[MENTION=87492]SR_5runner[/MENTION], I feel your pain.
Schnepp responded to me in early April to my WTB post for a cargo cover, but refused to take PayPal and insisted on other payments which don't have don't have buyer protection, and I got spooked and walked away from the transaction.
Unfortunately, I did send money to another user dave0, who also responded to my WTB post, but dave0 never sent the cargo cover or tracking etc., and I lost my money. Interestingly, whenever I check dave0's profile, he is still actively on the forum daily!
It seems that the forum is full of scammers, and they continue to troll the forums daily. Also, I suspect once they are identified, they simply create a new ID and continue with the same tactics to steal from members. In fact, I suspect they are operating with multiple IDs...
If you have any info on the user that scammed you (name, phone number, etc.), use that to search google and social media (facebook, linkedin, etc.) and get as much info on them as you can, and then report the crime to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center:
Internet Crime Complaint Center(IC3) | Home Page . I don't believe reporting to ic3.gov will produce any real results, but it might make you feel better (which honestly at this point is about all you can do).
It would be good if the forum could do something reduce these crimes. If nothing else, post a list of tips when buying or selling. Below is a list I thought of off the top of my head (note that these suggestions are also for Sellers who want to demonstrate that they are legitimate):
1. Only use Paypal with buyer protection (or maybe there is a better payment method that offers buy and seller protection).
2. BOTH buyer and seller should exchange names, phone numbers, and physical addresses to reduce anonymity, and then at least you have something to provide to law enforcement if the transaction goes bad (hopefully it doesn't come to this). As a seller, if you aren't willing to send me your name/phone/address, don't expect me to provide you the same info AND send you money?
3. As a buyer, you can google the seller's name and address and at least see if it shows up online as potentially legitimate. This doesn't prevent someone from sending you fake info, but maybe it raises the level of trust (maybe not)?
4. Call the Seller and talk to them on the phone. Does their phone area code match their address? Calling them on the phone doesn't necessarily confirm that the seller is legit, but it does reduce some of their anonymity.
5. Have a video call with the seller (FaceTime, WhatsApp, Zoom, etc.) and ask them to show you the item for sale on the live video call; hopefully this confirms that they at least actually have the item and didn't just post a pic they found online.
6. Only buy from forum members who have been on the forum for some time (maybe more than 6 months), and have a history of several forum posts (this puts new members at a disadvantage, but I don't know any other way to prevent scammers from constantly creating new IDs to hide their past).
7. Use google image search to look for pictures of the item being sold to see if the seller has simply found images online claiming the pictures are their items to sell.
I'm not saying the items above will prevent scammers, but it might help to ward off some potential scammers. I'm sure there are other better tips, advice, and methods on how to avoid being scammed, if anyone has any suggestions, please post, and eventually maybe the forum will collect these "best practices" to avoid a scammer, and post it as a sticky in the classified section.
CLeej
