[GasTungstenArc]

I feel pretty gullible right now. A member on here, "Dreyjay" reached out to me and put me in touch with somebody who would have the part I needed. The email address he provided was [email protected]. I made a deal and sent the money through PayPal, friends and family, of course. As soon as I sent the money, the emails stopped. I can usually smell a scam. I got blindsided by my trust in this community.

The member has apparently deleted his account. I know that I have no recourse here. I just wanted to warn you all about scams of this pattern.

 

[AstroWill]

He was a brand new member, only post was 'hi' in a completely random thread that was used by another spammer. I'm the one that marked him as spam. But you are saying that you were emailing him and he stopped responding? Contact paypal immediately.

You probably can't do anything because it was sent as 'friends and family' which of course is common because of the fees, however that probably releases PP from liability/protection. Still can't hurt to contact them, they might be able to do something if it's a pattern.

 

[MI_Ghost]

Well you just saved me the hassle.
Got a message from him on a post of mine.
Guess I won't be wasting my time.

Thanks

 

[GasTungstenArc]

He was a brand new member, only post was 'hi' in a completely random thread that was used by another spammer. I'm the one that marked him as spam. But you are saying that you were emailing him and he stopped responding? Contact paypal immediately.

You probably can't do anything because it was sent as 'friends and family' which of course is common because of the fees, however that probably releases PP from liability/protection. Still can't hurt to contact them, they might be able to do something if it's a pattern.

I reported the account to PayPal, which is all I can do. That operation probably has scores of accounts.

The scam goes like this: he emails you and gives you the email address of somebody who has what you need. You then email the guy. You make a deal. You send him money. I even replied to tell him that I knew he had scammed me and he said that he would be shipping the item. I'm not sure what the game is after they have your money. I mean, why even reply?

Anyway, I would love to have a chance to murder him by taking him apart one piece at a time with a butterknife, but he's probably not even in this country.

 

[Jimkinmd]

That totally sucks.. I’ve seen the same type of scam personally on another page. I almost fell for it but something smelled bad. I told him my friend lived in his city and would come to him to inspect and pay in person, calling his bluff. He said he wasn’t available for a few weeks but would ship immediately after I paid. I told him to kick rocks.. He did get another person on that site.. Caveat Emptor

 

[markmitch]

Live and learn is about all I can say, but that was a pretty smart scam as scams go. Years ago I was stationed in Louisiana (Army) I paid a guy at a shop 500 bucks down on a 68 Camaro. I went back 3 weeks later to pay it off and get it to my place of residence. When I got there the car was gone and the guy told me he sold it and that he would not give me my money back. I so wanted to kick a large hole into the side of his head but I didn't. Why should I go to jail cause this guy is a low life piece of crap. SO instead I reported the deal to the US Army office of public business. The Army put the business on stay away status which means no military personal can ever go there again. within 3 months the business closed down went out of business. I was happy but still out 500 bucks. Since then I became so super aware of people in general and will never be scammed or screwed out of money again. Take it as a lesson and let it go.

 

[GasTungstenArc]

Take it as a lesson and let it go.

It's already gone. This post is to help others avoid the scam.

 

[ssbf1]

I recently became a member of Arcade museum Museum of the Game - International Arcade Museum & Killer List of Videogames: Arcade, Videogame, Pinball Machine, and Antique Coin-Operated History a site that deals with vintage arcade machines. In order to join I had to make a small contribution by PayPal or be referral by another verified member before they would process my request. They said there have been way too many scams and this has helped to reduce such problems. Something to think about to protect our members.

 

[Big_kid]

I'd never heard of that site before. I have an upright Time Pilot '84 (converted from Cobra) in the garage. I had to replace the monitor board about 20 years ago, it was the first thing I'd ever ordered online.

 

[opelbits]

I feel pretty gullible right now. A member on here, "Dreyjay" reached out to me and put me in touch with somebody who would have the part I needed. The email address he provided was [email protected]. I made a deal and sent the money through PayPal, friends and family, of course. As soon as I sent the money, the emails stopped. I can usually smell a scam. I got blindsided by my trust in this community.

The member has apparently deleted his account. I know that I have no recourse here. I just wanted to warn you all about scams of this pattern.

That address is kind of similar to several that popped up recently on the Opel forum. Same modus operandi. The Opel forum is also a Vertical Scope website. Maybe there is a connection or reason for focusing on VS sites.

Stopping scammers is like playing 'whack-a-mole', even though we'd like to to 'whack-em-all'.

 

[AstroWill]

Here is an example scammer message I just received:

Hi

If you’re still interested in getting the INSERT ITEM TITLE HERE. I have a friend who can help you out with that. It’s affordable and here’s his gmail address

[email protected]


Cheers

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ranchero7]

Similar attempt for me too. I just posted about it. The scam member names were. jparadis992 and will765

 

[AstroWill]

Report the messages that they sent you.