Hi, I'm just writing to warn anyone thinking of becoming an eBay seller or anyone who already sells and is trying to find a new way to get inventory, as well as buyers who may run the risk of getting caught up in this as well. THERE IS A SCAMMER ON THE LOOSE WHO HAS ALREADY MAKE ALOT OF MONEY BILKING EBAY SELLERS AND THEIR BUYERS!
I was contacted by "Leaders Stores" in response to a resume that I had sent them through Careerbuilder.com (who has since removed Leaderss ads due to complaints), and offered the opportunity to resell products for them on eBay (I was to place the listing with a markup price of my choosing, collect payment from buyers, and transfer Leaderss share of payment to their bank account, and they were to then ship the items to my buyer. The process is known as dropshipping, which is a perfectly legitimate practice, if you're working with a legitimate dropshipper.)
After doing what I believed to be a thorough check on Leaders in as many anti-scam sites as I could find (including complaints and the BBB), I asked for and received a contract from them via email, which I then signed and digitally photographed, emailing the digital image of my signature on the contract to them. I subsequently reserved 24 Sony Cybershot DSC-F717 digital cameras for resale, listed them and collected payment from most of my buyers via PayPal. I then transferred the amount necessary to pay Leaders for the shipment of the cameras that had been paid for to my bank account (in three separate transfers;one on the night of Tuesday, July 29, and two on Wednesday, July 30,1003). From there I was to transfer payment to their account.
Fortunately, a buyer asked for a refund, stating that it was against eBay policy for me not to disclose in the listing that the item was being dropshipped. As Leaders had asked specifically in their contract that our dropshipping arrangement was not to be discussed with buyers unless there was a problem, I checked eBays Sellers Central message board to see how other sellers handled such a situation. There I found a message posted about a dropshipping scam being perpetrated by a company that sounded remarkably similer to Leaders.
I emailed the poster of the message, as well as to other sellers who had had contact with the fraudulent dropshipper mentioned in the message, and emailed Leaders several times about the possibility of having payment transferred instead to an escrow account, so that they would not receive payment until my buyers received their products. I received an email back from the message poster confirming that the fraudulent company was in fact Leaders Stores and Leaders never responded to my emails regarding escrow, so I had to issue refunds to my customers (which, thanks to PayPal, took over TWO WEEKS).
One of my buyers for this auction is a police detective and he has been helping me to track down these con-artists. (BTW He has also gave me 2 pieces of advice which I will pass on here: 1. Don't buy from anyone who will only accept a Western Union money transfer [W.U. Is untraceable]and 2. If you're using escrow, only buy through an eBay recommended escrow account, as some sellers have tried to get buyers to use phony foreign escrow accounts.)
I have also alerted the FBI's Internet Fraud Division. Judging by the emails I have received and the message board posts I have seen, "Leaders Stores" have already conned many sellers and buyers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and will continue to do so until stopped. They have even begun to hack into users accounts to post auctions selling contact information for a supposed resale opportunity. The contact information leads directly back to Leaders Stores itself. Also, please be advised that they may not be using the same name, email address or m.O. As before (I had complained to America's Job Bank myself when I saw it there and got their ad pulled, but have recently seen a job listing that sounds only slightly different.)
Although I have lost only a minimal amount of money in this transaction, I feel I have lost two things far more important to an eBay seller: my credibility and good reputation, and my history of customer satisfaction. So, I'm warning everybody: If you apply for a job with a "dropshipping company" based in Germany, or if you are contacted by "Leaders Stores", please report them. Do not agree to sell anything for them! Despite the "professional" feel of their contract, price list, etc. (which are VERY professional looking at first glance), THEY HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF TAKING PEOPLE'S MONEY AND HAVE NEVER SHIPPED A SINGLE ITEM!
(If you think this sounds familiar to you, or you think you may have been contacted by Leaders, please feel free to email me through the rebuttal key and I will be happy to forward over copies of their contracts, etc. So that you can compare them with what you have.) And buyers: before you buy any electronics equipment, etc., please ask the seller if the item is being dropshipped and if so, ask if they have had a long-standing good relationship with their shipper. So, far as I know, this person is still conning buyers and sellers. Thanks! Jenni
Jennifer
Newtown, Connecticut
U.S.A.
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