Scams Out There

[Rods]

Note from Steve Herschbach. This member (Rods) was a scammer who joined the forum and worked the system to place a rip off ad. It was rather sophisticated compared to most so I moved the thread to this “scam thread” to preserve the discussion.

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Rods,

Disclosure Time. You joined the forum on Jan 22 and have made exactly 10 posts, just sufficient for placing this ad. Interesting use of words, and an IP address originating in Africa. I just had a longer term forum member from the U.S. burn a few folks so I am hyper vigilance mode and you just tripped my triggers. No offense, but I am advising long time forum members to be extra cautious on this one.

[Steve Herschbach]

Hmmm, you pulled the ad without responding to my perceived and possibly incorrect issues. Maybe I offended you and if so I am sorry but if that is too much for you to bear it’s ok by me. I am taking the lack of response as confirmation and pushing the ban button. Assuming at this point you are a scammer I have to say your command of English and your ability to mirror conversations is getting pretty sophisticated. Good to know... Thanks!

[Northeast]

Not that I would have purchased this machine Steve but THANKS for keeping an eye out for these type of things.

Zap, Pow!!  The Forum Warden strikes again ?

[Steve Herschbach]

I figured requiring ten posts before you even get to post an ad would make too much work. This clown apparently copied stuff from other forums and posted here as his, that made him look real when it was just copy/paste other people’s content. I just want people to be able to get access to some free advertising to swap gear but these idiots try to horn in. Luckily the volume in the classifieds is low enough I can watch each new add for signs of trouble.

There are good protections people should always use. I always use PayPal and even then only to confirmed addresses, etc. the fees are trivial to getting ripped off just once. I like eBay for similar reasons. I lean into the protections while most people seem fixated on avoiding fees.

The bottom line is I try but it really is a “buyer beware” thing and people have to be cautious in this day and age online. And I have no way to block a longtime member suddenly going off the rails on us as recently happened. Still no idea what was up with that but in the end it was another “family and friends” thing between people who were neither family nor friends. May as well just mail cash and cross your fingers!

[Tony]

On 2/12/2019 at 9:11 AM, Rods said:

no longer available.

Looks like the detector and "Rods" are both "no longer available"..........

My BS/scam detector was screaming like a GPX on a manhole cover.

Tony

[WesH]

  Steve I don’t know where you find the time to be so vigilant along with posting your comments and advice and still have time to detect and have a life.  I assure you it is appreciated.

Thanks, Wes.

[Steve Herschbach]

Thanks Wes, I appreciate that. Detecting is a small part of my life and not the most important, but I love it. It does get crazy at times but then so do I! 

Bottom line is outside of just wanting this to be a safe place to trade gear I really do detest thieves. 

[kac]

You could require a phone # and physical address for people placing ads on the admin side hidden from the public. That might discourage some the scammers. 

[Steve Herschbach]

And then I have to verify it how? It's a free service I offer and I am doing more than most out there to deter scammers, but the bottom line is it is 100% on the purchaser as far as I am concerned. There are very simple ways to protect yourself, but people are easily hooked with offers of good deals, and common sense goes out the window. I can't be responsible for any of that, and as a free service if I am to be some kind of 24/7 monitoring service..... kiss the Classifieds goodbye.

I appreciate the suggestion, truly, but I think we just had a couple isolated incidents. There were no issues here for years and I am sure this will pass. The scammers do get the message that there are easier forums etc. to go after than mine.