# Almost scammed today........but my wife smelled a rat



## Suzuki4evr (Mar 25, 2018)

So I am in the market for a dividing head and looking for good condition or new.

My wife put an ad in on Gumtree "Wanted dividing head". I get a call today and the old guy says he has one wich he got from his dead sons estate. I must make an offer because he doesn't know how much to ask. So I make an offer wich he accepted an I can pay half before and half after. He didn't even tried to bargain with the price so I thought this is the bargain of the year for me.
I asked him to send pictures so I can see how it looked. This is what he sends me.










Firstly he did not even argue about the price and would deliver with a truck that is heading in my direction about 1500km away,but I must act fast. He could not give an account number or bank to transfer the money to and he wanted me to pay in a way I have never heard about before. 

He send me a lot of information including a copy of his ID document. Soooo my wife put on her detective cap. She googled the guy and found out there is no such farm he claimed to be on and it doesn't exist. His daughter is also in on it by the way. My wife found evidence using his ID that he has scammed someone else and the best of all is the pictures is pictures that is posted on the Internet before and they just edited it so that some details that are on it showing other names of a company is not on it. So he isn't even in possession of any dividing head whatsoever. That is also why he could not give me any dimensions. 

Luckily I didn't give any information of mine,wich he wanted. I thank my wife for being a sceptic,otherwise I could have lost a lot of money. 

I am sad that this OLD guy of 65,no offense to our members in that age group,is crooked and scam people in the name of dead people who probably doesn't exist.
So buyers be ware my friends.


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 25, 2018)

I must add that this is the main reason why I don't want to use ebay. If I can't touch and inspect it,I struggle with the thought of paying my money to someone I don't know far away from me and HOPE I get the item.


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 25, 2018)

Their MO is looking up "Wanted" and whatever you are looking for and then they do a little research and then call you and say they have what you want. It all looks very legit and you would think......."what could go wrong",but everything could have gone wrong if my wife did not dig a bit. I get mad thinking about it, because I want to trust people,but people like these makes it difficult and makes it difficult to do good honest business. 

Thanks for letting me rant on this sit. I hope none of you are ever scammed in any way or form. But I will pray for this guy and his daughter tonight,but I am still mad


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## markba633csi (Mar 25, 2018)

In reality, Ebay is generally pretty safe- and if you pay by credit card you are doubly protected. I've had a couple occasions where I couldn't get satisfaction from a seller and my CC company stepped in and got my money back. They want you to be happy using their card.
Take your smart wifey out to dinner to thank her for saving you a big headache 
Mark


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## benmychree (Mar 25, 2018)

Yes, I quite agree that E Bay is about as safe as safe gets, I have had some problems with sellers that really do not know what they are selling and one item (a dividing head) that arrived broken due to the seller not packing it properly and I think I got a partial refund and found another for parts and ended up with a good working unit; this was a Brown & Sharpe universal head, specific to my milling machine.  The seller was, I think Eastern European, and presumably spoke as he wrote, broken English.


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## wrmiller (Mar 25, 2018)

Suzuki4evr said:


> So I am in the market for a dividing head and looking for good condition or new.
> 
> My wife put an ad in on Gumtree "Wanted dividing head". I get a call today and the old guy says he has one wich he got from his dead sons estate. I must make an offer because he doesn't know how much to ask. So I make an offer wich he accepted an I can pay half before and half after. He didn't even tried to bargain with the price so I thought this is the bargain of the year for me.
> I asked him to send pictures so I can see how it looked. This is what he sends me.
> ...



Craiglist is full of scammers like this. Guy selling a John Deere tractor pulled basically the same stunt. Smelled out the rat right away and reported him, but then I'm the suspicious sort. 

Now I either buy from a real bricks and mortar store, or Ebay and do just fine


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## Superburban (Mar 25, 2018)

Yep, sellers packaging items has been my worst experience with ebay.  I swear someone in the Denver post office must have a heck of a tool collection.  But for the most part, my experience has been great. I tend to stay away from the lots of many small to med tools.

I think I have had more issues with Craigslist sellers. Went to one seller, and the bandsaw was not even the same brand or color as the pics they posted. Another time, I talks on the phone with the seller for over an hour about a 14" lathe he had for sale. Told him, I just needed to line up a trailer, and we agreed I would meet him at his place like 2PM the next day. The next morning, I called him, and spoke to his wife, told her I did line up a Uhaul trailer, and will be there at 2. After picking up the trailer, and driving over 2 hrs, I was less then 15 mins from his house, and he calls me and says he just sold the lathe.  Had another seller want a deposit on the bandsaw, before I drove down to take a look. claimed he had too many buyers not show up. Well, neither did I 

Definitly a buyer be aware world.


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## Bob Korves (Mar 25, 2018)

Scams are avoidable on CL and other local selling boards, simply by dealing with people face to face at a safe place, no exceptions.  Stay away from seedy locations, keep your money and wallet off your person (or well hidden) until you have a deal, and have not smelled a rat.  There are lots of scammers and other crooks in the world, just don't play their game, play your own, which is keeping from getting burned or robbed.  If anything sounds at all strange, be on your highest alert from the beginning.


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## Chuck K (Mar 25, 2018)

I get annoyed by all the scammers that text me when I list an item on CL.  Just went through it again this weekend.  I do get some satisfaction sending replies to them.  Not the sort of thing that could be posted on this site....LOL.  They leave me alone after that.


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## markba633csi (Mar 25, 2018)

What gets me more than anything is finding a nice item in great shape, winning it on Ebay for a nice price, then having it get destroyed in shipping because the seller has no clue on how to package anything-- arrrgh!  I've tried holding the payment until you get them to agree to pack the item properly but even that fails sometimes-


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## Silverbullet (Mar 26, 2018)

Anyone who wants to pay up front and ask for directions to any account , or willing to pay more to hold it and even those that ask is it still for sale. I've caught several who tried to scam me but none have succeeded. 
EBay is pretty safe for money with PayPal also have so far been very fair. I had a 9" rotary table bought and paid and stolen by FedEx in Kearney NJ . Full refund FedEx is famous for missing packages.


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 26, 2018)

Superburban said:


> Yep, sellers packaging items has been my worst experience with ebay.  I swear someone in the Denver post office must have a heck of a tool collection.  But for the most part, my experience has been great. I tend to stay away from the lots of many small to med tools.
> 
> I think I have had more issues with Craigslist sellers. Went to one seller, and the bandsaw was not even the same brand or color as the pics they posted. Another time, I talks on the phone with the seller for over an hour about a 14" lathe he had for sale. Told him, I just needed to line up a trailer, and we agreed I would meet him at his place like 2PM the next day. The next morning, I called him, and spoke to his wife, told her I did line up a Uhaul trailer, and will be there at 2. After picking up the trailer, and driving over 2 hrs, I was less then 15 mins from his house, and he calls me and says he just sold the lathe.  Had another seller want a deposit on the bandsaw, before I drove down to take a look. claimed he had too many buyers not show up. Well, neither did I
> 
> Definitly a buyer be aware world.


I would most probably went and give him a piece of my mind........you can fill in the blank.


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## cjtoombs (Mar 26, 2018)

As with some of the previous comments, the only problem I've ever had with Ebay was with poorly packaged items being damaged or destroyed in transit.  I have sold some fairly fragile items myself on Ebay, and I go overboard on the packaging, because I know the treatment they will recieve in transit.  I had someone try to scam me on CL once, as well.  I still like CL for items I can't ship, though.  Just sold a shaper to some great guys from LA on CL.


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 27, 2018)

cjtoombs said:


> As with some of the previous comments, the only problem I've ever had with Ebay was with poorly packaged items being damaged or destroyed in transit.  I have sold some fairly fragile items myself on Ebay, and I go overboard on the packaging, because I know the treatment they will recieve in transit.  I had someone try to scam me on CL once, as well.  I still like CL for items I can't ship, though.  Just sold a shaper to some great guys from LA on CL.


Off topic.........nice avatar man


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## NEL957 (May 5, 2018)

Suzuki4evr
I am so glad you and your wife was aware enough to suspect a bum. There are too many out there doing what ever it takes to cheat people out of their money. Thank God you smelled the retch out before it was too late. Yes it is a buyer beware market.
Nelson
It might be a good idea to post this impostor and his daughter so maybe the next person might be fore warned.


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## frugalguido (May 5, 2018)

Has anyone used Facebook Marketplace instead of Craigslist?


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## Charles Spencer (May 5, 2018)

Our local police department has an area of their parking lot where you can meet people and complete transactions arranged online.  It's well lit, on camera and visible from inside the station.  I understand that other departments do the same.  I don't think I'd ever do anything other than a cash transaction or a swap through Craigslist.


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## Suzuki4evr (May 5, 2018)

NEL957 said:


> Suzuki4evr
> I am so glad you and your wife was aware enough to suspect a bum. There are too many out there doing what ever it takes to cheat people out of their money. Thank God you smelled the retch out before it was too late. Yes it is a buyer beware market.
> Nelson
> It might be a good idea to post this impostor and his daughter so maybe the next person might be fore warned.


Hi Nelson.
We found that other people HAVE been scammed and there was one guy that is really ****** off and was the wrong guy to try and scam. We contacted him and apparently he is now hot on their trail. He also opend a case at the police. So hopefully they get what'scoming to them. Good to hear from you. 

Michael.


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## Suzuki4evr (May 5, 2018)

NEL957 said:


> Suzuki4evr
> I am so glad you and your wife was aware enough to suspect a bum. There are too many out there doing what ever it takes to cheat people out of their money. Thank God you smelled the retch out before it was too late. Yes it is a buyer beware market.
> Nelson
> It might be a good idea to post this impostor and his daughter so maybe the next person might be fore warned.


Hi Nelson.
We found that other people HAVE been scammed and there was one guy that is really ****** off and was the wrong guy to try and scam. We contacted him and apparently he is now hot on their trail. He also opend a case at the police. So hopefully they get what'scoming to them. Good to hear from you. 

Michael.


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## Bob Korves (May 5, 2018)

I put in my CL ads "Face to face cash transaction ONLY!"


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