contacted through ancestery.com

[amjo141404]

I have been talking with a young man from Brazil who found me on ancestry. He has my father's WW2 air force uniform (I have seen pictures of it). I asked him if he would be interested in selling it to me or trading for something else from that era. I won't pay what he is asking so he is willing to take another uniform, medals, etc.

How do I know if it is legit or not? He showed me the ebay page where it was purchased but I don't know how to tell if it is legit.

Can anyone help me with this? Thank you, Amber

[chevymontecarlo88]

What an interesting story. I hope you are able to get it back. Good luck

[12345jamesstamps]

"where it was purchased"...He is a buyer/seller on eBay?

Check his feedbacks...and past sales...and his eBay ID...

He needs to have some history of purchases if he is talking about eBay.

Brazil is one of those countries the item might take a long time to get...so be prepared. And I think there are certain restrictions on shipping from the country also.

I always dread when I have a buyer from Brazil...not knowing if item will be delivered.

[lacemaker3]

@amjo141404 

I'm not really sure what kind of help you're asking for. There's very limited information available after almost 5 years.

I don't see anything that would suggest this order details page is NOT legitimate. The purchase history now goes back 7 years, so it is reasonable that the order details page is still available for the buyer to screenshot.

With that said, here is what I can tell you:

The eBay page is in Portuguese, but the title of the listing is in French. It appears that whoever took the screenshot, was either in Portugal or Brazil, where they also speak Portuguese. eBay tends to automatically translate pages into the user's language based on their IP address, so that makes sense. But the item was probably listed on eBay France.

I used google lens to translate it:

I can't find any cached pages of that listing number (254438507056), probably because it's 4 1/2 years old.

The tracking number shows that it was shipped from France to an international destination, but after so long, there's no tracking information, or anything to show where it was shipped to.

The seller shown did sell an item with that title and item number, because he left feedback for the buyer, but the buyer didn't leave feedback so the price can't be confirmed. The seller is based in France. You can try contacting them to see if they can tell you how they acquired the jacket, or anything about the buyer (confirming the buyer's user ID, for example). But they might not remember, and might not respond at all, after all this time.

Since the person you are corresponding with provided a screenshot of the buyer's Order Detail page for that transaction, with the same item number, it strongly suggests that they were the buyer of that item. I don't think anyone else could have viewed that page or grabbed the screenshot.

The price shown is 298 € (euros). That's the total price, so it was sold with free shipping. At the moment, 1 € = US$ 1.0770, so 298 € = US$ 320.95. 

In early December, 2019, 1 € = US$ 1.1056, so 298 € = US$ 329.47 (approximately).

[msha3839]

First of all, how this uniform ended up on eBay …is your father gave it to someone? Got robbed? Sold it? …my late father was enlisted in Red Army on June the 6th 1941, few weeks prior to Germany attacked Soviet Union and returned home after nazi surrender and end of war In May 1945 ,never losing his uniform..very strange chain of events in your case…

[krazzykats]

I wouldn't do it.  Seems a bit fishy.  Stories that pull at the heart strings make great cons...

I hope I am wrong if you follow through with this.

[kathiec]

My gut reaction is that it seems odd that someone would go to the trouble to find a 4 1/2 year old listing and then track someone down through ancestry just to scam them out of a few hundred dollars. So it seems to have the ring of truth. But I would certainly ask the seller to provide proof beyond an old listing that they currently possess the uniform. If they do have it, it shouldn't be hard to provide that proof.

[simba6]

Watch out, that is a common scam.    

[amjo141404]

No idea, I never met my father. In fact, I never learned he was my father until I was 37 years old.

I believe that the person in Brazil checked Ancestry.com under his name and found a family member. I don't know how else he found me.

I have nothing that belonged to him. He has 4 other daughters with his wife (I was the result of an affair). Those daughters want nothing to do with me, even though all parents have passed on and we are all in our 60's!

Anyway, I don't have any other information. Thank you for your response, Amber

[amjo141404]

I am always afraid to fall for any of these online things! Thanks, Amber

[amjo141404]

That's what I heard, that's why I asked, thanks!!

[amjo141404]

All of what you have said makes so much sense. His brother lives in Europe and he is back in Brazil. The one in Brazil had to get permission from the one in Europe to sell it to me or trade for other WW2 memorabilia.

Thank you so much for your thorough examining for me, it was a lot of help!

Amber

[msha3839]

Well, under circumstances the best way, at least in my opinion, to let it go…obtaining this uniform, assuming it is genuinely his, not going to benefit you in any way, especially psychologically…up to you and good luck..🍸

[dirk12955]

I guess I'd ask myself,   How much do I need this item that 

I never knew existed, and used to belong to somebody I never met?

And,   When I'm gone,  Who do I pass it down to?    

When I spent some time tracking down the Grave site of my Great-Great Grandfather in 

Pennsylvania,    His 3 times Great Grandchildren and His 4 times Great Grandchildren 

couldn't have been less interested.  

[legalbeagle52]

Hi @amjo141404,

While I do understand the sentimental value this could have for you, there are just so many scams around, so many ... that I think I would personally pass on it.  It would be a shame to get an item that isn't what it was supposed to be.  So I guess I'm with the others that say, don't do it!    I'm sentimental with stuff like that as well, so I get it.   But it's sounding a little fishy.