Re: Illegal scalping of Yosemite campsites on Craigslist, please flag

[The posting has been flagged for removal by Craigslist]



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Quote
sactown23
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3131949968.html

that is a lot of dates. He must be using some kind of robot program. I wonder if going back to phone only would solve this?

You might be right about that.
Reserve America and/or Active Works is the reservation contractor. It resembles credit card companies as management is unapproachable, unresponsive to this situation.
Why would they? They have most of the country (national, state, county and KOA) tied up in reservation services. They have a set long term government contract with National Parks.
No gain for them to fix it. Add the inevitable bureacracy of the National Parks and we're left with grass roots solutions such as this forum.
Sactown23, Plawrence, and Eeek are making a difference. I've noticed Trans dates are not very "fluid", same dates posted over the weeks.
I think the campaign being conducted here is working.
I suspect he'll have to revert print ad's if this keeps up and I believe papers have stricter oversight.
I really appreciate the work being done on this forum.

Reserve America/Active management are:
David Dutch is the General Manager and VP of Technology, Active Outdoors. He's the bottom line guy responsible for "fixing the system"
Frank Helwig is the VP of Product Management at Active, responsible for managing "Web Consumer Portals".
Gary Evans is Director of Contact Centers. His job is ensure the "400+ Highly Skilled Customer Care and Reservation Specialists to provide the camping public the most consumer friendly reservation making experience possible".
The problem is reaching these guys.
Working on that.
A concerted email campaign might get their attention.

Reference my post above

Active Network is a Canadian company with corporate "headquarters" in San Diego.
The Reserve America office (subsidiary of Active) is in Sacramento.
I suspect the most effective approach is to start at the top with emails and correspondance complaining about
the rampant hacking of their system by hackers (aka Tran/Tanner).
A snowballing email campaign would be effective --- perhaps leading to more media attention.

Corporate headquarters email address:

Outdoors@ActiveNetwork.com

The Active Network – Corporate Headquarters
10182 Telesis Court, Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92121

Reserve America:

Sacramento Office (ReserveAmerica)
1825 Bell St, Suite 215
Sacramento, CA 95825
Contact: Christin Pannell
Phone: 1-800-370-7613 x22930

I would be happy to send an email, but I don't know the details of the problem as it relates to them.

Hitech,
This is the email I attempted to send Active, and my take on the "gross" scalping situation occurring on Craigslist.

I have a grave concern about the technical integrity of Reserve America's reservation system as it is applied to campground reservations for Yosemite Valley Campgrounds.
The current system is obviously flawed. I submit, below, a posting copied from Craigslist in San Francisco, Ca.
How is this possible, unless this individual has "hacked" the Reserve America system.
I am dreadfully familiar with the Yosemite reservation system.
It is literally impossible for someone to acquire the consecutive dates and campsites below through manual interface, let alone by phone.
How many more campgrounds and businesses are being compromised?
I'm surprised this deficiency has not received more media attention.
If this individual can hack campsites and change names within the system what is to prevent him from doing the same with credit card information.
This is quite alarming.
I have cancelled my account with Reserve America and I'm recommending all my friends do the same.
If you have a remedy for this situation then public should be informed.
Sincerely,
(omitted)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yosemite Camp (glen park)

Date: 2012-07-11, 7:24AM PDT
Reply to: 6kjb9-3132292356@sale.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Yosemite campsites available... Need help securing a campsite or two in Yosemite? Let me know. Reservations will be in your name for easy check-in and can be verified before your trip. There is a limit of 6 persons per campsite but multiple sites may be possible.

Sat Jul 14 2012 - Sat Jul 21 2012 (7 nights)
Sat Jul 21 2012 - Sat Jul 28 2012 (7 nights)
Wed Jul 25 2012 - Wed Aug 01 2012 (7 nights)
Sun Jul 29 2012 - Sun Aug 05 2012 (7 nights)
Tue Aug 14 2012 - Tue Aug 21 2012 (7 nights)

Other dates are available... number of nights can be reduced. Let me know your interested dates.
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 3132292356

Does anyone have any proof or confirmation that scalping is even going on this year?

What if this guy is just playing a big practical joke by putting up bogus Craigslist ads just do folks here will chase them? Has Yosemite confirmed they are still getting campers who are showing up for sites they didn't originally buy? Has anyone talked to Campsite Hosts or other officials to get more info on this whole scheme?

Or worse, what if the guy is really trying to sell "camp sites" he never bought in the first place? I suppose he could dummy up a fake email confirmation and send that to his customers. But then has anyone heard about folks showing up at a campsite with a counterfeit reservation?

Regardless the explanation as provided by Blue Moon's email to ReserveAmerica just seems so unlikely to me especially when compared to other more likely, or at least less complicated, alternative explanations. I thought the system requiring registered party to check in was supposed to solve all this after last year. Does anyone have any more information?

There is an ongoing investigation into Tran/Tanners scalping by the Justice Department.
It's a tough go since there's no "law" about scalping per se, only NPS reg's.
This guy is a scalping with an interfacing program, there is no doubt.
I suggest you read this article.
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/07/137496875/yosemite-cracks-down-on-campsite-scalpers

The NPS is aware of who has scalped tickets, name changed or not, and it is an ongoing problem.
On March 15th, 2012, between 7AM and 7:08 the Reserve America site received 3200 "hits" for Yosemite Valley Campgrounds.
Eight minutes.
You don't have to know a lot about computers or algorithms to see what's going on here.
"There oughta be a law" really applies here.

I'm familar with the article and have talked to rangers about the issue. But using a computer system to rapidly buy up campsites is a whole lot different than hacking a system to allow changes in reservations, names, and credit card information. I haven't heard any evidence that the latter is happening. And the system that requires the named reservation holder to check-in was supposed to alleviate the scalping issue.

I'm not trying to be naive but has anyone actually confirmed scalping THIS year as opposed to the issues from last year covered in the article posted? I have visions of some stupid (actually more bored than stupid) 8th grader with nothing else to do in the summer creating, deleting, and re-creating bogus Craigslist ads for the fun of it. Even the taunting emails suggest to me that this is all a game rather than anyone actually hacking systems. Has anyone heard of evidence where campers are showing up at Yosemite campsites with duplicated confirmatons?

And again, a much less complicated explanation is that the guy is simply making up reservations he never owned in the first place and selling those. That would be relatively easy to do. Get a real reservation, use the confirmation email to dummy up counterfeit confirmations, and presto, you have an unlimited amount of reservations you could sell. But if that is the scenario, then at least real campers are fairly getting the real reservations. And I thought that was the prevailing reason why folks here are so involved in trying to protect the National Park for the real campers.

Quote
chicagocwright
I'm familar with the article and have talked to rangers about the issue. But using a computer system to rapidly buy up campsites is a whole lot different than hacking a system to allow changes in reservations, names, and credit card information. I haven't heard any evidence that the latter is happening. And the system that requires the named reservation holder to check-in was supposed to alleviate the scalping issue.

I'm not trying to be naive but has anyone actually confirmed scalping THIS year as opposed to the issues from last year covered in the article posted? I have visions of some stupid (actually more bored than stupid) 8th grader with nothing else to do in the summer creating, deleting, and re-creating bogus Craigslist ads for the fun of it. Even the taunting emails suggest to me that this is all a game rather than anyone actually hacking systems. Has anyone heard of evidence where campers are showing up at Yosemite campsites with duplicated confirmatons?

And again, a much less complicated explanation is that the guy is simply making up reservations he never owned in the first place and selling those. That would be relatively easy to do. Get a real reservation, use the confirmation email to dummy up counterfeit confirmations, and presto, you have an unlimited amount of reservations you could sell. But if that is the scenario, then at least real campers are fairly getting the real reservations. And I thought that was the prevailing reason why folks here are so involved in trying to protect the National Park for the real campers.

yup
my friend replied to one of the craigslist ads with various emails as a "potential buyer"

same promise to "guarantee" having the campsite in his name and as my friend worked him a bit to the point of asking where to send the payment, the paypal address was once again the same David Tran.

Doubt an 8th grader would (even if he had a paypal account with a credit card) go as far as giving someone their paypal address.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2012 05:43PM by sactown23.

There is not a lot of "verification" that can be shared in this open forum.
Tran is "acquiring" valid reservations and is changing the names to his "buyers" on Craigslist
There is an interdepartmental estimate that Tran has pocketed, over the past two reservation periods, $40,000 to $60.000.
Tax evasion is a consideration.
I talked a camper in a 40 foot Prevost motor home over Memorial Day Weekend in 2011.
He paid 150.00 per day for a 5 consecutive days in the same site, purchased on Craigslist from Tran.
He said he would have paid more to get the campsite, due to his impacted schedule.

Look through this forum topic.
It is begun anew each month because of the volume of posts by Tran.
This is not the work of an 8 year old.
It's the work of a motivated thief.

For those of you who understand, Flag On!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2012 08:12PM by Blue Moon.

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Blue Moon
There is not a lot of "verification" that can be shared in this open forum.

Go here http://yosemitenews.info/forum/list.php?11

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2012 10:05PM by shaunsmomo.

Okay, I'll shutup and keep on flagging. ;-) But that link doesn't work for me.

Thanks,
The energy and persistance of this forum is pretty amazing.
This link is a wealth of information (i.e., history) about this problem.
It also is a gauge of of the forums success.
It would appear be that Tran is the only real scalper left standing.
This must be his bread and butter.
His profession.

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Blue Moon
There is not a lot of "verification" that can be shared in this open forum.
Tran is "acquiring" valid reservations and is changing the names to his "buyers" on Craigslist
There is an interdepartmental estimate that Tran has pocketed, over the past two reservation periods, $40,000 to $60.000.
Tax evasion is a consideration.
I talked a camper in a 40 foot Prevost motor home over Memorial Day Weekend in 2011.
He paid 150.00 per day for a 5 consecutive days in the same site, purchased on Craigslist from Tran.
He said he would have paid more to get the campsite, due to his impacted schedule.

Look through this forum topic.
It is begun anew each month because of the volume of posts by Tran.
This is not the work of an 8 year old.
It's the work of a motivated thief.

For those of you who understand, Flag On!

That's just sickening to be stealing that kind of money on taxpayer's backs while the NPS can't even afford to staff their parks in full. I really hoped all this garbage would end once they made the campsites non-transferrable. Is the park still looking the other way on the people who buy his scalped sites?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2012 06:49PM by mbear.

The Rangers are now manning the campground kiosks the majority of the time (instead of Camp Host Volunteers) to carry out camper check-ins and identification.
As of May, when campers attempted to check in with scalped reservations LE was notified, who in turned "interviewed" the camper
and then the campers were allowed to utilize the reservation after paying an additional 20.00 per day.
It's kinda like regulated generator hours, the bottom line seems to duck and weave.

Quote
Blue Moon
The Rangers are now manning the campground kiosks the majority of the time (instead of Camp Host Volunteers) to carry out camper check-ins and identification.
As of May, when campers attempted to check in with scalped reservations LE was notified, who in turned "interviewed" the camper
and then the campers were allowed to utilize the reservation after paying an additional 20.00 per day.
It's kinda like regulated generator hours, the bottom line seems to duck and weave.

That's disappointing to hear the NPS isn't enforcing their own regulations. What a joke.

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mbear
That's disappointing to hear the NPS isn't enforcing their own regulations. What a joke.

How are they going to enforce it? Ruin an innocent person's vacation over $20?

Do you have Tran's address? Call the IRS.

Quote
Dave

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mbear
That's disappointing to hear the NPS isn't enforcing their own regulations. What a joke.

How are they going to enforce it? Ruin an innocent person's vacation over $20?

Do you have Tran's address? Call the IRS.

Yes, they should. If the reservation isn't transferable then Tran's guilty of fraud, and when people start complaining to law enforcement about him stealing their money maybe something actually gets done. If you're not buying that campsite from recreation.gov then it isn't a legit purchase.

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mbear
Yes, they should. If the reservation isn't transferable then Tran's guilty of fraud, and when people start complaining to law enforcement about him stealing their money maybe something actually gets done. If you're not buying that campsite from recreation.gov then it isn't a legit purchase.

Ruining someone's vacation is not something the park service wants to do so I don't believe that would be an option.... yet.

And I was serious about the IRS remark. Call them. Give me his address and I'll call. There might be a reward of 15 to 30 percent. He has to be making over $200,000/year though.

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Dave
]How are they going to enforce it? Ruin an innocent person's vacation over $20?

How is buying a non-transferable reservation from a scalper innocent?

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eeek

Quote
Dave
]How are they going to enforce it? Ruin an innocent person's vacation over $20?

How is buying a non-transferable reservation from a scalper innocent?

It makes me feel like finding and flagging these posts is a complete waste of time this year if the NPS isn't going to enforce their own regulation. Last year it was needed because transfer wasn't explicitly prohibited, but this year the NPS actually has the ability to make it stop. If they're going to continue looking the other way then Tran has won and there's no point in us playing a game we can't win.

Several state and federal agencies are involved in this problem.
It requires a concerted effort to bring someone like Tran down while
closing the loopholes that created his opportunity. Anyone who has
participated in a bureacracy might appreciate the complexity of this undertaking.
Think of Al Capone.
What we are doing here is important.
Its the right thing to do.
A letter or email to your political representatives or creating any media attention can
"help" this process/investigation along. It's a matter of making it a priority.
Everybody needs motivation.

Quote
mbear
It makes me feel like finding and flagging these posts is a complete waste of time this year if the NPS isn't going to enforce their own regulation. Last year it was needed because transfer wasn't explicitly prohibited, but this year the NPS actually has the ability to make it stop. If they're going to continue looking the other way then Tran has won and there's no point in us playing a game we can't win.

There might be something going on in the background that we do not know about.

Quote
Dave

Quote
mbear
That's disappointing to hear the NPS isn't enforcing their own regulations. What a joke.

How are they going to enforce it? Ruin an innocent person's vacation over $20?

Do you have Tran's address? Call the IRS.

The person who bought the the campsite illegally isn't innocent. Just like someone who buys illegally prescription drugs isn't innocent.

At the very least, the ranger should refuse to check-in the camper and let the camper scramble for some other first-come, first-serve campsite or one that's outside the park.

Hopefully, they would pass a law or regulation where those who illegally purchase a campsite get fined too.
.

They said they are making them pay $20 a night when they check it. So it sounds like they are cancelling the transferred reservation, and giving it to those people, as if it was first come first served.

If the word gets around that people are going to pay an ADDITIONAL $20 per night when they arrive, perhaps they will think twice. Or maybe not...

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hotrod4x5

They said they are making them pay $20 a night when they check it. So it sounds like they are cancelling the transferred reservation, and giving it to those people, as if it was first come first served.

I think that's how the Park Service is rationalizing their decision to let these campers who illegally obtained their campsite reservation to keep their campsite. Which isn't really deterrent since they had already purchased the campsite from Tran for about $150 or more per night. So what's an extra $20/night spent on it. It's just like a Ticketmaster service fee. No deterrent at all, I would say.
.

Quote
plawrence
At the very least, the ranger should refuse to check-in the camper and let the camper scramble for some other first-come, first-serve campsite or one that's outside the park.

Hopefully, they would pass a law or regulation where those who illegally purchase a campsite get fined too.
.

They should take their names and not let them camp in that campground that night. By giving them the spot for $20 they're legitimizing Tran's sales, as it would still be a valuable service to have that spot reserved for them and it would still screw people over who play by the rules and want to camp in the popular valley locations.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2012 09:51AM by mbear.

I guess they could play hardball. Put up a sign at the entrance stations and tell rangers there to ask people as they enter if they are camping and if so, do they have a reservation in their name. Giving them a chance to turn around early.

I am still confused as to how names are being changed on reservations, or are they not?

Agreed.

At the very least, the Campground Reservation Office at Curry Village should have a waiting list of people who want a campsite in one of the Valley's campgrounds, hoping for last minute cancellations. And these people who obtained illegally their campsite reservation can have their names placed at the back of that list.

Still, I think the best deterrent would be fining this people. That would be the most effective solution to eliminating this problem.
.

Quote
plawrence
At the very least, the ranger should refuse to check-in the camper and let the camper scramble for some other first-come, first-serve campsite or one that's outside the park.

If they're trying to build a case, that's not a good way to get the buyers to cooperate.

Disagree, since the best way to have them cooperate would be to arrest them, then offer them a plea-bargin if they cooperate or jail time (until they appear before the magistrate) if they don't.
.

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eeek

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plawrence
At the very least, the ranger should refuse to check-in the camper and let the camper scramble for some other first-come, first-serve campsite or one that's outside the park.

If they're trying to build a case, that's not a good way to get the buyers to cooperate.

I think it is. You can bet someone who got burned for $500 for his campsite for 5 nights and can't check in is going to go to the FBI, who can then get Tran's address and bank account from his PayPal account. Then you're talking fraud, possibly across state lines. If there's nothing done then they'll go to the press. If that person who got burned for $500 can just buy the campsite at the regular rate after arriving, having that spot saved for him by Tran's reservation, I don't think he's anywhere near as likely to complain.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2012 12:00PM by mbear.

Quote
mbear
. If that person who got burned for $500 can just buy the campsite at the regular rate after arriving, having that spot saved for him by Tran's reservation, I don't think he's anywhere near as likely to complain.

Yup

I would hope they are building a case against Tran and if he hasn't left the country yet, he probably soon will to escape prosecution. They need people who were ripped off to make statements. But in the grand scheme of things, I wonder if what he is doing is simply a misdemeanor?

Quote
hotrod4x5
I would hope they are building a case against Tran and if he hasn't left the country yet, he probably soon will to escape prosecution. They need people who were ripped off to make statements. But in the grand scheme of things, I wonder if what he is doing is simply a misdemeanor?

Even if only a misdemeanor, he'd also be required to pay back all the money.

Attempted to send Active an Email, received this:

From: Mail Delivery Subsystem <[email protected]>
Subject: Delivery Status Notification (Failure)
Date: July 11, 2012 12:21:10 PM CDT

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

Outdoors@activenetwork.com

Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 5.1.1 User Unknown (state 13).

REMOVED



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2012 11:01AM by sactown23.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2012 12:27PM by hotrod4x5.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2012 12:28PM by hotrod4x5.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3134126018.html hit refresh

Tran removed the post above within about 2 minutes of my listing it here.
I believe that way he can repost sooner, rather be stalled by a "flagged" period.
This must be his only "occupation" and sole support.
I noticed the LA postings have dropped off.
Excellent.

Here's a new one
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3136885099.html

And another one

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/fod/3136894148.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2012 10:08AM by Finally Time.

They are sure coming and going fast

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3137086493.html

This is kind of a fun game on a boring gray day

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3137271205.html

Quote
Finally Time
This is kind of a fun game on a boring gray day

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3137271205.html

whack a mole so to speak

I kinda like that metaphor. Fits.

Tran seems to have invested in a few automated programs.
The four postings I listed above were removed by him within 5-10 minutes of my flagging them,
then reposted within 30 minutes.
It really feels like "whack the mole."
I feel like I'm supporting a nonprofit --- Tran's NONprofit



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2012 09:17AM by Blue Moon.

Think you're right. The last link I posted was "deleted by author" within 6 minutes. Should be back on about 9 am

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/fod/3138858960.html

DELETED by Author: within 2 minutes of flagging.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2012 06:11AM by Blue Moon.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3142920200.html

Deleted by author within 3 minutes of flagging



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2012 10:56AM by Finally Time.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3143055105.html

This time deleted by author in two minutes



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2012 11:32AM by Finally Time.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3143533249.html

deleted within 2 minutes



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2012 02:34PM by Blue Moon.

DanPJ found a new one;
No list of sites just:
5 nights in Lower Pines -- 150.00 --- a night --- or the 5 days?
You won't know till you call, eh?
Paypal?
Smells like Tran.
Even if Jen is "someone else" she's trying to make 50.00 on the deal.
I would call that Scalping.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2012 07:08PM by Blue Moon.

Found another one

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant/fod/3144329692.html

This seems to be something new. The scalping postings are comming up on older dates. The previous one i posted was dated July 16, this one July 15. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3141139422.html

This one states it was posted 7-15-2012

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3141232657.html

Now within a minute of my posting, shows deleted by author



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2012 11:48AM by Finally Time.

Shows posted date 7-15 3:37 pm. This is the same url as the link posted by Blue Moon on July 15

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3141552638.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2012 12:16PM by Finally Time.

Date posted for this one 7-16 5:55 pm. Same url as link posted by DanPJ July 16

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3144032735.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3145610354.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2012 01:24PM by Finally Time.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/for/3146392671.html

DELETED by author (2 minutes)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2012 07:28PM by Blue Moon.