Scammers still lurking

[ERJDriver]

Originally Posted by Ratdog

Another scammer?
Prosperity Prosperity is offline
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: Northwood
Posts: 0
Garmin SL30
Not sure if you got to buy as i have one for sale
Selling due to cancer issues
Willing to sell at $1550 shipped to anywhere within the USA
Payment - Cashapp/Venmo/Zelle
maritimesend@gmail.com

I just got a pm from him about an autopilot

[Oldmcdonald]

Capt has the right idea. PM the seller and get a cell number from them. Tell them you will FaceTime them to see the item. If it is removed ask them to take a short video of all sides of the item for sale with the cables, mounting tray, documents etc. The more questions you ask the more certain you can be whether they are a scammer or not.

[BCP Boys]

Originally Posted by Oldmcdonald

Capt has the right idea. PM the seller and get a cell number from them. Tell them you will FaceTime them to see the item. If it is removed ask them to take a short video of all sides of the item for sale with the cables, mounting tray, documents etc. The more questions you ask the more certain you can be whether they are a scammer or not.

Best idea of all so far. Still doesn't cover you from the dirtbag that buys something from you, pays with Paypal, receives your item, and then call Paypal and says the item didn't work and wants to return it, but returns junk back. When selling to someone, offer to do a video and anything else to get them comfortable with the sale, but get paid via Friends and Family or Venmo or another electronic payment that can't be reversed.

[9GT]

Never ever ever pay using PayPal under friends and family gift, buying goods from someone you don't personally know. As a seller, I factor in the Goods and Services fee when I price an item and it makes it much easier to ship and print labels.

[lr172]

Originally Posted by vinzer

I personally faced a scam (on other website) while sold an item and got paid via PayPal. The payment was for Goods and Services. After item was received by buyer he opened dispute in PP saying that item does not work. I agreed to accept it back for full refund, he shipped me package …. with some scrap metal but not the original item. PayPal took money out of me and refunded buyer back despite my explanations that package I received back contained no item I sold originally. Few $K in loses and no more trust to electronic payment services.
I think some sort of reference system or trust rating needs to be implemented but even though some scammers somehow able to use accounts of members who passed away

Wow. Thanks for posting this! I wasn't aware some of these scum were this creative. It seems this is turning into a career for too many people.

Larry

[Snowflake]

Never use something as sketchy as Venmo for payments. Venmo's only purpose of existence is to obscure and hide fraudulent transactions.

[vgb]

The problem is honest folks don't think like a thief. How about they send a picture of there drivers license and pilots license. and a copy of there electric bill ?

[smt6]

Originally Posted by Secondwind

Most likely the 2 emails were the same person or someone working along with the scammer.

That’s a low assumption. I was “the real seller in the deal,” and I can unequivocally say that I had nothing to do with this. As a long time member, supporter of VAF and builder, these types of comments are reckless and have no business here. I’ve bought and sold a lot here and this slander isn’t warranted.

[Walt]

I used to hobby in high end watches where scammers were abundant, the rule of thumb was buy the seller first, no matter how good the deal if you can't confirm the seller is legit with references then walk away.

A WTB ad is an invitation to scammers.

[vinzer]

Originally Posted by vgb

The problem is honest folks don't think like a thief. How about they send a picture of there drivers license and pilots license. and a copy of there electric bill ?

That's a good idea by the way, however some people may not be willing to provide personal info (license, address) not because they are scammers but because they have no idea how secure you will store/delete this information.
eBay has sort of a reputation feedback system where you can not only see a feedback rating (0% to 100%) but also read feedbacks from customers/sellers. Maybe it is a time to implement such system in here - that will give at least more confidence when dealing with someone you do not know and who has no posts on forum.