I have been scammed and its my fault!

[tdhanson]

It's probably been said many times but it's important to not use the same password across multiple sites and accounts. Especially among your financial sites, and sites used for buying/selling such as Craigslist, VAF, Etsy, Amazon, etc. Use a password manager from a reputable company if necessary. Watch out for the numerous phishing scams.

[Ratdog]

Originally Posted by Ratdog

The person requesting the funds represented himself to be Marshall Alexander. I just found out that Marshall had been dead since sept 2021. This person posted: https://vansairforce.net/community/s...d.php?t=200577
A Garmin SL30 for sale. I responded to an email address of jrs148855@gmail.com and paypal'd the money. Later, he had me cancel that transaction and asked that I sent a paypal gift transaction to mrsjesuschrist@live.com
I just found out the person that I thought I was dealing with is in fact dead. I have not received a tracking number or the item as they had agreed to.

mrsjesuschrist@live.com sent me an email asking why I was sending him money (mind you this was after I filed a complaint with Paypal). He agreed to return the money! It took awhile but it was credited to my account today. My prayers were answered! Thank you Jesus!

[rv8ch]

Originally Posted by Ratdog

mrsjesuschrist@live.com sent me an email asking why I was sending him money (mind you this was after I filed a complaint with Paypal). He agreed to return the money! It took awhile but it was credited to my account today. My prayers were answered! Thank you Jesus!

Watch out - it could be a scam. He might need you to send him $100 first to make sure you are who you say you are, or for some other plausible-sounding reason. Don't do it.

https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety...ce-fee-schemes

If you get the cash back, it's clearly a test, and you should put at least half in the collection plate at church, and send the other half to VAF as a donation.

[9GT]

The scam artists have gotten very good and knowledgeable at their craft. My friend bought a nice RV-9A last summer and although he is happy with it, he wants a -9A that is top shelf and he has been actively looking for that perfect plane. He has a WTB add in barnstormers and recently was contacted by a "seller" with a very nice plane and at a very reasonable price. After many emails back and forth including pictures, my friend noticed a discrepancy in one of the logbook photos that did not match the other entries. After some more investigation he found that this plane for sale has had the photos copied and pasted from the real owners "For Sale" ad, but he doctored it up. He was looking for a "refundable" wire transfer deposit to hold it at that great price. Please be very careful out there my fellow aviators and forum members. Evil is out there.

[A2022]

how to change the password on this site?

[Draker]

Originally Posted by Steve Melton

how to change the password on this site?

Here's a direct link:

https://vansairforce.net/community/p...o=editpassword

[gmcjetpilot]

I have not bought much off of VAF Classified but recently completed a transaction, bought Nav Strobes and went very well.

I did some basic vetting.

Looked at their membership profile, posts and threads.

Name and city they gave or listed, matched someone in a Google search.

I recall he gave his phone number. Area code matched but did not call, no need.

Sent the paypal. Again not sure how much protection that gives but the account seemed legit.

With eBay you have some protection. With classifieds like this the only protection may be? is through the pay service. Check which services if they have that.

If they talk "western union" forget it. It is scam. In early days of eBay before eBay cracked down on it, may people sold vaporware avionics at prices too good to be true, with payments to Western Union, typical was East Europe. I would correspond and get as much info from them as I could and report them to eBay. The confusing thing was they used legit accounts. I would also notify the seller their account they hijacked. They got into account and changed it. The owner of account if not active would not notice there were auctions on their account. To avoid email notifications to legit account owner they changed the email contact.

I sold an item on VAF and the buyer questioned and accused me of scamming? I emailed the prospective buyer pictures. He did a reverse google image search and found they were on the internet. He accused me of copying the pictures. Well the pictures were on internet because I posted them on a site. I pointed that fact out and sent new "proof of life" dated pictures. I was not offended at all. He was satisfied, sale made, buyer super happy. He wrote me wanting to buy more... I said "NO SOUP FOR YOU". Ha ha. I did not have anymore to sell. However a reverse google search of image of item may not be a bad idea?

Last is if you have a feeling it's not legit or the price is too good to be true.... walk away.

[Carlos151]

Originally Posted by Steve Melton

how to change the password on this site?

Go to the top left side “User CP”
Select “Edit email & Password”

[rv8ch]

Kind reminder on passwords - be sure to use a different password for every site you visit and every account. Easiest way is to use a password manager. Most browsers have pretty good built-in password managers, or if you use macos the keychain is good and syncs between your apple devices.

Products like Keeper or 1Password are also good, and work on any device.

If you are using a site that allows "multi-factor authentication" it's very wise to activate it. Whether it's using a software authenticator or even SMS, it's better than just username/password.

Also, if your cell phone provider offers a way to "lock" your account from any changes, that's a good idea. Lots of scammers steal your accounts by first getting ATT or tmobile or whoever to assign your phone number to them. Then, they clean you out.

Be careful out there - lots of professional scammers, and they are very clever.

[jneves]

Selling a Prop and the potential buyer is on VAF (low post count) but is overseas. Does anyone know if there is a 3rd party, like Stein, that would deal with items like a prop and play the escrow agent/middleman?

I want to trust buyers, but I don't want to lose the prop and end up without the money. He is willing to pay me via PayPal, so that's a plus. I would like to have a secure and fair transaction for both of us.