Anyone notice the cheap black-triangle Abbey Road CDs on eBay recently?

Is there anything stamped in the most inner ring near the clear in the center? If so, what does it say?

 

Pete, you might try reporting these guys to the police in Massachusetts (that's where they appear to be located) and/or to your local police. Worth a shot.

 

I am glad to see Pete joined the forum. I contacted Pete based on his purchase of this CD, and like myself, was ripped-off by the same seller who uses 2 different names on eBay. I have found a few other victims of this clown and I will be notifying them too. If you go back about 6 pages or so in his feedback, you will see he didn't always use the private buyer trick. He also has slipped up a few times recently and forgot to set the private option, that is how I found Pete.

Ultimately, I believe anyone who purchased from him using a credit card can get their money back. The trick is to go back to your credit card company and file a claim in writing. I went through this with another seller a few years ago and was able to get my money back to the tune of $350.

I will send him another e-mail requesting a refund, which he will not likely reply too. Then I will send the CD back to him with a return receipt requested. Either one or two things will happen. He will either sign for it and not refund my money or refuse to accept it and it will be returned to me. However, it doesn't matter to me since I will get money back either way by his actions. This was the specific instructions I got from my credit card company last time I went through this. You just have to provide a copy of the paper trail as proof.

I am planning on doing a few things to this seller. I will report him to eBay and PayPal, but I would think others have done that by now. He has a ton of stuff he has pirated and sold to unexpected buyers. By my calculations, he has made about $25,000 doing this to other people. I like the idea of reporting him to RIAA. Thankfully he sent the CD to me via USPS with his name on it, so I will report him to USPS for mail fraud (which is a felony). I will also report it to his local police department and the FBI (since the mail was sent across state lines). I am sure they would love to get some positive exposure on an eBay bust.

Even if I cannot get any money back, if we can put a stop to him I will be satisfied. I only lost $60 bucks, so it is not the end of the world. However, the thought so many people have been suckered by this guy. Just think of all the people who don't even realize they bought a fake! He deserves whatever gets from this.

 

This is the CD I received.

 

Thanks Kevin for sharing your scan of the CD. You are correct about the encroachment issue. Also, you can clearly see the matrix code in the mirror band in your picture. Mine is lightly etched into the play side of the CD. You cannot even see it from the front side like it can be seen on yours.

I was going to post my scan of rear insert, but I cannot get it small enough to post here. Sorry, my scanning skills are limited. If someone has the skills to shrink my scan, I would be happy to forward it you.

I reposted Kevin's scan below to compare on the same page.

 

Yep, that's how they've duped so many people. I too easily could've been fooled had I not seen a legitimate one on this forum.

Another thing I notice is that on the real one the black band in the middle ring is the same width as the black band on the edge of the CD. On the fake one, there's barely a black band at all on the edge, and the small band that is there is not uniform in size.

 

Another reason to be thankful for this forum and all of the kind people with originals who are offering assistance on this thread.

Thank you very much - I have learned a lot myself.

 

Jorge, I'm glad to hear that you are going after this wretched seller with a vengeance. Go get him!

The dead giveaway that the disc is a fake is the thick mirror band and the encroachment of the black triangle in it. Otherwise, the quality of reproduction is scary good.

 

Probably a moot point now, but I searched the forum just to be sure and found out that the Japanese Abbey Road definitely uses pre-emphasis. So I'm guessing that if EAC doesn't indicate it it's probably because the CD-ROM drive isn't reporting it...or something like that.

 

Exactly right. An important thing to watch out for - not all CD drives do this. If the drive doesn't do it, EAC has no way of letting you know.

 

I see that both sellers are offering BIN's now - way2skinny04 at $75.99 and iluvkaykay at $69.99.

 

watch out this guy is selling long+winding road japanese promo on ebay for49.95.it's probably no good either.

 

Keith, unfortunatly i purchased a copy from this thief. It's a real good fake but you can tell by the inner aluminum plating (uneven) also the back leaf and front booklet quality of image is poor. I have contacted the FBI, Paypal, Ebay and American Express and i shipped the cd back to the seller. DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM EITHER SELLER.

 

Sorry to hear that you got the counterfeit disc. However, I am glad to hear that you are taking action, especially that you contacted the FBI. Definitely let us know how this proceeds.

 

I almost bid on this item! Thanks to all who posted warnings.

 

Hmm, interesting theory. On mine EAC does indicate that it's there, but it automatically sets it up to accept it for me. I've tried a burn from it and no problem with brightness or cohesion at all. Same with Dark Side Of The Moon.

 

Look what I found on ebay.de:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25892&item=4062926416

Note the similarity of the auction description to the ones used by iluvkaykay and way2skinny04. The picture showing the booklet in the jewel case is also the same one used by iluvkaykay and way2skinny04. Also note the low Buy It Now price. So, is the seller in Germany selling a counterfeit or did he just borrow the description and picture from iluvkaykay and way2skinny04? I'm suspicious by virtue of the low Buy It Now price. Buyer beware!

 

My exact thoughts when I read this about an hour ago. This is really a bad one for a lot of innocent people.

 

Update....

I have been in contact with the seller about the counterfeit CD he sold me. I was VERY direct with him about how I felt about what he is doing and that I expected a full refund. After exchanging several e-mails with him, he keeps insisting that I return the CD to him in exchange for the refund. I told him I was uncomfortable sending it back since he is likely to just resell it again to someone else. After our 4th exchange he offered to pay me $35 now and the balance upon receiving the CD. He actually paid me the money already, but I am still reluctant to return the CD.

BTW, he claims he was selling the CDs for a friend and was not aware they were counterfeit. I find that hard to believe though. He claims he paid him the money I paid for the CD and he needs the CD back to get the money from his friend.

I have had a several people contact me privately that they also bought counterfeit CDs from these guys. Some even said they reported them to several authorities, eBay and PayPal, but they continue to do business freely on eBay. I gather he is a small fish, so no one appears to want to take any action. This is all very discouraging.

 

It seems they'd much rather go after 9 year old kids downloading mp3s off the internet than someone making thousands of dollars a month selling counterfeit CDs.

 

I agree. Thanks both of you.

You should post these scans in a stickied thread for everyone to see.

 

Ain't that the truth!

 

This makes me sick! The winning bid was higher than the Buy It Now!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4063868122



way2skinny04 still has a 100% positive feedback rating. You would think that someone would realize by now that they got a fake from him.

 

Craig Christiansen is pretty cleaver as he ship's the cd immediatly (and i always pay immediatly) so once you get the cd and unsuspectatly you leave good feedback as its obviously MINT. I felt for it and been collecting/trading/selling since 1984. I have also reported him to FraudBureau.Com and hope every one else will do the same. Regards Louis.