Miami, FL: One of the most galling types of internet scams involves the sale and non-delivery of items online. While the vast majority of vendors on eBay are honest and legitimate, there are always a few who are looking to make an easy dollar off unsuspecting customers. Such was the case with Nilton Rossoni, a Brazilian businessman living in Florida, who ran what the Miami Herald described as one of the largest and most brazen Internet scams in the history of eBay.
According to the 2/23/10 issue of the Herald, Rossoni was convicted of bilking $717,000 from more than 5,500 eBay buyers through 260 different auction accounts. Rossoni used dozens of e-mail accounts from Yahoo, Google and AOL, together with about 60 private postal boxes.
Aware that the anti-fraud protection services through eBay are only available to buyers who use PayPal, Rossoni only accepted money orders and cashier's checks. He fabricated his own positive feedback, creating a false sense of legitimacy for his services.
When buyers complained about non-delivery of merchandise—everything from horse saddles to Bowflex machines—he would buy a few extra weeks by blaming the post office. He promised the buyers a refund, which he never delivered, and continued with various delaying tactics until finally shutting down the phony user account and moving on to the next.
Rossoni and his 28-year-old son Nilton Joel Rossoni auctioned thousands of products and took in more than $700,000 between 2003 and 2008 without ever delivering a single item.
The massive internet scam finally ended when Rossoni was arrested at Miami International Airport in August.
His downfall began when he sold a $90 Surefire flashlight to Jonathon Harkness, a liquor store regulator from Washington State. Harkness sent a money order to "Jorge Carlos," a Rossoni alias, at a Miami street address, which turned out to be a private postal box. When the promised flashlight never arrived, Harkness knew he'd been had. He contacted his congressman, Rep. Adam Smith, who, suspecting a bigger scam, brought the complaint to the US Postal Inspection Service.
A three-year probe led by US Postal Inspector Richard Koss finally exposed Rossoni, who was sentenced earlier this month to five and a half years in federal prison. A federal court hearing on restitution for victims is pending.
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According to the 2/23/10 issue of the Herald, Rossoni was convicted of bilking $717,000 from more than 5,500 eBay buyers through 260 different auction accounts. Rossoni used dozens of e-mail accounts from Yahoo, Google and AOL, together with about 60 private postal boxes.
