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An old fool scammed, warning
- Thread starter g.corey74
- Start date
Man, that is an awful story. Painful to read. Don't ever wire anyone money. I don't even know why those services exists this day and age with checks, Money orders, cashiers checks, paypal, etc..
I've bought and sold on Craigslist/Ebay for 10 years. Never any major problems. You just gotta watch for the scams. Usually it'll be a like new car or classic car for like $3000. And they never have a phone number. The location will also never be specific. It wont be a local suburb town name only locals would know, etc.. The ad will be flagged and deleted usually pretty quickly, but I'm sure people respond to them every time.
I don't think Craigslist needs to be better policed. The reason Craigslist is so great is because it has minimal restrictions. You just gotta be more vigilant. I've given a scammer my Paypal password several years ago. So I've fallen for them too.. Luckily a few hours later I realized what had happened and logged back in and changed it.
You'll probably never get your money back - but I would still pursue it with law enforcement. You never know. $2800 would be a lot of money to me, I would definitely do everything in my power to try to get it back.
I've bought and sold on Craigslist/Ebay for 10 years. Never any major problems. You just gotta watch for the scams. Usually it'll be a like new car or classic car for like $3000. And they never have a phone number. The location will also never be specific. It wont be a local suburb town name only locals would know, etc.. The ad will be flagged and deleted usually pretty quickly, but I'm sure people respond to them every time.
I don't think Craigslist needs to be better policed. The reason Craigslist is so great is because it has minimal restrictions. You just gotta be more vigilant. I've given a scammer my Paypal password several years ago. So I've fallen for them too.. Luckily a few hours later I realized what had happened and logged back in and changed it.
You'll probably never get your money back - but I would still pursue it with law enforcement. You never know. $2800 would be a lot of money to me, I would definitely do everything in my power to try to get it back.
If you want fraud protection and no liability, credit card is the ONLY way to pay. Any good credit card company will protect you fully if you report the questionable transaction in a reasonable amount of time. Most other ways, you are putting YOUR own money at risk.
Paypal also offers quite a bit of protection nowadays as well. If you don't recieve an item, they'll refund your money. It's happened to me before. Luckily it was just a $20 item, not a huge deal. Buyer contacted me at first saying he didn't have enough money to ship it, then his Grandma died, then communication stopped. Probably just some young idiot that didn't understand how "real" eBay is, and that you can't just take someones money and not ship their item..
ptschram
Well-known member
Last year I bought a set of bumpers and rock sliders from a group buy on a forum. After 11 months, I was in contact with the Police in his town, and since most of the people he ripped off were from California, and he was in Pennsylvania,
Oh noes, not on this board too!
I'll bet I know who this was. At least you got your $ back.
Hi Cool,
Thanks from down under. I have responded to similar posts and it's ok. I didn't sign on for a pity party and if the forum didn't give me some hard knocks it might seem a little phony. You hit on my fallacy. I was too trusting of
several things. I'm probably with your parents generation.
Unfortunately the world has grown a little ****** and you have to watch where you step. I didn't. Thanks again for the kind words.
My problem is but a grain of sand compared to what your country is facing. I hope some sun is shining through. Say hi to mom and dad.
Thanks from down under. I have responded to similar posts and it's ok. I didn't sign on for a pity party and if the forum didn't give me some hard knocks it might seem a little phony. You hit on my fallacy. I was too trusting of
several things. I'm probably with your parents generation.
Unfortunately the world has grown a little ****** and you have to watch where you step. I didn't. Thanks again for the kind words.
My problem is but a grain of sand compared to what your country is facing. I hope some sun is shining through. Say hi to mom and dad.
One interesting point about Western Union. Once someone pays WU, the recipient can pick up the money anywhere in the world. It's not like you send money to a particular WU office. So even in scams that request second or additional payments like this one, there's no way for law enforcement to stake out the particular WU office and catch the scammer. IMO, legislation is desperately needed to curtail the way Western Union does business. Like requiring that money be sent to a particular, pre-determined location (that would be known to the sender), and that photo ID be required to collect.
Also, while there may be a way to track IP addresses, don't expect the seller/scammer to be in the US. And don't expect law enforcement to have any desire to use their considerable resources to help you get your money back. This will NOT meet their "Threshold of Enforcement". The FBI has an Internet Crimes Unit, (ICU) where you can report the scam, and scammer, but don't hold your breath waiting for an arrest. Unfortunatley, the FBI's list of priorities is topped with terrorism, crimes involving nuclear material, murder, kidnapping, slavery, and scams where billions of dollars are involved. No time left these days to chase someone who scammed someone out of $2,800 for a non-existant Bobcat.
Also, while there may be a way to track IP addresses, don't expect the seller/scammer to be in the US. And don't expect law enforcement to have any desire to use their considerable resources to help you get your money back. This will NOT meet their "Threshold of Enforcement". The FBI has an Internet Crimes Unit, (ICU) where you can report the scam, and scammer, but don't hold your breath waiting for an arrest. Unfortunatley, the FBI's list of priorities is topped with terrorism, crimes involving nuclear material, murder, kidnapping, slavery, and scams where billions of dollars are involved. No time left these days to chase someone who scammed someone out of $2,800 for a non-existant Bobcat.
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Oh noes, not on this board too!
I'll bet I know who this was. At least you got your $ back.
Yes, you do know who this was. That's why I will now only buy parts from you, Will, Marty, or Paul.
srmofo,
I poked around and used ICE email to ask how to report a scam. I received 3 lines of bs and a link back to where I started. Typical government.
Oh man Im sorry, I just now caught it. I wrote ICE. Its actually IC3. Sorry to send you on a wild goose chase
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
Big red button at the bottom of the page. If you have the guys actual name it will speed things along.
Im sure some people here can help with tracking down his real info depending on what type of communication you had with him. Hopefully it wasnt all on the phone.
Good luck and keep us posted. Let us know if any more help is needed.
I almost lost $2200 through an ebay auction for car parts once. Luckily I trusted my instinct and paid with paypal instead of the western union he was demanding. Unfortunately he was using his buddies account and his buddy got the short end of the stick on that one. At least he knew the person and could resolve it in person. I did manage to lose $65 through western union though because he needed more money for the shipping supposedly.
Pay-pal helped me and IC3 tremendously on that one and as soon as he was contacted by Law enforcement he quit fighting the paypal chargeback and laid down. Hopefully yours has a similar outcome.
Dont quit fighting yet, it took me almost 1 1/2 months to get my money back
Hi Ski, (#151)
Thanks. I'm jumping around trying to catch up and the posts are gaining on me. Good points on WU. I have been wondering also, after so many years, why isn't there legislation installed to put some limits on WU. It seems that we are all saying this but I'm not seeing any history of previous action. Are you aware of any serious attempts to do this?
Also on ICE check above post #150.
Thanks. I'm jumping around trying to catch up and the posts are gaining on me. Good points on WU. I have been wondering also, after so many years, why isn't there legislation installed to put some limits on WU. It seems that we are all saying this but I'm not seeing any history of previous action. Are you aware of any serious attempts to do this?
Also on ICE check above post #150.
am i the only one who actually has a $5000 bobcat that they found online? that's not unreasonable. now mine has a few thousand hours on it. and we payed with a bank check/money order thingy in person.
the key is to never send money until you have the part. i've never been scammed. but i have heard enough to know that paypal and ebay are in the business of collecting fees, not recovering scammed moneys. your credit card company on the other hand wants that money back. after all they have a vested interest in seeing it returned.
the key is to never send money until you have the part. i've never been scammed. but i have heard enough to know that paypal and ebay are in the business of collecting fees, not recovering scammed moneys. your credit card company on the other hand wants that money back. after all they have a vested interest in seeing it returned.
Hi jktruck,
Thanks. I have been working on your very point since Monday. The money is gone. Police can't help. I have covered all the possible info to this point. I understand what you are asking but I wonder. Are you familiar with being scammed? If you wish to go back to my lead post and read through to the the end of Thursday you will know
all that I have learned and you won't have to wait so long.
Thanks. I have been working on your very point since Monday. The money is gone. Police can't help. I have covered all the possible info to this point. I understand what you are asking but I wonder. Are you familiar with being scammed? If you wish to go back to my lead post and read through to the the end of Thursday you will know
all that I have learned and you won't have to wait so long.