Beware of Hustle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Full Throttle]

I just bought something from the OP. Payed by PAYPAL friends and family as requested. Know your seller, please.

[Paul 5r4]

Not really RV related but involved scammers. I would encourage everyone to do this. I changed my bank debit card alerts from email, (which I don't often check), to text alerts. I was home one evening at 10:30 pm. Received a text that my card had just been used. I immediately canceled it. Had I been using the emails.... I wouldn't have known for who knows how long and they could have wiped out the checking acct. I highly recommend using text alerts!!!

And to the OP.... I'm so sorry you took a hit!

[bgrandorff]

I purchased a paint system just this morning from the classifieds. I didn't even ask the seller, I just included 2.9% on top of the price, and chose it as a transaction.
I am 99.99% it's legit, he is legit, so on and so forth.

On another note, I would open a case with paypal and show them your communications. They honestly likely will jump in. Even though you chose friends and family. Use the excuse that you were duped. And I also believe you can (if you paid by CC) dispute even that.

At a minimum they will shut him down, they don't want this activity happening for any reason.

[DRMA]

One other option for avionics transactions to keep in mind for the future. I believe that Stein Air will act as escrow agent on avionics transactions for a modest fee.

I think the way it works is the seller sends the avionics to Stein and Stein inspects the avionics to be sure they work. The buyer then sends the money to Stein, who once the "check clears", sends the money (less Stein's escrow fee) to the seller and sends the avionics item(s) to the buyer. This protects both the buyer and seller.

[Skint]

Trust but verify. I trusted but did not verify and my former daughter in law embezzled $138000 from my business over 5 years. Up on two felony charges now. There were 49 misdemeanors and 63 felonies.
Still find it hard to believe. I feel like an idiot for not being more diligent.

[Pilot135pd]

I don't like to use the words ALWAYS, NEVER, EVERYONE because it's usually not the case. Not everyone who doesn't use Paypal is a scammer.

I've been here on this site for a while now and can't be more open about where I am or where I live and a quick search of my airplane or my airport or my name shows you everything about me. Having said that I recently sold an old Garmin 295 to someone on this forum (I won't say his name because he's not important) and after waiting for a month with his excuses for not sending me his payment he finally paid me by Paypal (something I don't use to accept or request money, ever) and I couldn't get his name or email to show up on Paypal. He decided to say I was a scammer and he was going to report me to Paypal ! I finally was able to create some kind of commercial sale where I had to create an invoice. This isn't a commercial sale, it's my personal gps, but I did it just to convince him I wasn't a scammer.

Even then after asking for his address to send him the gps he hadn't sent it so I asked him for his address again and he said it was on PayPal. Again, I don't use Paypal like that so I didn't t know where to find it since his email won't show up.

Anyway at the beginning of the transaction, over a month and a half earlier, He said he wasn't rushed for me to send him the gps. I still told him I'd send it when I went to the post office to send any other package. I only go to the post office once a week to avoid exposure to the virus so when he gave me his address, 4 days later I went to mail it.

Of course even though I waited a month for him to pay, he texts me "Still waiting". I mailed it that same day on Friday and he got it on Monday. Some people are just like that.

[edclee]

Originally Posted by odens_14

just an FYI, when someone insists on friends and family I will offer to pay the fee and run it as purchase, real sellers will agree without hesitation because they're getting the same $$. Last time I checked the fee is only 2.9% and is worth it to me for the additional safety.

Thats definitely what I should have done, and will do in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ed

[edclee]

Originally Posted by bgrandorff

I purchased a paint system just this morning from the classifieds. I didn't even ask the seller, I just included 2.9% on top of the price, and chose it as a transaction.
I am 99.99% it's legit, he is legit, so on and so forth.

On another note, I would open a case with paypal and show them your communications. They honestly likely will jump in. Even though you chose friends and family. Use the excuse that you were duped. And I also believe you can (if you paid by CC) dispute even that.

At a minimum they will shut him down, they don't want this activity happening for any reason.

I tried opening a case and they dont apparently give yo.
u that option with the friends and family thing. I was unable to get it done
Ed

[David Carter]

Originally Posted by airguy

... a while back I was going to purchase something from a guy (not on this site) that wanted funds that way and I declined since I don't have a Paypal account (and won't - long story there).

If they have a PayPal account, they can send a payment request to anyone with an email address. You can then pay on the PayPal site with a credit card.

Anyone that is a legitimate seller will do this, and they also will never request you to pay via "friends & family." That is an unethical request, because they are asking you to lie about the purpose of the transaction to defraud PayPal out of the transaction fee. That transaction fee is what allows PayPal to stay in business, and it also funds their staff dedicated to settling disputes over merchandise not received or not as described.

For several years I had a sideline business selling electronics cables online via eBay & via my own website. All transactions were done via PayPal & it provided great protection for both buyer & seller.

Bottom line, PayPal is well worth what it costs you (absolutely zero, at least directly) due to the protection it provides to you as the buyer. The seller pays a small fee for this assurance to the buyer, less that 3%. They should build that fee into their asking price.

[bgrandorff]

Originally Posted by edclee

I tried opening a case and they dont apparently give yo.
u that option with the friends and family thing. I was unable to get it done
Ed

Try calling them. I really would try everything. Worse case is they tell you no.
I've been on Paypal since 1996 and I've ran into all types of crazy things. Even though they are a massive company, I've always managed to get my issues resolved.

Anyways, if that doesn't pan out, and you paid by CC, you can dispute those charges. I know because I was scammed by someone from the Ukraine. They first tried to get a refund on an iphone I sent them, claiming it was a fake, and paypal denied their claim. They then went to their CC company, and they got their money back. Pissed me off of course, but, now I know that CC overrides Paypal.