I posted a parts wanted ad some time ago. A couple of legitimate contacts were made but the parts were not quite correct. Then I got an email from someone named Chris Moore who asked it I found the part. Let him know that I had not. He said he had it and we agreed on a price. I said I would pay through Paypal and he gave me a paypal address with someone else’s name on it. Paypal added what I thought was an "insurance fee of $3.50 so I went ahead. Moore then contacted me and said the person who got the money refused to give it to him and suggested I pay him again and he would ship the parts. Yeah, right.
Point is, the warning here should have been heeded. Use an escrow. Apparently scammers troll these want ads and use them to find suckers like me. Lesson learned.
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Please always be careful before sending money or valuables to someone you don’t know. Use an escrow service if you’re not 100% certain of the identity and integrity of the person you’re dealing with.
By using this service you agree to resolve any and all disputes with the other party directly, and to indemnify and hold Jag-lovers harmless from any claims, losses, liability, or expenses (including attorneys’ fees) that arise from your use of Jag-lovers and this service.
I once got the wrong paypal address (I asked about other parts during an ebay purchase) and had no issue getting the money back from PayPal, maybe you were too slow or the scammer too fast but I would try…
I get scammers almost every time I post for a part “WANTED”! I solved the problem by asking for specific pics of the part (and not a stock or internet pic)! If they do not send the requested pics, I know it’s a scam!
Not all people have digital cameras or the time and IT skills to post pictures. A more sensible approach is to only purchase from fellow J-L listers who have been members for a set time.
Perhaps the admins should make it a requirement that listers have to register a valid name, address, email and phone number to use the classified section at all.
Not a bad idea, Marek. But what’s to stop someone from using someone else’s information, and who is going to be tasked with the verification process? Would J-L be liable if they checked the info, allowed the classified to be posted and a buyer got scammed because the info subsequently turned out to be bogus?
In order to post anything for sale, the person should at least have been a forum member for at least 180 days. They should be required to provide a name, phone number, and valid email address. In an effort to mitigate admin involvement there should be an automatic email verification process. These basic provisions will not guarantee some wise guys from slipping through the cracks, but it would go a long way to deterring any Tom, Dick, or Harry to just stroll in off the internet and setup shop whenever the mood suits them.
Maybe its just me, but none contributors shouldn’t be allowed to run a muck of the place and do whatever they want.
Matt, there are 30 emails back and forth that I saved in a folder. Although there are some options for dealing with all of them at once, I don’t see any way to copy them en masse to send them to you. Do you know hot this can be done?
There are escrow services, such as escrow.com, that make these kinds of online purchases quite safe for both sellers and buyers. I have been a member of several car forums for many years over which time I have met and interacted with countless members. I can’t even remember a bad experience. My long history with people on these forums brought me into a level of confidence that, while warranted, was, unfortunately a little naïve. I don’t know how many problems there has been with Jag-lovers classifieds. Unless it has been recurring, seems to me we really don’t need restrictive rules and complicated vetting procedures. Each of us can make the decision to pay a few dollars to take the safe approach and use an escrow for purchases from anyone we don’t know.
I’m not sure it is that restrictive. If you advertise on J-L, then it is because you want a J-L audience to see/respond to the advert. By somehow arranging it so only J-L members have access to the advert (and I’d suggest some elementary vetting or precautions on top of that), you diminish the chance of having any old person respond.
You are still free to advertise on Facebook, Craiglist, Ebay, Gumtree or anywhere else.
I think anyone buying online has to know and take the risk. Getting pictures of the parts and checking the members earlier posts should take away most of the risks. Safer here than on craigslist I would think.
When buying something expensive online I have asked if I can come see it, or if it’s too far away, if I can send a friend to come see it. If the answer is no, I assume it’s a scam.
For some reason, PayPal occasionally denies obviously legitimate claims.
I did send $70 accidentally to the wrong email address last week.
PayPal would not act on the claim for 180 days.
Fortunately, the person on the other end refunded the money.
Been selling Jaguar spare parts on forum classifieds for years.
I now prefer the buyer to use Zelle, but I’m OK with PP or sometimes checks.
Most of the time I just the person to let me know when they have mailed the check.
I have not had any scammers try to get one over on me.
Consider myself lucky.
For some reason, PayPal occasionally denies obviously legitimate claims.
I did send $70 accidentally to the wrong email address last week.
PayPal would not act on the claim for 180 days.
Fortunately, the person on the other end refunded the money.
Been selling Jaguar spare parts on forum classifieds for years.
I now prefer the buyer to use Zelle, but I’m OK with PP or sometimes checks.
Most of the time I just the person to let me know when they have mailed the check.
I have not had any scammers try to get one over on me.
Consider myself lucky.
As a $1,250 loser who paid for a non-existent triple SU assembly, I have a morbid interest in this thread. I’m the reason all these warnings appeared on J-L about 3-4 years ago.
Given my experience of fake contact details, fake shipper websites, fake airport cargo contacts, but all too real Capital One bank account plughole down which my money disappeared, I think they’d evade even significant preventive efforts.
I realise $1250 is not a king’s ransom, but it’s not exactly a negligible theft. So I was particularly annoyed at Capital One’s dismissal of my complaint that someone in Long Beach was using their bank to steal money and using a fake name and address. “We sometimes see this when accounts are opened online.”
I was also annoyed - but less naively surprised - that the police weren’t interested and the FBI operated only via a website. I spent an hour or two collating all the evidence, correspondence, fake URLs etc. and laboriously completing their clunky input requirements.
I didn’t expect the luxury of speaking with a human, but was shocked not to receive even a one-line acknowlegement or a case number. I’d expect that much even if I’d only ordered a tube of haemorrhoid cream from Outer Mongolia. Instead, I had the sinking feeling that all that I’d done was add another entry into some statistical cybercrime database that would be brandished at review time as evidence of their hard work recording thousands/millions of such crimes rather than pursuing actual cases.
I suppose that law enforcement being demand-led (like healthcare) can never be fully resourced due to constant ongoing demand.
Had not seen that thread before Peter but my $73.50 loss suddenly seems puny by comparison. You apparently did a ton of work to try and nail your scammer. I am currently trying to deal wit Paypal. I paid them $3.50, I thought for protection against exactly what happened but when I tried to dispute the charge there was no “didn’t receive goods” option. Foolishly, I used “unauthorized use” thinking it would at least open a case that I could ultimately use for the correct reason. Nope. Paypal quickly realized that this was not unauthorized use and closed the dispute telling me to file a “buyer claim” in the Resolution Center instead. Course there is no such category on their website, and when I tried to use the Resolution Center the closed case stood in my way. As you point out, reaching a breathing human being is out of the question.
Your response also discusses the response of law enforcement in these matters. It is a topic that has arisen with regard to the rash of auto break-ins and thefts of catalytic converters. On local forums there is an outcry against the police for failing to do something about people leisurely walking through neighborhoods in the early morning hours trying car, and sometimes home doors looking for easy pickings. After giving that some thought, I concluded that the cost and man-hours involved in investigating most burglaries after the fact would be overwhelming and mostly unrewarding, except perhaps as a very expensive psychological balm for the victims. On the other hand, the reverse is probably true of apprehending the perps in the act. The means to that end is high end monitored home security. This solution shifts a lot of the economic burden for preventing/solving property crime to the public. Or maybe more palatably, a municipal/private partnership. I predict that not so far in the future, all new housing will include this kind of sophisticated security.
To the website monitors, I apologize for hijacking this thread from a warning to a discussion of social issues that probably belongs in the lounge.
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