Beware of scammers on the Forum

[FB]

In response to my recent post I received the following pm:

You have just been sent a personal message by DannyD0 on Pagoda SL Group.

I know a guy that might have one in this forum,he goes by @ghebert4189 but I haven't seen him on here for couple of days.I actually called him, no response. You can reach him via email- Sullivanborn2@gmail.com


Important: Ghebert4189 is a member and as I  later confirmed has nothing for sale and had nothing to do with this exchange.


The email contact provided a picture of the part and an agreeable price.  I Venmoed the funds and the seller disappeared.  I did then pm ghebert4189 and he assured me it wasn’t him and he wasn’t selling anything.  I am usually much more diligent with these transactions but let my guard down since the contact was a pm to me from the forum.  The pm came from a “guest” account so I should have been more careful.  Fortunately it was not a substantial amount of money but I felt it important to relay my experience to other members.  If you are buying or selling you need to be cautious and perhaps verify authenticity of the buyer or seller even within the forum.
Cheers

[BobH]

Thanks very much for the warning, so sorry you got caught out.  As you say, you only have to let your guard down for a second, particularly if it comes from a name or source that you know.  Whatever system there is for buying and selling on line, scammers will take advantage

I just tell myself that these parasites eventually get caught out

[Rothko]

Wow, scary to think that scammers would come here to try to defraud people.  I guess you always need to keep your guard up.

[Hamid Turbo]

i will recommend paypal to all, convenient and reliable for both parties.

[Garry]

I have asked our Admin, Peter to look into this.


As Hamid said PayPal is a level of protection as long as you don’t select family and friends unless you actually know the other party otherwise you lose some of the PayPal protections.


Garry

[Peter van Es]

I've had a look, and DannyD0 has never been a member. Not even as someone who deleted his account. Guests cannot send PM's. So the only thing I can think of is that the approach was made via e-mail rather than personal message.

Do note, if someone contacts you via the sl113.org site, always communicate via PM (personal messages) first -- because then you can be certain that they are on the forum. Once you trust them, exchange e-mail addresses but even then, be very careful.

If you had communicated with Ghebert4189 via PM first, you would not have fallen for it.

[FB]

I totally agree that caution is required.  The double whammy of my not being as tech savvy as some and not having posted much to this or any forum bit me.  As far as tech savvy I’ve hopefully attached the “PM” I received.  Admittedly I then directly contacted the email provided.  I’m not placing blame on anyone but myself.  This posting is simply meant to provide the members a heads up.  By the way, Venmo is a subsidiary of PayPal.  Since I transferred the funds from a credit card, the card company has provided protection pending their investigation.  Venmo was only minimally helpful.  The police aren’t really interested due to the low dollar amount.   Despite this issue I consider this forum a tremendous asset.  Again, lesson learned. 

[FB]

A bit more of the screenshot. 

[Raymond]

Thank you for sharing.  Alerting us to your situation is a great service and reminder to be skeptical until proven otherwise.  I never take offense at anyone being careful to verify I'm real.  And, thanks to Garry and Peter for the follow-up. 

[kampala]

I've had a look, and DannyD0 has never been a member.

Peter, if DannyD0 or DannyDO was not a member here, can you help explain why the photos of the emails that FB shows appear to be a PM from our site including the reply link?

Is it all faked?    Would appreciate your expertise. 

[FB]

One more screenshot for the record.  Note the message I received within the forum from DannyD0.  Clearly the person somehow gained access to originally contact me.  Surprising anyone would go thru so much effort just to illicitly grab a few dollars.

I did ultimately obtain the part from another member thanks to the forum. 

[BobH]

Clearly this person is a career scammer, probably visited every forum he can find

https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1737929463

[DaveB]

That’s good you didn’t lose much money and eventually found the legitimate part.
Scams and deceptions are becoming so sophisticated. It’s really worrying.
btw I can recommend an interesting podcast along these lines:  ‘Shell Game’

[mdsalemi]

I will be in the minority here. And, I'm good with that.
When people hide with the cloak of anonymity, beware. If people are mysterious as to their real name, their real address, and other readily identifiable data points...

...JUST WALK AWAY.

There is NOTHING they can offer you that's worth you wasting their time. If they're honest, you can verify their information quickly. If in doubt, or if something doesn't give you the "warm and fuzzies" or if it doesn't pass "the sniff test", just move along.

[FB]

Michael I don’t think you’re in the minority at all, I fully agree.  If this had been eBay or marketplace or any unfamiliar online seller I would normally be overly cautious.  This was a lapse of judgment on my part plain and simple.  I’m offering my story as a cautionary tale for the members so they remember to do as you suggest.   I’m also offering it so the site administrators are aware.

[johnk]

I hate to say it but I had two bad experiences  buying items from members on this forum. I trusted them because they were fellow members. One was a supposed Box of Mercedes rubber  seals for $500 and when it came only one small one was from Mercedes and it was for a different vehicle. I could only use perhaps two of the seals.

The second was an adapter for a Nardi steering wheel. The seller hid the big dent on one side in the pictures he posted.

[waltklatt]

I agree with Michael, being cautious and trust your 'gut' instinct.
I've seen many adverts, that are too good to be true.
Many are outrageous too.
Just skip and pass. 
With patience, there are many good deals and people out there.
Walter
1967 220SL diesel
1969 280SE
2003 Beetle TDI
2005 Honda Element
2014 Subaru Forester-soon for sale.