SCAM SCAM SCAM

[Noel01]

I posted I was looking for a Kessil Dongle and I had the person below contact me. Read the message and take note of the phone number. Known scammer. Google the number! Heads-up!!!!

 

[Cflow]

I have received a few of these. The giveaway is it’s usually a female name and they give you a personal email or phone number. I instantly email back telling them I’m reporting them and they disappear. Very common these days.

 

[Noel01]

I have received a few of these. The giveaway is it’s usually a female name and they give you a personal email or phone number. I instantly email back telling them I’m reporting them and they disappear. Very common these days.

Yep this Lucy was her name. LOL

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Thanks for the warning #Noel01 This person responded to my ad.

 

[Treehrtsme]

This happens all the time. I went along with the guy (actually figured out a bit about it when he blew up on me) for a good bit and finally ticked him off so hard he snapped hard.

 

[Mike1970]

I’ve got this also

 

[Seancj]

Yep, me too! How is this guys still able to post around here?

 

[Fish Fan]

Every time I've posted a WTB (at another forum) I get this kind of reply. Be careful, and never deal with anyone who is sending you to their "friend" or anyone off site.

If you're looking for used or nearly new gear on R2R or really any forum, only reply to posts that are from members who are obviously here to talk about fish and corals. Never make a deal with someone that signed up a day or so ago, and now wants to sell you something.

This really should be common sense, but we all have moments when we don't think everything through.

I have purchased many items via the R2R selling page, and I have never had a problem. But everyone should always use caution and common sense before sending over your PayPal payment.

Hope that helps!

 

[littlefoxx]

I posted I was looking for a Kessil Dongle and I had the person below contact me. Read the message and take note of the phone number. Known scammer. Google the number! Heads-up!!!!

Yep they got me too. +1 (213) 569-4341 this is the number they used. Texted her sounded like a good deal, payed through paypal friends and family (never used pay pal before, know better now). Im livid, hopefully we can track her down. They disconnected the number.

 

[vetteguy53081]

@revhtree

 

[Fish Fan]

Yep they got me too. +1 (213) 569-4341 this is the number they used. Texted her sounded like a good deal, payed through paypal friends and family (never used pay pal before, know better now). Im livid, hopefully we can track her down. They disconnected the number.

In this day and age, never use PayPal friends and family. I'm pretty sure it's now disallowed on the R2R sales pages. But again, it's easy to make a mistake if you let your guard down, and it happens to us all at times. I'd suggest vetting the seller and or buyer, and if the user seems fishy (no pun intended) steer clear.

 

[Fish Fan]

And obviously, if the "deal" seems too good to be true, well.....

 

[littlefoxx]

In this day and age, never use PayPal friends and family. I'm pretty sure it's now disallowed on the R2R sales pages. But again, it's easy to make a mistake if you let your guard down, and it happens to us all at times. I'd suggest vetting the seller and or buyer, and if the user seems fishy (no pun intended) steer clear.

Yep for sure learned the hard way on that one. Pretty angry still.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

In this day and age, never use PayPal friends and family. I'm pretty sure it's now disallowed on the R2R sales pages. But again, it's easy to make a mistake if you let your guard down, and it happens to us all at times. I'd suggest vetting the seller and or buyer, and if the user seems fishy (no pun intended) steer clear.

Yep. I've even offered to pay extra to cover the PP fees and if they say no to that, you KNOW there's a problem!

 

[jose hernandez]

same happened to me admin need to do something need to protect members that fall for these scammers I haven’t got scammed usually buy from members I know if not PayPal under goods and services

 

[BZOFIQ]

WTB should not be visible to users with less than 25-50 posts.

 

[7five7]

Same guy sent me a message yesterday as well.

-First thing you should do when you plan on buying anything on an open marketplace like the forums here is review the sellers profile and check to see how long they have been a member. Most times it’s been less than a week.

-Second check what type of post history they have.

-Lastly if you feel like something is off always ask them to send you a new picture of the item with your name or username hand written in the photo. (Can still be faked but makes It more difficult and they will usually just stop replying and try to target someone else)

None of these are guaranteed to make sure your not being scammed but they help reduce the chance.

One thing I think the forum should implement is a minimum amount of time the forum member needs to be a user before he can access the classified section (30-90 days) and maybe a minimum post count (25). This is something I’ve seen on many other online forums outside of reefing because most scammers are impatient and don’t want to wait 30 days and have to post on a forum just potentially scam 1 person before they are banned.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Report ANY messages you get like this. It's an automatic ban for the reported account. This is a straight up SCAM and we don't tolerate it.

Also, please report any user who asks you to pay for goods with an unprotected means of payment like Paypal Friends and Family, Cashapp, Venmo (unless they'll take the payment as good and services which adds protection and is allowed). More on this HERE!

Also, it is against our rules for sellers to add additional PayPal fees to the price at the point of payment. PayPal sellers fees are part of the cost of doing business, and need to be built into the asking price for the item.

Please be sure to read our selling forum rules and other important info HERE.

 

[Fish Fan]

WTB should not be visible to users with less than 25-50 posts.

I agree. Again, not on this forum, but I have had more scammers reach out to me through a WTB I posted, rather than when I have responded to someone's for sale thread. And they have all joined like the day before and have 2 or 3 posts.

 

[Fish Fan]

The best advice I would give to anyone, whether they are buying or selling, is to look at the user you are talking to, the amount of posts they have, and what is the subject of those posts. For example, if a member has 1000 posts mostly discussing fish and coral care, and they have a build thread showing their tank, they are almost always going to be a "legit" member who is here to learn more about reef aquariums. I think most of us in that category are largely stand-up members, and wouldn't ever intentionally screw over another member (save that stuff for Craigslist lol!). However, if you're dealing with someone who joined recently, and only has a couple of posts largely trying to sell something, I would absolutely steer clear!

And again, don't send payment by PayPal Friends and Family if you don't know the seller!

I've also noticed that if an item is posted for a really great price (which should be your first red flag), there may be multiple people interested. It gets to be something of a race to get your payment in so you can claim the item as yours. I would say take a minute and think it all through before you send you payment. If you miss out, I guarantee you that the item will come back around on the sales page.

Good luck and keep your guard up!