Liverpool man fined, gets house arrest for eBay fraud
Arizona Coin Collector
http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1092777.html
The Chronicle Herald - Nova Scotia
Liverpool man fined, gets house arrest for eBay fraud
'It was garbage,' says U.S. collector who thought
he was buying rare coins
By BEVERLEY WARE South Shore Bureau
Thu. Nov 27 - 6:17 AM
When Gerald Cyr saw the rare coins on eBay that he had
been looking for, he leaped at the opportunity to
buy them.
But the Maine collector was stunned when the set of
coins for which he had paid US$4,100 arrived in
the mail.
"It was garbage," he said.
They included a peso and a centennial coin from
Moncton.
"It was four coins that had a total value of about
a dollar," said Queens RCMP Const. Allan Nickerson.
And they came from a Liverpool teenager.
Richard Allan Mansfield, 19, pleaded guilty in
Liverpool provincial court recently to fraud and
was sentenced last week to pay US$4,100 back to
Mr. Cyr. He was also put on house arrest for five
months to be followed by one year of probation.
"I am very grateful," Mr. Cyr said in an interview
Wednesday from his home in Orland.
He thought he was buying a 10th-anniversary set of
U.S. coins that were made in 1995. They include
three gold coins and one silver.
Mr. Mansfield posted a fake picture of the coins
on the Internet.
Mr. Cyr still hopes to buy the set of coins but
said he'll need his money back from Mr. Mansfield
before he can do that.
Mr. Cyr said he got suspicious when the seller
didn't want him to pay through eBay, "but I was
so anxious to get those coins because they're so
sought after. They would have filled my collection."
So he went against his gut instinct and sent the
seller a cashier's cheque. Two weeks later, the
"garbage" arrived in the mail.
"I thought, 'Somebody is trying to pull my leg
here.' Then I thought, 'No, I've just been rooked.' "
He contacted Patrol Deputy Christopher Thornton
at the Hancock County Sheriff's Department,
eBay and PayPal. The officer's initial
investigation showed the coins came from Liverpool,
Queens County, so he got in touch with the RCMP
and Const. Nickerson joined him on the case.
They served warrants on both eBay and PayPal and
Const. Nickerson said both companies were supportive.
"The information that came from them was invaluable
to the investigation."
The records showed details of the discussions
between Mr. Cyr and the seller. It also gave the
seller's account name and, more importantly, the
IP address of that account.
With that information in hand, the integrated
police technological crime unit in Halifax got a
warrant and served it on EastLink in Halifax and
Const. Nickerson said that gave them the street
address for the computer. That led them to Mr.
Mansfield in Liverpool.
He was charged on Aug. 7, 2008, with fraud and
with mail fraud. On Nov. 18, he pleaded guilty
to fraud and the second charge was dropped. He
was sentenced by Judge Jim Burrill.
Const. Nickerson said people have to be careful
when doing business over the Internet.
"With the prevalence of computers today, computer
crimes and Internet fraud are definitely on
the rise."
"I learned a valuable lesson," said Mr. Cyr.
"I am no longer so trusting."
..
Ken Barr
Collector" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote:
[snip]
> So he went against his gut instinct and sent the
> seller a cashier's cheque. Two weeks later, the
> "garbage" arrived in the mail.
>
[sno[]
> The records showed details of the discussions
> between Mr. Cyr and the seller. It also gave the
> seller's account name and, more importantly, the
> IP address of that account.
>
> With that information in hand, the integrated
> police technological crime unit in Halifax got a
> warrant and served it on EastLink in Halifax and
> Const. Nickerson said that gave them the street
> address for the computer. That led them to Mr.
> Mansfield in Liverpool.
Wow ... all that 'lectronic detective work to find
a street address, even though the buyer MAILED a
cashier's cheque to the scammer ...
Zut alors!! Inspector Clouseau lives!!
--
Ken Barr Numismatics k...@kenbarr.com
P. O. Box 32541 website: http://www.kenbarr.com
San Jose, CA 95152 (souvenir cards, MPC, Hickey Bros tokens)
408-272-3247 Next show: Chico CC 12/14 (tentative, no table)