I've been defrauded - NGC

[keuka4884]

I need help. Anyone know of an attorney in Miami or Boca Raton Florida that can help me with a fraudulent car sale?
I bought a car from a seller on Ebay. The car arrived today and it is not the car that was advertised. And as usual, Ebay will be of no help here. I'm in New York state, so I have to do this long distance. If I have to fly to Florida to testify in court to get a judgement I'm fine with that. I need to pummel this seller. Can anyone help? BTW, this is the 3rd car I have bought sight unseen and the first fraudulent sale. Massive bummer.
The car? A 1998 Jaguar XJ8 VDP. And please don't go on about the rep of Jags. There are many of these on the road with high miles. This one has low miles.

[elvisboy77]

Wow.  Maybe start with the FL state attorney general?  Good luck, sorry you got burned.

[keuka4884]

Sorry. The name of the seller is Justin C Spector.

[PJPR01]

I presume you have spoken or tried to speak with the seller?  Is this a federal case since it crossed state lines so couldn't a local lawyer cover it and then engage Florida as needed?

[Rough Edge racing]

  What I have to say is from experience not speculation..... I've bought a few vehicles on Ebay that were as advertised, no problems. About 5 years ago I bought a jeep on Ebay..The seller was one of the largest  car dealerships in Maryland. The Jeep was fine but no title despite the ad stating clear title. Ebay got me in touch with their "buyer protection plan " representative. It's actually a kinda of insurance policy Ebay buys... it took a few weeks but the dealer finally issued me a title ...Or I could have gotten my money refunded, that was an option the representative discussed with me
 I assume Ebay still has the " buyer protection " policy?  And do contact the Attorney Generals office from the seller's state...

[Bill Hagan]

Sorry. The name of the seller is Justin C Spector.

Ran that name in a web search.

Guess what?

https://www.scamguard.com/justin-chance-spector-and-bryan-g-crisp/

Good luck.

Bill

[elvisboy77]

Flea bay.

[PJPR01]

Ran that name in a web search. Guess what?https://www.scamguard.com/justin-chance-spector-and-bryan-g-crisp/

Good luck. Bill

 

Damn!!!  Not his first rodeo obviously...quite the scam artist!!!

[LongRanger]

Wow. And how is eBay not culpable?

[jackson]

Wow. And how is eBay not culpable?

Exactly!  Seems to me that you're protected by the Ebay Protection Policy.
If, for some reason, you're not; this looks like a federal case because you're crossing state lines with a fraud.  (I am not an attorney nor do I play one on tv)
You should call Ebay and find out what your rights are due to fraud.  Hope you get your money back.

[canuguzzi]

The comments to contact EBay are right on. One thing though, consider refraining from saying what you intend to do, contemplate doing or even wishful thinking. All this becomes public record and if you say you need to pummel him and anything happens, you become suspect #1. I know, you could be 1000 miles away but why telegraph anything, surprise is sometimes your best friend.

Be careful too about saying someone defrauded you, keep things close to yourself. Never give the bad guy any info, less said the better.

I hope things go your way. Most attornies have Lexus nexus, have one run this guy and get his life's history and all public records.

You probably don't need a private attorney though, you need a DA or State Attorney's General. The States AG will coordinate or hand off the Feds as appropriate. Often the State AGs move faster than the feds and the InterState thing might not apply depending.

The AG in your state probably has an office for assistance that you can visit and get the ball rolling.

How did you pay?

If you paid with a Cashiers check, you have quite a while to cancel it. Contrary to popular belief, you can cancel a cashiers check, even after he has cashed it if you paid via wire transfer, that can't be called back.

Cashiers check, no problem, you go to your bank, tell them to cancel the check, they can and will do it, even quite a while after he has cashed it. Then you have the car and your money, let him come calling.

[cruzziguzzi]

Careful and dispassionate exercising of E-Bay's "Buyer Protection"

And

Contact the point of sale County Attorney's office. County Attorney offices have been the most effective assistance I've been able to rally in business matters, cross-county and cross-country.

In the couple-three instances where they were unable to help directly - they provided the most direct route to the best help.

Seems a couple of times I might have utilized a county Sheriff's office as well. Professional frauds really don't like their back yards cluttered.

Todd.

[Moto Fugazzi]

Did you pay via paypal? They favor heavily on the buyer's side, and you should have no issues clearing this up with them. "Item Not As Described" goes a long way with Paypal and Ebay.
Ken

[Dilliw]

Wow, that's a great link Bill.

Per that link the first two people I would contact is the Boca Raton Police and whoever is the poster "david." I'm betting he already has litigation against your seller.

[Bill Hagan]

Wow, that's a great link Bill.

Per that link the first two people I would contact is the Boca Raton Police and whoever is the poster "david." I'm betting he already has litigation against your seller.

There are similar sites out there, and that guy is mentioned on at least one other I saw in a cursory search.

I won't hire anyone for any job -- from $$ to $$$$$ -- without looking for mention of them on the web.  Burned a few times when I was naive.  I was a slow learner, but finally caught on.

Bill

[ibis1]

I live in the Fort Lauderdale/Boca Raton area and work in the automotive field. (Land Rover) If there is something I could help you with, let me know. The guy sounds like a real scum bag. 

[keuka4884]

Thanks all for your input. No car is not covered by the Ebay buyer protection plan if it is over 10 years old. Classic Ebay.
I paid with a cashiers check sent to him. I will try to cancel that tomorrow. Good idea.
I did not know the seller's full name until the sale was over. I clearly did not do due diligence here.
I came up with another good idea. I know a lawyer that used to live in my town and now lawyers in Florida. He's a real bulldog. I'll be contacting him. And this fraud did occur over state lines, so I will be pursuing that angle too.
I owned an Ace hardware store for many years in New York and took people to small claims court several times. They never pay after a small claims judgement. Then I found out that with judgement in hand, you can put a lien on anything of value the person has. So I put liens on their vehicles. They can't register or sell the vehivle until the judgement is paid. Now I hope Florida has something similar. 
What a bitch that karma.   

[ibis1]

Please keep us posted as to any progress you make nailing this guy. 

[John Ulrich]

Tell you what.  Take stock of what your losses are and if it's really worth dropping a bundle of additional money down the same hole.  I've followed similar stories in the collector Corvette hobby for years. I've seen photo's of what was advertised and what got delivered that were alike in color only.  Bottom line.... sure they got judgments they could not collect on. Had internet friends visit the dirty dogs empty buildings etc and in the end gained nothing except a lot of restless nights stewing over it.

Good Luck.

PS.  One I followed was an attorney general from NY who got scammed himself.  He got no satisfaction.  The scammers know how to hide.

[canuguzzi]

Yes, you did well bybusing the cashiers check. As I said earlier, you have quite a long time during which you can cancel a cashiers check which is why no one should ever accept them for payment on expensive things. The person giving you a cashiers check can cancel it and you have nothing.

Do not go to a bank teller, go to your banker and cancel it. It is rather painless to do. The money is put back into your account and the sellers bank creates a debit in their account. They are without any real recourse, they must deposit the money to cover the debit in their account. If they fail to do so, the bank goes after them quickly.

Now, for anyone else reading this, do not accept a cashiers check for anything, it is not like cash regardless of what you might have been told. Now you know so if you take one and then get shafted, too bad.

[rodekyll]

Sorry to hear that.  I hope this guy gets caught.

I have used escrow to ensure the thing I thought I was buying was the thing that arrived.  It costs a few %, but it's a comfort.

[LongRanger]

I'd question the ability to request a Cashier's Check to be stopped and refunded after it has been negotiated by the payee. Very curious to hear how this works out for you.

[canuguzzi]

I'd question the ability to request a Cashier's Check to be stopped and refunded after it has been negotiated by the payee. Very curious to hear how this works out for you.

There is no question about it, call your bank and ask them, they'll tell you. It isn't something new, well known and why you should not accept a cashiers check for anything valuable.

[tris]

Sorry to hear that.  I hope this guy gets caught.

I have used escrow to ensure the thing I thought I was buying was the thing that arrived.  It costs a few %, but it's a comfort.

Isn't PayPal essentially an Escrow process?

[johnr]

Hell of a car there keuka4884. Just out of curiosity, what was actually wrong with it?

[Rough Edge racing]

 This is Ebay Motors buyer protection plan.....read it carefully.....

        http://pages.motors.ebay.com/buy/purchase-protection/index.html

[ibis1]

There is no question about it, call your bank and ask them, they'll tell you. It isn't something new, well known and why you should not accept a cashiers check for anything valuable.

Norge, I'm not a banking expert, but what you said did not sound correct to me. I googled "Stopping Payment on a Cashiers Check" and found lots of sites that stated unless it's lost or stolen you can not stop the payment. These rules may very state to state, but I was unable to find any information confirming what you stated. I would hope it's true for that gentlemen's sake. He should know something today if he tries to stop payment.

[canuguzzi]

Norge, I'm not a banking expert, but what you said did not sound correct to me. I googled "Stopping Payment on a Cashiers Check" and found lots of sites that stated unless it's lost or stolen you can not stop the payment. These rules may very state to state, but I was unable to find any information confirming what you stated. I would hope it's true for that gentlemen's sake. He should know something today if he tries to stop payment.

Information on the Internet is usually of questionable origin, no matter who says it so I recommend verifying information before accepting it as fact, the banks will explain it.

I should clarify that it is called Stop Payment. Cashiers checks go through the federal reserve,  they are not local or even bank to bank transfers of funds. Yes, you need a good reason, not liking the food you ate won't cut it but the OP has good cause and like I said, file with the AG or DA, whatever, take all the proofs to the bank and get er done.

Expect there to be some hold on funds availability but so what, better than trying to hunt the guy down and hope you get your money back.

I brought up the info from personal experience. If someone goes into a bank acting the fool with the intent to defraud, then the bank will likely refuse. In this case, proper attitude, clear and concise information and proof of what happened can get the result intended. Speaking to a banker and not in some bank that also doubles as the fill and feed store also makes a difference. Sometimes it is a benefit to be in an area where the daily price of cow turds isn't the highlight of the day.

Citibank will cancel a cashier's check for up to 90 days even if it has been cashed.

Many people associate a cashiers check as being as good as cash. It is not.

Try to deposit a large sum cashiers check and withdraw that money and see what happens. If the bank isn't the fill and feed store, they'll advise you of a few things, one of them being that should the person who gave it to you decide to cancel it, you are liable for the entire amount of that check if you used the money.

I'm not making any warranty on anything, talk to a banker and hopefully not one where the name of the bank starts with feed and they don't sell fence posts and barbed wire too.

[ibis1]

I found the information below in a Citi Bank manual of their banking practices. They refer to Cashiers Checks as "Official Checks" 
Official Checks and Money Orders. You may not as a matter of
right place a stop payment on an official check, money order, or
international cheque. If such an instrument has been lost, stolen, or
destroyed, you and/or the payee may, under certain circumstances,
be allowed to place a stop payment by completing a “Stop Payment
Request and Indemnity Agreement” form. We may require that you
wait ninety (90) days before reissuing the check or reimbursing
you. You may also be required to purchase a surety bond for twice
the amount of the instrument.

[Bill929]

I know a consumer protection attorney in FL.  PM me if you'd like his contact information.  Although, I bet the seller is judgment proof, so your best bet may be with the attorney general's office or the state attorney's office (in the jurisdiction where he lives or works).