Buyer Beware. Use Common Sense.

[scotrace]

We do our best to filter out the baddies before they get here, and we approve members one at a time manually every day to accomplish that. But lately we've had a few brand new members who appeared legit at signup looking for members who express an interest in buying something, then contact them offering to sell that thing to them. "Just send me the money and I'll send you the goods."

If someone just joined, contacts you to sell you something, offers no pictures, is pressuring you to send money with minuscule information, be cautious. Try and do business with longer term members who have built a reputation here of following through sales with honesty.

We do not police private transactions, nor can we. It is each member's responsibility to exercise due caution. That being said, we have shown a few new members the door in the last week or so and will continue to do so when it seems warranted. It is important to us that you feel safe in buying and selling things through the Classified section here.

 

[photo2u]

I wonder what steps you take with complaints about member who are disrespectful and take flat out make baseless accusations?

 

[Bfd70]

Any way to require 100 posts to access the Classifieds?

 

[scotrace]

I think these are members who solicit via private messages.

 

[Cognoscente]

Thank you for the heads up! For one, I suggest everyone reserves the privilege of offering PayPal Friends and Family for established members only. I also wonder if there is a way to tag a positive transaction to someone’s profile either by the seller or buyer (or some other feedback system).

I try to be as careful as I can. I have talked to people over the phone, asked for references (and vice versa), and stated that I would have to add 4% for PayPal fees because they are new. It basically comes down to having a good feeling of trust between both members.

I have also heard of people asking the seller to take a picture of the item next to something else of the buyer’s choice. I.E. “Please send a picture of the jacket next to a beer bottle, or three coins”. Either way, you want to make sure that they actually have the item they are selling.

 

[Claybertrand]

The Lounge has many Bartenders.......... What we need now is a coupla BOUNCERS

 

[Edward]

Any way to require 100 posts to access the Classifieds?

That's a nice idea, but unfortunately to the best of my knowledge that's something that would have to be baked in as an option to the forum software - it's not something the Lounge can just slip in as it sits. It could I think in theory be done manually, but with 7,000 member accounts or thereabouts, it's not a practical option.

 

[Edward]

I think these are members who solicit via private messages.

Yes, that's true too.

Ultimately, any system of dealing with this is always going to be vulnerable to abuse.

 

[Edward]

I wonder what steps you take with complaints about member who are disrespectful and take flat out make baseless accusations?

The best way of dealing with this sort of thing is to use the 'report' button and it will be addressed by the moderation team.

 

[Kuro]

On another forum dedicated to another topic, I posted a WTB ad.

About a month later I had someone DM or PM me a message saying they had what I was looking for and etc. It was so obvious that it was a scam, they used pictures from someone else from another forum.

Also, it looks like accounts of members that have been hacked are being used to sell things people want on this forum, for too good to be true prices hoping to score a quick sale and easy money.

I don't have any suggestions, but it should be obvious. If it is too good to be true... It probably is not.

 

[Kuro]

The best way of dealing with this sort of thing is to use the 'report' button and it will be addressed by the moderation team.

I shall remember this, could have used it last night for sure.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

We can’t change our names....
But we can change our passwords.

I have a question for @scotrace.
Can another person login to your account WHILE you yourself are logged in and current???
Bowen

 

[JacketLove]

Agree with all of the sentiments above, and this has happened to me a couple of times over the last week or so after posting a WTB add for a Levi’s Menlo. I am also new to the forum (and have enjoyed a lot of the content) but have felt a high volume of scammers in a short space of time. The above suggestions of asking for different pictures and using protected payment methods is definitely the best way. I would expect the same if I was selling anything.

 

[Peacoat]

Unfortunately, the scammers have raised their ugly heads again. Be careful of dealing with anyone who is new and has a low post count. It's a good idea to check their past messages to see if they have actually engaged on the board, or if they are just posting to get their numbers up. If the latter, stay away from them.

 

[Edward]

Yip. And also remember to look closely at the name of the person you're dealing with. A couple of seeming scammers recently have used usernames similar to past members of this place.

 

[breezer]

Thank you for the heads up! For one, I suggest everyone reserves the privilege of offering PayPal Friends and Family for established members only. I also wonder if there is a way to tag a positive transaction to someone’s profile either by the seller or buyer (or some other feedback system).

I try to be as careful as I can. I have talked to people over the phone, asked for references (and vice versa), and stated that I would have to add 4% for PayPal fees because they are new. It basically comes down to having a good feeling of trust between both members.

I have also heard of people asking the seller to take a picture of the item next to something else of the buyer’s choice. I.E. “Please send a picture of the jacket next to a beer bottle, or three coins”. Either way, you want to make sure that they actually have the item they are selling.

negative.......unless they actual friends & family I 'aint doing it........just price the goods to include any PP charges.........

 

[Peter Mackin]

I was slated just last week for saying I was wary of an influx of new members with jackets to sell,
I was also contacted by a new member looking to buy a couple of jackets I've shown on the forum. No more friends and family unless we have done business before I'm afraid.

 

[air]

Paypal friends and family is meant for gifts and does not include buyer & seller protection.

The buyer can't pretend he didn't receive the item or that it was damaged because he has no buyer protection. But he can pretend he was hacked or do a chargeback through his credit card if he used it to fund the payment. Without seller protection you will lose your money.

Source
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5...rge-back-friends-and-family-2018/td-p/1526313

 

[John Lever]

Family and Friends is for just that. You can lose everything.

 

[mihai]

Thanks for the heads-up!
It's important to bring awareness on such topics.

@scotrace , @Edward
To mitigate accounts hacking (frequently due to weak passwords) multi-factor authentication could help.
Also applying the latest security updates is a good practice.