AuctionGripes.com

[MatrixWatch]

eBay Watchdogs, have you seen this site yet: www.auctiongripes.com


Seems interesting, and perhaps we could cooperate with one another. I have some very unique information that will be released in the forthcoming paperback book, but until then perhaps we could swap information with these guys.

Here is the purpose of their site:

From: http://www.auctiongripes.com/links.html


AuctionGripes.Com was created to promote awareness of fraudulent activity at online auction sites. NOTE: this site does not condone nor promote individual acts of "vigilantism", keep the *** whooping to law enforcement. The single most powerful tool to protect consumers against auction fraud is education.



I agree with their thoughts on education and vigilantees. However, when it comes to the matrix (and other) scams on eBay, law enforcement is not swift enough.

The feds have limited resources for the net-focused task forces so they have to pick their battles wisely. Eventually, the larger scammers will end up in trouble, but many small-time scammers get away before anything can be done. This is why we are pushing to report the fraudulent auctions, and eBay has established the means for us to do this.

In the short term we are protecting eBay consumers, and that is great for them and us. In the long term, we are actively bringing matrix scammers to the attention of the federal and state governing bodies, as well as the courts. We are aggresively informing the public, and hindering the efforts of matrix sites to deceive.

Through information, action, and recruitment we are bringing our voices to the "doors" of the matrix sites, and it doesn't take long before we get results.

The vigilante efforts of our auction teams are a major component of our campaign here, and I hope that those who view our efforts will see that we couple our vigilante efforts with other campaigns aimed directly at uprooting the source of the matrix scams. It is this approach that effectively takes down the matrix sites from two fronts, and not just one.

[geoffvro]

Glad that you found my site. I actually had this site open under the name ebayblacklist.com, but none of the search engines would list me for some reason. I have my suspicions regarding the closeness of eBay and Google, but without proof I'll have to keep my mouth shut for the time being.

auctiongripes.com is still under construction, as you can probably tell, but look for the forums to open around July 30th, and an article concerning matrix sites to be published on the same day.

Some people will undoubtedly disagree with my views, but I've studied eBay for many years and I won't waver in my stance that eBay has become a very successful medium for criminal activity...especially matrix sites. How hard is it for eBay to search their auction descriptions for.."you are purchasing a link"? - they profit off of other's misfortunes, and hide behind "we are just a venue"

Matrixwatch.org has been very successful with their community watchdog activities, and I commend the owners and everybody in this community for taking a very active stance in reporting all these deceptive auction descriptions to eBay and the FTC. The only way for the FTC or the government(s) to get involved is for people like you to file complaints. Once they've been overwhelmed with matrix related auction complaints.. they'll have to address the issue.

As far as swapping information - I'm fairly new to this game right now, but if you find an article on my website or a snippet of information that you want to use - acknowledge that it came from auctiongripes.com, and copy it. Also, anybody who wants to critique my website and offer ways to make it better should contact me. I dish out a lot of criticism of eBay and its sellers, but I am actually very open to criticism of my website and its contents.

Finally, I am curious about this "unique information" in your forthcoming paperback book. Any chance of getting a sneak peek so I can have a review written by the published date. I'll still review it, but I wouldn't mind taking a look at it now - You've really peaked my curiosity.

Truly a great community at matrixwatch.org, and I look forward to supporting it in the future.

[weirdid]

Hi geoffvro

Welcome to matrixwatch

Its nice to see another site helping to fight the fraudsters and scam artists on ebay.

I'm just a newbie here. Watchdog is the top man, and mercinary is the teamleader.

As you can see, we do report a lot of "link" auctions every day, but they are being listed faster than ebay remove them.

I'm sure the day will come when ebay will have to admit they are not just a venue, and start policing the site.

Keep up the good work.

weird

[ycchen]

Good to have someone based in Texas! I will visit your website soon, I am sure I will have a lot of fun there as well :)

I think AG in Texas is more aware of 'straight line matrix'. We can probably work together to report some of the Texas-based 'straight line matrix' to the AG office ! :)

[Dreamer]

Some people will undoubtedly disagree with my views


When I was in high school, I was keeping track of the score in wrestling (no, not the wwf version). Well, the match went to points, and there was a disagreement of who won. There was like 15 mins of both sides arguing with the ref. The ref came up to me (when it was a little quieter) and said he knows he is doing his job right when everybody is arguying with him.

I think any forums are uterlly boring if people aren't arguying. Look at M-S where no anti-matrix can be posted, and all the censored forums out there. Its boring to go there and I'm not sure why anybody even goes there anymore since its the same thing over and over again.

But, read some of these forums here. I have no problem disagreeing with some of the stuff here, though I agree with most of it. Some of it is just silly! So, I hope your site will be the same. I'll be sure to bookmart it, because we need more and more sites out there to protect consumers from being scammed online.

If a business scams you in a brick and morter store, you can call the cops or sue them. Online, you can try to talk to paypal, or ebay, or whoever and get your money back, but other than that, most people don't have a way to fight back.

[Dreamer]

http://www.auctiongripes.com/buyer_tips.html


certificate of authenticity - ANYBODY can create one of these. It's embarrassing that so many people believe that this piece of paper signed by Joe Blow indicates that the item you bid on is indeed authentic. Unless it signed by a very reputable source - It doesn't mean jack.


I used to run a collectables shop for over 4 years. We sold autographed pictures, jersies, etc. People always think that the CoA is the end all, as if somebody is going to go out of their way to forge a signature, but not print up a CoA.

What I thought was funny is some merchandise (emphasis on some...I'm sure most is legit) that people bought on Home shopping network turning up to be fakes. If a business like that can't check their vendors to insure legit merchandise, than why would you trust somebody online at a PO Box?

[ycchen]

certificate of authenticity - ANYBODY can create one of these. It's embarrassing that so many people believe that this piece of paper signed by Joe Blow indicates that the item you bid on is indeed authentic. Unless it signed by a very reputable source - It doesn't mean jack. Yikes, I find a typo in this statement. I actually met this guy before in a gym. His first and the last name should reverse. :D

Sorry to 'hijack' the thread. I agree with Dreamer, debate is crucial in any public forum provided that it is carried out in a respectful, rational and intelligent way. :)