Scam alert! Please read and protect yourself!

[thekrakenisme]

Hey all, I wanted to spread info in case any of you get approached. I unfortunately fell for a scam recently and while I'm kicking myself now, when I look back on it of course the pieces all add up. It's particularly upsetting since many of you have been awesome, supportive, and informative, and I think that got me to lower my guard. Lesson learned, and hopefully you can benefit from my mistake.

I posted recently, looking for a Marantz Unix 6300. I was PM'd by reed99re, who sent this:

"Tyorlean would be a good option,
contact him via tctech1974@aol.com .
He has a Marantz Unix CRS-6300 he wants to part with."

I was happy to finally get some info on this box, so I didn't take the time to look at the member name. If I had, I would see (as you can now) that that account was created that day and was last seen on that day heh.

I sent an email there and got this reply from 'Shasta Tyorlean':

Hello Dan,

"Up for sale is a radio tape recorder UNIX CRS 6300
220 volt ,76-108 FM
Fully working, after professional service, according to factory requirements and standards!
With three D surround sound!,Cosmetics, practically a little sign of use.Local pick up in 77373 or you mail me your complete shipping address.


Respectfully,
Shasta."

There were many pictures accompanying the email. We arranged a Google Pay transaction (another red flag that I ignored), and once that went through all communication stopped.
Only then did I rub two brain cells together and decide to google that name, which came up with a known person scamming those in WTB sections of auto parts forums and others (like ours!). Another name they go by is Shasta Osbey. Their location is purported to be in Spring, TX.

So, there may be a bot scraping ISO / WTB forum threads because the response was relatively quick.

Please beware and if something seems too good to be true, then it likely is!

Have a relaxing and peaceful holiday season, y'all, and hopefully this info will help you keep your defenses up in a time when thieves are on the move. Thanks-

 

[docs]

Sorry to hear about this, there are members here who live in Texas, maybe this guy needs a visit. Hopefully admins will remove the cretin who messaged you.

 

[thekrakenisme]

Sorry to hear about this, there are members here who live in Texas, maybe this guy needs a visit. Hopefully admins will remove the cretin who messaged you.

Thanks. Hopefully my tale of woe will ultimately help more people than were harmed in this scam heh

 

[Reli]

That is one of the rarest boxes, you're not going to find a legitimate one for sale here. Try Yahoo Japan maybe.

 

[Superduper]

Well, that sucks big time. I don’t think the Unix was released in the states but I do have the Marantz version which has a turntable. Don’t think I’ve seen very many over the years.

 

[thekrakenisme]

Well, that sucks big time. I don’t think the Unix was released in the states but I do have the Marantz version which has a turntable. Don’t think I’ve seen very many over the years.

Yeah, not released here, and was just poking around to see any anyone had one from overseas.

 

[Superduper]

It's too late now. We got some good people here on Boomboxery, but over the years, there have been some bad apples too. Luckily, we have a section on boomboxery member feedback so make sure if you are purchasing from someone here, you check their feedback profile first:

https://boomboxery.com/forum/forums/boomboxery-member-feedback.31/

Now, I wouldn't put it past someone who doesn't want to ruin their reputation by scamming a newcomer (sorry for thinking such things but life experience and all that) and thereby creating a brand new profile just to do the scamming (like in your case). So you did the right thing by checking their profile, unfortunately, you did it after the fact. If someone here actually did such a thing, and they have an alter ego here, perhaps Fatdog (owner) has the ability to check. You might want to shoot him a PM and see if he is able to do some sherlock magic and find out something. Not saying that's what happened, but on the off-chance that it did, and it can be determined who did it (perhaps same IP as another member?), that person should absolutely be banned to prevent such schemes from ripping off other members.

 

[Hajidub]

Google Pay doesn't have buyer protection like Paypal Goods & Services?

 

[thekrakenisme]

Google Pay doesn't have buyer protection like Paypal Goods & Services?

No, and that's again my fault. If you look in the legal bits they specifically say you shouldn't use it to buy good from people (now I know!) because of their lack of protection. That's I think mainly why the scammer chose that method; it sounds like a regular way to pay for something, but it's more for sending family money.

 

[Hajidub]

No, and that's again my fault. If you look in the legal bits they specifically say you shouldn't use it to buy good from people (now I know!) because of their lack of protection. That's I think mainly why the scammer chose that method; it sounds like a regular way to pay for something, but it's more for sending family money.

Sorry about that man, I truly didn't know!

 

[Reli]

I wonder how Paypal survives anymore, now that Ebay no longer provides automatic transactions with them. Most have been a devastating blow to their revenue.

 

[trippy1313]

I wonder how Paypal survives anymore, now that Ebay no longer provides automatic transactions with them. Most have been a devastating blow to their revenue.

Yeah, and they keep upping their transaction fees. Used to be "Friends and Family" transactions were free, but without any protection, and "Goods and Services" had a fee but with protection. Now they both cost and the fees keep going up.

 

[Superduper]

Yeah, and they keep upping their transaction fees. Used to be "Friends and Family" transactions were free, but without any protection, and "Goods and Services" had a fee but with protection. Now they both cost and the fees keep going up.

Very true. My business uses PayPal exclusively and they keep taking a bigger chunk. Then if a buyer makes a mistake and I need to refund, PayPal has no problem doing the refund but the fees they charged are no longer refunded. I didn’t know they charge a fee for family & friends, are you sure? If so, I’ll have to do something different now because I used to take some capital withdrawals by transferring some funds to my personal account but I won’t do that anymore if they are charging for that too.

 

[trippy1313]

Very true. My business uses PayPal exclusively and they keep taking a bigger chunk. Then if a buyer makes a mistake and I need to refund, PayPal has no problem doing the refund but the fees they charged are no longer refunded. I didn’t know they charge a fee for family & friends, are you sure? If so, I’ll have to do something different now because I used to take some capital withdrawals by transferring some funds to my personal account but I won’t do that anymore if they are charging for that too.

Yeah it's new. I think it's only like a dollar or 1%. Can't remember but it's pretty recent.

 

[Superduper]

 

[Superduper]

From the PayPal website on account fees. Looks like no fees on balance or bank transfers, only when you use a credit or debit card,

 

[trippy1313]

Correct, for receiving money. They're charging it on the sending end I believe.

If I get a chance I'll try to find it, but I know the last couple times I've sent to friends, I think its like just a dollar extra.

 

[Superduper]

The highlighted section deals with receiving funds but the section immediately above deals with sending money & it says no fees unless you pay with credit or debit cards.

 

[floyd]

most receivers of electronic transactions have to pay a fee to receive the money just like credit card processing fees so you can't expect them to do it for free if they're dealing with credit cards and debit cards. most people don't realize when they pay with a debit or credit card the store they're paying at has to pay a fee for that transaction.

 

[floyd]

and if you think about it even if it's only a few cents per transaction with the millions of transactions per day that s*** adds up.