Sophisticated scam?

[AVLguy]

I want to alert AGF members to what may be a sophisticated scam attempt that happened yesterday. I have a post on AGF Classified asking if anyone might be interested in selling or trading a Gurian guitar. I included my email as a contact (since removed).

I was contacted by someone claiming to be James Witsel at [email protected] who said he/she had what I was looking for and gave me very specific specs matching the guitar as well as pictures. We agreed on a price and I was given a PayPal account "Here's my PayPal address @MilagrosTorres76 Via friends and family." I also asked for his AGF handle and he gave me a legitimate name, which I double checked as one existing on the Forum.

I replied that I would only do standard PP and would add the cost of fees to the agreed sale amount, explaining why this is my standard with larger transactions. The sender replied he was doing this for a friend and the friend could only received PP F&F. I challenged this and stated, "We need to be very transparent in our transactions. Who is your friend and why will he not do that? Also, whether or not we make a deal, please go to AGF and reply to the message I sent you. Otherwise I will need to inform AGF."

I then sent a PM to the AGF address and the owner confirmed that he was not James Witsel. I never received a reply back from the email sender, so I am posting this for everyone.

Naturally there are other possible explanations for why the sender did not reply to my last email, but in an abundance of caution I am informing the Forum of this possibility and asking if anyone else has had similar interactions.

[brencat]

Good job here.

PayPal’s instructions are very specific with regard to buyer protection. A seller must invoice the buyer, the buyer remits funds per the invoice, PayPal takes their service fee from seller’s gross funds received, and the seller must ship only to the PayPal buyer’s address on file.

Your attempted scammer 1) did not invoice you, and 2) attempted to get you to pay via Friends and Family which would have made you ineligible for buyer protection. Your money would have been gone with no way to get it back.

Never do FF with people you don’t know.

[AVLguy]

Pretty straightforward.

A concern is how this individual got access to my Forum classified.

[hairyharris]

actually I have seen this type of scam on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace many times in the last few year when trying to sell things. I still try to sell but its cash only and no shipping. No cash apps for me ever.

[BlueBowman]

Thanks for raising awareness. Scammers are definitely getting more sophisticated, but there are still red flags, even if subtle, to pick up on (as you did).

[egordon99]

Originally Posted by AVLguy

Pretty straightforward.

A concern is how this individual got access to my Forum classified.

The forum is wide open for all the see. Anyone who can get on the internet can view our classifieds.

Your two mistakes were putting your email address out there and then transacting over email without verifying they were a member here.

Remember, AGF provides the classifieds as a courtesy to our Charter members and does not do any policing/vetting of any buyers or sellers. It is akin to an ad hanging up at your local library/whatever.

Be safe out there everyone!

[Mbroady]

I see mamma didn’t raise a fool
And Thanks for letting us know

[Bowie]

Doesn't sound sophisticated. Just sounds like a basic internet scam, the kind that's been going on for decades now.

Also, you shouldn't be posting anyone's full name unless they've granted you permission. Even if it was made up for the scam, people with that name probably don't appreciate being mentioned as part of an internet scam.

[RP]

Good catch, AVLguy......

[K20C]

Thanks for the heads up.