Craig Smith wrote, "Does anyone have any idea of how to punish
people for these attempted frauds?"

I can only relate my experience.  A seller failed to ship a large,
heavy $500 item after I had a special pallet constructed and provided
detailed instructions on all aspects of packing and assurances the
seller would follow through.  No delivery, no email response and all
contact points no longer valid.

As the seller was 2100 miles away and eBay's & PayPal's 30-day time
limit was expired, I wrote it off as my first loss in over 600
transactions on eBay during a six year period.

By coincidence, I happened to working nearby three months later.
I stopped at the local sheriff's station and after much conversation
was advised they could do nothing as there was no way to prove who the
actual person was who committed the fraud.  I pointed out there was
a money trail but they declined to take any action.

A year later, I saw the same item and same photos from the same
location on sale on eBay.  Attempts to contact the lister, even though
a current seller on eBay, resulted in the emails kicking back.  I wrote
a detailed email to the local Sheriff, was referred to the fraud
division, provided them with the police contact info at eBay, received
a call from the detective, and a couple weeks later was advised the
item was ready to be picked up.  The detective had tracked down the
seller.  Two weeks later I received my item -- 18 months after the
original sale.

In this case, it wasn't a professional crook, just a bad one, but my
money was gone just the same.  These people can be tracked down.  It's
easy for a detective to do so if you can convince them to get involved.
In my case it took repeated requests and providing them with detailed
info including names, aliases, addresses, phone numbers, etc., and the
proper contacts at eBay.

Jim Divoky, Dandridge, Tennessee