Oook!

This morning I got woken up by a phone call from the police. The stuff that we handed in was forwarded and the guy in charge called to make an appointment for me to lodge my report. He was honestly surprised that I wanted an early appointment, at 8:30am. But for some students that is still in the middle of the night,

And he told me that they secured the LCD projector.

Ok, for today, I have to do some backlogging. Quite some progress has been made.

The theft of the LCD projector from our hall was reported to the police a year ago when it happened and yesterday we went to the police station to update them about our findings and for me to lodge my own report. Well, my first time in a police station and let's say... it was a down to earth experience. Although our address was not being in that departments responsibility, he took in the new information be brought. And - I am sorry to say this - he appeared to be a bit struggling with understanding it all. Oh well, I have to keep in mind that not everyone is as dependant and familiar with computers as I am. So instead of lodging my report, I only got to provide my contact details and someone will get back to me. That did not feel that reassuring.

And one more thing, we looked into the payment details of the phone that we bought over eBay from him to get his contact details. In the money transfer section, he provided some additional details. Those details were apparently specific to one auction (but are instead visible to any auction winner) and there is some talk about a laptop. And a laptop was stolen from the room next to his...

And later then, we finally found the prove. We found the original box that our LCD projector was in and the serial numbers match.

Got it. Got him. We bought something from zukkatyp (sugarguy) and now know his real name. Unless this is another fake account on this name, I have to say that I am very disappointed. He used to live almost next door to me and usually we got along quite well. But he tried to open an eBay account on my name probably to sell the projector. The projector only appeared in the other account when the fake account was closed.

To some degree, I want to believe that it is not him, but that are a lot of coincedences to explain...

Guess what: It is the same projector model on eBay that was stolen from my hall. Guess now we have to buy something else from him to find out who that person is. And if he is still living in this hall or not...

Hmm. Concerned. Although the fake account is blocked, a new auction appeared on the other legitimate account: a LCD projector. And I remember that such was stolen half a year ago in my hall. Wondering if it is the same model. Have to find out.

Got a phonecall from eBay. They blocked the account I was complaining about, so I am safe on that issue and offered me to become registered member for free. That would mean some additional protection, but only until I move to a new address. And that will happen in less than a year for sure (end of my studies is getting closer).

However they were not able to tell me anything about the other apparently legitimate account that is selling stuff. Data privacy laws. Still thinking of buying something from there to check it out.

Then eBay gave me the advice to report this case to the police. As for now, I am considering sending an email to the address that I got from the authorization letter. If he really lives here, I want to give him a chance to explain himself before deciding on further action. What I am concerned about is that I have no clue who that person is and what else he might be trying...

Have reported it to eBay and also asked the community there for their advice.

The only thing that I could find our about that guy was his birthday so far. But I had no luck tracking him in different databases with his email address only. Thinking hard about how to harness the power of the web to identify him.

Maybe I should buy something from the "zukkatyp" person on eBay? That person put their bank account details on eBay, but I only see those in case of winning an auction...

A few days ago I received a letter from eBay with a confirmation code to a new account. Just that I did not open a new account there, I am more or less happy with my current one that I have already for several years. And the address it was sent to was also slightly weird. First, my family name was misspelled Springmair instead of the correct Springmeier and no room number was written. But since the mail is put into our mailboxes by our janitor, it still got to me.

But I do not think that this letter was meant for me. The thing about the mailboxes here is that it is easy for someone to access someone else's mail, the mailboxes are not secure at all. And the email address of the to-be-verified-account was not mine as well: zukkatyp@gmx.de (sugarguy@...). Disturbingly, one can find that email address also on a web forum about Tübingen....

So I feel I have to assume that there is one guy in my hall that tried to open an account on eBay in my name. And interestingly there is also an eBay account with the name zukkatyp and that person is from Tübingen and selling stuff for the first time...