paypal warning - check this crap out

Found out why I didn't get my money back. The weasel spent it... Anything $100 and under is not easily retrievable by paypal.

Bottom line - if I buy ANYTHING for around $100 w/paypal from someone I don't know, I'm paying $101.

Bottom line part II - and I hope the scammer is reading this - I got an address for Paypal's legal department to get the information on this new account. Should be interesting. I'm also requesting publicly AGAIN IP information on the scammer and 'smickers' from this board and their login info. I have no problem taking this to small claims court if need be.

Bottom line part III - $100 (ok, $96 and change) isn't hurting me, but I don't like the idea of someone getting away with this. I'm going to cause them 10x that much grief in any way I can. If they did it to me (and the rest of the guys here who got nailed) then it's happened before and will happen again. I want to try and stop it.

Pete

Pete, if you need anything from me, emails, PMs, PayPal transaction iDs or whatever to help in pursuing the case...be glad to help

Thanks Steve, you rock. What really stinks is now everyone is nervous about dealing with anyone on here that isn't well known... it's common sense to be sure, but it just sucks that we can't give people the benefit of the doubt anymore.

Pete

I can't view IP information so I can't help there, your best bet is to PM Ned with the request and he will decide whether or not he is giving out that information.

I agree, you can never be too cautious when dealing with people on the internet. Please take care when setting up deals with people online, I've been burned myself which is why I extra cautious any time I make purchases/sales/trades on forums anymore. It's a shame that a couple bad apples can ruin things for a group.

Actually I can, I forgot I had that ability on here. The guy who started the thread selling the items fraudulently and the post under the same name saying it was someone else doing it at a cyber cafe had the same exact IP address.

I'm not sure if it means he was sitting at the same computer (he did say it was a cyber cafe) or not because once a few years ago when I attended Penn State I went onto an E-Z Board hosted Forum and apparently someone else had logged on to an E-Z Board forum for X-Men and it still had me logged in as him on the PSU computer in the Thorn forum even though he had logged off the PSU system. In this case, yes, it IS possible that someone logged into his account on the same PC IF the kid was still signed into the same forum system and had his info saved on that computer. That said, if the kid did so, he's obviously a tad slow as anyone browsing the internet on that computer could see what he visited in the history and be logged into his account.

Having read through the whole thread I would have assumed it was shady myself as the description in his opening post was "send offers to this email address" so that should have set off gigantic red flags for everyone at that point. All I'm saying is if it was an intentional scam it was not well veiled so it seemed obvious enough to me that it probably wasn't legit when I went back and read it recently. Knowing if the IP was the same isn't going to help you much here as if it really was an internet cafe whatever this kid posted could have been plausible. On the other hand, this kid could have very well run this scam on other forums before so he knows what he's doing now. Either way, I feel for you if you got ripped off here. Been there, done that and dealt with some pretty shady people who are now on my "Avoid at all costs" list and learned some valuable tips on how to approach buying/selling/trading things on the internet.

I guess my point, that I just made to Ned via PM, is that I'd like the IP address just to see if it links to a coffeeshop to check Smickers story.

Makes sense, doesn't it?

Yeah I'll leave giving out IPs up to Ned. Might be a potential privacy issue there but he can make the choice as he sees fit as this is his forum, I'm just here to help. :wink: I can see why you might want them but again, might be a violation of privacy. Bad situation I guess.

okstrat said:

I guess my point, that I just made to Ned via PM, is that I'd like the IP address just to see if it links to a coffeeshop to check Smickers story.

Makes sense, doesn't it?

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Yes it does. This is what I suggested quite a while ago.

Hope it works out for you guys!

guitarguy510 said:

Yeah I'll leave giving out IPs up to Ned. Might be a potential privacy issue there but he can make the choice as he sees fit as this is his forum, I'm just here to help. :wink: I can see why you might want them but again, might be a violation of privacy. Bad situation I guess.

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Yeah, I'd hate to see a scammer get his privacy violated. And we wonder why people are able to get away with this type of stuff over and over.

Pete

Anything you need from me, just let me know. I still want to take this guy down and all I lost was $10 in the long run. (not to mention a month without my money and no ERECT module)

If IP information can be provided, there is a lot we can do, please let us know.

The problem is session data is pruned on a regular basis to keep the volume down. So I don't even have IP data for Smickers back to his last logon.

ned said:

The problem is session data is pruned on a regular basis to keep the volume down. So I don't even have IP data for Smickers back to his last logon.

Click to expand...

Well, Steve (JKD) asked for it awhile back.

NuSkoolTone did too... here's his post, from the original 'scam' posting:

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 7:26 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hmmm no offense to Smickers, but this sounds kinda fishy to me.

First step outside of paypal is to get the IP these posts originated from (Should be logged) and then check the ISP if it traces back to said "Cyber Cafe". Cause if it doesn't, you've all been had and this guy's lying.

Smickers, what's the actual name of this Cyber Cafe?

Ned, can you please provide the IP address of the first post of this thread?

I may be seeing this through less than rose-colored glasses, but it seems like someone may have delayed long enough to use the 'IP info was flushed' excuse.

heh; okstrat is on a war path.

TheAbomb12 said:

heh; okstrat is on a war path.

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Well, if more people would actually go after thieves, we might just have fewer to deal with. Scammers get away with this because people don't think it's worth the time and effort.

No offence to Smickers but I will never Deal with him Just because he took to long getting back with the victims that got scammed only to make just enough effort to excuse himself out and stating in his last post " this is 100% fixed and secured now, new password on everything." but not standing by to aid or contact the victims back as they requested! After that he disappeared. he seamed not to follow up in the interest of the victims but only himself, that's a tuff break! Innocent or guilty I will never take a chance with him or his credibility do to that display!

okstrat said:

I may be seeing this through less than rose-colored glasses, but it seems like someone may have delayed long enough to use the 'IP info was flushed' excuse.

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I'm going to have to politely ask you to calm down now, sir. I can appreciate the fact that you got ripped off and you're upset but there are a few things to consider here:

1) You're a GUEST here, so talking smack on the admin of the forum you are visiting is not only stupid, it's just plain bad form.

2) Ned is a regular guy just like anyone else here. He has his own life, job, family etc. so he might not always see every little thing posted on the forum. PMs work best. People have left posts for me before that I didn't see for a few days/weeks because I hadn't checked the specific thread. Be grateful he spends his time keeping this place running smoothly. I'm a member of several gear forums and out of all of them this forum has by far the fewest outtages of any I've encountered. My hat is off to Ned there.

3) Stop pointing fingers and complaining about no one helping you to file your claim. This dispute is now with Paypal. You need to go through them and follow their procedures to the best of your ability to get your money back. The forum presents the opportunity to deal with people without going through other venues such as craigslist or eBay. That said, if you want 100% safety, make all your deals through eBay from now on as it is easier to recover money through their protection programs they have in place (they own Paypal as well so they can certainly get your money back if you were scammed on eBay). It isn't Ned's job to screen every person posting in the classifieds selling their gear, it's YOUR responsibility to take care of transactions you make with other members. I looked at that post, it looked REALLY shady, so if you didn't see that there might be a problem. Anyone who posts "I have modules I don't need, send me offers at this email address" doesn't seem super trustworthy, do they? That set off a huge red flag for me, I would hope others would have seen that as well. Again, not my place to tell you whom to deal with so I'm not going to step in and say "hey, don't send this guy with low post counts your money when you have no proof of him even having the modules!". Did you even ask him for pictures before you fired that payment off to him? :roll:


This is a fun place to talk with guys who enjoy MTS gear and a SIDE portion of this forum is the Classified section. Ned is NOT a police officer, so crying that someone ripped you off and barking orders at him like he is your dog is absolutely disrespectful. Please bite your tongue next time you are looking to make a similar remark, keeping a respectful environment here is most appreciated.

Again, I am sorry this kid ripped you off but please keep your cool and don't insult the admin here. I wish you the best of luck recovering your money through Paypal and hope it all works out for you. Thanks.

This doesn't need to get too heated, since it's completely counter-productive.

The mods clearly have no actual liability here, I accept I was almost completely at fault for not being thorough enough in due diligence for this purchase...and even said as much already.

That said, it would have been nice to at least get Smickers' story checked out from the server logs.

I PM'd ned on either May 6th or 7th point out the threads in question and he said he'd look into it, for all I know it may have even been too late then but I don't know as there's been no response since May 7th.

I didn't persue it because I took the answer given at face value and am still awaiting a follow up.

No insult was meant, but look at it from my perspective, ok? People asked Ned previously for the IP info. According to what Steve told me, he PM'd him awhile back about it.

You already insinuated that getting the IP address from this guy was going to be something that you two weren't going to want to do. If I'm wrong, then by all means correct me, but when someone starts talking 'privacy issues' regarding contact information then the decision has likely already been made.

I'm not 'barking' - I was asking, and from my point of view, it could certainly look like someone was delaying long enough for the information to be unavailable. If I'm wrong again, then by all means you and Ned have my heartfelt apologies.

No, Ned's not a police officer, you're not, I'm not. But speaking for myself, if I had a chance to help someone who got ripped off and keep someone from doing it again, I'd do it, 'privacy' issues be damned.

I'm glad this place is here, and I understand I'm a guest. But if I was at someone's house with other guests and somebody stole from me, I don't think the owner of the house should balk at telling me who took my stuff.

...now back to more mod issues. I just got a top boost, info on what I find tonight after I take it apart. Oh, the joy of sublimating frustration into creativity... I'll get back to trying to add some value to the board now.

Pete

I spoke of privacy issues, not Ned, so please do not make a blanket statement. I'm not speaking FOR him either, I said that I personally wouldn't give out someone's IP address. If he's cool with that, that's fine. The issue I have with doing ANYTHING that might involve invasion of privacy is that I know other people who are administrators of other boards. Brian, the admin over at The Gear Page for example, and I have had several conversations concerning issues of privacy and people getting sued. Not long ago there was a defamation lawsuit against someone for something said on a forum and you know who got sued? The admin of the forum!

So with that information let out publicly, I make MY decisions with the best interest of Ned in mind because he is doing this based on the fact that he's a good guy and I don't want to see HIM end up in trouble for giving out information that could become an issue. To my knowledge he isn't making any money off of the forum, just accepting advertisements to absorb hosting fees (which can be VERY expensive if you don't know anything about the IT field). It would be pretty messed up for him to get sued by some guy up in Canada saying we gave out his personal info without consent. THAT is all I'm saying. I am all for helping out a fellow member where it is safe to do so, but once you enter a gray zone that COULD lead to potential issues for the admin of the website, I PERSONALLY choose not to pursue it. Sorry, but I don't want to put Ned in a potential danger spot.

As I've said before, I have been ripped off before on a forum (almost had a REALLY close call with a current member on here too, which is still quite fresh in my memory but I'm not naming names :evil: ) so I know where you're coming from, but knowing what I know now I would say your approach to getting aid is awkwardly aimed and not presented properly. Again, people like myself and Ned DO have lives outside the forum and it's unfair to put blame on him for a deal that went sour.

guitarguy510 said:

I've said before, I have been ripped off before on a forum (almost had a REALLY close call with a current member on here too, which is still quite fresh in my memory but I'm not naming names :evil: ) so I know where you're coming from, but knowing what I know now I would say your approach to getting aid is awkwardly aimed and not presented properly. Again, people like myself and Ned DO have lives outside the forum and it's unfair to put blame on him for a deal that went sour.

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I'm not 'blaming' anyone but myself and the scammer. How could I blame Ned for something he couldn't control happening? My only unhappiness lies with what happened afterwards. To say that I blame him (or you, by extension) isn't what I'm saying at all.

Regarding my approach to getting aid, all I have been trying to do is get information. Maybe I'm not being clear - this isn't just about me - I want whoever did this to not be able to do it again, or to at least think twice. I figure the real issue is with the person who is scamming, not those who make mistakes by trusting them. I know, I guess I'm living in CandyLand.

As far as having a real life, I work 2 jobs, am an 2 bands (one that gigs, one is in rehearsals) and am married. Yes, I have a real life too.

Pete