Want help identifying scammer who is (was) a member

[Advntrbound]

I wonder if it's the same user that attempted to sell me OEM fenders for $400, again a price that's too good to be true. I did my transaction through PayPal so I had that layer of protection. Luckily I bailed on the deal and reported the user before I didn't any money.

Anytime you're buying anything online, if it smells fishy than it usually is.

There was a member kyle01 that only had for sale posts. One was fenders. I inquired, he was pushy so I backed out. Wonder if this was the same guy?

Sponsored

 

[Orange01z28]

Like you, I have been involved in the "Admin" side of several forums. This isn't the first time, nor will it be the last, that this has happened. One of the rimfire boards I was involved in the Admin gave personal information about one member to another. They then confronted the scamming member and caused physical harm. The board was implicated and the Admin charged. The board is gone, erased from the internet and the Admin was fined substantially.

As I said, this is Federal charges, wire fraud over the internet falls into the same category as wire fraud using the United States Postal Service. Press charges and then write it off as you won't find anything out and likely won't recover lost funds or goods.

Both of these paragraphs are a sign of how absolutely failed our legal system in the US.

If someone is scamming someone, they should expect and accept any physical harm that might come their way if caught. The only person who did any moral wrong in that situation is the scammer. Not the person who confronted and hurt him, not the admin, not the froum

The second paragraph explains why we have to resort to the situation in the first paragraph

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So how far do u go over a few dollars? Put someone in the hospital? Beat them so they cant work for a week and collect a paycheck? Maybe confront them and guns cone out? Over money? Force over money isn't legal either...not to mention making the attacker no better than the scammer

 

[Tommyd]

I would never send money to anyone like that that’s not a reputable company. Crazy

 

[Lunentucker]

So how far do u go over a few dollars? Put someone in the hospital? Beat them so they cant work for a week and collect a paycheck? Maybe confront them and guns cone out? Over money? Force over money isn't legal either...not to mention making the attacker no better than the scammer

Back in the early days of Ebay I bought something from a guy in NJ (I'm Southern VA).
Best I can recall it was less than $100.
Back then you mailed the seller a check or money order, and then they mailed you the goods.
After him having the money for about ten days and not shipping or replying to my emails, I'd had enough. I emailed him and reminded him that I had his name and his address, and that being a person of high standards and principles, I was willing and able to drive to NJ and either get my money, the item, or a pound of flesh.

How much is enough for me to hold someone accountable in principle?
FAAFO

 

[DBravo]

Drama. You want it, I got it! Here's a thanksgiving tale of woe about two guys and a forum member who scammed us at the same time.

I'd love to find out who it is and get our money back. $500 each! Ouch.

A recent post in in the member market place by Rex3rd (now banned from this forum) listed some NIB baja designs LP6 lights. $500 dollars shipped. Seemed reasonable (not in hind sight!), about half price for lights they claimed they had a while, sold their jeep and was looking to get rid of... I checked their stats and posts and they seemed legit, but it was too good to be true.

I sent a DM and struck a deal, they wrote back saying they got the payment and would send the parts. Then after some back and forth about not getting the payment I got a message from them saying they accidentally sent me the wrong address. I know...looking back, I get it. Then I said I wanted to wait a couple days until the money was back in my account and they said forget it, they would sell it to someone else. That upset me since we had a deal ( I know...red flag, and I got emotional about it...my mistake for sure.) and I let them know I was upset all the while working to get my $500 back (used Zelle). Then there was a period of silence and when I pressed and said I'd gotten my money back from the "wrong address" they said okay, they would would sell to me and gave me another address to which I sent the money. Then they wanted confirmation of payment by having me take a video of me logging into my bank account (which I said no way!...I know, another red flag, but remember I was emotional at this point and not thinking clearly)...Long story short, they got my money, ghosted me and ta da. Scammed. Dang it.

Meanwhile, apparently, they were posting more deals too good to be true ( some wheels and tires) and I found out that another member got taken by the same post for the lights as me. Bummer for us both.

Rex3rd's profile said he was in Utah, but I'm certain that's a lie. Just wondering how a member with those stats was able to be on the forum for so long and then run a scam like this. Also, would like anyones help in finding the jerk(s) and getting our money back. I know it's a long shot, but I have faith!

Thanks everyone!

Hindsight is a tough pill to swallow. My wife had an attempted scam on her via Zelle through Facebook Mplace. I overheard it and we agreed no way as Zelle is usually linked to a bank account - not a credit card.

 

[sharpsicle]

Back in the early days of Ebay I bought something from a guy in NJ (I'm Southern VA).
Best I can recall it was less than $100.
Back then you mailed the seller a check or money order, and then they mailed you the goods.
After him having the money for about ten days and not shipping or replying to my emails, I'd had enough. I emailed him and reminded him that I had his name and his address, and that being a person of high standards and principles, I was willing and able to drive to NJ and either get my money, the item, or a pound of flesh.

How much is enough for me to hold someone accountable in principle?
FAAFO

Nice, documented threats of violence. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Lunentucker]

Nice, documented threats of violence. What could possibly go wrong?

There were three options.

 

[22EcoDs]

Ya beat me to it - the admin can see the IP address of every post - at least I can on the AMC forums. The IP address is visible to admin account, PM or forum public message.
It's not easy at all to hijack a forum account with the software I'm used to - the password is encrypted on a SQL server and even the guy who wrote the software can't break the encryption. The account is associated with an email address, so to get a password changed, you have to have access to the email account. (the only way I'd know of is if someone sent me a request to change the email address because the member changed email hosts and the new email was placed in the forum account)



Wise words!
Human nature is to resist strong and complex passwords so it can be a struggle.
Amazing how I got push-back when I worked for the state and the central IT boys said "8 characters, combination of this, that and the other thing" and I had a woman come to MY office and start shouting at ME - all I did was forward the central IT message to our staff. Man, she was pissed.
I had some fun with the boss when I invited him into my office and showed him how I could get full admin access to windows machines by booting from a Linux disk and expose all passwords and the web cache that held our client PII including DOB, SSN and more. He freaked and ordered hard encryption of all drives and turning off USB and CD boots and password locking the BIOS settings.

Yea I usually recommend length over complexity. Phrases are good for humans to remember and harder for bots.. 15char plus at minimum. Rotate only when you suspect compromise and do not use passwords across sites.

 

[JTBurns]

I'm glad the OP posted this. It's a cautionary tale for us all. I've bought a lot of the member marketplace and generally sing it's praises. I've used F&F with PayPal for a few things to actually be shipped, but these were from fairly prominent members selling products they've made, and one tow hook, all with a value less than $100. The few more expensive items I bought, I made the trip to pick up, and did what I could to vet those members well too based on posting history and the conversations we had. Always gotta be careful with meetups too, we drive expensive vehicles with all kinds of extra goodies, so we've all got to be vigilant not to be lured into a sketchy situation as well.

It's going to be very unlikely the scammer will be held responsible, and $500 would piss me off too, but I don't know how much more energy it's worth to invest in this. Might just have to take it as the lesson learned.

 

[BAT]

Agreed. There are articles out there warning against using Zelle because of the lack of buyer protection.

Thought I saw an article not long ago there might be some changes coming with regard to Zelle and if you get scammed the possibility of having your money refunded.

 

[Fropek]

There was a member kyle01 that only had for sale posts. One was fenders. I inquired, he was pushy so I backed out. Wonder if this was the same guy?

Sure is, got real weird real quick. Noped right the fuck out

 

[Free2roam]

Zelle works off of phone numbers or email correct? Have either one?

 

[Advntrbound]

Sure is, got real weird real quick. Noped right the fuck out

I can't recall the town but he said he was in Nebraska.

 

[Orange01z28]

So how far do u go over a few dollars? Put someone in the hospital? Beat them so they cant work for a week and collect a paycheck? Maybe confront them and guns cone out? Over money? Force over money isn't legal either...not to mention making the attacker no better than the scammer

We're talking about morality, not legality

And a "few dollars" is relative to how much money someone has, but the answer is any amount

I can't explain myself more without getting political

Sponsored