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

[toker]

They're likely not posting here at all. Just cruising the Exchange for claims and emails.

I'm not familiar with this forum software, but other forums restrict access to certain boards based on the membership level.

 

[sharp_edge]

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.

Yes that's the way to go (becoming a paid member of bladeforums). But if people really want to save that $10 they can/should at least post in the sales thread asking the seller sth like "hello did you send me an email at 9:35am today from a Hotmail with the Email id starting with s, ending with g, and being 8-character long?"

 

[Blues]

Yes that's the way to go (becoming a paid member of bladeforums). But if people really want to save that $10 they can/should at least post in the sales thread asking the seller sth like "hello did you send me an email at 9:35am today from a Hotmail with the Email id starting with s, ending with g, and being 8-character long?"

If one really needs to save $10 that badly, they probably shouldn't be buying knives online. (That's 83 cents a month for crying out loud.)

 

[sharp_edge]

If you really need to save $10 that badly, you probably shouldn't be buying knives online.

I agree completely.

 

[Hedonizmdan]

I would like to add to the prevention of getting scammed. If you do a simple search of your email address here on bladeforums, you should see any threads or posts that you may have forgotten about that contain your email

 

[Ozmose]

If one really needs to save $10 that badly, they probably shouldn't be buying knives online. (That's 83 cents a month for crying out loud.

You read my mind. This isn't exactly a cheap hobby. If you're doing your knife shopping here, you're probably past the point of pinching pennies. You don't exactly see a plethora of budget knives up for sale here. $10 is probably less than you'd be paying for tax or shipping from an actual storefront.

 

[bikerector]

I think I made how that happens clear in my first post in this thread. But he'll have to read it if he cares to know.

I've been doing everything I can to get the word out, and to find and eradicate these parasites, but in the end, it's up to the members to be vigilant and responsible for doing their due diligence...as well as the right thing.

We can only do so much...and it's getting pretty frustrating to watch people repeat the same mistakes over and over.

(Yeah, I'm a bit chapped about it too...truth be told.)

I was talking to a different member who's sale post was used as the scam. Do the scammers even need to be members for this particular scam? Couldn't they just search common terms like "I'll take it" through a search engine, search the username and a common email site, like bikerector hotmail, and likely come up with something, all without even having an account?

This method of scam is new to me but they've been hitting a lot of people recently.

 

[hhmoore]

I would like to add to the prevention of getting scammed. If you do a simple search of your email address here on bladeforums, you should see any threads or posts that you may have forgotten about that contain your email

I have my email posted numerous times, albeit never as a buyer. Sellers posting their email in their ads eliminate the need for registered members to post theirs...thereby reducing the opportunity for scammers to jump in and divert payments to themselves.
(Back when this site was on vBulletin, one of the rules for sellers was to make sure they had emails enabled.)

 

[SimplyMinded]

If one really needs to save $10 that badly, they probably shouldn't be buying knives online. (That's 83 cents a month for crying out loud.)

For only 83 cents a month you too can help a knife collector...

 

[not2sharp]

I have my email posted numerous times, albeit never as a buyer. Sellers posting their email in their ads eliminate the need for registered members to post theirs...thereby reducing the opportunity for scammers to jump in and divert payments to themselves.
(Back when this site was on vBulletin, one of the rules for sellers was to make sure they had emails enabled.)

The key take away is to use a protected payment process. PayPal FF draws these vultures to our site.

N2s

 

[jfk1110]

K KenHash I truly hope you rethink your exit.... You're an unlimited font of so much great information it will be a sad day for us here if you go.......I always enjoy the knowledge you so generously share, especially Kanji characters......

Unfortunately as a human being we tend to learn best when it hurts in some fashion, mentally or physically....
But we usually don't repeat those mistakes.

I appreciate your willingness to always share wht you know!!

Thank you!!

James

 

[Blues]

I was talking to a different member who's sale post was used as the scam. Do the scammers even need to be members for this particular scam? Couldn't they just search common terms like "I'll take it" through a search engine, search the username and a common email site, like bikerector hotmail, and likely come up with something, all without even having an account?

This method of scam is new to me but they've been hitting a lot of people recently.

No they don't need to be members to be able to read the the sales threads and find potential (unwary) candidates for their subterfuge.

They can use search engines...I don't believe they can search within the forums without membership.

Yes, it's a cluster...but there are steps everyone can take if they'd only wake up and smell the coffee. (And maybe read and take the warnings we've been posting all over the site to heart.)

 

[bikerector]

No they don't need to be members to be able to read the the sales threads and find potential (unwary) candidates for their subterfuge.

They can use search engines...I don't believe they can search within the forums without membership.

Yes, it's a cluster...but there are steps everyone can take if they'd only wake up and smell the coffee. (And maybe read and take the warnings we've been posting all over the site to heart.)

Agreed. I just sent a warning to staff on another forum about this. Using PPFF has become a massive problem for getting scammed on both forums, we all know it, and some people still want to use it. The false fears over taxation for PPGS, IMO, was a bad trolley to get on for people using forum sales.

It's not a big surprise that scams seem to be happening more often after people swore off using PPGS because of bad information, IMO. I just worry it's going to leave people distrusting of the forums because due diligence wasn't excercised.

I think we all appreciate the mods efforts in these matters, and putting out some best practices and information. Awareness goes a long way with these things.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

I would like to add to the prevention of getting scammed. If you do a simple search of your email address here on bladeforums, you should see any threads or posts that you may have forgotten about that contain your email

This was a great idea, Thank You.

I did that, and deleted a good dozen posts.

However, a few posts were "replied to" with my email link from another person...... i didn't know what to do, so I Reported to the mods to hopefully delete That one with the exposed email.... I'm guessing that is going to be Alot of work. Sorry.

*Also closed sales threads are like That too.

 

[LEGION 12]

I would like to add to the prevention of getting scammed. If you do a simple search of your email address here on bladeforums, you should see any threads or posts that you may have forgotten about that contain your email

Great idea searched mine and looks like I only posted it once , cleaned it up .

 

[kreole]

50 pages come up if you search @gmail.com. Some are posts alerting for scammers, but still, lots of nice info around the forum for scammers to use....

 

[toker]

50 pages come up if you search @gmail.com. Some are posts alerting for scammers, but still, lots of nice info around the forum for scammers to use....

It's even more than that. The Search caps at 50 pages. When you do a search with anything newer than 01/24, it's still 37 pages.

 

[karnaknives]

Just sitting here trying to wrap my head around this:
WHY would ANYONE post their actual email address on a public facing website EVER?

I mean even before these scammers came along there was still SPAM as well as other potential privacy issues...I don't get it.
You can delete posts from this site but you can't delete info from the internet once it's out there.

 

[Blues]

You're new around these parts. Things were simpler back in the day...during many of the 25+ years I've been associated with this site. Trouble was very rare. Not unheard of, but quite rare.

Nowadays, nothing is without issues.

 

[kreole]

It's even more than that. The Search caps at 50 pages. When you do a search with anything newer than 01/24, it's still 37 pages.

Yikes

Just sitting here trying to wrap my head around this:
WHY would ANYONE post their actual email address on a public facing website EVER?

I mean even before these scammers came along there was still SPAM as well as other potential privacy issues...I don't get it.
You can delete posts from this site but you can't delete info from the internet once it's out there.

Because if you don't have an account you have no other way of communicating privately other than passing an email/phone/etc.