Fraud is everywhere.....even here on the classified ad forum

[65DaytonaCoupe]

I'm completely sick right now, I've been beaten out of 500.00 dollars here from a "wanted to buy" ad. I felt that everyone here was honest and never had a issue before. Hopefully a Moderator will see this and maybe help stop this from happening to the next guy.

[Garage Guy]

Did you want to give any more information on how exactly you were scammed so that other people could be on the watch for it. So it does not happen to anyone else

[65DaytonaCoupe]

I was looking to but window kit for a coupe (back ordered) and this person reached out that he had one. I ask for pictures, he stated still in box and had never been installed. I guess I'm too trusting, never had even one issue here. I sent the 500 bucks yesterday and then this morning asking for more cash to cover shipping. The deal included shipping..... I ask to cancel deal, he has disappeared

[Jeff Kleiner]

The other party's username is?

Jeff

[David Hodgkins]

The other party's username is?

Jeff

Yes please tell us who the user is.

[65DaytonaCoupe]

Nicolasmoore

[David Hodgkins]

0 posts, joined a week ago...

[David Hodgkins]

Can you please send me copies of PMs or other correspondence?

[BLUE KNIGHT]

0 posts, joined a week ago...

And if you read His Bio ..... I think it reveals something ..... jmho .... Mike

[sread]

I have seen where the scammers target anybody who places a "wanted to buy" post - not just here but on other forums also - beware!

[Papa]

Sorry to hear that happened. Any chance you paid with a credit card or through a service like PayPal? Contact them and you may get your money back.

[65DaytonaCoupe]

Sorry to hear that happened. Any chance you paid with a credit card or through a service like PayPal? Contact them and you may get your money back.

unfortunately, I did not, we traded email for several days and I "zelled" with zero chance to recover....so bummed

[JohnK]

Deleted

[David Hodgkins]

[email protected]

Search returned 1 hit from stopforumspam.com. Listed country is Nigeria.

Damn.

Banned.

[David Hodgkins]

Let's take this as a learning lesson folks. If anyone wants to buy something from you and sends you a link to ANOTHER person's email address. DO NOT RESPOND.


Also. DO NOT ENGAGE users wanting to buy parts with 0 posts, or a very low post count.

PLEASE PM me or another MOD if you have any doubts about a transaction.

[65DaytonaCoupe]

https://donotpay.com/learn/zelle-chargeback/

Do you have personal experience with this? the second page in wants my bank login. Im REAL gun-shy especially with a "contact inmate" tab on top of page! I don't know to either laugh, cry or spit.

[JohnK]

Do you have personal experience with this? the second page in wants my bank login. Im REAL gun-shy especially with a "contact inmate" tab on top of page! I don't know to either laugh, cry or spit.

Oh *&$%. No, I do not, and it appears I may have inadvertently steered you to a fraudulent website. I thought I was simply passing along information on how to contest Zelle charges with your bank (that's what I get for skimming vs reading for comprehension). Please disregard my prior post (I will delete it) and accept my apologies.

[codename Bil Doe]

This is what I've seen as a really common method of scamming. IGNORE ALL MESSAGES WITH THIS FORMAT.

If someone contacts you privately with a message in the form "I'm John Steve, my friend has what you are looking for. Email him at [email protected]" it's 100% a scam.

One very old internet tip for verifying whether someone has the item you want is to have them send a pic of the item with a piece of paper hand written with the current date. I also make them add a random word like "mahalo" as another step.

If they're too lazy to do all that, then it's not worth your time, either.

Since people will have to mail items, also get their full name and address. There are a lot of free people checks online. There is no need for them to stay secretive. Their address will be on the shipping label.

Finally, always use a cc or your cc thru PayPal. The reason to use your cc thru PP is so you don't reveal your actual info.


Sorry to hear this happened to you. This world is full of evil.

[Build14fun]

Can't your bank reverse it.

[svassh]

I will say be careful some good tips above. However it's not always a scam. My WTB ad for a kit solicited a response from a member since 2018. He had a single post in 3 years the first was to my WTB ad. He was selling his kit half price but took several days to respond to my PM. Turned out to be legit and Henry ended up getting a great deal after I passed due to distance and non IRS. So you never know but always be careful.

[bil1024]

****!!!!!!! Just happened to me

[Old Timer]

I tend to be old fashion, and ask to talk to them on the phone. Once you find they can speak English, and their accent matches
the part of the us they are from, it weeds out a lot of scammers.
I like to pay with pay pal, backed up from my credit card. That gives me a little leverage to get my money back.
All in all I have not had any problems with this forum, and have traded several things around.

[David Hodgkins]

****!!!!!!! Just happened to me

Please tell me not here

[Dave 53]

This Nicolasmoore tried getting me too with my WTB 818 LSD. Same "I have a friend, email him at..." He couldn't / wouldn't answer some of my questions about the LSD he was "selling". Since I didn't know what exactly he was "selling", I took a pass. But, I'll admit, I didn't suspect a scam. He didn't pressure me in any way and when I told him I didn't want it, he was polite about it.

Safe to assume he contacted everyone with a WTB post, but maybe not duplicates. I have two WTB post and he only hit me up on one of them. Perhaps all with WTB post should individually be warned with a PM. And a sticky post warning of the scam.

[michael everson]

Just happened to me on this site as well. Same person. I have been on here forever and never suspected. Luckily it was only $95.00 It was after posting an ad for parts. I am going to try and dispute it through Paypal. This really sucks
Mike

[mburger]

If there’s a bright spot in all this, it’s that it was just this one scumbag that got through, and now is booted. I have shipped items to members before payment as well as paid for items before receiving them, all from this forum. I’ve always found this forum to be a safe refuge if you will, from all the evil and distrust out there. This forum has always been a place where you don’t need to lock your front door. We have each other and especially David to thank for that.
I’ll continue to try to use good judgment but I won’t let one a$$-clown out of all these years of the forum’s existence ruin the neighborhood. (So to speak)
Sorry you two were scammed and hopefully there is some restitution for you.

[shemp53e]

I put in a WTB for a heater, guy responded and I should have known. told moderator never heard anything back lost 230 dollars to a guy in Texas. Its a shame id love to find the SOB but I learned a valuable lesson. use PayPal verified and you will get your money back if they don't want that then walk away.

[RBachman]

I wonder if new members can be restricted from posting in the classifieds, or seeing the WTB's until they have a set number of posts, or if an Admin approves access once the person is verified.

[Papa]

If there’s a bright spot in all this, it’s that it was just this one scumbag that got through, and now is booted. I have shipped items to members before payment as well as paid for items before receiving them, all from this forum. I’ve always found this forum to be a safe refuge if you will, from all the evil and distrust out there. This forum has always been a place where you don’t need to lock your front door. We have each other and especially David to thank for that.
I’ll continue to try to use good judgment but I won’t let one a$$-clown out of all these years of the forum’s existence ruin the neighborhood. (So to speak)
Sorry you two were scammed and hopefully there is some restitution for you.

I have had much the same experience (Mark and I have bought and sold from each other) and actually thought "how refreshing" it was to have such a down to Earth group of fellow enthusiasts in an on-line forum in this day and age of greed and thievery. I will not let this one idiot change my opinion of this community. All I can say is that I truly appreciate all that Dave and our moderators do and for the comradery that exists here. We can all keep each other safe by being aware that these things can happen and following the advice given above along with raising concerns when something doesn't seem right.

Dave

[rthomas98]

Let's take this as a learning lesson folks. If anyone wants to buy something from you and sends you a link to ANOTHER person's email address. DO NOT RESPOND.


Also. DO NOT ENGAGE users wanting to buy parts with 0 posts, or a very low post count.

PLEASE PM me or another MOD if you have any doubts about a transaction.

Can we get this statement as a sticky in the for sale forum? I am sure this guy will not be the last to try this. Sometimes acknowledgment is the best deterrent.

[AC Bill]

I wonder if new members can be restricted from posting in the classifieds, or seeing the WTB's until they have a set number of posts, or if an Admin approves access once the person is verified.

I think new members with low post counts, are restricted from posting on the classifieds? I agree, if possible perhaps it would be a good idea to block classifieds altogether from new members seeing them.

I have bought and sold items for years, on both this, and the FFCars forums, and never had an issue. FFCars actually has a buyer/seller rating system, to help.
It's a darn shame that we now have to worry about scammers. Before any transactions, I would always look at a members previous posts and/or replies, to help figure out if they seemed legit or not. With no posts, I'd pass on buying, or selling to them. Even low numbers of posts/replies would make me wary. The smart scammers may try to nestle in a bit beforehand, knowing they have to try and look legit.

[David Hodgkins]

I have granted access to anyone who asks for it. For example someone who registers who has already built a kit and wants to sell off extra parts. Or someone who just purchased and wants to buy parts. I've been extremely flexible in this respect, in order to keep people from posting garb age posts, and generally to show good will.

It now appears that was a mistake.

Looks like I'm going to have to restrict new users from the classifieds as a hard rule. (or figure out some other rule...)

Also, maybe I should restrict use of the PM feature until a minimum number of posts?

I'll be adding a stickie as mentioned above.

It really ticks me off that this is happening!

[MacDiesel]

I 100% get the desire to put restrictions in place to keep things like this from happening. I hate that it has already happened to some of you. I haven’t bought a kit yet, still planning and saving. Like many on here I have been lurking and reading everything to learn and plan before I pull the trigger. I finally joined about a month ago when I saw a kit pop up for sale at a great price and thought I could finally get started. I didn’t realize it would take a while to get verified and as a result I missed out on the kit. I’m not sure having to sign up early and making a bunch of posts before being able to reply to a classified ad adds value to those one the forum contributing all the time.

I would be happy to be required to post my phone number or email on a reply to be able to get a kit at a great price if you were able to restrict new users from using the PM feature to buy kits or parts. Then you could talk to the new user and get a feel for if you trust them to do business with without having to read a bunch of posts that are not adding to the great conversation here.

Just my $0.02
Kris

[65DaytonaCoupe]

I'm all for any layers of security. I have filed cases with zelle as my personal bank. Zelle has flaged the account so they can never use that one again, unfortunately they admit they will probably try again with new account....very sad. I'm by no means "rich", my wife and I work hard and losing $500 is difficult, but we live and learn and appreciate the honesty of all the pure enthusiasts here. Thank you

[bil1024]

Yes, filed dispute with Paypal, even though I did friends / family, to trusting I guess

[Blitzboy54]

I just realized that guy sent me a PM about an old post looking for an ignition switch a few days ago. What a bummer. Good riddance

[j33ptj]

it is no longer if you get scammed just when, there are so many ways to get you, it becomes difficult to avoid it.

However, this seems very legit. I have been contacted by a prince in Nigeria that needs help getting several millions of dollars out of the country, he only needs my bank details and pay me 10%, I would finally be able to order the kit!

what do you think?

RJ

[EK1965]

Just received two messages from Maxcast, in the same format as below, regarding my wtb post. He has since been banned so I assume that I was not the only one.

Hello Mate ,

Any luck yet ?

Contact jeffery he's has one he's willing to part with at a fair price. Pm him [email protected]

Earl

[Benchwarmer]

Need to start a blacklist page like we have on our SR20 Forum