Torches! Og Bounce! Local pick up or shipping

[Aaron Soliz]

Well, update on the venmo route, and it also sucks:
Hello Jesse,

Thanks for reaching out! My name is Lola — I'm an account specialist here at Venmo and your case has been escalated to me. It appears that the person you were transacting with did not fulfill their end of the transaction.

At this point, Venmo does not allow peer to peer merchant related transactions and we do not offer any buyer or seller protections in these types of cases. These violations of our User Agreement are very high risk and can result in problems for our users.

Since the funds are no longer in our system, we, unfortunately, have no way to reimburse you for the payment you made. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.

If you believe you were a victim of a scam, I recommend reaching out to your local police department and filing a report. Once you have an officer in charge of your case, they can reach out to us via email at [email protected], and we will be happy to comply with them.

Please remember that Venmo is a simple way for friends and people who trust each other to send money, and it is not designed for uses beyond this purpose. When transacting with people whom you don't know or trust there is always the potential for problems to arise.

Any questions or concerns please contact us at your leisure.

Best,
Lola R.
Account Specialist|
Venmo

what if you were to dispute it? call your card company and share with them what had happen and they will dispute it. It will bring the money back into your account. Done it before with venmo.

 

[jessezm]

It's not with a credit card for me, it's a wire transfer. I called my bank and they told me that it was too late to do anything about it. They said I could attempt to stop the payment, but that would cost $35 and it would likely be a waste, as they told me it was unlikely it would be stopped since they usually can only guarantee a stoppage at three or more days before the scheduled transfer. It was a VERY frustrating conversation. Basically, there was a tiny chance it would work at a cost of $35, and a much larger chance I'd be out $35 on top of the $650. And some FAQs on venmo said if you start a dispute with your bank or card, you can't start one with venmo. So I wanted to give venmo a shot and now it's too late to go back to the bank and try.

This guy got me. I'm seeing red.

 

[Aaron Soliz]

It's not with a credit card for me, it's a wire transfer. I called my bank and they told me that it was too late to do anything about it. They said I could attempt to stop the payment, but that would cost $35 and it would likely be a waste, as they told me it was unlikely it would be stopped since they usually can only guarantee a stoppage at three or more days before the scheduled transfer. It was a VERY frustrating conversation. Basically, there was a tiny chance it would work at a cost of $35, and a much larger chance I'd be out $35 on top of the $650. And some FAQs on venmo said if you start a dispute with your bank or card, you can't start one with venmo. So I wanted to give venmo a shot and now it's too late to go back to the bank and try.

This guy got me. I'm seeing red.

Sobbbb.... this is very irritating to hear! I am very much upset and I didn’t even buy anything though i was very close to doing so 2 weeks ago. People just can’t make their own money in this world but to scam people as this is why buying things on here so difficult for me to do. Keep us posted!

 

[bmbpka]

Thanks for posting the number. I just called. The guy who picked up the phone said he hadn't logged on for 2 months and that he let some friend use his account to sell stuff since he was banned from R2R. He said the guy scammed people locally too. He sent me a screenshot of this guy:

When did that text exchange take place?

If this is the guy, he is a scam. He is local to me and scams a lot of local people. He has been banned from multiple FB groups and comes back with a new name. He will say he shipped it and it never comes.

 

[bmbpka]

Oh and he will give you a sob story about how he was busy and something came up. Then will tell you he will get the tracking number but then won’t respond. It’s like a monthly thing locally with this guy. Usually equipment but I see he has moved to livestock now here.

 

[jessezm]

Please say more. The OP, who's screen name is @Og_Reef, talked to me on the phone and gave me the same story you just stated - that this guy Jim Bayles is local to him and he let Jim use his login info to sell the stuff. He said to me, "I knew he had done stuff like this but I thought he turned over a new leaf"

However, it is pretty apparent that the guy I was on the phone with is the actual scammer. I don't know, it's all kinds of messed up but he's made out with a ton of our money over the weekend and I'm not sure what recourse we have. If you have any information that could help, please do share.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

He told me he was going to buy this set up

 

[bmbpka]

Please say more. The OP, who's screen name is @Og_Reef, talked to me on the phone and gave me the same story you just stated - that this guy Jim Bayles is local to him and he let Jim use his login info to sell the stuff. He said to me, "I knew he had done stuff like this but I thought he turned over a new leaf"

However, it is pretty apparent that the guy I was on the phone with is the actual scammer. I don't know, it's all kinds of messed up but he's made out with a ton of our money over the weekend and I'm not sure what recourse we have. If you have any information that could help, please do share.

ya that sounds like the same stories I’ve read on our FB pages. I’ll see if I can dig up some of the old posts. There are a good 10 people locally he is has scammed.

 

[jessezm]

As another interesting aside, I looked through his public Venmo transactions. There are a number of transactions that seem to be recurring among the same group of 3-4 people and it seems to be some sort of online gambling or poker type thing with a bunch of the same words used over and over like "rake" and either scores or amounts listed.

 

[jessezm]

Here are some samples of those payments if anyone wants to have fun investigating further:

 

[jessezm]

Looks to be all related to online poker

 

[acan637]

payment sent! looking forward to this

 

[jessezm]

payment sent! looking forward to this

You, sir, have an odd sense of humor

 

[Reef Castle]

Keep it coming bud! this is good stuff man! I appreciate you looking into this, since my coral money already gone, let just say seeing this guy getting caught is worth the value I paid .

 

[nickkohrn]

Thanks for posting the number. I just called. The guy who picked up the phone said he hadn't logged on for 2 months and that he let some friend use his account to sell stuff since he was banned from R2R. He said the guy scammed people locally too. He sent me a screenshot of this guy:

When did that text exchange take place?

That’s the guy that’s all over our local Facebook groups in Ohio. Sadly, many hobbyists in my area have lost money to him. I see his stupid face in posts almost weekly regarding scams.

 

[jessezm]

10-4, same here. Another local just contacted me. Same/similar story. He says he warns everyone not to go near him and has saved countless others from his scams... He's seen the name Elija Califerti selling stuff locally too, which is funny cause it's similar but not the same name. So either an alias or he's using this guy's identity and changing it up a little. Or they are working together?

 

[jessezm]

That’s the guy that’s all over our local Facebook groups in Ohio. Sadly, many hobbyists in my area have lost money to him. I see his stupid face in posts almost weekly regarding scams.

Why can't we get the point of sale busted???

 

[Aaron Soliz]

This is like cat fish the show but reef version. Keep up the good work Jesse. Hope it results into you getting all money back.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

We need DOG the bounty hunter LOL!

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Alright gang I have some more info on this LOL. I joined the Northeast Ohio Saltwater and Reef group on FB and put up a post and was contacted by a local member. She says Jim/James Bayles is a known local scammer and lives somewhere near Painesville or Willoughby, OH. He has a past history of scamming local reefers. The guy who I spoke with said his name was Elija Czelt. However, the woman who contacted me said that she had dealt with a kid named Elijah before and the transaction went okay. But she said he and Jim/James live 10 minutes from each other and it's possible they are actually working together, but not certain. She said his name was Elijah Cefaratti, and his facebook profile confirms he lives in Willoughby. Interestingly enough, she said Elijah works at a casino, which sort of foots with the online poker payments I saw on Venmo, but who knows... Anyhow, I'm getting contacted by another local member of the group as we speak, I'll update you if there's more to share.

Are you all interested in these updates? I can keep it to myself if you prefer...

I’d start calling local casinos up asking about him and telling them he’s involved in scamming and legal issues if I was you