5 ms·

Possibly because it would cost the FBI orders of magnitude more than the damages to investigate. The damages which amazon will likely refund. The FBI does not

Possibly because it would cost the FBI orders of magnitude more than the damages to investigate. The damages which amazon will likely refund. The FBI does not target petty thieves.

richo 13y ago
Amusingly, I went to a meetup with some feds the other day. Their statutory minimum to investigate is 5k, but they suggested it's worth getting in touch with them either way. If nothing else, it'll give them an excuse to say "cyber" a few more times.
- fsckin 13y ago
  This. I was defrauded to the tune of $3,500 (run of the mill stolen Paypal account bought a top of the line iMac from me on eBay) and after discovering to my horror that both eBay and Paypal sidestep all fraud for protection... I called the FBI, police, etc. They listened politely until I said how much it was worth -- one of my favorite quotes was "If you added a zero to the end, we'd knock down their door at 6AM tomorrow. For $3,500 it's simply not worth our time."
  - shimon_e 13y ago
    The decimal point adds two zeros. ;) He is still a criminal either way.
  - kamjam 13y ago
    Dang, that sucks. So neither eBay OR Paypal helped? Did you send the macbook to the "Paypal verified address", because I thought that was one of the protection requirements?
jellicle 13y ago
Oh, they certainly do, if powerful enough people complain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz The question is whether the poster is such a person.
- tptacek 13y ago
  The FBI wasn't involved in Swartz's prosecution, which was considerably easier for the US Attorney by dint of them actually knowing who was behind the incursions.