FYI - PM Scam Alert, Don't be as stupid as I was! Options

[aggiezig]

SCAM ALERT

Posting this for the world's general knowledge and so no one else is as stupid as I was. I had posted a WTB for some rear late calipers on the classifieds and received a PM from a member saying:

Check out Chris in PA via Hollychris1972 @ gmail.com,he has a set of cores, late rear calipers he wants to part with.

Like the idiot that I am, I did not even notice the username of the sender was "Im_a_scammer_2". Let's attribute that to the fact that I was viewing on my phone and distracted at the time.

Long story short, I email "Chris", exchange a few texts with 707-861-0828 about the condition of the item, send a venmo for $120 and never hear back. After a bit, I got a funny feeling and decided to search his email address which is all over other forums as a known scammer.

So, now not only am I out my money, but I also feel like a huge idiot. Posting this as a big FYI for the forum so that no one else falls victim to the same trap that I did. It's very sad to me that this is what today's world has come down to...

[aggiezig]

Unfortunately, not. It's not like paypal which offers seller protection. Essentially it's a peer to peer payment network. There's not even a way I've found to report the user. From what I've read online from other's experiences - my money is long gone.

Oh well, it could have been a lot worse. I have a CPA friend that fell for an email scam a few years back when spoofing was "new" and she wired thousands of dollars to someone as a supposed employee advance. She ended up fighting with her insurance company for years and they only eventually covered a little over half.