Ex-UW student sought in online fraud
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Federal authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a former University of Washington graduate student accused of fleecing hundreds of online-auction buyers - including a Seattle police sergeant's wife - by selling merchandise he never delivered.
Antony Zyrmpas, 23, once a student in the UW's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, apparently has left the area in recent weeks. Yesterday, the FBI said Zyrmpas, a Greek national, recently purchased $4,000 worth of luggage, and appears to have fled.
Zyrmpas is charged with a single count of wire fraud. But the affidavit in support of the charge suggests he could face additional charges.
The wife of Duane Hendrix, a member of the Seattle Police Department's criminal intelligence unit, was among the victims, according to the FBI. It was his complaints that led to the charges filed yesterday in Seattle federal court. Using Hendrix's credit card, his wife had purchased a laptop from Zyrmpas, which she never received.
"Everybody from every walk of life was buying from this guy," Hendrix said yesterday. "Every profession - doctors, professors, other cops. He was hitting everybody."
The charges against Zyrmpas represent the local U.S. Attorney's Office's contribution to what is expected to be an orchestrated campaign this week by the U.S. Department of Justice to give a higher profile to online fraud.
Online auctions have become the primary venue for online fraud, accounting for 87 percent of the online complaints reported to the National Consumers League in 1999, according to a report issued last month by the state Attorney General's Office and the Center for Law and Technology at the UW.
Zyrmpas allegedly applied some of the more sophisticated tricks of the trade, according to law-enforcement sources familiar with his case. For example, he purportedly earned buyers' trust by first selling and delivering relatively inexpensive items. And the prices he posted were low, but not low enough to arouse suspicion.
Then, in a series of rapid-fire transactions in late March and early April, Zyrmpas allegedly took advantage of that trust by selling lots of video equipment and computers. He never delivered the items, according to an FBI affidavit, although he collected cashiers checks and money orders sent to mail-drop addresses in Seattle.
As of May 4, the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, a central clearing house established by the National White Collar Crime Center and the FBI, reported losses tied to Zyrmpas of more than $165,000 from nearly 300 victims.
Among them is Paul Cumberland of Fairport, N.Y. Last month, Zyrmpas notified Cumberland that he was the "winning bidder" on a Toshiba Tecra 8100 laptop. Cumberland transferred $1,846 to Zyrmpas' Wells Fargo Bank account in Seattle. He never got the laptop.
Buyers who used credit cards to purchase are in better shape because they can contest the charge. But it's not clear how many did.
Zyrmpas' professors at the UW said they had no clue of his alleged wrongdoing. Uri Shumlak, an assistant professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, recounted that "Antony worked for me for about six months" starting in January 2000. The UW registrar's office records show that Zyrmpas attended school from January 2000 through March 2001. He did not earn a degree, the office said.
Charging papers assert that Zyrmpas was on academic probation at the time he withdrew from the UW. In addition, because he was in the U.S. on a student visa, Zyrmpas was in the country illegally after he withdrew from school, charging papers state.
Court papers in King County Superior Court show that last March, Zyrmpas was evicted from his University District apartment for nonpayment of rent. Former roommates obtained personal-restraint petitions against Zyrmpas last year after he allegedly threatened them, court records show.
Peter Lewis can be reached at 206-464-2217 or plewis@seattletimes.com.