with me. I knew a law enforcement angle was useless, spending 60 days in jail every few years is a small price to pay for their productive careers. Using all the info that we had, I began to think quickly of what he would feel most threatened by. A bigger and more ruthless criminal than him, who could easily reach out and touch them, and who could conceivably have ready contacts in Spain and Romania. For sure it was the longest of longshots, but that kid's mental state really bothered me.
It took over 30 minutes of repeated calls to the mobile number in Spain to get Florin live on the phone. I gave it every thing I had, as angry as I could be. I only focused on "my nephew's" transaction, pretending not to care about the scam in general. I even gave Florin his unigue Yahoo user name that was going to be put on the box going back to Romania. I then rattled off all of Ghiuri's details and his families. As I dropped each name and detail I could tell the element of surprise had started to work, his attitude changed completely during the call. I left him no room to talk as I rattled of threat after threat, name after name.
After the call I sent the Russian kid a note with instructions to send the following email.
I told him to keep me posted on any replies that he gets. Shortly thereafter some good news rolled in:
They called him, a good sign:
Then some IMs, it started to look good:
The even better news, the luckiest kid in Russia this day.
And one very surprised scambuster. Take note of the "Tell your uncle" message
No doubt that this is a one off event, I cannot concieve of another set of circumstances where all the ingredients would gel together. Most of their take is in $400 to $800 increments. The nieve kid went way out on a limb, fell into hell, and came back.
The original purpose was to document this crimials activities, to accrue as much data as possible, and to attempt to identify him. The plan is to then turn over the package to either Ebay or LE, and have them liason with the Romanian authorities to take this guy down. No one wants to deal with "one scammer", however, this criminal has been actively involved in Ebay and Paypal for at least a year and a half 24/7, most likely much longer. He also scams on Craigslist using cellphones, and used auto websites selling cheap Honda Accords.
So the entire story is not over yet.
MGD | |
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FiL
Premium
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD | Re: Worse than FoxNews I've said it once, and will prolly say it 100 times more, MGD is the man!
I predict a short 3 episode made for TV mini series on MGD and the others @ BBR...:) | |
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| | | waynemr
join:2002-01-28
Madison, WI | I salute you and your companions for this well played turn-about! You rock! | |
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MeanPeepsSuk
Premium
join:2004-11-21
Muddy Field
clubs: | I genuflect to you. Great work, MGD! | |
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Artel
@bell.ca | w0w... the link to this made it to Fazed.net, massive props from everyone there... and I must thank you for the greatest laugh of my life after reading the whole russian mob thing =) Where do I sign up to help with busting these low-lives? | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Looks like he likes to Drink. Someone should serve him a Molotov Cocktail, right through his bedroom window. | |
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swhx7
Premium
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia
2 edits | Re: Looks like he likes to Drink. Having him pay back all the victims, with interest and incidental costs, by working at an honest job would be good enough for me. But having been ripped off on Ebay (in a smaller way) I can certainly appreciate the sentiment. | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| Re: Looks like he likes to Drink. Well, ya know, keeping with the mob theme and all. 
Plus, it tends to make an impression.
You reap what you sow.... So sooner or later, he's going to get his payback. Probably when some "friend" or Family member screws him over to steal his money.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
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ARGONAUT
got ping?
join:2006-01-24
New Albany, IN | Me, Not I never buy from eBay. | |
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Phil
Rojo Sol
Premium
join:2001-06-11
Camarillo, CA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Me, Not said by ARGONAUT :I never buy from eBay. In eBay's defense I've both bought and sold through them and have never had a problem.
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Personally, I like ebay.
Just make sure you keep your protection.... I know the credit card fees suck, but it's a necessary evil because you have a lot of Fraud protection from scammers.
Chargeback is a powerful consumer tool. | |
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| fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| said by ARGONAUT :I never buy from eBay. Come to think of it, neither have I!
I HAVE, however, purchased from people who also use eBay, but never purchased anything FROM eBay itself.
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." | |
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glooberly
@comcast.net | he likes to smoke too! cool! | |
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RSASECURITY
@rogers.com | SECURITY! WHY the heck isn't EBAY (or even all BANKS) using RSA Security tokens??? I know they are not free, but at least make it an OPTION for people to get.
see »www.rsa.com for more info. | |
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cooltokens
@rogers.com | Re: SECURITY! Isnt' paypal and ebay merged now? it's too bad they won't use it for both sites. | |
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Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
| You've been outed, Mr. Simionescu And it is only a matter of time before the law catches up
with you.
Enjoy your freedom while you can.
[Insert prison/Bubba jokes here]
Or is this just wishful thinking on my part? Nigeria has
been cracking down on their scammers, so how about Romania?
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"The trouble with computers, of course, is that they are very sophisticated idiots." - Doctor Who (from Robot)
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nfixit2004
Premium
join:2004-01-06
Brooklyn, NY
| Re: You've been outed, Mr. Simionescu That was my next question what does the Romanian government do about this, and cant the us gov do anything about this? whats wrong is wrong but how could someone just take money like that but you better not get caught trying to sell pirated software on ebay, this is unreal
Ps.
I also buy and sell on ebay and there are certain guidelines you do have to follow when doing both.
also how does these fake accounts get over 90% positive feedback when they are scamming people? | |
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| russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA | Never mind the law, one day he will scam the real Russian mafia (or the yakuza or even the original Sicilian group). They won't be satisfied with a refund... | |
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donaldk
Premium
join:2000-10-19
Thunder Bay, ON
| Let's Meet a Romanian eBay Scammer there is a real side to things, they cannot hide forever, and heck the things I hear/read in the news, to some it is only a plane ticket away which is easily had.
Things that ring a bell:
1. PPPP PowerBook Scam
2. Russian Spammer murdered in own apartment - not encouraging brutality! | |
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Eric Martin
join:2005-06-19
66308 | Why can't microsoft be sued??????? They are producing a bad product due to monopoly status.
The government lawsuit verdict was a joke. | |
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NJxxxJon
something good. or your mom.
Premium
join:2005-10-22
00000
| articles on people.....wtf? Since when do we do news stories on people......and people not in the U.S. You cant really by ANYTHING fun on ebay anymore
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\\"I don't have a girlfriend, I just know a girl that would get mad if I said that." \\Mitch Hedberg | |
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kamm
join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY
 ·T-Mobile US
| Re: articles on people.....wtf? said by NJxxxJon :Since when do we do news stories on people......and people not in the U.S. Ever since people live outside of US...
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FiL
Premium
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD
| uhhh, did you happen to read ANY of it? It is directly related to a cybercrime busted by one of our own members! Hell yea its gonna be news on BBR; BBR members stopped a cyber crime. They posted up how they did it, which is all pertaining to internet activities...unless of course you suggest Karl not post news on internet activities? | |
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Tzale
Proud Libertarian Conservative
Premium
join:2004-01-06
Sweden |  Burn Him At The Stake!
-Tzale
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MoJeeper
The Stig in 2012
Premium
join:2000-10-20
Springfield, MO | Re: Burn Him At The Stake! Take a good look at Dad's jeans. Nice zig zag patch Job. | |
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Edrick
Premium
join:2004-09-11
Orlando, FL
| hmmm So people always say that they should drop the drinking / smoking age, and allow certain drugs and this and that.
Then why do a majority of these scams / huge crime / drug rings come from countries where that's allowed?
Perhaps it has to do with the mixture of drinking since the age of 5 in those countries.
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Ricky Smith
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TigerNutz
Laissez les bons temps rouler
Premium
join:2000-12-23
Little Rock, AR | Hawt clothes duude! supa kool clothes man, do they all dress this hip in eastern europe?
Is that a Star Trek shirt? | |
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Maggs
Premium
join:2002-11-29
Woodside, NY | Kudos to the BBR Member Great Job, keep it up! At least you got the kid his money back, can't say the same for myself. I only got $4 out of $150 from an ebay scam that I got hooked in. Oh Well. | |
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wings10
I Am Legend
Premium
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL | Cab Driver? looks one of them is a cab driver in that family photo shot. | |
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harpseal
join:2003-01-12
San Jose, CA
1 edit | Well it goes to show... that money really can't buy you taste (and certainly not class). I mean just look at those wall treatments. LOL. Looks like the inside of a circus tent for retired rodeo clowns. And the velvet covered boxes they are laying on. Guess they don't even have IKEA in Romania. We won't even get started on the 80's Michael Jackson shirt...maybe he got it vintage from a real eBay deal. Dude needs to go out and just buy some real wallpaper.
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harpseal
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves -Shakespeare | |
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| remusrm
join:2003-04-07
Northridge, CA
| Re: Well it goes to show... let's not stereo type... i am Romanian too and find this rather stupid... they punks do not have money and they can not use their skills for good. most of romos is sad but follow the manele mentality that is pretty much gypsy. they spend all their money on fancy clothes expensive cars and listen to shitty music, gypsy shit. also date hoe that pretty much eat up your money and later on they will still be in shit, since they have that: live now, worry later. in usa we have rab and ballers... only difference between these two is the romo have brains, but no common sense. its sad, but that is a what happens when old stupid communist fucks still have power and a sheperd owns a soccer team. | |
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any romanian guy
@gaoland.net
| Congrats on the catch! Really... you've proved that the scammers can get scammed also, but unfortunately from my point of view you have done the same shit as he is doing(maybe right now). Because you have threatened a person with murder which isn't quite legal neither
Anyway, please don't make this become a belief... that all romanians do this.
There are idiots(i mean the scammers) all over the world, in every country/city.
You would be surprised how many romanians work on the software that you use everyday(MS or open source).
Take care and please verify as much as you can the buyer/seller of the product that you wish to sell/buy. This is the best solution that i can think of right now.
Actually... to give you a tip: i'm thinking on creating such a site that would work maybe using the ebay api on identifying these thieves.
Bye! | |
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DrModem
Premium
join:2006-10-19
USA | oh noes!!! THE MAFIA HERES YOUR MONEY BACK GODFATHER DONT KILL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |
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Re: Awesome
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