[Noxx]

Scammer alert:
If someone replies to one of your wanted ad and says that you should contact a friend of his that has what you want.
He will insist that you pay via friends and family to 'get the funds faster'
You will never hear from him again nor your wanted part.
In my case, his paypal address is: [email protected]
Paypal are not helpful since it was not paid under the buyer protection
In the future, I will also always google the paypal address to see if he struck others.
I have his IP and location, anyone knows what I should do ?
Thanks

 

[motox6]

Good advice...its a shame paypal cant track this

 

[JustinD]

not PayPal's fault....never pay a stranger via "Friends & Family"

If your payment method was a credit card, file a claim with your CC company.

 

[KBuilt]

I had a few trying to get me to pay over cash app after refunding a legit PayPal goods and services transaction because they realized there’s no screwing me there lol. Be careful buying secondhand..

 

[Them Witches]

Also make sure a buyer notes their shipping address on the paypal payment.

 

[LotusElise]

I made this a sticky thread, maybe others add there scammer experience or tips to prevent one self from them by using any technology.

 

[Teedohs]

I was nearly a scam victim yesterday. I'm looking to purchase a rear disc conversion and a Auto to manual conversion pedal assembly. I was contacted by two different individuals saying that if I'm interested, to email their friend or member who has what I am are looking for.

Here are some tips that helped me identify it was a scam:

• One asked for $450 for trailing arms!!! Too expensive for that and when I told him, he asked "what are you looking to pay?” then immediately dropped the price to $250 after I didn't respond only because I hadn't read the message yet. Clearly he doesn't know what these go for so that was the first flag.
• They wanted to message via WhatsApp only. If you message them via SMS, you get no response. They use WhatsApp due to end-to-end encryption. My suspicion is that they are using something like Google Voice in order to get a number for WhatsApp verification and then drop the number from Google Voice after they authenticate via WhatsApp.
• One of them started to call me every few minutes being persistent about me sending them funds so they could ship it out since he was by the "shipping center". How do you even have the parts packed and ready and you're by a "shipping center" that quickly?
• Their language lingo sounds foreign, such as saying "shipping place", shipping location" or "shipping center"
• Speaking to them on the phone, the individual had a heavy accent from somewhere in Russia.
• The person recommending that friend has ZERO post or interactions in any of the forums
• Their profile shows they have been members for a few days or few short months
• They prefer the cash app or a funding source where you get no protection or guarantee as a buyer
• They send you pictures of more than what you are asking for while others won't ever send you pictures
• If you stop responding to one individual, another person reaches out with the same offer but then offers it for exactly the same price you told the first individual you'd pay and not anything higher. The price is almost too perfect and they don't try to haggle you about it.
• If you're able to get the email IP from the sender, check if the IP originates from a different country. If it originates from the US, check to see if it's owned by a VPN/Proxy service provider, which will mask the users original location

Here are some screenshots of my engagement and what to look for to avoid being scammed and the two individuals trying to scam:

Notice how the subject was a straight copy/paste of my subject and the only adjustment made was one changed the capital letters and added a period.

Zero interactions here

Zero interactions here too

Email address of one scammer

Notice the excessive calling?

The most unfortunate part is that they have my home address now. My suggestion is the following:

• Don't provide your address until you have verified the seller
• Have the seller communicate with you via the forum thread and have them post a picture of the item with a poster identifying their username, date, and whatever else Sellers are required to do. The only thing you should do via a PM is payment arrangement. If you keep the convo in a thread, other member may be able to pick up if you are being scammed so it helps to keep the convo public
• Send using a payment source that protects you
• If possible, have shipped to a P.O. Box or see if UPS or FedEx offers a shipping to one of their stores instead of your home. You just don't know what these scammers will do next with your home address especially if you have a family🤦‍♂️

Be Safe!!!

 

[KBuilt]

I was nearly a scam victim yesterday. I'm looking to purchase a rear disc conversion and a Auto to manual conversion pedal assembly. I was contacted by two different individuals saying that if I'm interested, to email their friend or member who has what I am are looking for.

Here are some tips that helped me identify it was a scam:

• One asked for $450 for trailing arms!!! Too expensive for that and when I told him, he asked "what are you looking to pay?” then immediately dropped the price to $250 after I didn't respond only because I hadn't read the message yet. Clearly he doesn't know what these go for so that was the first flag.
• They wanted to message via WhatsApp only. If you message them via SMS, you get no response. They use WhatsApp due to end-to-end encryption. My suspicion is that they are using something like Google Voice in order to get a number for WhatsApp verification and then drop the number from Google Voice after they authenticate via WhatsApp.
• One of them started to call me every few minutes being persistent about me sending them funds so they could ship it out since he was by the "shipping center". How do you even have the parts packed and ready and you're by a "shipping center" that quickly?
• Their language lingo sounds foreign, such as saying "shipping place", shipping location" or "shipping center"
• Speaking to them on the phone, the individual had a heavy accent from somewhere in Russia.
• The person recommending that friend has ZERO post or interactions in any of the forums
• Their profile shows they have been members for a few days or few short months
• They prefer the cash app or a funding source where you get no protection or guarantee as a buyer
• They send you pictures of more than what you are asking for while others won't ever send you pictures
• If you stop responding to one individual, another person reaches out with the same offer but then offers it for exactly the same price you told the first individual you'd pay and not anything higher. The price is almost too perfect and they don't try to haggle you about it.
• If you're able to get the email IP from the sender, check if the IP originates from a different country. If it originates from the US, check to see if it's owned by a VPN/Proxy service provider, which will mask the users original location

Here are some screenshots of my engagement and what to look for to avoid being scammed and the two individuals trying to scam:

View attachment 103149

Notice how the subject was a straight copy/paste of my subject and the only adjustment made was one changed the capital letters and added a period.

View attachment 103150

Zero interactions here

View attachment 103151

Zero interactions here too

View attachment 103152

View attachment 103153

Email address of one scammer

View attachment 103154

View attachment 103155

View attachment 103156

Notice the excessive calling?

The most unfortunate part is that they have my home address now. My suggestion is the following:

• Don't provide your address until you have verified the seller
• Have the seller communicate with you via the forum thread and have them post a picture of the item with a poster identifying their username, date, and whatever else Sellers are required to do. The only thing you should do via a PM is payment arrangement. If you keep the convo in a thread, other member may be able to pick up if you are being scammed so it helps to keep the convo public
• Send using a payment source that protects you
• If possible, have shipped to a P.O. Box or see if UPS or FedEx offers a shipping to one of their stores instead of your home. You just don't know what these scammers will do next with your home address especially if you have a family🤦‍♂️

Be Safe!!!

Lots of that in the for sale threads, always check how long ago people joined, and how many posts they have on the forum. As well as asking for a handwritten username and date included in pic of items. Thanks for taking the time to post what you did,

 

[LotusElise]

@unix4linux thanks for your contribution here and sorry for your mess you had with them. According to your report I had enough stuff to ban both. BTW I've checked their logging IP addresses: feric6934 was like beaming, one day, three continents where he logged in.

 

[Teedohs]

Lots of that in the for sale threads, always check how long ago people joined, and how many posts they have on the forum. As well as asking for a handwritten username and date included in pic of items. Thanks for taking the time to post what you did,

No problem

 

[Teedohs]

@unix4linux thanks for your contribution here and sorry for your mess you had with them. According to your report I had enough stuff to ban both. BTW I've checked their logging IP addresses: feric6934 was like beaming, one day, three continents where he logged in.

Yep, I noticed the IP on the email was out of the country. I forgot to mention that one of them sent a picture of the clutch assembly. I then asked what year and vehicle it was from and he told me it was from a '99 Civic. So, I decided to do a google search for "99 civic clutch assembly" and sure enough when I saw the results, the image was part of an eBay sale item.

Thank you all for the sticky as well. It definitely helped me. May I add the following suggestion? Is it possible to add this or cross reference this sticky in the WTB section as well. I think it's beneficial in both areas and not just in the For Sale section. If it's already done and I missed it, then cool.

 

[LotusElise]

...Is it possible to add this or cross reference this sticky in the WTB section as well. I think it's beneficial in both areas and not just in the For Sale section. If it's already done and I missed it, then cool.

Yes, I will do it, if not already done.

 

[Them Witches]

something I have learned over the years is to bait scammers. acting kind of dumb helps expose them. thye typically go from overly nice to rush rush rush within a day or two. this is one way, I have done this:

I am looking for a part and make a post. I get replies from people that have no posts that have the part. I resort to a price, then ask for pics of the parts. When they reply with them I ask for another photo with a hand signed member name and date right after the 1st pics. this tends to expose if they really have the part or not sometimes. when I ask for actual contact information to be put on a paypal note including their shipping address.

mainly i look for excuses, excessive information from the seller, unneeded pressure of payments, seller is experiencing family issues of anykind, they refuse to attapt to the buyers payment preferences.