Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Internet autograph fraud question?

I see some items on Yahoo auctions, some of which I have purchased that are fake. What evidence do i need to get... in order to get a case made for autograph fraud?

Also...

If the person returns my money and claims he got the fake autograph from someone else, do i still have a case?

What should I do?

raymond


Asked on 10/02/03, 3:10 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Internet autograph fraud question?

Just get your money back, Raymond, if you can, and forget about trying to prove graphological fraud for an item purchased on the Internet.

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Answered on 10/02/03, 6:29 pm
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Internet autograph fraud question?

You would need to prove (1) that the autograph was not genuine; (2) that the seller knew it was not genuine at the time of the sale; (3) that he intentionally represented to you that it was genuine; (4) that he made that representation in order to induce reliance by you (or by a class of potential purchasers including you); (5) that you purchased the item in reliance on his representation that it was genuine; (6) that your reliance on his representations was reasonable; and (7) that you were damaged as a result (e.g. by paying more than the item was actually worth). Ordinarily, proving item no. 2 is the hard part.

Unless you spent a great deal of money on these autographs, bringing a fraud case is unlikely to prove worthwhile.

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Answered on 10/02/03, 7:00 pm


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