10-14-2011, 01:51 AM
Hello everyone,
Well this is a first for me. In the 6+ years that I have been buying and selling mask, I have never been scammed. But, I guess my run is over. The seller that tried (and almost had success) to scam me, was TONY CROSS.
His username on the michael-"whitey".net forums is boogeymanauctions
His contact information is:
Tony Cross
Dalton, GA
Email address: tony_cross@ymail.com
Paypal address #1: tony_cross@ymail.com
Paypal address #2: tony_cross75@yahoo.com
Below is most of the evidence that I submitted to paypal. Luckily, after all was said and done, I was able to get all of my money refunded. I hope that no one has the displeasure of dealing with this guy. I hope that the mods here do the right thing and ban his account.
LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. NEVER BREAK YOUR PAYMENT INTO TWO TRANSACTIONS ON PAYPAL AND NEVER SEND YOUR PAYMENTS AS A GIFT! IF YOU DO ONE OF THESE TWO THINGS, YOU RISK LOSING YOUR BUYER PROTECTION BY PAYPAL
========= Evidence: ==============
Timeline of Events:
-[9/7/11]Item was offered by the seller Tony Cross (username: boogeymanauctions) on Michael-"whitey".net for a "Fear" Halloween mask for the amount of $200. Tony suggested that he would send me pictures of the item and answer any further questions I had via his email address (tony_cross@ymail.com)
-[9/7/11]I, Tyler Grohoski (username: 3pidemiC) accepted the offer and the transaction was setup to take place through paypal. It is decided that we will break the transaction into two payments. The first payment will consist of $100 and the second of $100.
-[9/7/11] Tony Cross suggests that I send $0.10 to this paypal account (tony_cross@ymail.com) because he claims that he is having trouble receiving money and he wants to test it out.
-[9/7/11] I send Tony Cross $0.10 to Tony Cross’s paypal account (tony_cross@ymail.com). This is transaction 7Y7020548H9990242.
-[9/8/11] Tony Cross informs me via email that his paypal account is being “screwy” and that I should send my payment to an alternate account (tony_cross75@yahoo.com). Tony states that if I send the payment before 2PM EST on 9/8/11, that he will be able to ship the item out to me that same day. He also states that he will ship the item out after the first payment is received as long as I guarantee to send the second half of the payment.
-[9/8/11] Tony Cross emails me reminding me to send the money as a gift so that he does not have to pay the Payal fees.
-[9/8/11] I send the first payment of $100 @ 1:53 PM EST. The payment is sent as a goods purchase because I wanted to make sure that I had buyer protection. This is transaction 7RC598208L2635717. I inform Tony Cross of this via email and state that I will cover the paypal fees in my second payment.
-[9/8/11] Tony informs me via email that performing the purchase as a “goods purchase” that I chose was no problem and that I just needs to add $8.00 to the next transaction to cover the paypal fees.
-[9/9/11] I ask Tony via email if the mask had been shipped out. Tony emails me back stating that a work meeting prevented him from shipping the mask out, but he would have free time to ship it out the following day (Saturday, 9/10/11). I ask him if he still needs to second half of the money (because the item did not ship) and he says that he would prefer if I sent it.
-[9/9/11] The second half of the payment ($108) is sent to Tony Cross on his paypal account tony_cross75@yahoo.com (# 94A2282156262003J).
-[9/11/11] I email Tony inquiring about the updates and wondering if the item had been shipped out and why, all of a sudden, he is not answering my emails. I note that Tony has been logging into his account on the forums on the website http://www.michael-"whitey".net (where Tony first made contact with me) during this time period that I have been trying to contact him.
-[9/12/11] Tony Cross finally responds to be my status requests. Tony apologizes for the delay and states that he is going to throw in a pair of coveralls (jumpsuit) in as a courtesy for the delay. Tony says that the package will be shipped out on Thursday (9/15/11) for sure.
-[9/14/11] I ask Tony what caused the original delay which prevented the item from being shipped out on 9/10/11 and Tony responds stating that he overslept and couldn’t ship it out that day.
-[9/15/11]I email Tony asking about shipping updates . Tony responds to my email with a picture attachment of the USPS delivery confirmation number. Tony also states in the same email: “I taped both boxes together to save on shipping. With the mask being such a thin pull, I didn\'t want to pack them together. Didn\'t want to chance the coveralls causing any warping of the latex by laying on the mask through out the transport”.
-[9/17/11] I receive only on package from USPS. Inside of the package is only the coverall clothing (that was sent as a courtesy) and not the original $200 “Fear” mask. The box that it was shipped in showed no signs of damage or tampering and had no signs of a second box being taped to it. I grow suspicious. If there had been a second box, there would be clear signs that would have show that. Signs such as excess tape to help secure the two supposed boxes together or possible tears in the cardboard to show that the second box had been removed. The shipping label, confirmation sticker, and postage cost sticker are all on the box that I received. I then email Tony Cross telling him that I only received one package and that it only contained the coveralls. I ask him where the mask is.
-[9/18/11] Having yet to receive a response from Tony, I send him another email stating the urgency of the situation and stating that I will contact Paypal if I do not hear back from him. I state in the email that I would like to work the situation out with him but I will take the necessary actions if I have to get my money back.
-[9/18/11] Roughly 3 hours after sending the email to Tony, he responds with this message: “What do you mean you only received the coveralls? The boxes were securely taped together. It was even approved by the postal cashier, he\'s the one that suggested doing it that way to save on the postage.”
-[9/18/11] I immediately respond to his email stating: “I only received the coveralls. See the attached pictures that shows the only box that arrived. What\'s odd is that I see no signs of a second box being taped there such as excess tape or any sort of damage to the box that may result from a second box being removed such as tearing of the outer paper of the cardboard. If there was a second box, how did you secure it to the first box? I don\'t see any way of doing that unless you had tape that was wrapped around the first box a great deal. Even if you put tape only on the seam between the two boxes, and one of the boxes became detached, the outer portion of the box on at least one side would be torn or there would be excess tape leftover. The shipping label, confirmation sticker, and the postage paid sticker all reside on this single box, which again, is odd. You may want to contact the post office to find out what happened.” Within this email, I send him two pictures of the inside and outside of the only box that I received from USPS.
Summary:
Over the course of this longer-than-expected transaction, Tony Cross has become more and more suspicious in his actions. I believe that there are many clear signs that show that Tony has malicious intent in trying to scam me out of my $208.
From the paypal account change, to his push for a “gift” transaction through Paypal, to the shipping delays, to his delays in responding to my inquiries only after he received all of his money, to the “courtesy” of sending me a pair of coveralls which conveniently added a second shipping box to the equation, to the sudden missing box that contained the $200 item which resulted directly from the newly-added second shipping box.
I believe that Tony Cross has scammed me out of my money and had no intention of sending me the original item that we agreed upon. I did not receive the item that I originally paid him for (The “Fear” mask) and it appears that I will not be receiving this mask because Tony claims that it was lost in the mail. I have documented this entire transaction process between myself and Tony Cross, and I can clearly show his suspicious actions during every step of the way.
Tony claims that the taped two separate boxes together, one that contained the mask and another that contained the coveralls, to save on shipping. What\'s odd is that I see no signs of a second box being taped there such as excess tape or any sort of damage to the box that may result from a second box being removed such as tearing of the outer paper of the cardboard.
If there was a second box, how did he secure it to the first box? I don\'t see any way of doing that unless you had tape that was wrapped around the first box a great deal. Even if you put tape only on the seam between the two boxes (which would be a very bad idea), and one of the boxes had become detached, the outer portion of the box on at least one side would be torn or there would be excess tape leftover.
Also, the shipping label, confirmation sticker, and the postage paid sticker all reside on this single box which is odd because if there were two boxes taped together originally, how did none of the stickers get placed on the second box which supposedly got lost in the mail?
Based on the appearance of the box, I believe that Tony Cross is lying about shipping two separate boxes and his claim that one box containing the $200 mask was lost in the mail is completely untrue.
Pictures:
If anyone has as questions regarding my dealings with this seller, please let me know. Take care.
Well this is a first for me. In the 6+ years that I have been buying and selling mask, I have never been scammed. But, I guess my run is over. The seller that tried (and almost had success) to scam me, was TONY CROSS.
His username on the michael-"whitey".net forums is boogeymanauctions
His contact information is:
Tony Cross
Dalton, GA
Email address: tony_cross@ymail.com
Paypal address #1: tony_cross@ymail.com
Paypal address #2: tony_cross75@yahoo.com
Below is most of the evidence that I submitted to paypal. Luckily, after all was said and done, I was able to get all of my money refunded. I hope that no one has the displeasure of dealing with this guy. I hope that the mods here do the right thing and ban his account.
LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. NEVER BREAK YOUR PAYMENT INTO TWO TRANSACTIONS ON PAYPAL AND NEVER SEND YOUR PAYMENTS AS A GIFT! IF YOU DO ONE OF THESE TWO THINGS, YOU RISK LOSING YOUR BUYER PROTECTION BY PAYPAL
========= Evidence: ==============
Timeline of Events:
-[9/7/11]Item was offered by the seller Tony Cross (username: boogeymanauctions) on Michael-"whitey".net for a "Fear" Halloween mask for the amount of $200. Tony suggested that he would send me pictures of the item and answer any further questions I had via his email address (tony_cross@ymail.com)
-[9/7/11]I, Tyler Grohoski (username: 3pidemiC) accepted the offer and the transaction was setup to take place through paypal. It is decided that we will break the transaction into two payments. The first payment will consist of $100 and the second of $100.
-[9/7/11] Tony Cross suggests that I send $0.10 to this paypal account (tony_cross@ymail.com) because he claims that he is having trouble receiving money and he wants to test it out.
-[9/7/11] I send Tony Cross $0.10 to Tony Cross’s paypal account (tony_cross@ymail.com). This is transaction 7Y7020548H9990242.
-[9/8/11] Tony Cross informs me via email that his paypal account is being “screwy” and that I should send my payment to an alternate account (tony_cross75@yahoo.com). Tony states that if I send the payment before 2PM EST on 9/8/11, that he will be able to ship the item out to me that same day. He also states that he will ship the item out after the first payment is received as long as I guarantee to send the second half of the payment.
-[9/8/11] Tony Cross emails me reminding me to send the money as a gift so that he does not have to pay the Payal fees.
-[9/8/11] I send the first payment of $100 @ 1:53 PM EST. The payment is sent as a goods purchase because I wanted to make sure that I had buyer protection. This is transaction 7RC598208L2635717. I inform Tony Cross of this via email and state that I will cover the paypal fees in my second payment.
-[9/8/11] Tony informs me via email that performing the purchase as a “goods purchase” that I chose was no problem and that I just needs to add $8.00 to the next transaction to cover the paypal fees.
-[9/9/11] I ask Tony via email if the mask had been shipped out. Tony emails me back stating that a work meeting prevented him from shipping the mask out, but he would have free time to ship it out the following day (Saturday, 9/10/11). I ask him if he still needs to second half of the money (because the item did not ship) and he says that he would prefer if I sent it.
-[9/9/11] The second half of the payment ($108) is sent to Tony Cross on his paypal account tony_cross75@yahoo.com (# 94A2282156262003J).
-[9/11/11] I email Tony inquiring about the updates and wondering if the item had been shipped out and why, all of a sudden, he is not answering my emails. I note that Tony has been logging into his account on the forums on the website http://www.michael-"whitey".net (where Tony first made contact with me) during this time period that I have been trying to contact him.
-[9/12/11] Tony Cross finally responds to be my status requests. Tony apologizes for the delay and states that he is going to throw in a pair of coveralls (jumpsuit) in as a courtesy for the delay. Tony says that the package will be shipped out on Thursday (9/15/11) for sure.
-[9/14/11] I ask Tony what caused the original delay which prevented the item from being shipped out on 9/10/11 and Tony responds stating that he overslept and couldn’t ship it out that day.
-[9/15/11]I email Tony asking about shipping updates . Tony responds to my email with a picture attachment of the USPS delivery confirmation number. Tony also states in the same email: “I taped both boxes together to save on shipping. With the mask being such a thin pull, I didn\'t want to pack them together. Didn\'t want to chance the coveralls causing any warping of the latex by laying on the mask through out the transport”.
-[9/17/11] I receive only on package from USPS. Inside of the package is only the coverall clothing (that was sent as a courtesy) and not the original $200 “Fear” mask. The box that it was shipped in showed no signs of damage or tampering and had no signs of a second box being taped to it. I grow suspicious. If there had been a second box, there would be clear signs that would have show that. Signs such as excess tape to help secure the two supposed boxes together or possible tears in the cardboard to show that the second box had been removed. The shipping label, confirmation sticker, and postage cost sticker are all on the box that I received. I then email Tony Cross telling him that I only received one package and that it only contained the coveralls. I ask him where the mask is.
-[9/18/11] Having yet to receive a response from Tony, I send him another email stating the urgency of the situation and stating that I will contact Paypal if I do not hear back from him. I state in the email that I would like to work the situation out with him but I will take the necessary actions if I have to get my money back.
-[9/18/11] Roughly 3 hours after sending the email to Tony, he responds with this message: “What do you mean you only received the coveralls? The boxes were securely taped together. It was even approved by the postal cashier, he\'s the one that suggested doing it that way to save on the postage.”
-[9/18/11] I immediately respond to his email stating: “I only received the coveralls. See the attached pictures that shows the only box that arrived. What\'s odd is that I see no signs of a second box being taped there such as excess tape or any sort of damage to the box that may result from a second box being removed such as tearing of the outer paper of the cardboard. If there was a second box, how did you secure it to the first box? I don\'t see any way of doing that unless you had tape that was wrapped around the first box a great deal. Even if you put tape only on the seam between the two boxes, and one of the boxes became detached, the outer portion of the box on at least one side would be torn or there would be excess tape leftover. The shipping label, confirmation sticker, and the postage paid sticker all reside on this single box, which again, is odd. You may want to contact the post office to find out what happened.” Within this email, I send him two pictures of the inside and outside of the only box that I received from USPS.
Summary:
Over the course of this longer-than-expected transaction, Tony Cross has become more and more suspicious in his actions. I believe that there are many clear signs that show that Tony has malicious intent in trying to scam me out of my $208.
From the paypal account change, to his push for a “gift” transaction through Paypal, to the shipping delays, to his delays in responding to my inquiries only after he received all of his money, to the “courtesy” of sending me a pair of coveralls which conveniently added a second shipping box to the equation, to the sudden missing box that contained the $200 item which resulted directly from the newly-added second shipping box.
I believe that Tony Cross has scammed me out of my money and had no intention of sending me the original item that we agreed upon. I did not receive the item that I originally paid him for (The “Fear” mask) and it appears that I will not be receiving this mask because Tony claims that it was lost in the mail. I have documented this entire transaction process between myself and Tony Cross, and I can clearly show his suspicious actions during every step of the way.
Tony claims that the taped two separate boxes together, one that contained the mask and another that contained the coveralls, to save on shipping. What\'s odd is that I see no signs of a second box being taped there such as excess tape or any sort of damage to the box that may result from a second box being removed such as tearing of the outer paper of the cardboard.
If there was a second box, how did he secure it to the first box? I don\'t see any way of doing that unless you had tape that was wrapped around the first box a great deal. Even if you put tape only on the seam between the two boxes (which would be a very bad idea), and one of the boxes had become detached, the outer portion of the box on at least one side would be torn or there would be excess tape leftover.
Also, the shipping label, confirmation sticker, and the postage paid sticker all reside on this single box which is odd because if there were two boxes taped together originally, how did none of the stickers get placed on the second box which supposedly got lost in the mail?
Based on the appearance of the box, I believe that Tony Cross is lying about shipping two separate boxes and his claim that one box containing the $200 mask was lost in the mail is completely untrue.
Pictures:
If anyone has as questions regarding my dealings with this seller, please let me know. Take care.