I made a small ebay purchase and paid for it by personal check.  Almost two years after that purchase a counterfeit check created by the seller cleared my bank, emptying my account right before Christmas.  The only reason that I could trace the fake check back to the seller was due to a small printing error that had been made on a batch of checks.  At the time, my street address ended with the word "Road" but the printing error changed the word "Road" to "Highway".  I had contacted my bank and a new order for corrected checks was placed but until they arrived, I had to use the checks with the word "Highway".  When I got a copy of the counterfeit check from my bank and saw the word "Highway" in the address area, I knew that whoever had done this had been paid using one of those checks.  The thief had issued the check to a fake company called E-Bill and the back of the check had been endorsed with E-Bill's handwritten account number and the check deposited to a Bank of America in Tampa, Florida.

I retrieved my canceled checks from the closet and started looking for a check with the printing error that had been issued to an individual.  I found it quickly due to the incorrect street address.  When I compared the handwriting on the back of my canceled check with that of the counterfeit check, it was an exact match.  The canceled check had been issued to an ebay seller that had been selling on ebay for quite a while and only accepted payment by check.  He had all positive feedback. I had given him everything he needed to complete the rip-off when I mailed a check to him.  All he had to do was make a Xerox copy of the check I used to pay him and then wait for a period of time before creating a counterfeit check using my information; the odds of getting away with it were in his favor.

He actually had used his real name when he registered as an ebay seller.  My exhusband was a police officer and over the years I learned how to execute a search.  Using those skills, I was able to track the seller to the most recent jail he had been released from in Florida. I was able to print off most of his rap sheet, his fingerprints, and even his photo.  He had been charged with stalking.  Stalking is a crime that takes patience and it took patience to gather copies of checks that had been used to pay him for items he sold on ebay and then wait for a period of time before signing up for a free check printing demo and using it to create counterfeit checks. I took all the information that I gathered to the police department.

I contacted ebay but there is no way to know if he simply disappeared or registered again under another name.  The lesson learned is NEVER pay for an ebay purchase using a personal check.  I spent months trying to save my credit rating and found that someone had rented an apartment about 100 miles from Tampa using my name and bank info.  It was a nightmare.  If a seller has a one of a kind item that you can't live without, contact the seller and see if he or she will make an exception and allow payment through PayPal, if they refuse, that should be a warning sign.  I have contacted sellers who accept payment by check only and after explaining why I will not pay for a purchase using a personal check, the honest sellers have agreed to accept PayPal.