Berking Scammers!

Ever been scammed? I've done thousands of transactions over the internet. I've been screwed over a couple times but not for that much. I've been looking for a set of GT3 adjustable lower control arms for my Cayman for a while but hadn't seen any listed anywhere. The originals are hard to find and the aftermarket versions are pretty pricey. I put a want to buy post on a couple P car forums hoping to find a set for a decent price. 
 

A couple days ago I got a private message from someone with a brand new account. He gave me an email address and said this guy has what you're looking for. Red Flag #1.

I email the guy (Bryan) and he sent me a picture of the parts. They look legit. I tell him I'm interested and to send me his PayPal address. He says he doesn't have one and asks if we can use Zelle or Venmo instead. Red Flag #2.

I tell him that I'm not comfortable with that and explain that PP has buyer protection. He replies a couple hours later and says that he tried to set up a PP account and couldn't figure it out so his friend said we could use her Zelle account but he'd accept 1/2 up front and the rest when the parts arrive. I told him that sounded fair. Red Flag #3.

He sent me her email address and asked me to send him a screenshot of the payment. I set it up in Zelle. Zelle says that this account hasn't been registered yet. Red Flag #4.

I sent a payment to the account and sent an email to the seller. He immediately says that they don't see it and sends me her phone number to use instead. He signs the email "Myron". That's funny, I thought. Red Flag #5.

I decided to cancel the payment before they could collect it. I enter the phone number in Zelle and it comes up as "Myron". Alright, I guess it's time to call it. Clearly something is not right here. That's the final straw. 
 

He sent me another email asking if I sent the payment. I haven't bothered to reply. 

Maybe I missed out on a good deal, but I think I dodged a bullet.

Better to miss out on a good deal than get screwed on a bad one.

The screenshot is so that the scammer can prove that the runner/collector got the payment.  That's the biggest red flag to me.

That's more red flags than a Chinese parade.

As soon as you're dealing with a PM from a new account, it's time to walk.

WTB posts ALWAYS bring out the scammers. 

Unless the person has a high post count, its safe to assume they are a scammer. 

I posted a 1,200 lb lathe on Craig's List. Within minutes, I got a message that said "I will buy your product..." It went on to describe all sorts of crazy stuff, like how payment would be sent third or forth parties, and how they'd have a friend of a friend pick it up, and on and on. The sad part is that this apparently works. I almost wanted to play along to see how they planned to move it, but don't want to be anywhere near sketchy people

kb58 said:

I posted a 1,200 lb lathe on Craig's List. Within minutes, I got a message that said "I will buy your product..." It went on to describe all sorts of crazy stuff, like how payment would be sent third or forth parties, and how they'd have a friend of a friend pick it up, and on and on. The sad part is that this apparently works. I almost wanted to play along to see how they planned to move it, but don't want to be anywhere near sketchy people

They have you write a check for shipping and they cut you a check for the full amount + shipping....

Same scam different rare part; factory ram air airbox for LT1. Camaro SS.

CAinCA said:

A couple days ago I got a private message from someone with a brand new account. He gave me an email address and said this guy has what you're looking for. Red Flag #1.

This has become an epidemic on the car forums all over the interwebs.  I'm a moderator on another board and we're banning a half dozen of these guys every day, they all use the exact same methods.  It's hard to stay in front of them.

edit: as I was typing this I got a report of another one so I have to go over there and ban him...Hello, buddy you can mail me [email], I have it for sale.  They like to use the word 'buddy' a lot, so there's another red flag to watch for.

This is why forums should (and some do) prevent new users from sending private messages. 

Once, and it was a good one:

Got a unicorn for the family - 2010 SAAB 9-5 content

Don't pay for anything over the web unless you use Paypal goods/services, period.  I posted a wanted for a specific KTM 690 seat, got two responses, neither wanted to accept paypal and sent me pics of seats that I easily found on google. 

Another red flag is that even after you've told them you're no longer interested they still ping you to buy the item.

My brother in law now has about $275k in 'checks' from scammers trying to buy his old Ford truck.

He enjoys berking with them...

I got scammed on a Hans Pro from a popular racer website.  Corresponded with the guy via text and he was getting out of racing due to a back injury and we chatted about his series, etc etc.  After sending him Paypal he disappeared on me.  

Called PP directly and there was nothing they could do since it wasn't an eBay transaction, etc, but also said "yeah, we know this guy."  They encouraged me to call my CC and ask for the Paypal depatment, which I did.  Sent them some info on the transaction - screenshot of texts and online ad and they refunded my money.  

I was impressed!  Scammers gonna scam, but this was very much a real person who knew a lot about racing.

So here's my new standing practice on how not to get scammed from individuals:  ask to chat briefly via phone or Facetime once the agreement to purchase has been made.  Nobody likes talking on the phone anymore, but who can't make time for a 3min call?  You can tell so much more about who is on the other end of the phone vs electronically.  

I was one click away from wiring $85,000 to a scammer in Africa. He intercepted my email and over a period of weeks inserted himself into a conversation with a vendor I wired money to regularly. He set up an account at a big Japanese bank to receive the money and only a very sharp bank teller saved my ass. I had no idea and do not consider myself to be either naive or a dummy. And last year a friend in Texas with a large business lost $150,000 exactly the same way. He is one of the smartest people I know. Neither of us saw any red flags. Some guy in a mud hut in Mogadishu is a billionaire.

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

Can you give any more details? Over time they're going to wise up and trick even us who think we can spot them. Can you share what techniques were used that almost got you? We need to share to stay ahead of their games.

In reply to kb58 :

They got into my email somehow and rerouted everything so they could open them all and read them and then marked them as unread and sent them on to me. Then they zoomed in on the one vendor and started changing a few lines of text to see if i would notice which I did not. At some point they changed his email and cut him out. They moved a dot one character over. He had a complicated email which was perfect for them.  They still asked a few questions about order volumes and casually mentioned they would be changing banks in a few weeks. There was no hurry and their English was excellent. I never suspected a thing.

While I was on my first deployment I paid $500 for a rebuilt cyl head for my Mustang.  Never got the head.

Guy was an established member of the forum, personal friend of the owner of the place.  I was in a similar position, but friends with several of the moderators. 

I didn't even have the satisfaction of having a huge blow up on the forum.  Guy ghosted everyone. 

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

Dang... I guess as the dumb ones get figured out and give up, it leaves only the really nasty smart ones. I dunno whether I'd have caught onto that, either.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

There was a guy (forget his name now) on Acurazine that did the same thing for manual conversions. He established his legitimacy over a few years but actually completing the conversions  and then took a bunch of deposits, but never fulfilled the orders and just disappeared. 

You reminded me of a guy on the Honda K-series forums. Posted all the time, ran his own business, and was a central figure in the forum. He started developing a new camshaft for the cars which promised big things, and people started sending deposits (you can see where this is going). Years went by, with constant updates on the development process, then getting them fabricated. He sent out some to a few people who said they were wonderful, and... then it got quiet. After some months, people started asking what's up, no answer. People started threatening to stop by his shop, and the response was that work is really busy, things are taking longer than expected, blah blah blah, but very few received anything. Most gave up ever seeing the cams, let alone their deposits.

In this case, I don't think he planned this as a crime from the start, but got in over his head and decided late in the game to walk away. In the past I've used the phrase "criminally lazy", meaning that the party isn't purposefully screwing you over, they just never get around to shipping anything. No difference though to those who sent him money.