I have the sick feeling that I have been scammed really badly....Looking for advice

obheals

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Hello All, I have been part of this community for many years and although I rarely post, I do read a lot of your posts and I'm familiar with many of you. I true enjoy the game of Everquest and I know you all do too.


over 6 months ago, I posted in a WTB thread and this individual started messaging me about his ability to deliver fully experienced toons with the comfort of changing the new account's name to mine. I discussed a time frame with him, that would be only about 2 weeks. and paid him well.
It's been over 6 months now and I can not get a hold of him. He doesn't answer any of his Skype messages, phone calls, or mmobugs messenging texts. I have all the Skype conversation with him recorded precisely with the deals, timeframe and the slew of messages from me asking for a response.. He has gone silent. From my previous conversations with him, I noticed that he may be using several different usernames to message people that post in WTB than to sell characters in the appropriate section of the account marketplace.
He lives far away from the states with 17 hours of time change, which has been a reason for me to give him such benefit of the doubt, but after 6 months and no communications. I felt it was time to discuss it with you guys.
Again, I love mmobugs, I have had nothing but positives experiences until this incident. Perhaps, we may have a good outcome, that, even if it isn't for me, it will be for this community that I cherish.

O.
 
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You never should have let this get to 6 months. Contact a mod or Fry.
 
Hello All, I have been part of this community for many years and although I rarely post, I do read a lot of your posts and I'm familiar with many of you. I true enjoy the game of Everquest and I know you all do too.


over 6 months ago, I posted in a WTB thread and this individual started messaging me about his ability to deliver fully experienced toons with the comfort of changing the new account's name to mine. I discussed a time frame with him, that would be only about 2 weeks. and paid him well.
It's been over 6 months now and I can not get a hold of him. He doesn't answer any of his Skype messages, phone calls, or mmobugs messenging texts. I have all the Skype conversation with him recorded precisely with the deals, timeframe and the slew of messages from me asking for a response.. He has gone silent. From my previous conversations with him, I noticed that he may be using several different usernames to message people that post in WTB than to sell characters in the appropriate section of the account marketplace.
He lives far away from the states with 17 hours of time change, which has been a reason for me to give him such benefit of the doubt, but after 6 months and no communications. I felt it was time to discuss it with you guys.
Again, I love mmobugs, I have had nothing but positives experiences until this incident. Perhaps, we may have a good outcome, that, even if it isn't for me, it will be for this community that I cherish.

O.

I think I know who you are talking about. IF it is who I think you are speaking of, he is pretty dodgy. Will PM you the name so if we can confirm it is the same guy, we can work to have him suspended.

Confirmed with obheals that it is joedungca.

Should be banned for his constant aggravation to members. I involved/warned mod staff when it happened to me and not surprisingly it has happened again.
 
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Banning someone for scamming only results in them getting a new username and then nobody knowing who they are until they scam again. Known quantity vs unknown. Also, some people that are banned from marketplace, get around it by posting WTB ads or replying to people's ads via PM and bypassing the block. Additionally, proving someone has scammed vs has really long delayed is another matter if they don't reply.

Drama route: You can file a complaint for wirefraud with the police if you have no other mechanism and wish to pursue it. The amount required varies by state. In my state it was $250 when I had to do it for someone scamming an account. 3 counts of wirefraud for selling then taking an account back. 1 for paypal, 1 for player auctions, and 1 for SOE. The person I was dealing with stopped being a dick after they realized it was $10k and 5 years in prison as a felony for each count and that maybe my $300 account wasnt worth the hassle of even hiring a lawyer to get it thrown out in court. And I had done all the research to know who they are, where they lived and the name of their police chief (i may have implied i had inquired on jurisdiction already) + phone number. I really would have called on principle. That is a bit dramatic, but if all hope of recovery is lost and you wish to send a message, then it is a possibility. Even though it is a video game, it is real money and real laws are being broken so the person really can go to jail if you can prove who did it.

A quick trip to IRC would have been a loud resounding "NO" @ should you do business with john, aka joedungca because of previous activity.
 
note to self never try to take petes lunch
 
joedungca had his marketplace access removed about 5 months ago, after having to settle a few other of his disputes. They all sorted themselves out, but I wished I knew about this one at the time. He seems to like to promise people the world then not deliver until people make a fuss.

I'll see what I can do.
 
This is why you never agree to pay someone before the work is done.
 
Would be nice to have seller's ratings a la ebay. not sure how hard it is to implement. and the ability to leave comments that they cant delete.
 
Would be nice to have seller's ratings a la ebay. not sure how hard it is to implement. and the ability to leave comments that they cant delete.

We had something like that back a few years ago when the marketplace was changed more into a playerauctions type setting. So, I'm sure it's possible as it's been done before.

Sorry to hear about you being scammed Ob, I don't think I would have waited longer than a week without hearing from someone though. Even with a different time zone, people can always message you back. 6 months is a VERY long time to wait to report something of this nature.
 
Yes in retrospect, I've learned a valuable lesson. I could have been smarter and initiated a conversation with the mods right away.
Fortunately, I have a lot of info on him that, in lights if reading Pete's post, I think will be very useful in getting him to talk again.
O.