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  • Nilton Rossoni Sentenced To 68 Months In Federal Prison For Colossal eBay Fraud; Elaborate Scheme Featured 59 Mail Drops, 260 Bogus Auction Accounts

    It was a case that was all about the numbers. In the end, the number with the most meaning to Nilton Rossoni was 68 — the number of months he’ll be spending in federal prison.

    Rossoni conducted more than 5,500 fraudulent auctions on eBay. He pulled off his scheme by using at least 260 bogus accounts, at least 59 mail drops, six names, four bogus passports and three banks.

    Rossoni, 50, formerly of Sunny Isles and Hallandale Beach, Fla., collected $717,000 in the scheme between October 2003 and June 2008. The bizarre fraud was smashed by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service

    Winning bidders were notified via e-mail to send a check or money order payable either to Celso Ferreira, Jorge Carlos, Joao Santos, Lourival Philipps, Prime Hill Inc. or Primo Hill Inc. Buyers were instructed to send payments via U.S. Mail to specific addresses, all of which proved to be mail drops.

    “Elaborate” barely described the scheme.

    “Rossoni rented at least 59 separate private mail boxes at various Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CMRA), including The UPS Store, Mail Boxes Etc., and Pak-Mail, using fraudulent Brazilian passports in the names of Celso Ferreira, Jorge Carlos, Joao Santos, or Lourival Philipps as identification,” prosecutors said. “After receiving payment, Rossoni deposited the money into various bank accounts he opened at Bank of America, Citibank, and SunTrust Bank, under these aliases.”

    As part of the scheme, “Rossoni registered and established hundreds of eBay accounts and used various names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses on those accounts to post items for auction,” prosecutors said.

    He then purchased inexpensive items from himself and posted positive “feedback” on the transaction, prosecutors said.

    Confident that Rossoni was an honest broker because of his positive feedback, buyers lined up to be fleeced, prosecutors said. Rossoni sold them textbooks, computer flash drives, rotisserie grills, tools, sporting equipment, DVD collections, airline tickets, saddles, saddlebags, designer luggage, appliances, metal detectors and more.

    Rather than shipping items, he kept the money.

  • Florida Man Who Created 260 eBay Accounts Convicted In Elaborate Scam That Bilked $717,000 From Customers

    The spread of online commerce has been accompanied by a spread of elaborate frauds — some of which have gathered tens of millions of dollars.

    Accompanying the fraud have been stares of disbelief. Not all of the stares have been directed at the fraudsters themselves. Indeed, thousands and thousands of people globally at any point in time simply refuse to believe they’ve been scammed — perhaps owing to embarrassment.

    Some of them point the finger of blame at law-enforcement agencies that take actions against the cyberspace scammers.

    Online fraud can be particularly elaborate. It often takes advantage of brand names people trust. In the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme in Florida, for example, prosecutors say Google’s name was used by ASD promoters as a means of instilling trust in customers.

    Names of other famous companies also were used by ASD promoters — names such as Kodak, Starbucks, Quiznos Sub, Callaway Golf, Macy’s, Toshiba, NBC, Farmers Insurance, USA Today, Priceline.com and more.

    Today comes word that a Florida man has been convicted in a scheme carried out on eBay, one of the most famous websites and brands in the world.

    Nilton Rossoni, 50, of Hallandale Beach, Fla., faces up to 20 years in prison.

    How elaborate was the scheme?

    Prosecutors said Rossoni created “more than 260 different eBay accounts” using aliases “or the real names and address of unsuspecting individuals.”

    Rossoni gathered money for more than 5,500 items but never shipped them. He netted $717,000 over time, prosecutors said. Rossoni averaged about $130 per fraudulent sale.

    Here is a breakdown of some of the listings:

    • Textbooks.
    • Computer flash drives.
    • Rotisserie grills.
    • Tools.
    • Sporting equipment.
    • DVD collections.
    • Airline tickets.
    • Saddles.
    • Saddlebags.
    • Designer luggage.
    • Appliances.
    • Metal detectors.

    “When the auction ended, the winning bidders were notified to send payment to the defendant at a private mail box,” prosecutors said today.

    “Customers of eBay sent payment to the defendant at 59 different private mailboxes opened in names of multiple aliases during the course of the scheme,” they continued. “Once the defendant received payment from the eBay auction winner, the funds were deposited in bank accounts under the control of the defendant, but in the name of a nominee entity or person.”