Within that statement lays the key. If, members who get ripped, would help themselves a little more- we would see more members getting their cards back, and less pressure on the Bad Trader Alerts Forum (From hereon referred to as "BTA"), allowing it to operate more efficiently. And that's exactly what I had in mind when writing this article.

MOTL has grown a lot over the past year, and has now over 20,000 registered members and counting. More members means a larger amount of trades. And a larger amount of trades can naturally mean more trades going wrong, occasionally requiring the use of the BTA.

Before we proceed I'd just like to point out something: Anyone entering the BTA, seeing all those threads, might get the wrong impression that MOTL is lurking with rippers, and that everybody here is out to steal your cards. This is not true. While, some transactions do go bad, the majority of the trades ends up successful, being a fruitful experience to both parties. Compare the Traffic in the H/W Forum to the Traffic in the BTA. Compare the number of registered members to the number of topics in the confirmed bad traders forum. This should give you a rough picture showing that most trades go well. Imagine a forum called "GTA" (Good Trader Alerts) where members would have to report all successful trades they have done... If such a forum existed, you'd have surely seen it get a tremendous amount of traffic, a lot more compared to the BTA.

So, returning to the point of the article, how do we Help ourselves?

First off, I'd like to shatter an urban legend that, judging from some threads on the BTA, has been running around MOTL for a long time now:

"MOTL is responsible for getting me back my cards"

Long story short: NO

Even if you hadn't read the disclaimer on the front page, you should figure that Not MOTL nor the moderators should be held responsible for any cards you lose. No one but you, The fraud victim, can legally file the charges against the rippers.

Unfortunately, in many cases, members who have been ripped do nothing to help themselves. Not lifting a finger, they just post in the BTA waiting for the moderators to get their cards back, upping their thread every split second as if their cards are now the world's top priority, and the moderator in charge should not eat, Drink, Breath or sleep until their cards are returned.

While the frustration from losing valuable cards is understood, If you help yourselves you'll have a greater chance of getting your cards back faster. Whether its just laziness or ignorance preventing you from trying to help yourselves in the efforts to get your own cards, this article will go over several procedures that can take on your own in order to resolve unsuccessful transactions faster and more efficiently.

So if not to return your cards back, what is the BTA intended for? I find the answer in the forum's title: Bad Trader Alerts, Posting there raises a black flag for other members and for MOTL that a member might be a ripper. Hence the "Alerts" part in "Bad Trader Alerts". I'd just like to point out that Getting posted in the BTA does not mean that someone is a ripper, It only means that he has been accused. If he is found by the moderators to indeed be a ripper according to supporting evidence, only then he gets posted in the Confirmed Bad Traders forum. If you are planning on dealing with someone who is posted in the BTA read the information yourself and proceed according to your own judgement, relying preferably on posted evidence.

PREEMPTIVE MEASURES

As logic Dictates, one of the best ways members can help themselves is by avoiding getting ripped in the first place.

I do not want to go very deep into those measures since they have already been discussed in previous articles. I will mostly reference to those articles, feel free to go over them.

The primary tool MOTL puts at your disposal is the reference system. Taking proper advantage of the reference system will most likely minimize the risk of getting ripped. The following article, Identifying Fake Reference Lists: A Practical Guide was written by myself several months ago but is still true at present. It will deepen your understanding of the reference system and help you recognize and avoid members who abuse it. I recommend you read it, since the reference system is your best tool.

In daddyj's Article, A new MOTL member's guide to detecting rippers, you'll also find some useful tips.

The above things said, I'd just like to focus on another preemptive measure you should take before sending the cards out: Searching the Confirmed bad traders list.

In case you haven't noticed, MOTL has a Confirmed Bad Traders forum. But, let me tell you this: The Confirmed Bad Traders forum does not just sit there as a decor for your amusement. Anyone who has been found and confirmed to be a ripper, his address is listed in that forum. If people don't check the addresses there when trading, we should just as well be dumping it, since it probably takes up valuable server space. Countless times have I seen threads in the BTA of people complaining they have been ripped. A quick search quickly revealed that the ripper is already listed on the confirmed list, therefore the whole charade could have been easily avoided. It's really worth it to take a few seconds and run the address by the confirmed database, those few seconds can spare you a lot of trouble in the future. That's exactly what that forum is for.

To properly search the database, go to the Search, in the "Search Forum/Archive" field choose "Confirmed Bad Traders" and insert the relevant keyword where it says "Search words". The recommended keyword to use would be the other party's location, since other details, such as email addresses or names, may constantly change, while the location usually remains the same. The most accurate info to search would be the street address, although try also searching by State/City/Country for other similarities.

If you get an exact match between the Address on the confirmed list and the address of the person you are trading with, That would be, of course, grounds enough for you to cancel the trade, even though you and the other party have already exchanged addresses. Of course, immediately notify the other side of your action, and report the ripper to MOTL since he is most likely returning under a different account, which is a big no-no here, and should be banned again asap before he manages to rip anyone.

After getting ripped...

If the above steps didn't help and you still get ripped?

If an unreasonable amount of time passes and you haven't received your part of the deal. The first thing to do is to determine that you have indeed been fallen victim to mail fraud and not to a simple case of miscommunication. Email the other party, ask what's up with that.

If you came to the conclusion that you have been ripped, you'll now have to work on getting your cards back. Like mentioned above, the moderators are not responsible for your cards, keep that in mind. Don't get me wrong- The BTA forum is still very important, so that rippers can be isolated and spit out of MOTL, their address added to the confirmed database. Still, Don't you think it would be nice if you also got your cards back in the process?

The main tool in this case, is something that separates us from the beasts. Something small called "The Law". What I am about to say may sound paradoxical: The more serious you are about filing charges, the more chance there is of you not having to actually filing them. Why is that? If the other party knows for sure that you will file legal charges against him if he doesn't complete his part of the deal, There's more chance that he'll comply and send you back what he owes you. I'm talking from personal experience here.

As for the law, Mail fraud is a Federal offense, punishable by law under the statutes of Mail Fraud and Misrepresentation and may lead to high fines and imprisonment of up to five years. Therefore it will be taken seriously.

I'm not an expert on postal law, this is just a general guide. For more reliable information in case of mail fraud you should inquire at your local post office. Still I looked at their website and I can quote, from the postal inspection service page:

quote:

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Title 18, United States Code
Section 1341. Frauds & swindles
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, or to sell, dispose of, loan, exchange, alter, give away, distribute, supply, or furnish or procure for unlawful use any counterfeit or spurious coin, obligation, security, or other article, or anything represented to be or intimated or held out to be such counterfeit or spurious article, for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, places in any post office or authorized depository for mail matter, any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by the Postal Service, or deposits or causes to be deposited any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier, or takes or receives therefrom, any such matter or thing, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail or such carrier according to the direction thereon, or at the place at which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, any such matter or thing, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $ 1 million or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.

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There's also the *Convenient* possibility of Filing a mail fraud complaint online, But I'd recommend inquiring at the post office personally to see that everything is in order.

This is the phone number of the Mail fraud Hotline: 1-800-372-8347

Even if you are from outside the USA you'll be able to file charges if the USPS is involved. For fraud not involving the USPS check with your local post office, all countries have laws against fraud.

Remember, for this wheel of justice to start turning, you have to file the complaint. I did not personally ask them, but to the best of my knowledge, The postal inspectors do not go over your threads in the BTA.

As implied earlier, filing the mail fraud charges can in most cases be avoided by making clear to the other side that you are going through with this all the way. As the title of this article says, I want to "Depressurize" some of the pressure on the BTA. A more accurate term would be to "Shift" the pressure to the right target. Instead of pressuring the moderators by constantly upping your thread, you should pressure the Ripper. Email him letting him know you will take full advantage of your legal options. If his email address isnt functioning, send him a nice formal letter explaining your actions. If you are underage, have your parents assist you. Again, The key is to keep the pressure on the ripper.

I recall a case in the BTA (unfortunately it was pruned so I can't reference to it) in which a member went on a ripping spree, ripping around 10 other members. All throughout the thread, which reached around 200 replies, the victims kept pressuring the ripper, making it clear that the mail fraud charges will be filed by each and every one of them. To the best of my knowledge, all the cards were finally returned to their rightful owners, and all that without a single intervention by none of the moderators! This goes to show that with persistence, and with "Helping yourselves", you'll get a lot better results.

I hope reading this article will cause you to shift the pressure to where it belongs: The ripper and not the moderators. The moderators will look into your case, but in the meantime please dont up your threads there and please don't just sit and watch but do everything said in this article to help get back your cards. After all, they are your cards.

I'd just like to go over a few more things regarding proper usage of the BTA, following this advice will further contribute to the BTA efficiency:

Please go over the forum announcement before posting a complaint there. If it's your first time, take a minute to go over other threads to see how it's done.

Remember to back up your complaint with evidence. "Evidence" usually means all the emails relevant to your trades, including headers and the exchange of addresses. Evidence does NOT mean simply writing "I've been ripped" into the evidence box. You could also write that you are the queen of England, that proves nothing. Also, if the status of the case changes (Like if you managed to get your cards back) please update it on the thread. Remember, It's YOUR cards.

Safe Trading, and please, if getting ripped, show some initiative and help yourselves

-Ron

And that guy above me is gunna get a smack of the Karma.

I hate to say that in all that time at least half of the cases were easily avoidable. The rules and guidelines I set up for the forum should've fixed that half but did not. People still do not read the confirmed list before trading, people still send first on trades so overwhelmingly in their favor that it's stupid, and people still post someone is ripping them when the cards are one day late in arriving.