Warning! Scammers among us!

Google that phone number and you will find plenty of similar complaints...

I always google a lead if possible and if information is available.

Also do not send money via wire transfer it can be a black hole.

[as a side note there's a guy in Italy who always has all parts and wants crazy amounts of money wire transferred in - to me that's just irresponsible on the buyer part?]

 

fell for a guy here last year by the name of paulo bitton out of cascais, portugal, who scammed me out of money for a Nardi steering wheel, his username 'akko' has been blocked here, but maybe he re-registered again.. he seemed very legit in the beginning, had an eBay site, FB pages etc... but there's tons of scammers around...
tried to involve the police, his bank told me that he couldn't be reached and his account was overdrawn... frustrating...

 

Wow, that sucks Fredrik.
Thanks for warning the rest of us.

 

When I buy from a member, I make sure he is an active member. I usually pay using PayPal via bank account instead of CC. This is lesson to us all, use CC. There is scammers among us lurking.

Why is it not surprising to find one here?

 

Never wired. period. Sorry. I learned my lesson of wiring $300 for a very nice laptop in college....

 

Sucks Bro.

 

You still need to file a police report, especially if your in the EU. Warrants are valid across states.

One of these days, he would be caught.

To Methyl or Paul, or who ever you are, you think you got lucky with this, there is a jail especially made for you somewhere. Time to change your Modus Operandi.

 

Absolutely file a police report. It may not help you, but down the road they may screw up and previously filed police reports will show police that there is a pattern of fraud. Otherwise these lowlifes may claim it was an honest mistake.

In fact you may want to contact the police in their hometown. Depending where it is, police have been known to show up at their door with positive results.

 

Suger så in i h-te, Fredde... lider med dig.

Easy to fall for a scam like this, especially when it's an highly sought after item.

May guys like this rot.

 

He's banned. His registration email indicates he's done this before.

 

Don't feel dumb. It happens.

I documented "getting taken" in December. It is the worst feeling ever.

Hang in there. And remember that karma does truly come around. That's the only thing you can hang on to.

 

Very sorry to hear this, Fredrik.

 

methyl is a new user with just 2 posts.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/members/202187.html

Searching by the phone number you posted for Paul leads to this warning on L-talk:

http://www.**********************/vbforum/f233/scam-warning-jacktr-sales-partsmartic-com-916-243-7236-a-173745/

Searching by methyl's registration email, popped up the following message posted on another board by a user that registered in Dec 2016 and posted Jan 2017:

Pretty much the same format. But in this case, methyl's registration email address is used as the "supplier" rather than the "referrer" and the UK is the supplier's home. Note that Paul uses a California phone number, while methyl's name is posted as being in the UK, but his IP posting here is from California, not the UK.

So the basic scam seems to be:

- New user registers on a site, then quietly refers users posting "want ads" to an alternate email/phone number.

- This unsolicited referral disarms the buyer since someone said nice things about the seller, even though it's a stranger.

- Seller sends money at some point and the communication stops.

- Some/most of the names, emails and phone numbers are likely fronts. Perhaps the bank account info for the wire could be used to confirm IDs.

 

Always pay with a credit card, or Paypal. They will refund your money if this sort of thing happens.

There's another scam out there where someone will call a service company, and ask them to go out to a customer's house and service something, or a cab etc. They ask the company to call a number first before the appointment. But the number is actually a fee service for $800/minute. The charge appears on the company's telephone bill. You have to be careful who you call. Watch out for area code 876. The fake Jamaican phone scam.

 

Just found another scam warning referring to Paul's email and phone number on an Aprilia forum:

Beware Scammers are among us on this forum! - Page 3

 

What's the UK address that is listed? You want me to visit and check it out?

 

Man I almost fell for it.... Methyl responded to one of my "wanted" items.

Hi,

Please contact Steve on [email protected] regarding your request . He gave me a great deal when i purchased from him. He is located in the USA fast shipping and trusted. His Cell phone # is 435-393-2532

Thanks

--------------------------------
I emailed Steve and he responded:
Yes i have ORIGINAL 1995 Ferrari F355 Berlinetta car cover, bag,
seat covers and steering wheel cover for sale. NEW and never used. I
am asking a $1400 shipped. I will be shipping via UPS or FedEx which
ever you prefer and will take payment via Bank wire transfer. Whats
your shipping address?

Thanks

--------------------------------

I said no due to price and he never responded. Also, I never do a wire. Only Paypal.

 

It is my understanding that with this forum software you can replace certain phrases. So if I were to type out some word like the F word, it's replaced with asterisks. I think that is also functional in PMs. I'd highly suggest the mods, make a new frauster list, once deemed fraud, they put the phone numbers, email addresses and usernames (in all the variations with spaces and dashes etc) in the blacklist and instead of asterisks it provides a sticky link to a fraud list (read only). So whether in a post or PM, there is no way to utilize those emails or phone numbers again.

 

Also, lock down PM ability for the first 45 days and 30 posts. Sure, they can get around that by waiting and posting but with other options such as a fraud list, is this site really worth their time anymore when there are easier site to pick on?

 

Bummer file a police report, this has probably happened to some/most of us at one time or another. Mine have been in the 100s, and not any more. None On F chat.
I buy from members on here, but they are usually quite well known, have been here longer than me, and other members have already said good things about them.
Recent membership, low post count, and in a foreign country should be a big red flag to anybody.

 

Sorry to hear that Freddan.