Scam? How to respond if not?
I have a notebook of vintage post cards that I have had listed for a while with lots of interest. I received this message today from someone who says the collection had been stolen from them. I don’t know if this is a scam or not but I really don’t know how to respond to it. This is the message: Good morning. Are you aware that this notebook with these old postcards is just a small portion of the complete notebook of vintage post cards and Easter/holiday cards? I KNOW this, as THIS ITEM WAS STOLEN from my house in Henderson, Nevada, in January/February timeframe. I did file a police report for this and other items stolen from me at that time.
55 comments
glorybells
·1 year agoI’ll be the first to admit that I tend to smell a scam under every rock, and this one really stinks. I suspect something is very wrong here with the theft “victim†claim. I agree with the responder who said that this sounded like a collector trying to get some free inventory.
animal-house-8
·1 year agoAsk them to send pictures of their collection, no old vintage post cards are a like, creases, bends, dirt stains ect. They would be very easy to match up like finger prints. If he cannot do that then contact his local police dept. tell them the story, see his police report on documentation of the cards.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year ago@terrlloy-0
I've heard similar versions of that story over the years. Personally, I don't believe any of them.
In some cases, posts were from sellers who were contacted and informed that their listing is an item that was stolen from them and in other cases, posts were from victims who claimed to have found their stolen items being sold by sellers.
In a quick search, I wasn't able to find any sellers who made similar posts as the OP has but I found a few from "victims."
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/stolen-items-on-Ebay/m-p/34720765
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/A-stolen-watch-of-mine-is-now-up-for-sale-on-Ebay-I-contacted/m-p/32832369
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/how-to-report-stolen-item-which-has-been-somehow-transported-to/m-p/33431899
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/eBay-knowingly-selling-stolen-goods-is-bad-for-community/m-p/34445484
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoThank you for taking the time to send me those links. That was very helpful to my situation. I was giving this person the benefit of the doubt at first but now I am suspicious. I am in "wait her out" mode so we shall see.
gurlcat
·1 year agoI don't know how this didn't get addressed in 30 replies about postcards, but @terrlloy-0 are these USED or UNUSED? If any are used, they would have addresses on them. And if the 'To' addresses show the same recipient, then this would be that person's keepsakes of old correspondences -the person who may or may not be the one who had their collection stolen.
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoThese are antique postcards dating from 1906 - 1933 and all but a few have writing on the back and are addressed to different addresses. There are only four that were addressed to the same person and those weren't in plastic sleeves, they were loose.
1786davycrockett
·1 year agoAnd no one has thought to ask: "What kind of thief would steal a notebook filled with old postcards?"
We're not talking about cell-phones, or laptops, or jewelry, or Rolex watches, or Coach purses, or high-end sneakers.
No -- the item in question is a book of old postcards.
Think about it: no pawn shop would be interested, as there isn't much demand at pawn shops for old postcards.
And they would only have a market value (and a low one, at that) at antique shows, flea markets, old book stores, and so on -- not exactly high-dollar type showplaces.
I'm thinking that there was no theft to begin with -- but that the "theft victim" is just another postcard collector, trying to snatch up some free inventory.
Without any verifiable proof of connection to a specific crime, I would no nothing -- wait out the "theft victim" ; and, when nothing is resolved, re-list again.
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoI have come to the same conclusion. She has given me the run around on getting the police report uploaded, claiming issues getting it on the eBay message, etc. I asked her a question about four of the cards addressed to the same person (all the rest are random addresses) and she gave me a LONG story about her mother's collection over the years, etc. In other words, she has failed my only tests. I am in "wait her out" mode. I was giving her the benefit of the doubt at first but am suspicious now, especially when she asked for email address or text number to send the report. No way. Thank you for the advice, it was very helpful.
gurlcat
·1 year agoKeep us updated. I'm curious how this turns out.
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoThis morning, the supposed victim sent me a message that said, among other things, that she had decided to let this go and hoped that I was able to sell them to benefit the animal shelter since that touched her heart. My theory is that she initiated all this to get my email or phone number and, when it became obvious that I was not going to oblige, she is moving on. I have to say, if that is the case, she did a good job on her story and the details she included in her messages. Thank you to everyone that responded, I appreciate the time that you spent on your messages, they were helpful and supportive. I plan to give this a little time to settle down before relisting the items.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@terrlloy-0
I'm really glad it worked out.
What an odd item to pull a scam on, though.
nyr134
·1 year ago@terrlloy-0 : probably best to block that person before you relist - in case there is a ‘plan b’ to get those postcards.
cityslickercreations2004
·1 year agoThat was my thought exactly!! Who would steal postcards of all things?
Actually, I wondered if there is an ex somewhere in the background...
dirk12955
·1 year agoCity, In my experience, If it ain't nailed down, Somebody will try to steal it.
deltilogical
·1 year agoHow long should the OP wait for the claimant to do something? How will this person prove it is their album - do they have images or inventory? I can't imagine the local NV police will make much effort for a postcard album that probably has little real value if any, located in another state.
The person making the claim should have gone to their local police contact first. Are they Halloween cards?
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoIf it was me, I would ask for both a copy of the police report AND some irrefutable proof that these cards belonged to this person or this person‘s family. Maybe some cards were stolen from this person‘s family. That doesn’t mean that these are the same cards. I call it a slim chance that someone stole something from Henderson, Nevada, then transported them to Oklahoma, only to donate them to a shelter.
You should request these things with kindness and dignity for the person that is claiming that these are stolen goods. You can go through the unlikelihood of these being the same cards while still being respectful.
itsjustasprain
·1 year agoThinking about this... What is a police report going to have in it? 'Binder of antique postcards' or something like that. I assume that there was a lot more stolen if that person had a burglary and that the binder of postcards would barely get a mention. Unless there is way more detail in the police report that nails the listing as definitely showing the same thing then I cannot see that that would really prove anything.
I saw the listing before it was taken down and the postcards were all arranged in special pocket pages designed to hold them in a binder. Any serious postcard collector probably buys similar pages to hold their own collection and there are probably hundreds of similar binders around the country.
At best I would say that the complaining party might be genuine (ie. honest) but they would need to come up with something conclusive beyond finding a listing that looked like their own. I would also be careful to verify that the police report was filed before the listing appeared - in order to avoid any suspicion that details of the missing item might have been tailored to match the photos of the listing.
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoReason to ask for the police report is because the accuser states that he has one. If he doesn't, that is a quick way to get the conversation to stop, and a quick way for the OP to stop worrying about this issue.
itsjustasprain
·1 year agoRight but what I am saying is that even if he is an honest person who really did get robbed and filed a police report I really doubt that there would be anything in it to conclusively prove that the binder shown in the listing is really the one that got stolen. He could also have filed a report intended to match what he saw in the listing back when it first appeared in mid-February.
Yes - you can call his bluff and ask to see the police report although making fake claims about that seems like an awful lot of trouble to try to get a postcard collection without simply buying it.
@terrlloy-0 : Keep us updated!
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoI am currently waiting for the police report or a call from PD. I am a little confused because I got a message from eBay saying my question was being deleted from the Forum for duplicative and repetitive messages? I am still seeing new responses though. 🤷â€â™€ï¸ Will update when I get something.
itsjustasprain
·1 year agoMaybe you had started multiple topic threads about the same thing...? You can keep posting replies to this thread so that no one will miss an update that might have been posted elsewhere.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoYou had started two threads on this subject, probably without realizing it. I actually reported the other one to the moderators, not to get you in trouble, but so that there would not be two discussions going that might confuse you and others. I don’t think you get any type of consequence or penalty for that, just a notification that your other thread was removed.
simply-the-best-for-you
·1 year ago@terrlloy-0 @jonathanbrightlight You are correct, there are no consequences. It happens a bit with new posters, not a big deal at all.
simply-the-best-for-you
·1 year agoI was thinking the exact same thing @itsjustasprain , the police report, if in fact there is one, is not going to have something like postcards each ID's in a line item. It's going to have 'binder or box of vtg postcards'. So, I came to the same conclusion, even if you had the report, it's unlikely each item is going to be line itemed.
simply-the-best-for-you
·1 year agoDo not request a copy of the police report. You don't need to do anything other than tell them to contact eBay in regards to the stolen property. eBay has a protocol for this & they would be the one to get the police report, not you. Probably should be initiated by the Police, but I'm not sure about that part.
You're not even obligated at this point to take down the listing, unless you want to b/c you believe it may be true. There are protocols in place for this & none of them have anything to do with you adjudicating whether this is real or not or going back & forth with the person.
dirk12955
·1 year agoHow is eBay involved in this situation?
It's not an eBay issue.
simply-the-best-for-you
·1 year agoSure it is, the stolen items are on their site. eBay has protocols in place to deal with stolen items, they've even helped in large police stings for theft rings. This isn't that (if it's even true) but IIRC eBay even has a form to fill out. I would def call both the PD where they filed the report & eBay if I were the owner so that they could take action to have the listing taken down or whatever they & LE decide to do. IDK if they'll take any action until LE gets involved, but I would def let them know. IDK if they take any independent action without LE contact, but what harm is there in letting them know.
However in this case, who knows if they're even telling the truth, which is why its not a good idea to get into a convo about it with the person.
simply-the-best-for-you
·1 year agoHere we go. I knew I remembered a form, but it looks like the form is only for the state of CA & the text says to contact LE, but there's also a link to the form to fill out.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/stolen-property-policy?id=4334&st=3&pos=1&query=Stolen%20property%20policy&intent=stolen%20items&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1214
ETA: Upon further inspection that form goes to the State of CA Attorney General, so yeah, maybe you don't have to contact eBay. I still would, I would want to alert them. IDK if they take the item down while it's being figured out, but I would let them know.
cityslickercreations2004
·1 year agoPersonally, I would stop ALL communication with this person as suggested by dirk12955.
I think they are angling for information from you, although specifically what, I don't know.
You don't know this person or their motivations so silence is your friend at this point.
dirk12955
·1 year agoI've had some experience over the years with people trying
to claim something is stolen and it should be "returned"
to them (The victim) for free.
I've always responded, "Police"
sextons-sweet-deals
·1 year agoSounds like a new scam to me.
Henderson, NV is a pretty wealthy area. You state you have had these for a while.
Did you look at this person's profile and feedback history?
I would also assume if they had a break-in, they filed an insurance claim and have been paid.
Did they demand anything?
dirk12955
·1 year agoFor the OP
I wouldn't ask anything from the person claiming "Stolen property"
and would not communicate with them any further.
If the cards are stolen, The victim can
call their Pd and let them deal with it.
Asking the "Victim" to forward the report
to the OP falls under the heading of "Back and forth"
It's absolutely NOT an eBay issue. It is a Law enforcement issue,
Or maybe it isn't.
adamcartwright
·1 year agoSmart to take the listing down immediately until this is sorted out.
Check out eBay's Stolen Property policy
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoThank you! I have taken the listing down and am going to request a copy of the police report. She is not specific on the date of the theft and I listed them in mid February. I am checking with staff to see how long they had it before giving it to me to list. I am also going to see if there is something that doesn't show in the pictures that she can identify. I appreciate the link to the policy.
biggymoe
·1 year agoBased on when, and where, you obtained the notebook, is that even a possibility? If it is, that would raise a number of other questions.
a_c_green
·1 year agoThe OP's current listing for a binder of postcards shows a start date of Feb. 13.
@terrlloy-0 : You must have some sense of whether that person might be right...? Maybe you could ask them for some details on other postcards in the binder that you did not show in your listing, or any other detail that might confirm that it's theirs.
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoIt was in a large donation to our animal rescue thrift shop in Oklahoma back in February. Other donated items were mostly clothing. We do not record the names of our donors so I have no way of checking that avenue.
dirk12955
·1 year agoMe? I'd stop the listing for now.
Then, I'd respond to this person.
"You know who I am as a seller on ebay and You'll have no problem
finding me. I'm stopping the listing and will wait to hear from your
local PD."
Where'd you get the book and when?
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoIt was in a large donation to our animal rescue thrift shop in Oklahoma back in February. Other donated items were mostly clothing.
dirk12955
·1 year agoLet them contact the Police. You should stop the listing and wait for the Police.
You should NOT get into a back and forth with this person.
You're in OK and the stamps stolen in Henderson NV? Over 1,000 miles apart....
terrlloy-0
OP1 year agoGreat advice! Thank you. I am going to pause the listing and request a copy of the police report. My listing started Feb 13 and she is not specific as to when the theft occurred, the report will give me that info.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoJan/Feb timeframe
They don't know the date they were robbed?
Tell them to have the police contact you.