Legal Question in Banking Law in California

Wire tranfer from fraudulent eBay auction

Hi ,

I was defrauded $37,000 by an eBay scam last week. Basically, the

auction for an RV (which of course was too good to be true) started on

eBay authentic auction. The seller took the auction off and said that

he had the buy it now price. Then later came back to me on my personal

email and said that the buyer could not come up with financing.

Long story short - I fell for this scam hook line and sinker and wired

$37,000 to what I thought was eBay buyer protection plan to hold for 5

days while I checked out the RV. After the fact, I sent the ''eBay

buyer protection'' email to eBay and they reported that it was

fraudulent. eBay will not touch this since it went off auction.

The money was wired to an account at Wells Fargo bank in Los Angeles,

CA. I got suspicious the next day (last Wed 10/17) and called Wachovia

to try and have the wire transfer revoked. I still don't have an

answer from them but the Wells Fargo bank said that the receipient had

to agree to return the money. I don't think that's going to happen. . I have the name and address of the receipient of the money. Can I get their account frozen until I can press charges or get my money returned??

Thank you.


Asked on 10/23/07, 1:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gregg Gittler GITTLER & BRADFORD

Re: Wire tranfer from fraudulent eBay auction

I am assuming that Wachovia is your bank.

eBay is correct -- since the deal was done outside of eBay, their buyer protection plan would not come into play.

If you know who the recipient is, you can file a lawsuit for breach of contract, fraud, etc., and seek a writ of attachment (a pre-judgment lien) on the recipient's bank account to secure your loss -- but you would have to act quickly to ensure that the money is still in the account when your legal process hits. If you have the name and address of the recipient (and they are his real name and address), you should seek legal counsel quickly to get your money back, even if his account at Wells Fargo is now drained.

Your statute of limitations for fraud is 3 years, for breach of contract is 2 years (if the contract is deemed oral) or 4 years (if there was a writing signed by the "seller"). In either event, you should be taking action in days, not years.

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Answered on 10/23/07, 1:32 pm


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