Thoughts on making sellers put photo with date and username on sales threads?

Anderdale

Anderdale

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I’m sorry if this has been posted or discussed already.

We've all noticed the influx of hacked accounts using old photos. Also lately I am noticing the hackers are making the prices closer to fair so it isn’t raising immediate red flags.

I was curious if maybe we could make it a requirement for sellers to include a piece of paper in their photos with their user name and the general time.

It would make it difficult for scammers to use old photos from old threads.

Thoughts?
 
Sbs1974 said:
I think no matter the requirement, people who want to do wrong will find a way to do it. I think it’s better if the people here turn on 2 step ID and change their passwords often and do their part. They are not only helping themselves but also their fellow knife fans
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F#%K YES!!! DO IT YESTERDAY. It only take a couple of minutes, LITERALLY.
 
This photo was from the scammer this morning when i asked for a timestamp. Pretty good but if you look close you can tell. Just goes to show how easy it is to doctor a photo.
He was reluctant to send. The the pics were from an aug 2 bladeforum listing as the serial number was in one of the photos. Pretty easy to check. He claimed to have purchased the knife new from DLT on August 14. Not a very bright scammer. Just gotta be careful

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Good points I didn’t think of how easy it is to photo shop. If they can hack accounts I guess it’s nothing to throw in a photoshop

And yes I second the two factor authentication!
 
I’m all for the two-factor, but I turned it on when the forum changed and I never received the emails. If that’s all fixed, I’m all for it.

Edited to add: But if the major problem is people using the same passwords for multiple websites, they’re probably doing it with their emails too so not sure how multi-factor matters in those cases? Hacker might have email access as well. Maybe best solution is to change their bladeforums password to something unique from any other log in they use?
 
I use Chrome and have Google generate me a random password that my browser remembers. Its impossible to memorize a unique pass for all of 100+ sites people have.
 
My guess is someone hacked one of the major online knife retailers. Its one thing to get peoples info and hack an account, but they obviously had to have a basis to bring that hacked info to bladeforum where it could be used to steal money from from our members. The best protection to protect Your account, is two-step and/or a unique, different and strong password specifically for Bladeforum. Hackers can steal ANYONES identity here.

To protect you as a buyer....Diligence and patience. Hackers will almost always be pushy for fast payment, will usually ask for venmo or other pay app. The one function paypal offers, is for a seller to request a payment from a potential buyer. (YES I KNOW ABOUT THE 1099 with G&S and this isn't the thread to argue that). Request the seller send you an invoice through Paypal. No scammer will do that. But what's better, paying a little extra for the reassurance on a high end knife, or fighting to get your money back on the flip side.
 
I think requiring a timestamp in the photo (username and the date of posting, written on something near the knife, like r/Knife_Swap does) would cut down on issues, even though it's possible to fake a timestamp.

Look at how little effort the hackers are putting in already, just stealing existing photos that often aren't too hard to find and writing crappy low-effort posts to go with them. Adding one more barrier -- the timestamp in the picture -- might make the whole venture too time-consuming to be worthwhile for them.
 
ArabianKnight said:
I use Chrome and have Google generate me a random password that my browser remembers. Its impossible to memorize a unique pass for all of 100+ sites people have.
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It's possible, I do that since 30 years.
But I agree - for most gawkers it's mission impossible for ever
 
Don't like any of this hassle.

Caveat Emptor.

If YOU want a timestamp picture, then require it. Don't make everyone deal with that crap when plenty of folks like me have never scammed anyone, have never been scammed, and do not need it. Ditto Two Step ID. A GIANT PITA everywhere that it is required. Do not want to have to deal with that crap every time I log on here. If you want to only deal with folks who have activated that feature, good for you. Don't make everyone jump through hoops because you can't figure out how to protect yourself from scams.
 
The Amazing Virginian said:
Don't like any of this hassle.

Caveat Emptor.

If YOU want a timestamp picture, then require it. Don't make everyone deal with that crap when plenty of folks like me have never scammed anyone, have never been scammed, and do not need it. Ditto Two Step ID. A GIANT PITA everywhere that it is required. Do not want to have to deal with that crap every time I log on here. If you want to only deal with folks who have activated that feature, good for you. Don't make everyone jump through hoops because you can't figure out how to protect yourself from scams.
Click to expand...

Scammers are taking over people's accounts and getting likely $1000s of dollars from paid members here. They are being smarter and aligning prices to going rates, making it even more difficult to spot. Some are accepting G&S. Knife pictures are stolen from past Reddit sales threads, BF sales threads, and other websites, making it difficult to track. These people are not all stupid and easily duped. Any scammer with half a brain can make it very difficult to detect whether it is a scam sales thread. I think the added security supersedes the slight inconvenience of having to type in a 4-digit code once every 30 days.
 
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