Got Scammed by SAMUE

Desert Rider

Desert Rider

Observer
Last week I responded to a mail message on this forum about a Want Add I placed. The Want Add was for a Shiftpod Mini. The person, who goes by SAMUE, responded to my Want Add and stated that he/she had a Shiftpod Mini for sale. I then asked him/her to send me a picture of the tent (turns out he just copied a pic from the internet). This person was asking $765 for what I thought was a tent.

I then sent him/her $765 thru Zelle for this tent. After he/she received the money, he/she kept asking me for a screenshot from my bank/Zelle to verify that he/she got the money. This is when I realized that something was very wrong.

Bottom line: I got taken for $765. This was a very tuff lesson for me to learn!

Beware of scams, it can happen on any forum.
 
D

dogman1911

Active member
WTB ads are extremely bad for scams across every board/hobby I participate in now. For high dollar items, I don’t hesitate to move the conversation to text and I’ve never been ripped off from anyone I‘ve texted with for a follow up. It‘s another layer of security that has been pretty effective for me. If they refuse, walk away.
 
Desert Rider

Desert Rider

Observer
dogman1911 said:
WTB ads are extremely bad for scams across every board/hobby I participate in now. For high dollar items, I don’t hesitate to move the conversation to text and I’ve never been ripped off from anyone I‘ve texted with for a follow up. It‘s another layer of security that has been pretty effective for me. If they refuse, walk away.
Click to expand...
I did use texting to communicate with this scumbag
 
Superduty

Superduty

Adventurer
Sorry this happened to you.

Couple things i pay attention to when entering into transactions on forums.

How long they have been a member on the forum.

and

What is their post count.

I feel like people who have been around a while are likely not gonna be a scammer, this seems to be especially true if they have made a contribution to the forum.

It's not a perfect way of vetting, but it's a pretty easy to go.


Have you inquired of your bank? Sometimes they will reimburse you for fraud.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 
Desert Rider

Desert Rider

Observer
Good points!

Yes, I contacted bank, Zelle, and this forum's administrator.

Zelle transfers money instantly, so it makes it very difficult to reverse.
 
RacerAV

RacerAV

Active member
Damn, sorry to hear. The best lessons aren't cheap I guess. If a velcro morale patch would boost your morale a little, check my site below, I'll send you a free one, along with $5 cash to chip in for the loss.

Have a good weekend, get outside and forget about the turd who scammed ya.
 
GCecchetto

GCecchetto

Adventurer
PayPal would offer protection assuming you used the paying for goods or a service option. PayPal F&F would basically be the same as Zelle.

I hate hearing this stuff, it's a shame scumbags like that exist. I always insist on a phone conversation before I send any money. Allows you to get a read on the person, and you know something is up oif they refuse to talk on the phone.
 
C

calicamper

Expedition Leader
Desert Rider said:
Last week I responded to a mail message on this forum about a Want Add I placed. The Want Add was for a Shiftpod Mini. The person, who goes by SAMUE, responded to my Want Add and stated that he/she had a Shiftpod Mini for sale. I then asked him/her to send me a picture of the tent (turns out he just copied a pic from the internet). This person was asking $765 for what I thought was a tent.

I then sent him/her $765 thru Zelle for this tent. After he/she received the money, he/she kept asking me for a screenshot from my bank/Zelle to verify that he/she got the money. This is when I realized that something was very wrong.

Bottom line: I got taken for $765. This was a very tuff lesson for me to learn!

Beware of scams, it can happen on any forum.
Click to expand...

The second anyone asks for Zelle or gift card payment consider it a scam.
 
N

nely

Adventurer
I had a similar experience on another forum with a wtb add.

Guy started texting me about it. I thought it was odd since I didn’t put my phone number on this particular add. But I have on previous post. Was going to zelle the guy some money and I asked for pictures. I noticed they where from a forum post I’ve visited dozens of times. So I asked for another picture and he obliged. I couldn’t find it on google anywhere. Said he was from Az and stated his user name on the forum. I spent some time in az so tried to small talk about it and didn’t seem interested so I started second guessing if he was in Az. I already had a funny feeling. Checked the guys user name and he hadn’t been logged into the forum for a few months and wasn’t from Az. How did he see my add? It was fishy. Also was asking for a screen shot once it was sent.

I straight up told him I’m getting scammer vibes and wouldn’t send the money. I’ll pick up in person in AZ as it’s a 6hr drive from me. Haven’t heard from him since.

The user name he gave you may or may not have been him. You just really need to be weary of anyone your not dealing with face to face. And even then sometimes it can go bad.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
J

JBSTRD

New member
Yea, as others have mentioned, this has become a very popular scammer method. Another thing that can help is have the seller send pics of the item with a handwritten note in the pic stating their username and today’s date.

Also request pics at various angles that may not be readily available on the internet. Granted, these are not guaranteed to prevent scamming, but they are additional verification methods that can help.
 
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