14 ms·

You can't sue a fake identity

by tb303 14y ago

DannyBee 14y ago
Actually, you can (John Doe lawsuits). Besides that, most of these scams are not that sophisticated as you see in spy movies. You subpoena a few folks, and you get the identity. It usually turns out to be a 16 year old, but you still get it.
- CamperBob2 14y ago
  Serving a subpoena to "General Delivery" is problematic at best.
  - DannyBee 14y ago
    Sigh. He paid through paypal, remember. There is apparently also a credit card provider, and the credit card provider claims to have handled the dispute. Which means they either heard from this guy, or ... Again, it's just not this complicated. It's expensive and time consuming, but rarely complicated.
    - tb303 14y ago
      Sigh or not, you are sighing to someone who already went through this (me) and was told by the Las Vegas Police that it was a dead end. The buyer used a fake name and hijacked someone else's paypal account (or claimed such had happened to him). So, you are right on two out of three counts: it was expensive, time consuming, and complicated =D I wish it had been easier, trust me!
  - facorreia 14y ago
    There is a credit card involved.
incomethax 14y ago
Presumably the OP has an address where he sent his iPhone. Not sure as IANAL, but he theoretically could sue a Doe at a given address and subpoena for an identity.
- prodigal_erik 14y ago
  Don't scammers typically use some innocent person's address and pick up the shipment from their doorstep while they're at work?
- URSpider94 14y ago
  The scammer had it sent General Delivery. For those not familiar with the term (it's not used commonly these days), it's possible to have something shipped General Delivery to any post office, then walk in and pick it up. See https://www.usps.com/manage/forward-mail.htm https://www.usps.com/manage/forward-mail.htm for more info. This seems like one of those arcane system hacks that's ripe for abuse. He/she presumably had to show some ID and sign something to get the package, but I'm betting that the ID was fake.
  - DannyBee 14y ago
    You think general delivery is also his credit card billing address? Do you think he walks in with different fake ids every time he does this? Do you think he also uses different credit cards with paypal? Or do you picture him as a nomad, like the old guy from Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, traveling the country collecting fake ids, credit cards, and iphones? If he is super-master-ninja and all else failed, do you think it would be more or less expensive than court to honey pot him, ship him a box of rocks (or something that takes continual pictures and uploads it instantly) in a very bright pink package, fly super-economy to the place he is supposed to pick it up, and then sit in the post office a few days waiting to see your package picked up, and take pictures of the guy and his car plates? Unless of course, he only uses public transportation to cover his tracks (or steals random cars every time he needs to travel to the post office!), and wears facial disguises, sunglasses, and a hat to make sure no camera gets a good look at him. Never the same motel room twice, always paying cash, blah blah blah. Reality: It's actually very hard to hide when your fraud requires picking up physical items at a known location. It's easier to hide remotely, but not so much otherwise. Even remotely, i'd put 20 bucks down that given only the info the seller has about the guy, 4chan or reddit could find in 2 days or less.
    - 14y ago

You can't sue a fake identity

by tb303 14y ago

You can't sue a fake identity

Actually, you can (John Doe lawsuits). Besides that, most of these scams are not that sophisticated as you see in spy movies. You subpoena a few folks, and you get the identity. It usually turns out to be a 16 year old, but you still get it.

CamperBob2 14y ago
Serving a subpoena to "General Delivery" is problematic at best.
- DannyBee 14y ago
  Sigh. He paid through paypal, remember. There is apparently also a credit card provider, and the credit card provider claims to have handled the dispute. Which means they either heard from this guy, or ... Again, it's just not this complicated. It's expensive and time consuming, but rarely complicated.
  - tb303 14y ago
    Sigh or not, you are sighing to someone who already went through this (me) and was told by the Las Vegas Police that it was a dead end. The buyer used a fake name and hijacked someone else's paypal account (or claimed such had happened to him). So, you are right on two out of three counts: it was expensive, time consuming, and complicated =D I wish it had been easier, trust me!
- facorreia 14y ago
  There is a credit card involved.

incomethax 14y ago

Presumably the OP has an address where he sent his iPhone. Not sure as IANAL, but he theoretically could sue a Doe at a given address and subpoena for an identity.

prodigal_erik 14y ago
Don't scammers typically use some innocent person's address and pick up the shipment from their doorstep while they're at work?
URSpider94 14y ago
The scammer had it sent General Delivery. For those not familiar with the term (it's not used commonly these days), it's possible to have something shipped General Delivery to any post office, then walk in and pick it up. See https://www.usps.com/manage/forward-mail.htm https://www.usps.com/manage/forward-mail.htm for more info. This seems like one of those arcane system hacks that's ripe for abuse. He/she presumably had to show some ID and sign something to get the package, but I'm betting that the ID was fake.
- DannyBee 14y ago
  You think general delivery is also his credit card billing address? Do you think he walks in with different fake ids every time he does this? Do you think he also uses different credit cards with paypal? Or do you picture him as a nomad, like the old guy from Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, traveling the country collecting fake ids, credit cards, and iphones? If he is super-master-ninja and all else failed, do you think it would be more or less expensive than court to honey pot him, ship him a box of rocks (or something that takes continual pictures and uploads it instantly) in a very bright pink package, fly super-economy to the place he is supposed to pick it up, and then sit in the post office a few days waiting to see your package picked up, and take pictures of the guy and his car plates? Unless of course, he only uses public transportation to cover his tracks (or steals random cars every time he needs to travel to the post office!), and wears facial disguises, sunglasses, and a hat to make sure no camera gets a good look at him. Never the same motel room twice, always paying cash, blah blah blah. Reality: It's actually very hard to hide when your fraud requires picking up physical items at a known location. It's easier to hide remotely, but not so much otherwise. Even remotely, i'd put 20 bucks down that given only the info the seller has about the guy, 4chan or reddit could find in 2 days or less.
  - 14y ago