stay vigilant out there

[egchewy79]

cross posted on the other forum as well


Most people who get scammed would ordinarily keep quiet to avoid being judged for being "taken".

I was recently scammed out of a couple hundred $$s and wouldn't otherwise think about it too much except for the level of sophistication of this scam.

I just wanted to lay it out and keep the rest of you guys aware of the playing field some of these scammers are using.



-posted on a FB site that I was looking for some older car parts

-one group "member" gave me a lead to a FB user who sold older parts.

-connected via messenger and they said they had what I needed

-sent money via Venmo (they also asked for zelle or cashapp)

-they sent me a message w/ a weblink for the shipping info as well as a tracking number.

-clicking on the link brought me to a shipping website, and entering my tracking number it did pull up my info/shipping address/etc.

-This is where it gets weird, and my "spidey senses" were tingling. They tell me they forgot to tell me about an "insurance hold" to pay for the insurance on the parts. Fully refundable once my part is delivered

-Immediately get suspicious.

-checked the shipping site again, which seems to be legit (has workable links and everything) and decide to contact their customer service number.

-customer service verifies that insurance is needed prior to shipping and starts getting real aggressive for me to pay them directly (formerly the "seller" said that I would pay them and they would take care of the insurance)

-this is where I decide to cut bait.



so, to recap, these f-ers have not only taken my money, but also have a fake website created w/ someone fielding calls to the customer service number. plus they're trolling FB groups suggesting you contact them in the first place w/ burner accounts. The guy recommending them claims he's had good success and actually has a page/profile w/ some posts/pics.



Bottom line is: be careful out there. Scammers these days are more sophisticated than you might think.

[JohnnyB]

I've never used Venmo but from what I've read they offer a buyer protection plan similar to PayPal for purchases. Have you filed a complaint with them?

[mrmustang]

This is a classic scam, "I have a friend who has what you want" than the email address given, usually gmail, hotmail, or some other throw away account.

I had a similar occurrence while looking for vintage Shelby parts, when I was contacted, I asked if they had any others, when they said yes, I asked for something that did not exist in real life...Amazing, they had it, and new in the box.

Bill S.

[F500guy]

Seems FB has a lot of that, post something and there will be message waiting from someone, that you check the profile and there is like 1 post, no friends and very untrustworthy. Hard to sort out sometimes.

[Alan_C]

Yeah the scammers these days spend a lot of time making their websites look legit. Back in 2017 I was looking for a vintage Mustang for a project car. When you start your search the first clue to a scam is the price is too good to be true. Then there are the I am selling the car for my sick Dad scams and so on and so forth they go. One seller identified himself as a oil engineer working in the middle-East. His emails had a Exxon Mobil logo on them and the individual was articulate, so not your typical scammer. They had a link to their international shipping company who also was their escrow company for the transaction. It was interesting that their link to the shipper worked fine, but if you did a web search on the shipping company there were no hits. It appeared the shipping website was actually on the dark web.
Fortunately my spidey sense kicked in when I found I nor could a appraiser view the car in advance of payment. They of course insisted on saying if the car did not meet my needs, they would provide a full refund, RIGHT! Vintage cars and parts are the Wild West for these guys, so you always have to be on the lookout. If the seller does not have a high post count or wants you to contact his friend, just run away and save your money.

[danmas]

A well known vendor here had his quickbooks account attacked. I was sent an invoice for the remaining balance due that looked totally legit. I was puzzled because it was a ton of money ($4k) and they refused credit cards for payment. I figured it out with a couple of emails, but it was fairly sophisticated. I notified the vendor via phone and the situation was resolved apparently. Regardless, I only pay with credit cards on anything except for people I know and with established venmo accounts.

Dan