Scams in Buy/Sell forums

[Aquattro]

There have been recent complaints over sending money and not receiving goods. One complaint is about a user that has scammed several people on another board, who also had several items posted here. This user is currently banned.
Please keep in mind that we have no control over who lists what, and when attempting to purchase from a user that has single digit posts, there is an element of risk involved.
Please be sure to take whatever precautions required to be comfortable with sending a stranger money. Get contact info, phone numbers, etc. Verify them. We have hundreds of transactions that take place every month without issue, however there is always going to be some risk.

If you feel you have been scammed, after waiting an appropriate amount of time, please contact a staff member for direction. Although there is little we can do, we can provide the enrolling email and IP address of the person if you wish to pursue this through legal channels. If we concur, we will remove any posts by the person selling anything and disable the account.

You can also contact us to verify if someone has generated complaints. It's rare, as in 2 or 3 that we're aware of ever, but it does happen.

[ScubaSteve]

I had this happen to me in another forum and I was able to track the kid down. I called parents even had his neighbor show up at the house and tell him in person the cops had been called. Got the message across real quick.

If you PM me their info I'll see what I can do.

[mike31154]

Would it be feasible to restrict new users' access to the buy/sell feature until they have been a member for a few months and/or have minimum number of posts, like 20,30 or 50? RC does this I believe & although it's still no guarantee, I reckon it would discourage at least a few of the would be scammers.

[windcoast reefs]

Originally Posted by mike31154

Would it be feasible to restrict new users' access to the buy/sell feature until they have been a member for a few months and/or have minimum number of posts, like 20,30 or 50? RC does this I believe & although it's still no guarantee, I reckon it would discourage at least a few of the would be scammers.

I think this is a good idea, I think it would definatly reduce the number of scams.
Also give you a little more confidence in buying from new users.

[Aquattro]

Honestly, it doesn't happen that much, and I know people who's sole purpose of signing up is they are shutting down, someone suggested posting here and they list their stuff. They really don't want to hang around for months talking about stuff they no longer have interest in. I only recall one incident where someone actually got ripped off for a controller, and 4 years later I found it and offered it back to the guy who should have got it.
We have another case now where someone signed up here has clearly robbed people on RC, but not here yet and I've banned the account and removed the posts.
We may possibly have a third, but still too early to tell. The first was actually from a long time member with years posting, so that wouldn't have helped. The benefits to the members in getting deals I think outweighs the risk that something goes sideways.

So even if we're up to 3 in 10+ years, that's not bad. If you're going to send money, use paypal so you have some recourse.

[biggerstretch]

Originally Posted by mike31154

Would it be feasible to restrict new users' access to the buy/sell feature until they have been a member for a few months and/or have minimum number of posts, like 20,30 or 50? RC does this I believe & although it's still no guarantee, I reckon it would discourage at least a few of the would be scammers.

Don’t penalize someone for having a lower post count , buyers should conclude their business personally or with a service like PayPal. Just because someone has been posting allot does not make them " safe "

[Northernseacorals]

If you are sending money write them a cheque, and memo exactly what it's for; if they cash the cheque it's like entering into a contract if you needed to plea in small claims court.

Much better than paypal.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Northernseacorals

If you are sending money write them a cheque, and memo exactly what it's for; if they cash the cheque it's like entering into a contract if you needed to plea in small claims court.

Much better than paypal.

Much easier to find them too, so another good option. One of the people that got scammed on RC filed with paypal and got a refund, so that's still a good route.

[fencer]

I got scammed once a couple of yrs ago on this forum... it wasn't much. Don't think he is around anymore. One thing I learned.....if they say they sent it ask for the postal reciept or tracking number as proof...in my case he said he threw it away. This was the only incident that I have had....

[ktsalt]

Long time Members or Junior members it doesn't matter, scams can happen at anytime. What happened to the rule "if its too good to be true, then it likely is" I know there are great deals on CR but ppl lets not let our guards down and start sending money to a stranger! Take a step back, the deals of the centrury always pop up