Be Aware of Scammers

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

We recently received this message. Please beware, the scammer in question had made no posts on the forum, which would have been a hint something was wrong. Also, if someone insists on payment via BACS or PayPal ‘friends and family’, but you have no confirmation they are genuine, show caution.

It can happen to anyone – I was once sold a lathe motor that turned out to be burnt out.

Neil

I am afraid I have been the victim of a scam via the ME Classified section.
I posted a Wanted ad for a 4 jaw chuck recently and got a reply within days.
All seemed genuine when I asked for more details and photographs – which were supplied. I have to say I thought this person was one of “our” people.
After several attempts to send money via Bacs, my courier could not pick up the parcel as the occupant was not at home,
My scammer then sent me a receipt for a Royal Mail collection service which I foolishly thought was genuine and repaid him another £11.
Needless to say all communication ceased and the chuck did not arrive. Total amount £111 – red faces all round.
Perhaps you could post a warning on the Forum alerting members of this possibility.

I like to think I am fairly savvy and very wary of Ebay, Facebook Market etc, but being scammed on a very specialised website (mostly populated by senior folk such as myself) is very hard to believe.

 

[Wade BeattyParticipant @wadebeatty78296]

All,

I have a wanted ad in the classifieds for a Boley threading attachment. I was contacted by Mark W <[email protected]> who claimed to have one. He had a photo attachment with his email reply. I copied the photo and pasted it into Google “search by image” and the hit was a Boley threading attachment on a friends late in Finland.

I contacted Mark W and told him this and asked if I could call him, he said that he was hearing impaired, ok fair enough. I asked him for his location, maybe someone from the forum could stop by.

I have not heard from him since

Buyer beware out there

Wade

[cedric 1Participant @cedric]

You did well with the reverse image search and dodged a bullet there.

They must trawl the net for Wanted ads and then capitalise on the trust levels on shared-interest forums. So I guess it pays to check if they are a new member with no posts in their history.

I recently had a workshop clean up and advertised a lot of excess tools, drill press, equipment and a classic car for sale on the net. What a deluge of scammers! I got so sick of their antics — easily spotted because they offered full price without any discussion or questions, then had some story about being out of town and sending their “agent” to collect it and wanting payment by some oddball service etc etc.

In the end my standard answer was “Please call me to discuss”. They never did. Moral of the story: Always talk to the other party by phone before committing to anything. If in conversation they don’t seem to know a tailstock from a toolpost, run!

A lot of them kept asking for more photos of the item for sale and then never responded after I sent them. Apparently they use those photos to create their own scam ad for your goods! So your Google reverse image search is certainly the way to go.

Take care. It’s a jungle out there.

 

 

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

I had an email this week from an old friend I haven’t seen for some years, who couldn’t phone because he has laryngitis.

His follow-up email told me a heart-breaking story of a friend’s daughter who is battling cancer and he wants to put a smile on her face but was having difficulty buying an airbnb voucher for her and would I buy it for him and send him the details and he would re-imburse me and so on and so on.

At that point I looked more closely and realised that he was so ill that he had mis-spelled his email address, which had a duplicated letter in his surname.  I replied very sympathetically, wishing him a speedy recovery and that that his friend’s daughter should die soon, to start a new life in a place where there is no pian or suffering or dishonesty.

He must be very poorly indeed, because he’s been too ill to reply.

George

[cedric 1Participant @cedric]

Yes, I had one similar to that too. First one saying he had laryngitis but not asking for anything. Then after I replied with commiserations and we’ll wishes, came the next round with some similar spiel about buying gift card etc. Nearly had me going.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

One thing that might help with the advertising things is to start with “Now that I have retired from the policce ……” note deliberate misspelling in case it is not permitted to claim such employment.

[Philip RoweParticipant @philiprowe13116]

Interestingly, I also had an email about someone who could not speak on the phone because they had laryngitis, but in my case it was a cousin who l had not seen for sometime. On this occasion they were just asking for me to get in touch. I was suspicious because something in the wording just didn’t ring true so l deleted it. Now I’m beginning to wonder if it was genuine!

Phil

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

I am repeatably getting an advert on my phone for a “wonder” rust remover,by spray. The add shows almost instant back to shiny metal after spraying.One spray bottle is £15. Has anyone had same, or even better, has anyone tried it.

Keith.

[KEITH BEAUMONT]

On KEITH BEAUMONT Said:

I am repeatably getting an advert on my phone for a “wonder” rust remover,by spray. The add shows almost instant back to shiny metal after spraying.One spray bottle is £15. Has anyone had same, or even better, has anyone tried it.

Keith.

I’ve seen it, removing thick rust from a bathroom faucet, spray on , wipe off and the thick rust turns to completely unpitted gleaming chrome. Too good to be true. Literally.

If you want a good rust remover, I have found Evaporust to be excellent.

[Thomas ClarkeParticipant @thomasclarke78224]

<p style=”text-align: center;”>Ask yourself why these wonder products are never for sale in shops.</p>

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

If a bath tap is thick with rust I’d want to know where it was from…

Same supplier as the magic rust remover, I suppose.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

Rust on a bath tap? Wow! I thought they were made of brass, silly me!

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