rijowysock

i've placed a few WTB ad's recently for 997 parts and we surely have scammers perusing the board.. or possibly they just search for WTB ad's..

some are very stealth and slick.. and you feel like they honestly have the part until you get into specific details and you realize they dont have the part, dont have a porsche, and surely dont live in the country.

others are very "slack" and send emails such as:

Hello,

This is John Watson from Liverpool United Kingdom. I am emailing about your wanted Ad placed over the internet. Please let me know if you are still keen to purchase. Condition is excellent and i can arrange delivery.

You can also ring me on 00 44 7024051767 or 07024063787 . the 44 is the country code.

Thanks

John Watson
Alt Road, Formby, Liverpool L37 6DB"




wanted to make sure, people creating WTB ad's that you ask questions and get specific with people that contact you as i've gotten a few now.. some hard to tell and others lazy and copy and paste like above..

wouldn't want anyone here getting scammed by excitement that they found the part they were looking for

rsabeebe

i just ran a WTB ad and had someone answer it. i was about to make a payment tonight. do you have any particular names or parts that were listed? makes me question my purchase/paypal payment. thanks for the heads up. paypal should cover any fraud, but it's still a hassle.

rijowysock

i'm obviously not an expert, it just really bugged me when i figured out why i was getting these random replies via email and not via pm.

A: pm is ideal.. shows you register date and post count.. i'm a believer that if you invested a year on forum and 1200 posts.... that you're not going to screw me for 1k.... etc

B: ask specific questions about item, "hey do you have the 3 clips that go on the top, or blah blah... " then when they answer.. call their bluff for proof of life. and be like.. can you send me pics of those clips to make sure they are the ones i'm talking about so we're on same page (keep in mind.. a legit seller has no problem spending 5 minutes taking a pic w/ cell and sending).. if they dont send.. do they not have the item?

C: check who you are paying.. paypal? (only use regular, not personal as no protection w/ personal).. but even then.. no protection outside USA... put their email address in google.. i'm sorry but if a guy has a part you need and found you on a forum... he has bought something online or typed his email address before... if no responses or very few... then thats sketchy.

D.. common sense.. and deals too good often are..

E: ask how they saw, what their name on forum is.. "cause im super friendly and love forums.. and love getting to meet new fellow enthusiasts..





truth is.. if they have your item and took time to email you.. they should have no problem taking a few pics... or answering questions.. also they should love talking about the car and stuff about it



i honestly hope this helps someone.. i have almost fallen for one myself and called someone right quick that "they knew in common" and they said "who is that" and i was lucky... $1500 saved.... in this world of emails and so forth.. it's easy for someone to send 5 emails and make $1500.... i just hope my post keeps money in peoples' pockets.

google is your best friend, search em!

mdrums

Guys..I know Riley...for a while and he is king on buying and selling on the internet. Listen to him...he knows. Thanks for posting this!

rijowysock

i wouldn't say king, i've gotten taken twice.. 4 figures and a sad mid 5 figures... but stuff happens.. just have learned.. but they get smarter as well.

there is another trick for "fake" wires on high dollar items... you get the money and then sadly it goes away... difficult to explain but everyone should know before selling a car

dasams

Didn't you recently place a wtb for an oem bike rack? Just curious, how'd that turn out? Dave

rijowysock

very well, my purpose is not to scare every WTB lister, but to make them aware that people are posing as members and saying they have said item (mine have all been via email and not PM).

i recently bought off the forum from WTB ad's,

Fabspeed Exhaust: worked out well, forum member had a couple hundred pertinent posts

Roof Rack: worked out well, member was beyond nice and very prompt.. rack came perfectly as describe.. member was on here 3 years and over 1k posts.

those are examples of a good result...

from those ad's and another i made asking for misc parts i have gotten over 10 scam emails however.. i felt this was excessive and prompted me to create this post.. as i almost got taken by 2 of them (the ones that typed versus copy ans pasted their "i see you want this, so i have it. pay me"

CORSASCHNELL

I think you are right and we all have to be more careful about conducting business over the net. I own and manage two businesses in California and the can tell you that attempted fraudulent activity has definitely gone up by a factor of 10 since 2007.