Please help, probable hard drive fraud

[Daniel Prince]

I bought what was supposed to be a retail Seagate 750 PATA drive on
eBay. I paid with PayPal. My PayPal account is funded from my
MasterCard account.

The drive arrived today. It was in a shrink wrapped Seagate box
with all the Seagate accessories. It has a Seagate 750 gig label
which is pealed up a little on the top. The jumpers on the drive do
not match the jumpers described in the quick start guide or on the
drive label.

When I installed it into my computer, it made a series of buzzing
noises (buzz silence buzz etc.) and the BIOS identified it as:

WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN
19526 MB
CYLINDER 37833
HEAD 16
PRECOMP 0
LANDING ZONE 37833
SECTOR 63

After the BIOS detects the drive it gives an error message saying
that the drive had failed and my computer just stops without trying
to boot even when it is set to boot from the CD-ROM and there is a
bootable disc in the CD-ROM drive.

I do not think that it is even remotely possible that a defective
Seagate 750 could identify itself as a "WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN" with a
capacity of less than 20 gigs.

I think that someone has put a Seagate label on an old junk drive,
put it into a Seagate box with Seagate accessories and sold it as a
new Seagate 750 gig drive.

Here are some pictures of the drive:

http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0682fu8.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0683zm6.jpg
http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0684zv6.jpg

What should I do about this? Can I make the seller or PayPal or my
credit card company refund all my money including the $10 shipping I
paid? Thank you in advance for all replies.

 

[Rod Speed]

I bought what was supposed to be a retail Seagate 750 PATA drive on
eBay. I paid with PayPal. My PayPal account is funded from my
MasterCard account.

The drive arrived today. It was in a shrink wrapped Seagate box
with all the Seagate accessories. It has a Seagate 750 gig label
which is pealed up a little on the top. The jumpers on the drive do
not match the jumpers described in the quick start guide or on the
drive label.

When I installed it into my computer, it made a series of buzzing
noises (buzz silence buzz etc.) and the BIOS identified it as:

WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN
19526 MB
CYLINDER 37833
HEAD 16
PRECOMP 0
LANDING ZONE 37833
SECTOR 63

After the BIOS detects the drive it gives an error message saying
that the drive had failed and my computer just stops without trying
to boot even when it is set to boot from the CD-ROM and there is a
bootable disc in the CD-ROM drive.

I do not think that it is even remotely possible that a defective
Seagate 750 could identify itself as a "WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN" with a
capacity of less than 20 gigs.

I think that someone has put a Seagate label on an old junk drive,
put it into a Seagate box with Seagate accessories and sold it as a
new Seagate 750 gig drive.

Looks like it.

Here are some pictures of the drive:

http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0682fu8.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0683zm6.jpg
http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0684zv6.jpg

A closeup of the barcodes on the small labels underneath might be useful.

What should I do about this? Can I make the seller or PayPal or my credit
card company refund all my money including the $10 shipping I paid?

Yes with the credit card company. Maybe with paypal, depends on the
seller's paypal status, likely he doesnt have a good enough one for that.

 

[Paul Rubin]

What should I do about this? Can I make the seller or PayPal or my
credit card company refund all my money including the $10 shipping I
paid? Thank you in advance for all replies.

Among other things, notify law enforcement.

 

[Arno Wagner]

I bought what was supposed to be a retail Seagate 750 PATA drive on
eBay. I paid with PayPal. My PayPal account is funded from my
MasterCard account.

The drive arrived today. It was in a shrink wrapped Seagate box
with all the Seagate accessories. It has a Seagate 750 gig label
which is pealed up a little on the top. The jumpers on the drive do
not match the jumpers described in the quick start guide or on the
drive label.

When I installed it into my computer, it made a series of buzzing
noises (buzz silence buzz etc.) and the BIOS identified it as:

WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN
19526 MB
CYLINDER 37833
HEAD 16
PRECOMP 0
LANDING ZONE 37833
SECTOR 63

After the BIOS detects the drive it gives an error message saying
that the drive had failed and my computer just stops without trying
to boot even when it is set to boot from the CD-ROM and there is a
bootable disc in the CD-ROM drive.

I do not think that it is even remotely possible that a defective
Seagate 750 could identify itself as a "WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN" with a
capacity of less than 20 gigs.

I agree.

I think that someone has put a Seagate label on an old junk drive,
put it into a Seagate box with Seagate accessories and sold it as a
new Seagate 750 gig drive.

Very, very likely/

Here are some pictures of the drive:

What should I do about this? Can I make the seller or PayPal or my
credit card company refund all my money including the $10 shipping I
paid? Thank you in advance for all replies.

The first one to notify is Ebay with a fraud complaint. Tell them
to freeze payment. (If I remember correctly, PayPal belongs to Ebay.)

The second step is to notify law enforcement. Tell Ebay that you will
do that and send them a copy of the report you get from the
police. That makes thinks a bit more pressing for them....

For the credit card company, that is a last resort. If after 4 weeks
(or what your usual complaint period is), the matter has not been
resolved, you can block the money with your credid card provider.
But it should be blocked by PayPal long before that.

For a refund you will have to go through some arbitration process.
Freezing the money is fast, but getting it back is not necessarily.
Afer all, you could have defrauded the seller as well, by sticking
the label on an old disk and keeping the good disk. Ebay will
have to resolve this in some way.

By all means keep everything you were sent and don't mess with it.
It may be needed as evidence.

Arno

 

[James Brown]

I agree.


Very, very likely/

The first one to notify is Ebay with a fraud complaint. Tell them to freeze payment.

Too late for that.

(If I remember correctly, PayPal belongs to Ebay.)

Irrelevant to whether its too late to freeze it now.

The second step is to notify law enforcement. Tell Ebay that
you will do that and send them a copy of the report you get
from the police. That makes thinks a bit more pressing for them....
Fantasy.

For the credit card company, that is a last resort.
Wrong.

If after 4 weeks (or what your usual complaint period is), the matter has
not been resolved, you can block the money with your credid card provider.

Again, the transfer has ALREADY happened.

And getting the card company to do a chargeback
is a lot easier than getting PayPal to do it.

But it should be blocked by PayPal long before that.

Its already been transferred.

For a refund you will have to go through some arbitration process.
Freezing the money is fast,

The payment has already been made, nothing to freeze.

but getting it back is not necessarily. Afer all, you could have
defrauded the seller as well, by sticking the label on an old disk and
keeping the good disk. Ebay will have to resolve this in some way.

Wrong again.

By all means keep everything you were sent and
don't mess with it. It may be needed as evidence.

Makes a hell of a lot more sense to get the credit card issuer to do a chargeback.

 

[Daniel Prince]

A closeup of the barcodes on the small labels underneath might be useful.

Here are pictures of all the barcodes I could find:

http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bottombarcode2en5.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bottombarcodeoi7.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=edgebarcodeko2.jpg

 

[chrisv]

I do not think that it is even remotely possible that a defective
Seagate 750 could identify itself as a "WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN" with a
capacity of less than 20 gigs.

Well, you never know, with a Seagate...

8)

 

[hdtv?]

I bought what was supposed to be a retail Seagate 750 PATA drive on
eBay. I paid with PayPal. My PayPal account is funded from my
MasterCard account.

The drive arrived today. It was in a shrink wrapped Seagate box
with all the Seagate accessories. It has a Seagate 750 gig label
which is pealed up a little on the top. The jumpers on the drive do
not match the jumpers described in the quick start guide or on the
drive label.

WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN
19526 MB
CYLINDER 37833
HEAD 16
PRECOMP 0
LANDING ZONE 37833
SECTOR 63


Here are some pictures of the drive:

http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0682fu8.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0683zm6.jpg
http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0684zv6.jpg

What should I do about this? Can I make the seller or PayPal or my
credit card company refund all my money including the $10 shipping I
paid? Thank you in advance for all replies.
--

Have you complained to the seller? Their response?
What were the sellers terms of sale (ie. 7 days non DOA, 30 days ...)?
Are there pictures of a new 750GB seagate on the seagate website or on a
retailers website? If so you should print a few for comparison purposes.

btw the pictures you have shown looks like a WD to me, as do the other
indicators you have listed.

But, as another poster suggested, how do you show that the situation is not
an attempt at reverse fraud wherein you re labelled an old drive and stashed
the new one?

 

[Rod Speed]

Here are pictures of all the barcodes I could find:

http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bottombarcode2en5.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bottombarcodeoi7.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=edgebarcodeko2.jpg

Damn, didnt help any on the identity of the drive itself.

 

[Rod Speed]

I bought what was supposed to be a retail Seagate 750 PATA drive on
eBay. I paid with PayPal. My PayPal account is funded from my
MasterCard account.

The drive arrived today. It was in a shrink wrapped Seagate box
with all the Seagate accessories. It has a Seagate 750 gig label
which is pealed up a little on the top. The jumpers on the drive do
not match the jumpers described in the quick start guide or on the
drive label.

When I installed it into my computer, it made a series of buzzing
noises (buzz silence buzz etc.) and the BIOS identified it as:

WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN
19526 MB
CYLINDER 37833
HEAD 16
PRECOMP 0
LANDING ZONE 37833
SECTOR 63

After the BIOS detects the drive it gives an error message saying
that the drive had failed and my computer just stops without trying
to boot even when it is set to boot from the CD-ROM and there is a
bootable disc in the CD-ROM drive.

I do not think that it is even remotely possible that a defective
Seagate 750 could identify itself as a "WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN" with a
capacity of less than 20 gigs.

I think that someone has put a Seagate label on an old junk drive,
put it into a Seagate box with Seagate accessories and sold it as a
new Seagate 750 gig drive.

Here are some pictures of the drive:

http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0682fu8.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0683zm6.jpg
http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0684zv6.jpg

What should I do about this? Can I make the seller or PayPal or my
credit card company refund all my money including the $10 shipping I
paid? Thank you in advance for all replies.

Post a link to the original ebay auction.

 

[Impmon]

Looks like it.

THe top label does look like it's been peeled and reapplied.

There is however a possibility the seller didn't pull this off. If
the seller has a habit of buying store returns and selling them on
eBay, then it could have been a customer that ripped the store off and
in the end the seller and finally the buyer.

A link to the auction would help us determine of seller does sell
store returns or not.

Also contact the seller and inform of this. If you don't get a
response in reasonable time (24 hours if the seller is still active on
eBay), do file complaint with Paypal. Paypal can freeze the fund in
seller's account and if the seller's already emptied it, it would hold
the seller into negative balance. Should Paypal decide in buyer's
favor, they could damage the seller's credit rating by sending
collection agency after the seller.

OTOH it could be the buyer trying to rip off the seller.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Have you complained to the seller? Their response?
What were the sellers terms of sale (ie. 7 days non DOA, 30 days ...)?
Are there pictures of a new 750GB seagate on the seagate website or on a
retailers website? If so you should print a few for comparison purposes.

btw the pictures you have shown looks like a WD to me, as do the other
indicators you have listed.

But, as another poster suggested, how do you show that the situation is not
an attempt at reverse fraud wherein you re labelled an old drive and stashed
the new one?

Whatever you do, complain to Ebay immediately. Don't wait. They do
have a section about seller fraud in their TOC, and to some degree
it is their problem.

Arno

 

[Splork]

Here are pictures of all the barcodes I could find:

http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bottombarcode2en5.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bottombarcodeoi7.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=edgebarcodeko2.jpg

IIR the 750 drives are perpendicular recording models. I don't think any WDC
models had that capacity but I could be wrong. From your description and the
system response, this appears as a rewrapped fraud. Seagate drives usually have
a "ST" prefixed model number somewhere.

tRY TO Get a reply from the seller.
Document your attempts.
Try a (just one) phone call using ebay user information.
If no response, have the CC company reverse the charge and then work it out.
They will want the documentation I suggested.

After all is done you can lodge the ebay complaints and feedback. Secure your
money first. Reverse charges usually include your full payment. Good that you
used a CC.

File an FBI Internet fraud complaint and whatever else you can dig up as well.


Just for jollies I plugged the numbers in the seagate warranty verification page

3QD01D58 reports as 9BJ748-557 for the seagate part number

Warranty Expiration 25-Jul-2011

Might try 1.800.SEAGATE and ask them some questions too.


PayPal and Ebay have long slow procedures. Get to the Credit Card Company as
soon as you can.

 

[Daniel Prince]

THe top label does look like it's been peeled and reapplied.

There is however a possibility the seller didn't pull this off. If
the seller has a habit of buying store returns and selling them on
eBay, then it could have been a customer that ripped the store off and
in the end the seller and finally the buyer.

I have thought of that as well. Why would the seller go to all the
trouble of putting a Seagate label on a junk drive when he could
send an old phone book instead. There is almost no chance a buyer
would not notice that the drive was not working properly.

A link to the auction would help us determine of seller does sell
store returns or not.

It was: Item number: 130066769089. The seller was:
nauheimercool123.

 

[Rod Speed]

I have thought of that as well. Why would the seller go to all the
trouble of putting a Seagate label on a junk drive when he could
send an old phone book instead.

Makes it a little easier to bullshit when caught. He
can try claiming that that is how he got it himself etc.

There is almost no chance a buyer would not
notice that the drive was not working properly.

Sure, but its better when the goons with guns show up.

It was: Item number: 130066769089. The seller was: nauheimercool123.

Urk, didnt you check the feedback before buying it ?
He's clearly faked up the good ones.

 

[Impmon]

It was: Item number: 130066769089. The seller was:
nauheimercool123.

Thatr doesn't help much unfortunately since seller used generic
picture and not the actual picture of the product.

File complaint with eBay and Paypal. And whatever you do, NEVER
mention feedback as the seller could use it against you as possible
feedback exortion. Leave the feedback after everything's been done
but before 90 days from close of auction. (90 days is estimate, some
auction do dissapear around then, other have stayed on file for a lot
longer)

 

[Rod Speed]

Thatr doesn't help much unfortunately since seller used
generic picture and not the actual picture of the product.

The feedback does make it clear that its a scam tho,
particularly the fact that almost none of the sales have
been of new hard drives apart from the obvious bogus
transaction with 130067336128

File complaint with eBay and Paypal.

Unlikely to produce anything worthwhile. Much better
to get the credit card to reverse the transaction.

And whatever you do, NEVER mention feedback as the
seller could use it against you as possible feedback exortion.

Feedback doesnt matter much to a buyer.

 

[Odie Ferrous]

I bought what was supposed to be a retail Seagate 750 PATA drive on
eBay. I paid with PayPal. My PayPal account is funded from my
MasterCard account.

The drive arrived today. It was in a shrink wrapped Seagate box
with all the Seagate accessories. It has a Seagate 750 gig label
which is pealed up a little on the top. The jumpers on the drive do
not match the jumpers described in the quick start guide or on the
drive label.

When I installed it into my computer, it made a series of buzzing
noises (buzz silence buzz etc.) and the BIOS identified it as:

WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN
19526 MB
CYLINDER 37833
HEAD 16
PRECOMP 0
LANDING ZONE 37833
SECTOR 63

After the BIOS detects the drive it gives an error message saying
that the drive had failed and my computer just stops without trying
to boot even when it is set to boot from the CD-ROM and there is a
bootable disc in the CD-ROM drive.

I do not think that it is even remotely possible that a defective
Seagate 750 could identify itself as a "WDC ROM MODEL-BUCCAN" with a
capacity of less than 20 gigs.

I think that someone has put a Seagate label on an old junk drive,
put it into a Seagate box with Seagate accessories and sold it as a
new Seagate 750 gig drive.

Here are some pictures of the drive:

http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0682fu8.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0683zm6.jpg
http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0684zv6.jpg

What should I do about this? Can I make the seller or PayPal or my
credit card company refund all my money including the $10 shipping I
paid? Thank you in advance for all replies.
--
I am TERRIBLY cruel to my cat. I actually cut of the ends of
his toes. It's just the hard, dead part that grows back but
still. And I do it just because he sticks them in me or
scratches the furniture or me.

You poor bugger. The physical drive is obviously a Western Digital - I
recognise the style of casing, the cover, as well as the logic board.

If what you are saying is true, you have been diddled.

Furthermore, from your pictures, the Seagate label has clearly been
removed from an original drive and re"stuck", and the Seagate Label on
the PCB that partly obscures the PCB ID number is nowhere near its
normal position.

I know of someone who does exactly this sort of thing, although
reporting it to the "authorities" has so far made no impact. I wish you
all the best. If your claims are genuine, you have been totally
scammed. Somehow, though, I doubt that getting a refund is going to be
that easy....



Odie

 

[Splork]

I have thought of that as well. Why would the seller go to all the
trouble of putting a Seagate label on a junk drive when he could
send an old phone book instead. There is almost no chance a buyer
would not notice that the drive was not working properly.

It was: Item number: 130066769089. The seller was:
nauheimercool123.

Since the 3qd01d58 is a legit seagate code and was apparently manufactured 6
months ago. Did the drive come in a esd bag inside the clamshell?? That is how
my last seagate came.

This is definitely strange. If the drive was a failed seagate, it would be
covered under warranty. Why remove the identifying stickers and put them on a
WD drive. Then repackage it like a factory fresh drive??

Could be a seagate employee screwing around??

Counterfeit packaging slipped into the channel??

Would be interested in what seagate has to say.

 

[Aidan Karley]

It was: Item number: 130066769089. The seller was:
nauheimercool123.

41 feedbacks ; 36 positive, 3 neutral, 2 negative is pretty
poor. I wouldn't have touched the seller on that basis alone.
Comments like "I also think you forgot to pay" and "sent payment
a month late/complete idiot /got item /total loser" and "
no anwser, no money, for 1 month, hope to never deal with again" should
have been a warning.

Call the police. If necessary, call the police in *his* home
town.