Brian Clarke, Aridcelt On Pricegrabber.com. Brianc0704 On EBay Aridcelt On Pricegrabber.com Selling professionally counterfeited, stamped disc software Ripoff Safford Arizona
The individual sold, me and others, professionally counterfeited Adobe Photoshop 7 software discs advertised as new and unregistered on pricegrabber.com under the seller name aridcelt, and I have reason to believe that he is doing it again on eBay. His username brianc0704 has a (private) eBay feedback of (270 positive/69 neutral/78 negative) My purchase was made on 2/28/04 in the amount of $150 which was a good deal but not a "too good to be true deal" considering it was an OEM product and the highly competitive nature of pricegrabber.com where many vendors often institute the "loss leader" sales tactic on one or more items. On pricegrabber.com he was operating under the name of Maria Valtierra, who I assume to have been his girlfriend, and using her PayPal account to receive Payments:
Maria Valtierra [maria90_99@yahoo.com]
(928) 428-1639
2008 S 9th Ave
Safford, AZ 85546
I received my product in an untimely manner because the vendor claimed to have been shorted on one of his orders or some other obscure excuse. However the product did arrive, and I inspected it thoroughly and it appeared to be genuine Adobe software in that:
1. The disc was stamped not burned
2. The disc was professionally silk-screen printed on the face of the discs
3. The insert was professionally done on premium gloss paper comparable to what one would expect for a genuine insert.
I had purchased the software for school and waited to install it until I had the new machine built which it was intended for. Upon installation, the activation did not work, and I called Adobe who informed me that it was a genuine Photoshop 7 key but the activation had been revoked do to excessive activation of the key. I filled out a report with Adobe and another agency at that time unaware that the seller was selling on eBay. I was one of the first individuals to purchase from him from pricegrabber which offers a $500 buyer protection if the seller matches certain criteria which aridcelt did but they withheld investigation because a stringent 30 day policy on buyer protection. I then contacted PayPal and they withheld because:
"PayPal's Buyer Complaint Policy only applies to the shipment of goods and does not apply to disputes about the attributes or quality of goods received."
This told me that Mr. Clarke could have sent me a random piece of trash and they still would not have investigated the matter. At this point I have not recovered my $150 and I know the individual continued to sell the counterfeit software on pricegrabber.com because another buyer posted a feedback indicating the exact same thing had happened to them and others identified similar business practices. As previously stated it has come to my attention that the individual has been selling on eBay with 78 "private" negative feedbacks that indicates that he has likely defrauded at least 100 people of $15000 collectively, so I've found it imperative to pursue the matter further.
Information about Witnesses:
1. Brian Clarke's girlfriend
2. 47 pricegrabber sales and feedback are still accessible
3. 418 eBay private feedbacks with the last 6 months (89 in the past month) that are not available to the public
I still have all of my emails and documentation and the counterfeit software that I received if useful. Please prevent this scumbag from harming anyone else and catch his counterfeiting supplier as well.
Daniel
Nashville, Tennessee
U.S.A.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Paul
Anaheim,California,
U.S.A.
I still have my money because I stay away from online fraud. Ebay, pricegrabber, deal-of-the-century. All of them.
#6Consumer Suggestion
Tue, September 27, 2005
I have yet to see people who come out ahead in numerous deals. Sooner or later, they get cheated. When you add in the loss, it turns out they would have come out ahead by going to a real store to begin with.
Plus, who needs all the aggravation?
Your complaint will help thousands of others learn this.
Daniel
Nashville,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
Rebuttal to Paul from Anaheim, CA...You're worse than the frauds that commit such acts
#6Consumer Comment
Mon, September 26, 2005
Do you post that kind of crap on everyone's page? Quarter of the price??? If you paid $600 for Photoshop 7, it must have been three years ago when it was brand spankin' new and they must have given you a lollipop to sweeten the deal, because I don't know anyone that was foolish enough to pay the sticker price. Tell me somethingdo you pay retail for anything in this world especially if it is a second or third generation model?
It seems to me that you might have a problem channeling your anger. Are you angry with eBay, a friend of Mr. Clarke / Ms. Valtierra, or just a bitter, has nothing better to do loser? For what reason, are you viewing this post anyways? So eager to comment, yet your attention span doesn't allow you to comprehend the words your reading. I will say AGAINThe transaction was on pricegrabber.com. I have spent upwards of $5000 on this website purchasing hardware/software for two build machines and all transactions were without incident excluding this one.
At present Photoshop CS2 can be had for $490 from reputable pricegrabber vendors
Photoshop CS can be had for $385
Photoshop 7 can be had for $75
I purchased a 100% genuine Photoshop 7 at a later date from a different vendor for $125.
Even though my transaction wasn't on eBay and I just happened to cross-reference the email from my pricegrabber transaction against eBay at a later dateAs far as I am concerned, you're worse than the frauds that commit such acts.
Daniel
Nashville,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
Rebuttal to Consumer Suggestion Comments
#6Consumer Comment
Sat, September 03, 2005
Thanks for your suggestions and I would like to clarify a couple of things that other consumers might not over-estimate the helpfulness of eBay / PayPal / Pricegrabber / IFCC / VISA. In all of this I learned that the time window for claims filing is the most important thing to remember. I was foolish for not installing the software as soon as I received it, even though it was intended for another machine. I suppose the only reason that I didn't was because it was counterfeited so well. I was VERY specific with PayPal and they offered to recapture the funds if the amount were present in the account in the future.
I stated that my item was purchased on Pricegrabber.com and only in the process of gathering the information for the IFCC report did I think to check the email address of Brian Clarke for an eBay user id. I am a tenured eBay buyer/seller and would never purchase from anyone with less than 95% feedback and certainly not someone who hides it. I actually appreciate the fact that eBay allows it because it serves as a flashing billboard I have something to hideI am a fraud.
I called Adobe immediately and they simply told me that the registration key had been revoked and that they would not provide a replacement key. I filled out a report for Adobe and the BSA to no availI filled out an IFCC report (the FBI) and they did not pursue Mr. Clarke eitherI had the funds debited from my checking account instead of putting it on my VISA who would have charged the funds back immediately. VISA's coverage is prompt and effective whereas PayPal's is implemented by bureaucrats and is consequently onerous and worthless. Do you think PayPal employees get a bonus for negating a certain percentage of claims?
I have come to the conclusion that no authority will pursue a case unless the theft exceeds $10,000 / multiple parties request action. The feedback for aridcelt actually had positives for Photoshop 7 transactions, so I am very curious to know if those persons that activated their software early on actually enjoyed continued use and support for their product. If anyone knows of a means of recovering my loss that I have not exercised please post your commentsthanks.
Paul
Anaheim,California,
U.S.A.
You bought a $600 software package for around a hundred and fifty bucks. On ebay, no less. Well, you know they're legitimate!
#6Consumer Suggestion
Sat, September 03, 2005
I mean, to think that someone would be running a scam on ebay? My god, what's the world coming to these days?
You know, there's absolutely no way that anyone could ever tell, either.
Just because there are like trillions of complaints about ebay ripoffs and counterfeit scams, why would anyone think they would be the next person to get cheated? That kind of thing only happens to other people, right?
And then, to think that something selling for around a quarter of the real price might not be real. The whole thing just boggles the mind, I tell you.
Looks like you'll probably have to run down to the software store (that's the brick and mortar place) and buy yourself one of those genuine versions if you wanna do any photo manipulations, huh?
Hell of a deal!
The only good I can see out of this whole thing is that you will save 1,000 other potential victims from going to ebay and doing the same thing you did. I'm sure they are thankful to you for the head-up on this scam.
By the way, ebay don't care. They get their auction fee, real, counterfeit, homemade or genuine article. What do you think, they don't know what's being sold on their site? They know d**n well that Brian somebody is no authorized reseller. Safford, Arizona. Yup, that's the next silicon valley, for sure.
Ebay simply don't care. They aren't going to lose money because of a silly little thing called forgery.
They win, you lose. So much for the value of that safe-harbor silliness, huh?
You know, little by little, people will learn to avoid ebay and all the scams. Some will lose hundreds. Others, thousands. But, in the end, all will smarten up and make friends with stores in the real world, not the ebay world.
Deborah
Grand Junction,Colorado,
U.S.A.
Next time...
#6Consumer Suggestion
Sat, September 03, 2005
You needed to be specifc with PayPal that the item was an illegal counterfeit, not a genuine item with a valid end user license. You should have also notified eBay that the item was not what you purchased. Auction sites are required to report sales of stolen, counterfeit, or illegal items to law enforcement, and can be held criminally and civilly liable if they don't.
You need to contact Adobe's security and fraud department, as well as file a complaint with the FBI, which is the primary agency that investigates counterfeit intellectual property. Adobe is also a member of the Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org/usa) which investigates and prosecutes software counterfeiting (they're my heros!).
Yes, the suspect is still on eBay, but hasn't sold anything in at least a month. I will say again, NEVER buy from a seller who hides feedback comments. Some will hide their customers' ID's for various reasons, or item descriptions sold, or both. But legitimate sellers never hide feedback comments. With roughly 25% of his feedback being negative (includes his high rate of neutrals), that is one giant red flag. There are no accounts on pricegrabber using any of the ID's you provided.
Hope the information helps!