There’s nothing quite like getting your name in a Page One story in the New York Times when you are on a crusade.

Jacqui Rogers says she wasn’t looking for 15 minutes of fame when she took on counterfeit jewelry vendors who were selling their wares on eBay. But after last Sunday’s Times story, the 53-year-old Josephine County woman has a new appreciation for the power of the press — or more specifically the backlash it can unleash against do-gooders.

"This is about right and wrong and eBay sheltering criminals," Rogers said Wednesday.

Rogers bought what was advertised as vintage costume jewelry made by long-defunct Weiss in November 2004. But she quickly discovered the 10 butterfly brooches were fakes.

She was able to secure a refund from the seller, but her pleas for eBay to remove the Rhode Island dealer and others hawking counterfeit jewelry were rebuffed.

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"The sellers refunded the money, but I realized there are a lot of fakes out there," Rogers says. "Hundreds and hundreds of them and they’re selling them at $60 to $70 a pop.

Stiffed, but undeterred, the former nurse who moved to Southern Oregon from Santa Barbara, Calif., 10 years ago, set off on a quest that has drawn ridicule from eBay denizens and scores of phone calls and e-mails from like-minded auction site users.

Rogers tried unsuccessfully to interest several media outlets in a story about eBay’s fraudulent vendors. Eventually, she established contact with other frustrated vintage costume jewelry buyers: Carrie Pollack of Massachusetts, Madeline Delia of Pennsylvania and Susan Thomas of Illinois. The self-described band of "Charlie’s Angels" persistently shopped their tale of eBay-vendor deceit, finally gaining traction with New York Times reporter Katie Hafner last month.

The Times story tied the story together with a suit that jewelry maker Tiffany & Co. has filed against eBay for facilitating trade of counterfeit merchandise. The suit against the San Jose, Calif., company is headed for trial later this year.

While the results of that suit could change much of the way online auctions are handled in the future, the national press exposure has legitimate dealers teed off.

"I’ve been called a vigilante by lot of eBay sellers," says Rogers. "Some of the stuff they’ve said — both sellers and buyers — will blow your mind. It’s all because we’re rocking the boat, trying to get eBay to follow through on their promise to take care of people."

Indeed, the stuff is right there on eBay’s jewelry and gemstone discussion pages, where the honest see themselves grouped with disreputable operators. Others just simply demonize the "Angels," saying their agenda was retribution rather than halting potentially illegal practices.

Central to discussion is eBay’s policy forbidding members to contact potential bidders to warn them of possible fraud. eBay claims 180 million buying and selling members, who have access to 60 million items at a given moment. Company spokesman Hani Durzy told the Times it would be too easy for someone to try to ruin the reputation of a legitimate rival.

The New York Times didn’t reveal much about the counterfeit jewelry dealers — only one dealer it contacted, Garnet Justice of Leesburg, Ind., went on record. Prodded by the Times story, the Providence Journal Wednesday reported the foursome had called police and the state attorney general regarding jewelry sellers in the Rhode Island cities of Cranston, Warwick and West Warwick. Pollack went to the police after she allegedly received threats from a Rhode Island dealer.

Rogers says she declined to be interviewed by reporter Tony DePaul

"He’s the one we wanted to do the story originally," says Rogers, who opted not to be interviewed for that story. "He had all the proof. It should’ve started and ended there a couple of months ago; but he was too busy."

Rogers says she’s can’t believe the torrent of phone calls — both from e-Bay users and the media.

"I’ve never had such notoriety in my life," she says. "I’m not getting a darn thing out of this. I even had to pay $5 for the New York Times — that paper is expensive."

Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail business@mailtribune.com.