Horsepower

So I don't know if this is the place to do this but I think I just got scammed. I listed under parts wanted and a guy ( Bugs T ) responded sending me to his uncle for a part with an email. His name is Anthony Ruger we agreed on a price and I sent him the money on PayPal. The price included shipping. He responded back and said he needed another $50 dollars to ship it. After many emails trying to work with him still no part . I didn't send the extra money. I concluded this must be a scam. I even reached out to this Bugs guy with no response. I just lost a$120 . Do not buy ANYTHING from these guys. Lesson learned!

BillK

This has been discussed a million times on many forums. You probably sent the money with Pay Pal "friends and family" right ? If a buyer will not accept "regular" paypal then simply walk away. Paypal will protect you if you use the normal payment type.

allyolds68

Any time someone replies to you here via PM and they have no posts, you can be sure it's a scam.

oldcutlass

Also do not buy from anyone that recently joined and has little to no posts. BugsT was banned on Feb 3 due to suspicious communications with other members.

Horsepower

Thanks for the info. Yes I did send it friends and family.

zl1 camaro

Some people just make me sick

Horsepower

Your right some people just make me sick.

oldcutlass

I added the following statement to the classifieds header.

Classifieds

Buy/Sell/Trade - DO NOT BUY FROM ANYONE THAT RECENTLY JOINED WITH LITTLE TO NO POST COUNT OR ANYONE THAT SENDS A PM REFERRING YOU TO SOMEONE ELSE OFFSITE. BE CAUTIOUS USING PAYPAL FRIENDS AND FAMILY PAYMENT METHODS.

droldsmorland

Good move Eric.
These AHOLES should be hung like this...BY THEIR NUTS!

Trax

Horsepower - I had the same thing happen to me except the "Uncle" was a Mike Downing. I spent $50 for the part and $20 for shipping. The part was purchased thru "family and friends" so paypal wouldn't help, but my bank stepped up and reimbursed me on my credit card. The shipping was not thru family and friends so paypal did reimburse me on that part. I was lucky and got my money back though it took a lot of time and effort. I would try that route and see if you can recover any of your money. Just a suggestion. Hope it helps.

zzcruzin

It should be required that the seller writes his name, address, and price on a piece of paper and lay it next to the part being sold, and take a picture and post it in his add. Would it help? Sure wouldn't hurt would it?

Horsepower

Anything else would help. This guy even sent me a picture of the part. I was telling a guy at a salvage company in California yesterday about what happened. He told me they have been doing business since 1978 and have a lot of pictures on their website and these ripoffs will steal them to use as postings. Just got to be more careful.

herkguy

Sorry to hear that Horsepower,
not everyone on here reads the parts wanted so what are you in need of. I maybe one of us real members might have it and could help you out. Not sure if this meets posting etiquette but would be nice if we could help salvage a bad deal.
Eric

Horsepower

Thanks Eric,I could use a radiator recovery bottle for a 72 Cutlass S

Vintage Chief

I've said this in past threads. One of the best methods to reduce/eliminate these dubious scam posts from occurring is to implement e-mail validation/verification when any member signs up for a CO member account.

Think about it.

A person signs up to become a CO member. That person receives an e-mail to the e-mail address they are using to sign up. That person receives an e-mail from CO asking to verify/validate their e-mail address. You might think, well hell, that person could put anyone's e-mail address when they sign up. Really? Try it. The CO e-mail is directed to the e-mail entered. If the scammer uses a fictitious e-mail address....wait for it...the person signing up will have an extraordinarily difficult time validating an e-mail address which doesn't belong to them. Even if they have a multitude of e-mail addresses, they know good & well it provides clear evidence of being able to be tracked. It's a very good policy which works.

herkguy

copy, I do not have one of those but will keep an eye out for you.
Eric


also good idea on the email verification Vintage Chief

VI Cutty

I think most forums require email validation before an account can access as a member. These are easily defeated by the hordes of people forced to work at terminals for this type of purpose. Even minimum post counts before being able to send PMs is overcome by making "Great photos" and "I agree!" replies to existing posts. Watching for users making that kind of post can help point out potential scammers. A scam/spam post was made yesterday by a well established account, one with at least a couple years' membership and past posts pertaining to Olds and mechanical issues. Vintage Chief, myself, and I'm sure others reported it to the admins but this indicates that even existing accounts can be compromised. Imagine if it had been used to offer a non-existent part instead of urging us to follow a dubious link.

That compromise probably wasn't from the forum, but the user's email address and password having been compromised somewhere, and the same password being used extensively. When's the last time you changed your password(s)?

Criminal organizations, many based in Asia, kidnap people with English language skills and extort them with threats to their families, forcing them to work the various scams that we see being proposed. On Facebook, someone posting something for sale, having a middle aged white guy's profile photo and name but whose friends are all in Pakistan or similar...odds are pretty damned good they're trying to get you.

Ultimately, educating the masses how to separate potential spammers from legitimate sellers is the best protection. When the tricks of the scammers stop generating enough revenue to make it worthwhile, they'll find new ways to take advantage of people.

Sometimes even legitimate transactions go south for one reason or another. Good communication can often solve those sort of issues.

Karns737

They just tried to scam me as well. Anthony Ruger and his "nephew" who is now going by username Joebribe.They use the typical bad/strange grammar which makes it easier to spot. That's what made me Google his name and find this thread. So thank you for making us aware.