Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I’d like to let folks know of a scammer who’s currently operating on eBay under the xauvier01 user name. He’s subtly encouraging folks to buy out of eBay, then he asks for a bank transfer, and of course never delivers.
He did me out of 2050 euros on 26th September for a Elektron Analog Rytm/Analog Keys, letting GAS get the better of good judgement He even did a Skype call giving me a demo of the Keys. He knows this equipment like the back of his hand, so he’s clearly a gear-head.
He puts up items and then if anyone bids, he ends the item and relists it, until someone bites. Apart from my scam, he’s also done a number of decent folk for these items:
Roland Jupiter 8 (5000 euros)
Apple Mac Pro 6-core (3000 euros)
Elektron Sidstation + Elektron Analog Four (1800 euros)
Pioneer DJM 900 Nexus Mixer (1300 euros)
Allen + Heath XONE Db4 DJ mixer (1600 euros)
Universal Audio Apollo Quad + Thunderbolt card (2000 euros)
He even has a website as a cover (registered at a Russian address): http://chef-x.com.
He’s gone under the following names: Joel Xauvier, Julienne Luise Obuieen. He’s also gone under the business names of “G-Minor”, “Juno Reload” and “Joel Xauvier Fragrance and Gym Equipment”. He’s French, and he’s living in the UK.
The police are currently investigating. If anyone’s got any info on this scumbag, feel free to share!
Hi Elektronika
Sorry to hear you got scammed. What a scumbag.
I put a bid on that Rytm. $100 He cancelled it almost immediately. I think I put about $10 on the Rme UFX as well.
He is the guy that says “item re listed due to previous buyer messing me around”
These dirty fucking rats will get what’s coming to them, no doubt (once again, my apologies to the actual rat population of this world for reckless defamation).
This is the guy I referred to in the other thread. He was selling a Mac Pro and a bunch of expensive clothes too. He was using another alias and has very distinctive handwriting visible in a couple of the listings. I might have some of the photos saved somewhere - will check when I’m done with work.
Ebay should take a lot more responsibility for this. They are facilitating his fraud. No doubt they would have received multiple complaints about him by now yet he is still at it.
But to play devil’s advocate…this is why you never deal with anyone on an eBay listing outside of eBay. Keep all correspondence written within Ebay’s messaging system, pay with paypal through eBay, etc. Even if someone gives you a phone number, only call it after you’ve gone through the proper channels of obtaining the number from eBay, and that is a last resort. eBay has done a lot to set up systems to prevent fraud (at least for buyers), but if you go outside of that, there isn’t much they can do. They can close his account, but there isn’t much to prevent him from making a new one and doing it again.
Even making a purchase through Paypal isn’t enough to really help you. They can help to research the transaction and may be able to get your money back, but they don’t likely have a record of discourse between the buyer and seller, just the record of the payment. I’ve picked up a few things from Gearslutz via Paypal, but that was only because it was with longstanding members there and not someone with no post history. I’ve also purchased one item found on eBay locally and outside of eBay, but that was at a local pawn shop where I could check it out first hand.
PayPal DO protect you if you insist on using the “goods/services” method to complete the transaction. Of course there is a fee involved in this but if you can insist on this method plus an invoice that details everything included then PayPal treat it as if buying from a regular vendor and will protect you. It’s when you buy privately and just “gift” money that problems can happen.
Thanks everyone for your replies! Decent folk, you can’t beat it
Accent: yeah this was an obvious scam in hindsight, I knew that after a few hours, but the damage was done. Ironically, I sold a guitar to a guy in Greece at the same time outside of eBay, he’s delighted at saving some cash, I converted a guitar to an Elektron
mezz303, I don’t think eBay cares if it doesn’t happen within eBay.
rikrak: info on other aliases would be fascinating! I believe this is his full-time job
He protested his innocence in about a hour long Skype call, a phone call, and 50 emails back and forth over the course of 7 weeks. The time spent dealing with this clown (and not doing music) was probably worse than the money tbh
From what I’ve read it would be easy enough for the police to do a reverse lookup with his phone company on mobile phone, and with his bank on his bank details.
Wouldn’t matter if he closed them either, as by law they have to keep that information for 7 years (Sarbanes Oxley Act). So if I have anything to do with it, he’ll be caught eventually…
Jeezus christ…I’m sure I spoke to this guy a while back regarding the Rytm…luckily I came to a dead end with this one …which didnt stop me falling for the other dickhead scammer the other week…SURELY there has to be a way to catch this fucker…he’s still active is he???
He was active approx three months ago under the name “eauflorale’”
I contacted him about an Octatrack that he continually listed over and over trying to hook people in. Reported it to eBay, and they did nothing about it. He traded for a while, then shut down his account. Now it seems he has resurfaced again.
Dubkutter, what he does is he sells a few cheap items around the £5 mark. He buys a few items as well to fill out the feedback. He keeps feedback private where possible. Click on “items for sale” here, then ‘completed listing’ checkbox, all you’ll see is a can of hairspray: http://www.ebay.ie/sch/xauvier01
Peza, yes he’s still active. He can be traced through his bank details and his phone number, though it takes time to get the paperwork together I’d say. Due to privacy laws, only the police can get this information, if they deem someone suspicious of fraud.
You’ll notice in this case, he didn’t think to hide the feedback, so the approach is obvious, everything about £1.00 and £1.50.
He registered his chef front identity web site 2 July 2011, so he’s been doing this for quite some time, could well have cleared over 100,000 by this stage no problems. Solely from people interested in making music. What a c*nt
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And ClaudeStroh, I think it’s kind of funny that someone would sign up to Elektronauts specifically to post to a scam thread with…a scam. That’s champion stuff right there, well done!
Didn’t want to start a new thread for this, so figured I’d post it here, just to remind people that if it sounds too good to be true it usually is…that and also because this one is funny, because it explicitly states “no pickup, only shipping!” in CAPITAL letters
He even did a Skype call giving me a demo of the Keys. He knows this equipment like the back of his hand, so he’s clearly a gear-head.
He cancelled it almost immediately. I think I put about $10 on the Rme UFX as well.
