EBay scammer gets 50 months
BMWs were sold but never shipped. A vintage 1971 Rolex Submariner watch turned out to be fake. The Montgomery County man behind a string of eBay scams pleaded guilty Wednesday to creating a series of deceptive auctions that pitched luxury cars and expensive jewelry to unsuspecting buyers.
BMWs were sold but never shipped. A vintage 1971 Rolex Submariner watch turned out to be fake.
The Montgomery County man behind a string of eBay scams pleaded guilty Wednesday to creating a series of deceptive auctions that pitched luxury cars and expensive jewelry to unsuspecting buyers.
Kareem Cameron, 50, of Wyncote, was sentenced in federal court to 50 months in prison, far above typical guidelines.
Cameron, along with his wife, Alecia Susan Brown, 39, operated out of their Cheltenham Township home for nearly a year, targeting wealthier buyers with bogus auctions.
By the time the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigators caught up with the scheme, the pair had amassed at least $106,000 through various deceptions in 2011 and 2012, prosecutors said.
Cameron hid behind several aliases and eBay accounts in his effort to beat the system. When checks were deposited into Brown's accounts, the money was quickly moved, prosecutors found.
One victim wired $30,000 to purchase a 2007 BMW. When the car failed to arrive, Cameron used the alias Shareef Ali to tell the buyer he couldn't get back to him because his cellphone had dropped in the toilet. The car was never shipped.
Another buyer, unidentified in court papers, worried that an 18-karat gold Rolex was fake, and handed over an unsigned check for $17,500.
That wasn't cautious enough. The watch was a knock-off. The buyer's signature was forged and the check was deposited into a Melrose Park bank account held by Brown.
Even eBay was fooled. Under the user name mrlova_lova, Cameron sold a 2004 Volvo V70 to himself, using another of his aliases.
Pretending to be the buyer, he filed a claim against the auction company, contending the odometer didn't match the number advertised.
EBay's insurance agency paid him $5,225.
In imposing a sentence for conspiracy and fraud far in excess of guidelines of 33 to 41 months, Judge John R. Padova said Cameron had over decades graduated to increasingly sophisticated crimes.
After escaping federal custody for a previous conviction, prosecutors said, Cameron searched obituaries and for a time assumed a false identity.
"No previous sentence has hit home," Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Klotz told the judge.
Cameron has changed, his lawyer, Susan Lin, contended, as he has spent several recent years staying out of trouble and taking care of his daughters.
"I did so many things in my life that caught up to me," Cameron told the judge. "I'm ashamed."
Seeking to lessen punishment faced by his wife, Cameron shouldered all blame. "It was my greed and wrongdoing that trapped her," he said.
For her role, Brown will be sentenced Thursday.
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