Joined
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693 Posts
Six months ago I was scammed out of $440 after posting a "WTB" on another forum. That forum had no rules regarding minimum posts on the WTB / WTS forums.
The scammer quickly went from pm format to text and sent me pics of the items. We went back and forth for a couple of days and he responded promptly to questions. He sent me his contact info for a USPS Money order and that's where I made my first mistake. I did NOT Google his mailing address. If I had I would see that it was a decaying Section 8 housing project in the inner city of Pittsburgh, which in hindsight matched his first name, if you know what I mean.
I learned my lesson. Several.
Check the member's 'time on the forum'. In my case they guy had been a member for 9 months. I read some of his posts. They were technical and gave him credibility. But he was patient and playing the long game.
Insist on pics of the item(s) with your username and or date written on a piece of paper placed next to the item.
Google the street address. Does the environment look right?
Google the cell number. If it's from a carrier you never heard of, it's probably an Obamaphone / Gov't subsidized provider and those folks obviously can't play our game.
Pay with a credit card if possible and stop trying to save a 3% 'noncash' fee; look at it as cheap insurance.
Money Orders are like cash and all you can do is file a complaint with the USPS Inspector General. The only thing that you'll get out of that is an email months later saying 'thanks for your information'. Nothing more.
I posted my situation on the other forum like the OP did here as a warning to others and maybe a bit of self-flagellation. Deserved. I think most folks understand and my warning was useful, the scammer got banned. Although the one board know-it-all felt compelled to tell me I was stupid and deserved to be scammed.
The scammer quickly went from pm format to text and sent me pics of the items. We went back and forth for a couple of days and he responded promptly to questions. He sent me his contact info for a USPS Money order and that's where I made my first mistake. I did NOT Google his mailing address. If I had I would see that it was a decaying Section 8 housing project in the inner city of Pittsburgh, which in hindsight matched his first name, if you know what I mean.
I learned my lesson. Several.
Check the member's 'time on the forum'. In my case they guy had been a member for 9 months. I read some of his posts. They were technical and gave him credibility. But he was patient and playing the long game.
Insist on pics of the item(s) with your username and or date written on a piece of paper placed next to the item.
Google the street address. Does the environment look right?
Google the cell number. If it's from a carrier you never heard of, it's probably an Obamaphone / Gov't subsidized provider and those folks obviously can't play our game.
Pay with a credit card if possible and stop trying to save a 3% 'noncash' fee; look at it as cheap insurance.
Money Orders are like cash and all you can do is file a complaint with the USPS Inspector General. The only thing that you'll get out of that is an email months later saying 'thanks for your information'. Nothing more.
I posted my situation on the other forum like the OP did here as a warning to others and maybe a bit of self-flagellation. Deserved. I think most folks understand and my warning was useful, the scammer got banned. Although the one board know-it-all felt compelled to tell me I was stupid and deserved to be scammed.
