Seller is a thief.

[grjae0]

I was just browsing around on here looking at different phones for cheap prices. I came across this one account that has some phones, but the thing, the seller basically admits to stealing the phones. In every description of every phone he is selling, he put: "I work in a bar, this phone was unclaimed in the lost and found. I know nothing about the phone or the previous owner. The auction is for phone only". Since I'm not law enforcement, I can't report the items as stolen, so I reported one of them as fraud instead. Any word of advice on how to move forward with this? 

[bonjourami]

Is an unclaimed item the same as a stolen item? Every year, airports sell all their unclaimed items...their are thouands of them.

[moondogblues]

Same thing with storage yards, fire and the police dept. Unclaimed is far from 'stolen'.

[mam98031]

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@grjae0 wrote:

I was just browsing around on here looking at different phones for cheap prices. I came across this one account that has some phones, but the thing, the seller basically admits to stealing the phones. In every description of every phone he is selling, he put: "I work in a bar, this phone was unclaimed in the lost and found. I know nothing about the phone or the previous owner. The auction is for phone only". Since I'm not law enforcement, I can't report the items as stolen, so I reported one of them as fraud instead. Any word of advice on how to move forward with this? 

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It's ABANDONED property, not stolen.  When a place like where they work finds something, they should keep it around for at least 30 days in case the owner comes back to claim that.  But I doubt there is a responsibility to hang onto it longer than that. 

Kind of like when you rent a place from someone, you move out but leave some stuff behind.  They didn't steal that stuff from you, you left it behind.  Your landlord isn't required to hang onto that stuff forever because one day you may come back for it.  That would be completely unfair to the landlord.

It appears to me that the seller is just trying to be as honest as they can about the items they are selling.

[this*old*attic]

I’d worry that at least some of those were reported lost by the owners and their carriers disabled them.

[trustedbasset]

That’s pretty much what the seller is saying in the listing. 

Those phones can be used for parts.

[mam98031]

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@this*old*attic wrote:

I’d worry that at least some of those were reported lost by the owners and their carriers disabled them.

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That is likely why the seller is being Honest in the listing.

[yuzuha]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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It's ABANDONED property, not stolen.  When a place like where they work finds something, they should keep it around for at least 30 days in case the owner comes back to claim that.  But I doubt there is a responsibility to hang onto it longer than that. 

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There isn't.  My B&M job gets plenty of lost/left behind items; we keep them in the office for 30 days and if no one has claimed them by that point, they're free game.  I mean, if the person really cared about whatever it was that much, they would come back looking for it-- most people who have lost something do.  But we're not a storage facility for people's lost stuff and we can't keep things lying around forever.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@grjae0 wrote:

I was just browsing around on here looking at different phones for cheap prices. I came across this one account that has some phones, but the thing, the seller basically admits to stealing the phones. In every description of every phone he is selling, he put: "I work in a bar, this phone was unclaimed in the lost and found. I know nothing about the phone or the previous owner. The auction is for phone only". Since I'm not law enforcement, I can't report the items as stolen, so I reported one of them as fraud instead. Any word of advice on how to move forward with this? 

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Actually, I would not move forward with this. Unless you are the buyer, and have been defrauded in some way, I would not pursue it because as other posters said, unclaimed does not mean stolen. Who are you reporting to, eBay? Law enforcement? Accusing a fellow eBayer of stealing and then fencing the goods on eBay is quite a serious charge. Frankly, it seems impossible to know if someone acquired their items through criminal means simply by perusing a listing. One would have to be the victim or perpetrator to know, in fact, an item is stolen. I guess I am not understanding why you feel it necessary to make such a charge, based on supposition instead of concrete proof. Altho I am certain you made the report in good faith, falsely reporting a crime can have consequences. I would tread cautiously around one's suspicions before making such a claim. 

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[perfumenmore]

I'm surprised the business didn't call some of the numbers in the phone's address book to find its rightful owner. That's what we would do in our business. 

[yuzuha]

A lot of people have screen locks on their phone that prevent anyone but the owner (who knows the PIN/pattern) from using them.  Without the PIN or drawn pattern, you can't get into the phone at all.

[*madison]

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@perfumenmore wrote:

I'm surprised the business didn't call some of the numbers in the phone's address book to find its rightful owner. That's what we would do in our business. 

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I'm surprised that the owners of the phones didn't call their own phones to see if anyone answered.

I've found several phones, and each time, the person who lost the phone has called the phone to see if anyone answered, I did answer, and that way I have been able to return the phones to the owners. 

Also, the phones had  key locks, but I didn't need a pin to unlock them. The owners of the phones just happened to call their phones first before I had a chance to look at their contact numbers.

Also, some phones have tracking.

I'm not sure if the seller is legit or not, but it's a bit suspect.

[coolections]

Anytime, anywhere. If it's too good to be true hit the back button.

[annbis41]

I worked at a bar a few years ago. The stuff people left and never came back for was astounding. We're talking everything from phones to designer purses to adult entertainment. Someone left behind a really high end camera once and never claimed it.

We'd try to track the owners down, but if after 90 days we couldn't, we'd host an auction night and let bar patrons bid on the stuff, then we'd donate the proceeds to local charities.

I see nothing suspicious in the listings.