eBay Grifter Identification Project

Silverstone Wirless - Dishonest Retailer

2010-01-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

Last month I had some XBOX 360 256MB Memory Cards ordered through BUY.COM from one of their partners, Silverstone Wireless. These were supposed to be Brand New cards for $9.99 each with $3.99 each shipping and handling. I thought this would be a great deal for a discontinued product. Boy was I wrong.

Here is what arrived in the mail:

I paid $3.99 per unit or $7.98 for shipping and handling. Didn't get a padded envelope, didn't get anything better than First Class Parcel shipping, and the units are missing their protective carrying cases which Microsoft normally includes with every unit they ship. Clearly not brand new units.

Below is the packing list sent from Silverstone Wireless, clear stating NEW as the condition of the units.

So, I contacted BUY.COM, but they stated that they are not responsible for the veracity of what their embedded shops do, and would offer me no help with this issue. So, FIRST WARNING - DO NOT BUY FROM BUY.COM sub vendors, you have no recourse with BUY.COM, and they DO NOT CARE if their vendors rip you off, it is not their problem.

So, next I contacted Silverstone Wireless, let them know what happened, and asked what they would do for me. Their offer is below:

That's right, if I lie, and say their store is great, they will give me $9.99. So, SECOND WARNING - DO NOT BUY FROM SILVERSTONE WIRELESS, and DO NOT TRUST THEIR ONLINE REVIEWS, THEY PAY FOR THEM. That's right, if they are willing to pay me for a good review when they didn't do what they advertised, it is a safe bet I'm not the first person to be made this offer. Who knows what has been reviewed on their site under such a plan.

So, how do I know that these are really used and not new memory units? Check out this screen shot from the contents on one of the units:

Yes, I now have a copy of the Gamertag profile "SW", and a game save for Medal of Honor for that Gamertag. THIRD WARNING - When you sell something that has memory, game console, computer, camera, etc. WIPE THE MEMORY BEFORE YOU SELL.

Here are a list of Silverstone Wireless Stores to avoid on the web:

http://www.silverstonewireless.com/

http://stores.ebay.com/Silverstone-Wireless

And here is a list of posts from other, dissatisfied costomers:

http://somedirection.com/2007/10/16/silverstone-wireless-craptastic-customer-service/

http://www.ripoffreport.com/computer-stores/silverstone-wireless/silverstone-wireless-on-ebay-o-7pabd.htm

I was bored...

2008-01-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

I was waiting to see if some recently complied software was running and did Google searches tonight for Rhonda, Ronda and Leo Strauser.

Guess what - Ronda Strauser of Manchester Iowa is in the Avon business now.

Coincidence, or the same Ronda Strauser?

Same Ronda, even has her photo.

Rhonda's Picture

And her Elementary School.

Posts are missing

2007-02-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

Got an e-mail from Blogger this week informing me that some of my posts had been removed due to having "Confidential" information in violations of Terms Of Service.

There is a bunch of information about Rhonda Strauser and Leo Strauser missing now from the blog.

Good news for my loyal readers, through the Interenet Archive and Google Cache, most of this information was still available to me, and I was able to archive the posts.

You can find them there too if you look.

Otherwise, if you've been screwed by a Strauser, e-mail me and I will give you the missing information that I have.

A distinct pattern

2006-12-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Just got bored and looked up our new Strauser eBay Account from last month.

Suprisingly, whitecastle2006, has gone and made their feedback private after getting some negatives about not shipping and leaving unpaid complaints. Same as undergroundworld20006 did last year in late February. Surprised? Not me, looks like they will be spawning a new eBay account soon, so buyers, beware.

Oh, I also found a new web store page for the, but it looks like there is no merchandise there either. But beware, the site has lots of nasty pop-ups.

Rose Blood

Scam Alert

2006-08-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

I received several calls from Distinct Advantage from 727-683-1138 today.

Seems that they got my information from a 'partner' from whom I had made a purchase by check. I was entitled to Free Gas Vouchers and other gifts, just by verifying my checking information.

Ok, first problem with this, I don't use checks.

So I looked up Distinct Advantage Gas Voucher on Google.

There is page after page warning that this is a Scam and a Ripp-Off.

So I asked the girl, why does Google have thousands of results saying you are a scam or a rip-off?

She assured me that they were not a scam or rip-off. But she was very flustered.

So I asked, "Who referred you to me?" She did this song and dance about a valued retailer, and it could have been anything I bought, from a candy bar to a shirt.

So, I asked, "Are you going to answer my question, or is that not possible?" She asked what my question was, and I again asked, "Who referred you to me?"

She said she could not say.

So I asked, "You have thousands of Google references as being a scam, you can't tell me who referred you, and you want my bank information? Can you see why I know you are trying to rip me off?"

"What would you like me to do sir?" She asked.

I told her to remove me from their call list and never call me again. She gave me some song and dance about the company and thier website.

Wonder if they will call back...

Here is their e-mail address, by the way info@distinct-advantage.net

Stolen Sidekick Update

2006-07-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

The only reason that this is funny is because I have dealt with the circular logic of eBay myself via chat, and it is a royal pain in the ass.

Get this:

You can't send a second chance offer to an under bidder or e-mail becuase your reseller rating is zero and you are blocked from sending such offers and e-mails.

eBay's solution: Send a message to a different under bidder.

So if you can't send it because you are restricted, you should send to someone else, even though you are restricted.

Evan - eBay Sucks

How NOT to steal a SideKick II

2006-06-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

As much as this web site started as a how to get my money back for an eBay theft site, and accomplished that purpose, I want it to continue.

So I'll continue to link to interesting eBay and Internet fraud stories that I find interesting.

My favorite part, from both my experience and the linked story here is how the criminals always try to present themselves as the wronged parties.

I stole your money/phone and I'm going to kick your ass / sue you because you tried to get it back from me later.

So here is the amusing story of a young girl in New York that stole someone's misplaced Sidekick. The lesson to this story? Criminals can be amusingly stupid.

How NOT to steal a SideKick II

[UPDATE 6-21-2006]

Looks like Sasha (like that pic of Sasha? After all her family's whining about her being only 16, I think it is funny she has a piereced tounge, only one reason a girl does that...) was arrested late yesterday, Evan does not want to press charges, but really should, I'll get to that later. The story is up at the New York Times, but you need a free registration to read their site if you click the link.

Now, Evan should press charges. Only dropping them when the family signs something that they will not go through with their threatened harassment lawsuit.

New York Times Story

How not to steal a Sidekick

the broken laptop i sold on ebay

2006-05-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Found another great Grifter Revenge site on the internet. Thanks Jake.

the broken laptop i sold on ebay

How it all has gone down

2006-03-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'm updating this information with screen shots, as Ronda sent me an e-mail saying she was turning this site over to her lawyer. If only I believed that she could afford a lawyer.

So here goes, I got a second chance offer for an item on eBay:

I didn't look too closely at Feedback scores or Payment Options, my bad.

However, I was soon presented with an invoice and location to send payment:

So I e-mailed back and forth, can I pick up local as Humbe is near where I live, can I use a check, don't you take PayPal. All answers were No.

So I went and got a money order from my bank. The girl there recommended that I get my name put on the Money Order Pay line as a precaution if something went bad with the transaction. Kinda prophetic:

So I went to the Post Office on February 9th and mailed the money order, Certified, Return Receipt.

On February 12th, she filed an Unpaid Item Claim against me on eBay:

On February 13th, I got the card back in the mail informing me that payment had been delivered on February 10th:

So we had this little cat and mouse of, I don't have your payment, I sent you the payment and someone signed for it in the eBay dispute console. Then on February 16th, she set the item as unpaid with a strike. (3 days sooner than she should have been able to do this no less.):

She also closed her account. Then later she made her feedback hidden:
It was at this point that I began to suspect that I had been scammed. So I went to work, looking for Ronda.

Here are the steps I used to find her, that you can use to find others if you have similar problems:

1. E-mailed every user on eBay that I could find that had left her negative feedback.

2. Looked for the real address and phone number for this account using Google to search. Reducing the search to the address and city without a box # or other info yields a ton of addresses using the PO Box company she was using. If you do a Google search you can find it too.

3. Used the information that came back to broaden my search. This is how I found out she really lives in Iowa. Found a ton of stuff about her.

4. File a complaint with the USPS.

5. Immediately filed a dispute with eBay for nondelivery to cover all my bases.

I then e-mailed her, letting her know that I knew who she was, and that if she would get me my money back, or my game, I would go away. If not, I would become her worst nightmare. (Guess which one she chose.)

I also sent her a nicer message in the eBay console, with a similar offer:

She didn't take the offer. So I went after her. This web site, and did other things to help let folks not to get trapped like I did by her and her schemes.

After much effort and being patient, I got lucky, and I got my money order back, mostly from involving the USPS:

Even after all of this, she continued to lie to me, saying that the item was shipped in the Dispute Console:

Then she followed with a message saying she did not have my address:

Hmm, sent it to me, but does not have my address.

Finally, the post that she has found my blog and it would be shut down. Looks like she just got one post removed. Anyone good at searching the internet can find this information using the Google Cache or Internet Wayback Machine.

As for forwarding the blog to her lawyer.
A) Lawyers cost money. She seems to be the kind of person that doesn't have much.
B) She lives in Iowa, and would have to file a Civil complaint. A Civil judgment in Iowa does not bother me, as I don't live there.
C) She could file in Texas. But Texas has pretty good laws on the books protecting your property against Civil Litigation. I don't have any assets that can be taken in Texas.
D) What is she going to do with a lawyer? All the information I published was freely available on the internet, none of it was a secret, I got it all from searching Google in an intelligent fashion. I've go to pretty good lengths not to defame her, and present facts. I'm allowed a certain quantity of conjecture in my comments, and don't think I've overstepped that. Finally, I have the evidence, presented here, that shows her duplicity and lack of interest in an honest transaction. I've got lots more information printed and filed away if I am ever contacted by an attorney in this matter.
E) I've already run this by a lawyer, before I started, so I have a pretty good idea where I stand.

Now, this is Ronda's chance again. I'm willing to drop it now. If you give up now, I won't spend any more time on this. if you don't give up, I will continue to fight. I'm resourceful, and will use my resources as necessary. Drop it and the posts to this blog will stop, and it will fade into oblivion over the next few months. Don't drop it, and I will keep posting about it and the spiders that search the net will continue to keep it high in the Google search for Ronda Strauser. Your choice.

More From Ronda

2006-03-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

Keeping my day interesting.

Looks like the main post is down for now. Got this message from Ronda in the eBay message center today:

Thank you
Thank you for submitting a report. We take our users' privacy and security very seriously, so we appreciate your concern. The Gmail Team will use the information you have provided to conduct an investigation, and if we need more details, we'll contact you.

Vote For Ronda

2006-03-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

Holy crap! You can vote now if Ronda is hot or not. Damn thing won't go to -10...

HOT or NOT

Everyone say hi to Ronda!

2006-03-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

Hey, Ronda found the blog. Says it will be shut down soon.

From the eBay Dispute Console:

undergroundworld2006 Mar-11-06 at 07:43:53 PST

as you said... you got your refund. your blog site is being set to be shut down, but i have copied it for my attorney. half of that info isnt even correct or the same person's info.

Ronda Update

2006-03-08T04:47:00.000-08:00

Ok,

Will do a more in depth posting over the weekend, I'm in the middle of a big project at work this week.

Ronda sent a message in the Dispute console last week saying the item was shipped. She then sent me another message in her eBay account asking for my address. So, she shipped it to me, but does not have my address. Surprisingly enough, I don't have a copy of Gun for my Xbox 360 yet.

Does not really matter. I have gotten my money back.

Like I said, I'll post a more in depth explanation this weekend, and a sort of a how to guide for how I found so much information on two grifters using just e-mail and Google.

-The Dren

eBay Live Chat Help

2006-03-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, eBay has a live chat help feature, but they make it very, very difficult to find.

So here is a quick and easy link.

eBay Live Chat Help

Quick Ronda Strauser Update

2006-03-01T05:10:00.000-08:00

Got an e-mail from Ronda on the undergroundworld_2006@yahoo.com asking me for my address yesterday. Didn't respond.

Now I have something in the Dispute Console on eBay saying the item was shipped. Dind't respond. But I am curious and would like an answer from eBay about how someone who is "No longer a Registered User" can log in and add content to the dispute. Maybe I'll get to that sometime today if I have a chance to get their Help Chat console up and running.

Rip Off Report:Ronda Strauser eBayer never supplied merchandise once paid ripoff Manchester Iowa

2006-02-28T08:13:00.000-08:00

Yet another place to file on Ronda. The Rip Off Report. It shows up in Google now when you search for Ronda Strauser. Life is good.

Rip Off Report:Ronda Strauser eBayer never supplied merchandise once paid ripoff Manchester Iowa

Ronda Strauser's Feedback

2006-02-26T12:18:00.000-08:00

Found this link directly to Ronda's negative feedback on Yahoo Auctions.

Ronda Strauser Negative Feedback

Ronda & Leo Strauser @ PayPal

2006-02-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

Ronda and Leo have a new PayPal account, everyone beware!

It is associated with:

gothicfreak1973@hotmail.com

Got ripped off?

2006-02-21T10:07:00.000-08:00

Gotten ripped off by an eBay Grifter?

I did.

What is an eBay Grifter?

An eBay Grifter is someone that uses multiple IDs to create a profile that looks good, then runs off with everyone's money. They will use multiple IDs, PO Boxes and other things to take your money and run.

So I setup this site. Been ripped off by an eBay Grifter? Post a warning here to other users to help avoid this issue. With a little work they can be identified and weeded out of the system.

Oh, and this is not just for eBay Grifters. Other auctions have the same problem, usually with the same people. So, let it rip, lets get rid of the grifters.