Scammed on BF sale section: But Not By the Seller As It Turns Out

tokerblue said:
At this point, it's almost like you have to wait for these scams to become as common as the Nigerian prince scam before people get it.
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You know, you might be on to something.
I'm not saying that it will solve the issue, but maybe people aren't aware of where the weaknesses are?
It might be worthy to keep a running log of how scams have been committed on the forums.

I don't know that everyone, myself included, would be smart enough to know where all the holes in the armor are.
 
Blues said:
They can't keep it to PMs unless they pay for, at minimum, a "Basic" membership. If they're unwilling to do even that. then there's really nothing we can do to protect them from themselves.
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Correct. But if someone is willing to buy a used knife from a stranger on the internet they should be willing, at the bare minimum, to buy a membership that would allow them to protect themselves.

On the other hand, people are gonna do what people do.
 
karnaknives said:
Correct. But if someone is willing to buy a used knife from a stranger on the internet they should be willing, at the bare minimum, to buy a membership that would allow them to protect themselves.

On the other hand, people are gonna do what people do.
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Well, I've only been shouting it from the rooftops.
 
karnaknives said:
Correct. But if someone is willing to buy a used knife from a stranger on the internet they should be willing, at the bare minimum, to buy a membership that would allow them to protect themselves.

On the other hand, people are gonna do what people do.
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👆This! $10/year can save you hundreds. A Basic membership can't protect you from every scam, but it cuts down your chances of getting screwed significantly.

Selling on the Exchange is already limited to Gold members - I'm in favor of limiting buying to Basic memberships and above as well. There are lots of areas of this forum that make sense to leave open to unpaid members, but the Exchange section should be a paid privilege in my opinion.
 
maydayredparade said:
👆This! $10/year can save you hundreds. A Basic membership can't protect you from every scam, but it cuts down your chances of getting screwed significantly.

Selling on the Exchange is already limited to Gold members - I'm in favor of limiting buying to Basic memberships and above as well. There are lots of areas of this forum that make sense to leave open to unpaid members, but the Exchange section should be a paid privilege in my opinion.
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Well once Spark or one of the Mod's gets around to it, I've taken care of that barrier for Ken.
May he use it in good health.
 
maydayredparade said:
👆This! $10/year can save you hundreds. A Basic membership can't protect you from every scam, but it cuts down your chances of getting screwed significantly.

Selling on the Exchange is already limited to Gold members - I'm in favor of limiting buying to Basic memberships and above as well. There are lots of areas of this forum that make sense to leave open to unpaid members, but the Exchange section should be a paid privilege in my opinion.
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Not going to happen...I've had this talk with Spark, (as recently as today), and he is not changing the policy. Bottom line is that folks need to take responsibility...we can only do so much, either proactively or retroactively.

They know what their options are...and in the final analysis it's up to them to own their decisions and the results.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Well once Spark or one of the Mod's gets around to it, I've taken care of that barrier for Ken.
May he use it in good health.
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Nice of you, Dan. Only Spark can authorize membership payments.
 
This raises a point. Scammers talk to each other these days. So once the place is flagged as an opportunity this will go on for a long time. It's hard to get off the list.
 
What the hell is going on? I can't seem to understand the original post of this thread. rperillo05 rperillo05 can you chime in? Does any of the emails that the OP listed belong to you? Did you receive $185 from someone else not the OP or did you not receive any money from anyone?

Or was rperillo05 rperillo05 bladeforums account hijacked by a scammer?

OP - what is your basis of claiming the seller to be a scammer? Are you sure you sent $185 to the seller not someone else?
 
sharp_edge said:
What the hell is going on? I can't seem to understand the original post of this thread.
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- Seller sells item
- OP posts his email in the sale thread
- Scammer sees the email and contacts the OP outside of Bladeforums
- OP sends payment to the scammer's email
- Seller has no idea a scammer contacted the buyer outside of Bladeforums.

Blues detailed it in post #6.
 
Vince000 said:
The user is not the scammer. A scammer impersonating the user emailed you to scam you. This could have been avoided if you used PM with a paid membership. Buyers should always do their due diligence before sending money, nobody needs to babysit. G&S triggers 1099-k forms so many sellers won’t take it.
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I know people say this but I have bought and sold expensive knives on PP without any tax-related activity. I don't flip knives for money as a business so maybe that's the difference IDK.
 
One thing I’m curious about is the fact that these scammers are clearly targeting Bladeforums members so they are watching us. Possibly as a registered member. I wonder if there isn’t a way to track them back? I’m no tech but would the emails they use to scam match any member’s IP address?
 
tokerblue said:
- Seller sells item
- OP posts his email in the sale thread
- Scammer sees the email and contacts the OP outside of Bladeforums
- OP sends payment to the scammer's email
- Seller has no idea a scammer contacted the buyer outside of Bladeforums.

Blues detailed it in post #6.
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OK - so why the OP continues to call the seller a scammer? Should not his original post be edited?

Plus, it sounds a bit silly to send money to someone who claims to be the seller via an email outside of bladeforums WITHOUT verifying with the seller first.
 
sharp_edge said:
OK - so why the OP continues to call the seller a scammer? Should not his original post be edited?

Plus, it sounds a bit silly to send money to someone who claims to be the seller via an email outside of bladeforums WITHOUT verifying with the seller first.
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Edited thread title slightly

The "buyer" cannot send PMs which is a large part of the issue. Had he a "Basic" membership, he could have contacted the seller privately without anyone being the wiser.
 
Bill Siegle said:
One thing I’m curious about is the fact that these scammers are clearly targeting Bladeforums members so they are watching us. Possibly as a registered member. I wonder if there isn’t a way to track them back? I’m no tech but would the emails they use to scam match any member’s IP address?
They're likely not posting here at all. Just cruising the Exchange for claims and emails.

Vince000 said:
A video timestamp would weed out 99.9% of all these scammers...
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You may be thinking of a different set of scammers
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Bill Siegle said:
One thing I’m curious about is the fact that these scammers are clearly targeting Bladeforums members so they are watching us.
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It's not hard to see why. Merchandise worth a minimum of $100. Some close to $500. Virtually all F&F sales. People jump on a perceived deal before fully vetting the recipient.
Bill Siegle said:
I wonder if there isn’t a way to track them back? I’m no tech but would the emails they use to scam match any member’s IP address?
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Your IP address could change depending on your device and location. Not to mention that there are easy ways to bypass that.

sharp_edge said:
OK - so why the OP continues to call the seller a scammer? Should not his original post be edited?
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We don't know if the OP realizes what happened.
 
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