From the newspaper column Only in L.A. by Steve Harvey in the Los Angeles Times, Tuesday December 17, 2002, page B4, headline The Real Bah-Humbug Spirit of Christmas -- It's Better to Take Than to Give:
Christmas Story II: A college student in Illinois was allegedly cheated out of a computer by a bogus-check writer in an eBay transaction.
The victim made some inquiries on the Internet and found that a Los Angeles resident also claimed to have been swindled. So the student set up his own sting operation, offering another computer through his girlfriend's eBay account.
The suspect answered the ad and was directed to an address where police were waiting. The suspect's name: Melvin Christmas.