software

As some of you know from reading a couple threads in the off topic room, I'm about 99.99% sure I've been scammed $900 for Matamp v-28/1224 amp that was listed on HC. He hasn't returned any of my emails since sunday when I sent him the tracking # for the funds and returned his request for my shipping adress...

I guess I'm just making this thread as a further attempt to remove that dreaded quot;endless pit in my stomachquot; feeling, its all I've been able to think about this entire week...

I was tricked by the guys friendliness and impressive knowledge of the amp which is a one-off custom made amp along with detailed pics and full personal info. I still can't believe I was stupid enough to send a WU OUT OF COUNTRY!
I'm also almost positive the guy owns the amp as well, which angers me even further.
I've been sending him offers for his other items with bogus emails in attempts to see if I can keep with him, he's been replying too, so I know he is ignoring me.
I do have all his personal info, but I doubt I can do anything with it, its probably fake.(if anyone knows if anything is possible, please help me out)

And to top it all off, I am completely amp-less(and broke), because I sold my amp on ebay in order to pay for this...

there is one tiny thread of hope left within me because in one of his emails he said quot;usually I like to give 4-6 trial before pickup fundsquot; I'm not really sure what it means, and it probably doesn't matter anyways, I guess its just me still being in denial.

So if anyone feels like sharing stories of being had, it might make me feel a little better, or you can just tell me how big of a ****ing idiot I am.
I've definately learned a very valueable lesson from this...never buy anything unless from a trusted person or through ebay and always use a secure method of pay, and only buy if there is absolutely NO doubt. and if it feels too easy or is too good to be true than it probably is.
And what I have to say to you guys...never ever even think the words western union, and never buy anything from Brazil unless its comming from Mr.WFD!

thats about all I can think to say in my current state.just looking at these pictures almost makes me cry
from : localhost/photobucket.com/albums/v406/l...rueamp;interval=3

I'm off to go read some funny threads cause that seems to help me forget for a little bit....

I feel your pain! A lesson learned can be expensive! If he/she did rip you off I hope the fuker gets hit by a train I have zero tolerance for thief's.

Man, it just breaks my heart to hear of this happening to you. I know how hard it is to come up with that kind of cash. I'm not experienced enough with these type of problems, but I would certainly file a complaint with eBay. They may not be able to help you with getting your $$ back, but they can certainly suspend the guys eBay account...you said he has other items listed.

Perhaps one of the guys on the forum with some legal background could draft a letter to e-mail the guy. Not sure what you could threaten, but anything helps. Have you talked to your folks about it?

Sorry bro....keep us update.

You know what's wierd is that I was at guitar center today, and they have 2 used Matamps there....one is even Green. $1600 for the Green, and $1400 for a white one. I'd never heard of them before you mentioned it, and then I see 2 of them.

Has he actually picked up the money yet? You may be able to cancel your payment. If not, I hope and pray for you that he's just ignoring you or something and the amp shows up on your doorstep. How long ago did he supposedly ship it? I'm assuming from Brazil you could be waiting for weeks to get it.

It might be a longshot, but you could always try to contact the Brazilian police in his home town.

Ryan

damn bro...I didn't know about that! I have bnot been around much lately...I saw do anything you can to get your money back!


Originally Posted by Jeff_HMan, it just breaks my heart to hear of this happening to you. I know how hard it is to come up with that kind of cash. I'm not experienced enough with these type of problems, but I would certainly file a complaint with eBay. They may not be able to help you with getting your $$ back, but they can certainly suspend the guys eBay account...you said he has other items listed.

Perhaps one of the guys on the forum with some legal background could draft a letter to e-mail the guy. Not sure what you could threaten, but anything helps. Have you talked to your folks about it?

Sorry bro....keep us update.

Jeff, I wish it was on ebay, it was on harmony-central, I have told my parents and my moms tryin to do her best to find out what is possible to do. The thing is he could easily just change his email, the one he is using now is atlanticguitars@yahoo.com

I am still not sure if his info is valid, I have his adress, numbers etc. but I only had to include his name and city, country for the WU. Is it easy to fake that, don't you have to have some kind of verification? Also I checked the western union site with the mtcn and it said, quot;funds have been paid to receiverquot;
I know I could complain to HC but all he has to do is start a new email, and he'll do it all over again.
thanks a lot guys, for helpin me out

Good luck, bro. If you are getting ripped off, karma is gonna come back on this motherf*cker big time.

yes gary.
photos sent.

best regards

--- Gary Williams lt;ctrlcook@yahoo.comgt; wrote:

gt; hello, i came across your listing for the matamp. is
gt; it still for sale?
gt; thank you,
gt; gary
just got this email from him, this was an email Is ent him with a bogus email adress and name. I asked him if the amp that I bought and payed for was still available, and well there you go......

I really need some recommendations on what to do at this point. I don't want him to catch on, or for me to lose him so I need to respond quick.

what do I do?

Where is this guy at? What country? I'd tell him you'd like to talk to him via phone to ask some questions and arrange payment. Try to get all of the info you can. We can go from there....


Originally Posted by RGNWhere is this guy at? What country? I'd tell him you'd like to talk to him via phone to ask some questions and arrange payment. Try to get all of the info you can. We can go from there....I've got 2 bogus emails going. One is interested in a peavey 5150 head.
the second one was me asking him if the matamp(the amp I bought) was still available(to confirm I was scammed)

this is his given information from the(non bogus email) matamp transaction
FIRST NAME: ALEIN
LAST NAME: HEMRYL
HOME ADRESS: RUA JARDIM PIEMONT, 233 - AP.1200 ZIP CODE: 32680-580
WORK ADRESS: AV CAMPO FLORIDO, 10903 ZIP CODE: 32633-110
PHONE/FAX #: (55)31995 949-94(r#4501-0)
E-MAIL: atlanticguitars@yahoo.com
CITY: BETIM
STATE: MINAS GERAIS
COUNTRY: BRAZIL
AMOUNT: $900 (DHL-from 4 to 6 days) or $935 (UPS-2
days)

now here is the his info he gave me for the first bogus email(5150 head)
FIRST NAME: ALEN
LAST NAME: HEMIRL
HOME ADRESS: RUA JARDIM PIEMONT, 233 - AP.1200 ZIP CODE: 32680-580
WORK ADRESS: AV CAMPO FLORIDO, 10903 ZIP CODE: 32633-110
PHONE/FAX #: (55)31995 949-94(r#4501-0)
E-MAIL: atlanticguitars@yahoo.com
CITY: BETIM
STATE: MINAS GERAIS
COUNTRY: BRAZIL

notice how everything is the same except he changed his name from ALEIN HEMRYL to ALEN HEMIRL

my mom is sleeping but we have been talking about what to do(before I received responses to the bogus emails) and she said she knows a good lawyer friend, with this quot;alivequot; setup I have we may be able to do something.
I'm just not gonna respond until tomorrow, hopefully my mom can get a hold of the lawyer tomorrow and he will be able to do something, I just need to be carefull and make sure he doesn't catch on and run.
Opinions about this plan of action? thanks again for all the help so far, you have idea how much I appreciate this.

o ya, don't send any emails to him now, I think this is all I will have seeing that he's using all fake information, so I don't want this blown

That just sucks! The problem is that these guys live in some shack in the middle of some rat hole, then they use a public online computer somewhere, place all these ads, then collect anonymously. When people cash those bank wires, doesn't Western Union ID them? They may even take a picture. See if Western Union ID'd him?
Then send WFD the humbucker of his choice to burn him outta house and home. LOL

Seriously, WFD would unleash BLACK METAL DEATH on him. I would even pay for his HB of choice to see you get some justice.

Perhaps WFD could help you with who to contact in Brazil, the authorities? Could be worth a shot.

Man, I don't even know what to tell you.

Perhaps you could try to buy it again, under a new alias, but try to get more detailed info about him and make your payment method more difficult. Try to sucker him into using paypal. To opena pay pal account he would have to submit alot of info to paypal.


Originally Posted by Jeff_HPerhaps WFD could help you with who to contact in Brazil, the authorities? Could be worth a shot.

I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but from what JP (WFD) has told me, it doesn't really sound like things are very legit in Brazil. For instance, he told me that their customs people open packages coming into the country on a regular basis.

bummer - but I think you have enough information to at least try and identify the location (if it's a real address or not) - see if he'll send you pictures of the amp (up close and at a distance), serial number - this would give the local authorities something to work with, the amp is probably gone already (if he ever had one to begin with) but if he took pictures at the address he gave you there might be enough of the location visible to make a match. Too bad there's not a way to send a western union money order that is encoded or id'd so that the bank would have him arrested for trying to cash it. Keep up the slueth work, you might just get lucky!

If you can't stop payment I'm afraid you're screwed. Easier said than done, but you're just gonna have to accept what's happened and let it go, the longer you keep it alive the longer it'll eat away at you.