I will forward the IP information and anything else on this guy to Alecks... he really needs to be caught. I feel like our reputation is at stake here. In a way I got burned too.

If you would be nice enough to forward that information to me also I would appreciate it.

As of 5:59 PM Central

he is on-line on aol instant messenger as Gage Luce

I was able to contact him on aol instant messenger today thru a third party and eventually firsthand.

Here is a transcript thru the intermediary

matt: alecks purifoy says "dude i found out ware you live, i contacted your isp. Its possible i can press federal charges. Remember my brother is a lawyer, he has your address too... its not a big deal if you just send my money back ill forget about this whole thing." he wants you to unblock him to sort out your issue.

matt: he says. "150 dollars is more than enough to go to civil court for since im out of state i could drag this farther than i think you understand .... if i dont get my money back soon expect a letter from my laywer, we will be contacting your parents as well"

GageLuce: tell him that i couldnt get his money out of paypal, and his camera is coming he is just gonna have to wait til i get paid on friday tell him im sorry for the inconveinence and that i didnt mean for this to happen i would have shipped it if i got the money out but i never could get it out

GageLuce: oh and not this friday i get paid but the 25th is my first check and ill send it express shipping that day

matt: can you unblock him and contact him via aim. he would like to discuss the issue with you.



He did get ahold of me... here is that transcript..



Connecting to GageLuce…

GageLuce: yo man

Alecks: allright dude

GageLuce: sorry bout all this you camera is on its way

Alecks: their is a level of uncoolness

GageLuce: i just never could get the money out of paypal

GageLuce: yeah i understand

Alecks: and you have surpassed it

GageLuce: i never meant for this to happen dude

Alecks: what about the other people who paied for it

GageLuce: no one else paid for it

GageLuce: they said they wanted it and were gonna send the money and never did i never got any other payments from another soul and i swear to god

GageLuce: bear with me til the 25th and iull ship it out thats the best i can do man

GageLuce: cause i dont get paid til then

Alecks: Kin Kwan

GageLuce: i have no idea who the f*** that is

Alecks: Begin quote from DVinfo"Haha I can't believe this. I actually 'bought' the camcorder from him, too. It's been about 4 weeks and still no cam. I did have luck reaching him and his roommate by phone the day he was supposed to send it out, but of course the line hasn't been working since then.
I knew it was kind of fishy from the beginning, but I was able to talk to him through AIM and on the phone, so I was convinced to lay down the $130. I guess I was spoiled by the fact that I've seen a lot of people buy/sell on this board with no problems (myself included). I also agree that we need some sort of rules regarding the selling of this stuff on the board.
I still kept his emails, phone #, address, and the pictures he sent me of the camcorder. If ya'll need help in getting this guy, let me know on how I can help."
"TRi is my friend who sent him money for this camera two weeks ago. He will be contacting you soon." EndQuote"
(their is a long pause)
6:15 PM

Alecks: dude this could be a big deal for you....

Alecks:like huge.

GageLuce: nah dude he never sent shit i remember that dude and i talked to him about it before you, he said he was going to send it i waited and waited til the last minute and i couldnt wait anymore i needed the money to get home

Alecks: like triple felony

Alecks: i bought another camera allready

GageLuce: aight well i can still send this one to you

Alecks: just transfer the money back to me on pay-pal

GageLuce: your getting the camera ill send it out

Alecks: why did you give me a bunk phone number?

Alecks: i didnt give you a bunk phone number

GageLuce: that was my phone number til it got shut off

Alecks: this is sooooo sketchy

GageLuce: i have been phoneless and computer less for almost a month now

GageLuce: my computer got a virus

GageLuce: i have been using the library computers dude

Alecks: just send my money back

GageLuce: it wont be til i get paid

Alecks: send me the money in paypal you cant get out

GageLuce: dude when you did that shit to my paypal it froze it i cant use it at all

Alecks: do the resoluion thing, its their for a reason,
explane your self and refund me
seriously, its easy

Alecks: you might want to explain your self on DVInfo
6:30 PM

Alecks: well..im expecting 150 to pop up in my pay-pal any min
GageLuce has gone offline.


Well.... still no 150 in my paypal

"GageLuce: nah dude he never sent shit i remember that dude and i talked to him about it before you, he said he was going to send it i waited and waited til the last minute and i couldnt wait anymore i needed the money to get home"

Hmm....his story would sound believable but he's lying right there. On the day he was supposed to ship the camera off to me, he was supposed to call and tell me the tracking number and I would give him the reference number for the money, but he never called. (This was arranged the night before and I even called him to confirm that I sent the money) I ended up calling him that night and his roommate picked up saying that Gage sent the camera off in the morning. I told his roommate to tell Gage to call me back, which he never did. When I tried calling the next day, the line was already cut off.

I don't think this kid has any idea how serious this situation is. I mean granted $150 isnt to much but through all three of us he is up to $450 maybe more cause of shipping.


and also alecks could you send me the info on him(address, phone number, ect.)

Alecks, could you ask your brother to contact me please, or send me his email address. For Jon I will forward that IP info hopefully tonight to you and Alecks (been very busy around here lately, sorry for the delay).

A good con man can always make a bad thing sound like everything is working out for the good. "The check is in the mail" That is how they work and do it so good. It is always someone else that is causing problems, and they are always on your side trying to make things right but PayPal or what ever he can come up with to stall you he will use. Like get paid next week, Pal Pal frooze my money or what ever. I work with a guy just like this and they live this way all day long and BELIVE in them selfs and make it work so good. The stories will get better and better. next he will be sick or in a car wreck some reason to stall while he runs to cover tracks. Hang on! Good luck Steve

Ill find out if i get my refund on friday, it looks like i wont the dispute on pay-pal.....

if i didnt, no new cam for me for a while. and a law suit for him.

he bailed all of his money out of his pay-pal account....

im so pissed, i wanted another camera so bad.

F*** this kid, and every thing he stands for.

I think I'll be doing a story on this episode for the website. Look at it this way: at least it was *only* $150 and not thousands of dollars.

Hope I'm not too late to the party; my sincerest condolences to the affected individuals.

For what it's worth, some mild sleuthing (really just a Google search for "gage luce") provided me with some extra information: it seems our friend is a seventeen year old skateboarding aficionado from Santa Barbara, California (don't take my word for that location, that info may be out of date for all I know). And get this--I've got a picture of the doofus: http://forums.rollerwarehouse.com/fo...ic.php?t=19786 Scroll down to the third post; it's a user named "Gage", and his profile on that forum lists the same website as his profile here (http://www.slo4online.com). He makes reference in that thread to shooting video, so I think it's safe to say it's the guy we're looking for. Some scam artist! Using the same handle everywhere he goes, showing his face all over the internet...rip-offs just aren't what they used to be, huh? ;)

That's all for now. Not sure how much help it'll be, but I thought you guys'd like to know; I'll keep snoopin' around, see if I can't come up with anything more substantial. Here's hoping we get the punk (not that I'm old enough to call anyone a "punk", but he IS young, and he IS being a pain, so...)!

UPDATE: Searching for the email address he listed in his profile on that skating site brings up a few interesting posts of his on other message boards, indicating that he was looking for a VX1000, or other similar camera, in early 2004 (Google cached page: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache...mail.com&hl=en). Then, later that same year, he was in the market for a newer cam (http://www.dvvideo.com/talk/index.ph...e;threadid=206).

Oh, and scratch that bit about him being seventeen--I found more info at http://forum.beatbasement.com/member...member=Roll8o5 that tells us he turns twenty this year, on November 27th. Anybody got any good gift ideas?

Ooh! Ooh! Check this out (more with the Google cache: http://64.233.161.104/search?hl=en&l...2Ffeedback.php):

"Date: Oct 16, 2005
From: Gage Luce
Subject: revolution
Message: hey im moving to the phoenix arizona area on thursday and wondering if you might need some help at the shop, in other words I NEED A JOB!!! haha if you are willing to hire me give me directions and i will fill out an application and what not i worked at inlinewarehouse for about 5 months getting payed under the table!! soooo yeah please respond"

Again, I don't know what good any of this will do you all, but I figured the more information you've got to work with, the better, right?