Bad Macbook off of eBay!

I just bought a used macbook off of eBay and received it maybe 2 weeks ago. The macbook had a password on it, so I found the original owners information and contacted him. He just contacted me back saying the laptop was stolen and that the police are being informed. I don't know what the heck I should do? The seller looked legitimate as he had over 754 feedback and a 96.5% score. I am panicking because I just spent $448 dollars on the thing and now I am going to be apart of a investigation. My parents are going to kill me if they find out. Should I initiate a dispute? How do I know the original owner isn't lying? Will I even get my $448 back? HELP!!!!!! I am so screwed.

I would certainly contact the seller and inform him of what you were told. A similar situation happened to Jaguar on here not too long ago. There was some good advice in there if you feel like searching for it.

Absolutely. Get it started with PayPal now and try to work with the original owner and the police to get it returned. I would make sure that you authenticate any person portraying a police officer before you make arrangements to return the item.

Including your local police. Maybe they can help? Just don't panic. You did nothing wrong - you may have been scammed? Play it out, but don't hesitate to go after the seller if need be.

Good luck.

I am honestly freaking out. If I need to get a lawyer, then I will have to tell my parents, they will then kill me, I have no criminal record, nothing at all, I am so scared right now . I might have to go to court, Something might go on a brand new criminal record, I probably have to talk to some cops, they'll do background checks on me, I will probably get interviewed, They might confiscate my computers, I can't think straight- I am literally turning pale. This was supposed to be a great thing, a present for myself. I can't look at the hideous thing anymore, I need to put it in a closet or something. I am almost dying because of this. My parents will never allow me to buy anything online ever again. I might lose all of my hard earned $448 and I will probably lose a couple more years of life due to all of this stress I am having. I am now a criminal who is in possesion of stolen goods. How am I supposed to tell that to my parents? Hey mom, guess what? I just bought a stolen laptop off of eBay! The cops will come here, confiscate our computers, search our house, do background checks one everyone in the family including my 86 year old grandmother, give me a criminal record, and I will never be able to get a great job ever again because my perfect record has been tarnished. Not only will my parents kill me, my aunts and uncles will kill me, probably even my grandmother too. They will all think that I am a criminal. I knew I should have bought the blackberry flip or the HP tx1000 instead. WHY????? What did I do to deserve this? I can't sleep at all and it is already 11:37 PM EST. I have to study and this isn't helping me at all.

I need a stress ball...Or two...Maybe three...Probably 300.

All madness just broke loose.

Don't panic, you did nothing wrong. As long as you say the truth to the police, nothing's wrong gonna happen. And while you're at that, file a dispute with Paypal I guess.

Dude just calm down and talk to pay pal. You wont have to call a lawyer or anything, pay pal will handle that.

You would have had no idea that the machine was stolen. Just cooperate with the police and submit a fraud claim to PayPal. There won't be anything more to it than that.

MacBook Pro stopping over reacting!

You have a laptop that may have been stolen. Print of the e-mails, ebay stuff etc. Head down to the police station and talk to them. You have done nothing wrong at all, in fact, you are doing the right thing. There is a big difference between stealing and handling stolen goods unknowingly. You are not in trouble, the guy you bought it from sure is! Then file a dispute with Paypal and you will get your money back for sure (I am 100% on that).

And tell your parents, they are your friends and will help you. You have done nothing wrong you are one of the victims here. Your parents will not flip out. I would tell them before you see the police and they will come with you and help.

Here is the link to the thread mentioned before about this same situation:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/anything-goes/122001-hahah-read-really-read.html

You kno as every one is saying dont panic just chill out you did nothing wrong

Yeh chill out, perhaps contact a nearby police station.

I would think the person who said it was stolen has previously filed a police report and perhaps an insurance claim. Before giving up this computer, have him come up with those claim numbers, lookup the phone numbers and call to verify them.

If it turns out to be true then move on with getting the issue resolved. Surely this is common enough that people in your situation don't get charged and investigated.

And why do people think their family and friends will look down on them for being scammed. You dealt in good faith and your parents will understand that. Give them some credit. Even if they told you not to do that, they still will likely be more up set FOR you rather than WITH you.

For some reason the guy seems to have stop responding to me after I asked him for the information for the police department + detective he was dealing with. Its been 4 (close to 5 days) since he last responded to my emails. Why would he tell me he's giving my information to the cops, but not allow me to contact them myself also? All I told him was that I wanted to verify his claims with the police department, but thats when he stopped responding. Could it be a hoax? Now I am so confused.

Should I contact the Police Department in FL myself?

I would recommend you print out all E-Mails, take them into your local police station and just see what they say. And I would do that ASAP.
They won't take the laptop off you because they don't have any idea if it really is stolen, but if it is, you won't get in trouble for keeping quiet when you knew it was stolen.

I would also tell your parents.


But most of all, calm down. You're not the one who is in the wrong here, and if you act properly, there is no need for you to worry.

LOL Thanks for showing him what happened to me, Tkim . Anyways...
Dude...
Take it from someone who has been there a few months ago.
#1. Tell paypal everything. Let them know the seller told you the laptop was stolen.
#2. You will not have to go to court. You did not know it was purchased stolen.
#3. You will get your money back. Paypal has recently incorporated a new policy where the buyer is protected up to $2,000 regardless of what has happened with the laptop.
Paypal is amazing. Take it from me, when I say a business is amazing...It really is. I hate businesses and paypal is AWESOME.

Relax, everything will be fine.

Oh...MacBookPro...Where in Florida are you anyways? I'm in Pasco county...

xj6jaguar1985 said:

Oh...MacBookPro...Where in Florida are you anyways? I'm in Pasco county...

Click to expand...

I am located in CT, but the original owner + the seller who sold it on eBay are both located in Miami FL. It apparently did not travel too far from its original owner to the eBay seller.


Also, forget my post about the original owner not responding. He responded with legit information- Police Dept, Case #, Detective name, etc.


Oh well....

You called paypal right?

Yeah, I called PayPal. I already filed a claim and I am going to turn in the MacBook tomorrow. PayPal was helpful in attempting to resolve the issue.