Scammer - Facebook Marketplace

[Maude]

I guess the problem is as a buyer it makes complete sense to use PayPal and pay as goods, adding on the extra for the charges, but I'm assuming the seller then worries that the buyer can claw their money back through PayPal by saying the goods are faulty or damaged. 

If distance selling and buying are the only way then I suppose you just have put a degree of trust in each other and bite the bullet. Or walk away. 

As sad as it is, I've kind of resigned myself to only spending what I can afford to lose and hope that the ratio of good to bad deals keeps me in the black. 

[stewblack]

I am interested in an item not available here, but advertised by several Facebook sellers. 

No reason to doubt the honesty of any one of them. But after these threads I just don't feel comfortable sending money to a stranger. 

Don't misunderstand me, I'm grateful the risks have been exposed, but all the same it's a shame when trust is lost. 

Are there any practical steps you good folk can suggest to establish the bone fides of a seller or indeed to convince them of your own? 

[prowla]

4 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I am interested in an item not available here, but advertised by several Facebook sellers. 

No reason to doubt the honesty of any one of them. But after these threads I just don't feel comfortable sending money to a stranger. 

Don't misunderstand me, I'm grateful the risks have been exposed, but all the same it's a shame when trust is lost. 

Are there any practical steps you good folk can suggest to establish the bone fides of a seller or indeed to convince them of your own? 

PayPal Goods/Services; not bank transfer or PayPal Gift/Friends. 
If you can do face-to-face, then you know you’ve got it. 
Socially distanced demo is more of an issue. 

[TheGreek]

12 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I am interested in an item not available here, but advertised by several Facebook sellers. 

No reason to doubt the honesty of any one of them. But after these threads I just don't feel comfortable sending money to a stranger. 

Don't misunderstand me, I'm grateful the risks have been exposed, but all the same it's a shame when trust is lost. 

Are there any practical steps you good folk can suggest to establish the bone fides of a seller or indeed to convince them of your own? 

I've just bought an item from Gumtree - the whole experience was filled with paranoia - I was worried they wouldn't send the item, they that I wouldn't pay - all unsaid of course. 

Now the item is scheduled for collection and they have been paid everything seems much friendlier.

[ped]

That and ask if they’ll chat over the phone. That always sorts the men from the boys. 

[AndyTravis]

16 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I am interested in an item not available here, but advertised by several Facebook sellers. 

No reason to doubt the honesty of any one of them. But after these threads I just don't feel comfortable sending money to a stranger. 

Don't misunderstand me, I'm grateful the risks have been exposed, but all the same it's a shame when trust is lost. 

Are there any practical steps you good folk can suggest to establish the bone fides of a seller or indeed to convince them of your own? 

Ask them if they’re a scammer

[AndyTravis]

2 minutes ago, ped said:

That and ask if they’ll chat over the phone. That always sorts the men from the boys. 

“Hello, are you a scammer?”

[ped]

Just now, AndyTravis said:

“Hello, are you a scammer?”

Leicester area code - phone down

[TedM]

This guy has just scammed me on Facebook have filed police report and would appreciate if anyone has his details

[TedM]

I’ve just been scammed by this low life can anyone shed any light on who he is - I have filed a fraud comply to the police and reported him to skrill and FB

[ped]

Hi @TedM all the details you need are in this thread. Sorry to hear you’ve been a victim too. I hope the Police do something but you’ve done all you can for now. 

[TedM]

Cheers hope so - thanks

[ambient]

On 18/01/2021 at 16:00, Maude said:

I guess the problem is as a buyer it makes complete sense to use PayPal and pay as goods, adding on the extra for the charges, but I'm assuming the seller then worries that the buyer can claw their money back through PayPal by saying the goods are faulty or damaged. 

If distance selling and buying are the only way then I suppose you just have put a degree of trust in each other and bite the bullet. Or walk away. 

As sad as it is, I've kind of resigned myself to only spending what I can afford to lose and hope that the ratio of good to bad deals keeps me in the black. 

I’ve walked away from deals as a seller a couple of times. I know a few people who’ve been scammed when they’ve sold items. The buyer claims it’s faulty or not as described. There’s a thread on here somewhere from a few years ago, when someone tried to rip me off with a pair of studio monitors I was selling. I will accept PayPal, but not if they’re an absolute complete stranger i.e from gumtree or Facebook, where I can’t gauge their honesty.

[fabbabass]

As an update to fellow Chatters, the guy coordinating the FB victims (Steve Ripley), informed me that a few more people have been in touch with him and that another has filed a report with the Fraud portal for Cheshire Police.

If you have been ripped-off, please file reports adding as much detail as you can.

Thank you.

[ped]

Good to see some coordinated action. Thanks for the info 

[mic mac moe]

Yup,add me to the list. I bought an Alesis sr18 drum machine. Mark S property on fb marketplace.  Insisted on Skrill payment, and hey nonny no,it never arrived. His email was [email protected] .

I've had contact with another of his victims after I put a scam alert on marketplace. This gentleman was scammed on gumtree for a boss pedal. He is going as far as bringing a legal case and has sent me copies of documents.I have since reported him to Action Fraud which is part of the Metropolitan Police.

Also,I researched the Skrill payment platform. Seems it is all above board,but was designed and intended for online gambling. 

[fabbabass]

CORRECTION : the guy coordinating on FB is Steve Gilbert, (not Ripley). 
 

He is collating crime numbers of filed reports. I will ask him if he minds me posting a link to him.

This scumbag needs stopping!
 

Thank you.

[mic mac moe]

I’ve added a post on guitars for sale UK on Facebook ,which this lowlife was a predator on, and two more victims have come forward.

    I have been advised to file a report with Action Fraud and that’s what I’d recommend anyone else do. The more reports the stronger the case

Edited January 21, 2021 by mic mac moe

[Maude]

1 hour ago, mic mac moe said:

I’ve added a post on guitars for sale UK on Facebook ,which this lowlife was a predator on, and two more victims have come forward.

    I have been advised to file a report with Action Fraud and that’s what I’d recommend anyone else do. The more reports the stronger the case

Have you seen this thread, 

Although I should stress there are no proven links yet, it is very likely that these two are the same person, given the similarities in offences and the use of 12 in their email addressees, Instagram profile and the username he had in the above thread when he claimed to be another person. 

[mic mac moe]

[mic mac moe]

31 minutes ago, Maude said:

Have you seen this thread, 

Although I should stress there are no proven links yet, it is very likely that these two are the same person, given the similarities in offences and the use of 12 in their email addressees, Instagram profile and the username he had in the above thread when he claimed to be another person. 

Wow! Looks like the same guy. And under a suspended sentence too. Muppetry

[yorks5stringer]

On 21/01/2021 at 15:22, mic mac moe said:

Wow! Looks like the same guy. And under a suspended sentence too. Muppetry

BUMP it makes sense to me these are both on Page 1?

[mic mac moe]

Laughing boy has changed his location from Nantwich to Sheffield 

[fabbabass]

That’s our boy!
 

I still think the Manchester/Nantwich/Middlewich connection is there though. I hope any of the Chatters in the Sheffield area are watching out, in case you are using FB Marketplace and using only a local location point.  This is certainly the same person.

Thank you.

KC 

[uk_lefty]

On 19/01/2021 at 19:06, stewblack said:

I am interested in an item not available here, but advertised by several Facebook sellers. 

No reason to doubt the honesty of any one of them. But after these threads I just don't feel comfortable sending money to a stranger. 

Don't misunderstand me, I'm grateful the risks have been exposed, but all the same it's a shame when trust is lost. 

Are there any practical steps you good folk can suggest to establish the bone fides of a seller or indeed to convince them of your own? 

Tell tale signs of a scammer for me:

User only joined Facebook this year. Facebook has been around 15 years or so, if you've only just joined now and you're looking to buy gear... Nah. 

Bad English or impolite/ too eager to close a deal before an agreement is reached "send it me, yeah bro", or when told of postage charges "I only have *cost of item*" in which case I suggest you spend it on food and shelter and not frivolous items like effects pedals. 

Unreasonable expectations: "are you near London? What's your nearest train station I'll meet you there". Well, your train ticket to St Albans will cost more than the 4 quid I want for postage so not sure what your game is. 

Reads like a translation of a Dickens novel: "I'm asking in behalf of my esteemed cousin who is currently taken sick to his chamber and unable to peruse the item. He definitely wishes for it to be acquired. Please furnish me with your PayPal and address and I will send a courier forthwith to collect. From *miscellaneous non English sounding name*. Send photos to John Frank Churchill at Gmail. Com (or other incredibly English sounding name for authenticity) "

How I recently got through this:

Buyer wants to send his own courier and pay by PayPal. I refused the" own courier" unless he sends bank transfer, avoids the scam of recovering money via PayPal saying items not received. 

Discussion back and forth saying there's a lot of dodgy stuff going on at the minute, apologies for being over cautious but have been seeing a lot of attempted scams recently. 

Agreed PayPal goods and services with me posting by Parcelforce. A bit of faith shown on both sides after some discussion. Sent a photo of the item in its packing, a photo of it wrapped up with his name and address on the box, then a photo of the full Parcelforce receipt so he can see a parcel weighing 5kg was sent from my local post office to his address and he has the tracking number. 

Then Parcelforce's tracking system went haywire and couldn't trace the parcel which led to some fraught questions from the buyer!! He also saw I had missed taking down one of the Facebook ads after we agreed the sale, so I did as soon as he pointed it out. Luckily it arrived with him on time and he's chuffed to bits with it. 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by uk_lefty