Word of Caution on New Buy/Sell Scammers
 

Hi all,

Just wanted to pass around I'm in the process of being scammed by somebody here who bought a set of ZE40's I sold last month. All in all I should've been more adamant about my personal rules in protecting myself and not try to do a nice thing.

Last month I put up a set of brand new ZE40s for sale here, got some inquiries and some guy from the Los Angeles area eventually texted me saying he's interested. We agreed on a price and he was going to pay shipping.

Immediately he changed to having his friend pick up the next day from San Jose, where I am, and deliver to him in LA. I mentioned I was gonna be out of town over the weekend and would do him a solid by leaving the wheels at a friend's place for him to pick up. I then asked for cash. This is where I should've said no to his shitty excuse of having a daily ATM limit. I should've told him to go to the damn teller and get cash.

Anyways, to cut it short, he used his girlfriend's PayPal to pay me, picked up the wheels in person, and is now disputing payment as item not received.

I have all our text conversations showing he was going to pick up in person, which I've given to PayPal, and can only hope they side with me. That this was a deal done and picked up in person, so neither buyer nor seller gets any kind of protection.

Not sure if I'm allowed to post personal info here but I'd gladly share this bastard's info so you guys can all watch out for it.

Thanks,
TC

That's criminal. So many pieces of s#%t out there... All it takes is one dishonest jerk.

Thanks for the warning!

Never do PayPal if there's no proof of a transaction or a deal having being made. I too was almost scammed this way by a forum member who was gonna buy a pair of tires I was selling and wanted to pay me this way. The first thought that came to my mind was that exactly... that he was gonna claim I never gave him anything, get his money back and keep my tires.

If it's done in person, as a seller... do it in cash only. As a buyer... make sure to inspect the item throughly before handing in your money and if skeptical, walk away.

And yes, share the member's info. They may try to scam someone else again.

Crap like this really pisses me off,I had an idiot on this forum try to rip me off,lots of pressure from a member located in his area eventually got him to come clean.Hope Paypal supports you on this one.

Middle man thing is always a red flag for me. Hope PP works out for you.

It's annoying how commonplace scamming is on both ends. I've been less and less inclined to operate on private transactions.

Should’ve had your friend take his picture with the tires lol... sucks you have to do things like that though...

Who's the work of art member?

So who is this SoCal member so we can help. It's a small Z world. Someone's gotta know somebody.

Don't know who it is on here but all I have is a cell number and the PayPal account holder. See Attached image.

I've done a ton of reverse searches but no sign of this Vanessa Tran even lives at that address. It's probably a fake address and looks like a rental property given how many people have lived there showing up from a whitepages search. Also PayPal confirmed the cell number doesn't match anything on the buyer account.

Cell: 626-975-4965

Wait. Not certain if a forum member?

Well given that I didn't post anywhere else, it's at least someone who browses this forum, if not a member. But unfortunately, I have no idea, I can only let people know this kinda scam is a thing.

should have told him that you will release the tires to him as soon as the funds are available..gotta learn the hard way i guess

Funds were available immediately. Buyer actually has 180 days to dispute payment, which when that happens, gives you a negative PayPal balance.

The lesson learned here is use cash if in person. If using PayPal, have shipping labels, tracking, proof of delivery, and make sure buyer's account info matches what they already gave you, and not someone else's account.

People can pull one over on you with Paypal. Take cash only if in person. No if, ands, or butts. If you don't know them, don't take paypal. The latest scam is for the person to do a charge back or have paid with a stolen credit card. In either case, you are getting the short end of the stick.

95% of online purchases are paid using paypal. Best way to save yourself from scumbags like him is to prove that you actually shipped the package to him. Take a picture of the item, the package, the receipt , even at the clerk when they are taking the package away. That's what I always do when I sell things online which is something that I rarely do, but when I have to, I will make sure I got all the proof in the world

this is just awful. I would reach out to the Los Angeles Sheriff for advice.

hope it will work out for the OP.

Did you receive a text and not ask which member forum he/she is? Most people I would assume PM first with offer or check availability. I think the first mistake was not asking which forum member he was. I personally buy/sell by sending PMs and then exchange contact info there.

Hey tuoc65.

Is it possible it was a non-forum member, since it also looks like you ha the wheels for sale on Wheelflip as well?

http://content.screencast.com/users/...10-23_2057.png

Oh yea, forgot I did. But wheelflip doesn't have my number. I put my number on the sale post here so I think he does browse this forum. Either way, this was more about letting people know they should be mindful of the details during a transaction. Especially other rookies like me.

Hope this gets sorted for you. Any luck with Paypal?

To me it’s always a must to do everything in cash. I would never sell something via shipping just to avoid scammers. They can say that the merchandise wasn’t described and ship back a set of stock wheels and PayPal would return the money back to the buyer. Or he or she could dispute with his or her credit card and buyer will always win no matter what. I work at an ecommerce company, and buyer will always win when it comes to this type of dispute. Our company tried calling the cops or the investigation agencies but it wouldn’t work because the world is too big and they ain’t got time for this small amount of money kinda dispute. I guess we all have to learn it the hard way.
An incident happened to me when I bought the new iPhone 6 couple years ago via eBay and after the PayPal buyer protection ended, which was around 3 months at that time, the seller stopped making his phone payment, the phone was locked and I wasn’t able to use the phone or my money back. I wasn’t even able to pay the remaining balance on the phone itself since it’s under someone else account. Thereafter I will never trust eBay or PayPal. Period. Do everything with cash next time. There’s always a risk when it comes to shipping. Good luck next time