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STATE'S ATTORNEY WARNS OF INTERNET SALES SCAMS

In response to a steady stream of complaints regarding phony sales offers on the internet Harford County State's Attorney Joe Cassilly has asked buyers to beware. "We have for several months been receiving complaints filed with the National White Collar Crime Center where buyers are being ripped off purchasing items on internet auction sites such as e-bay or several auto auction sites," said Cassilly. Cassilly said that there is little or nothing that can be done to get the buyer's money back.

For buyers, who do not want to be a crime victim, be alert for the following:

• Does the seller insist that the buyer make a direct payment instead of using an escrow service?
• Does the seller ask that the payment be sent to an address in a foreign country? Often the seller represents that they have had a job transfer or are visiting family and wants the money sent out of the United States where it cannot be traced.
• Does the seller represent that the sale must take place immediately, or refuse to answer questions or allow an inspection of the property?

Although most internet auction services are reputable businesses, they cannot control the people who are offering products for sale. Complaints have been received that the products received are not what was advertised, sometimes this is a difference of opinion other times it is a deliberate fraud. The problem for prosecutors is that either the criminal or the victim are in a distant location. The costs to bring the criminal and the victim into the same courtroom are usually much greater than the loss that was suffered.

"Buying something based on a photo on a computer may be the same as throwing your money into a trash can," said Cassilly.