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  #1  
Old 11-20-2018, 11:58 AM
Martz911 Martz911 is offline
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Default Guitar Scam - Gibson J-29 Sold (stupidly) through Craigslist

A few weeks ago, I sold a 2014 Gibson J-29 through Craigslist and shipped it to Tucson, AZ. The exchanges between the buyer and me (through Craigslist's email system) seemed normal. Questions were asked, sound clips were requested, negotiations for pricing and shipping took place, all the normal process for guitar sales in my experience. Payment was made via PayPal (or so I thought), with legitimate looking emails. However, I soon found out that a "hold" was placed on the crediting of funds to my PayPal account until the recipient had the guitar in hand. This hold went on for a few days until I smelled something fishy (was that my stupidity?) and contacted PayPal by phone. They said the transaction number I was given was not valid and that this was another "Nigerian scam". They suggested contacting the FBI and providing all the information, but of course that will not get my Gibson back.

The J-29 had a serial number of 12834039. It was sent to the following address:

Beth Davenport
2444 North Balboa Ave
Apt. 6
Tucson, AZ 85705

A phone number of 520-365-2985 was provided as a contact number, but of course I can find no one linked to that number.

If you find this guitar, I'll offer a reward and free shipping to get it back (depending on its condition).

If you live in Tucson and would like to visit this address with a baseball bat in hand, that would be even better. Only kidding. I think.

Be careful out there . . .
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  #2  
Old 11-20-2018, 12:01 PM
Beakybird Beakybird is offline
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HOLY Smokes!
Sorry.
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Last edited by Basalt Beach; 11-20-2018 at 03:43 PM. Reason: masked profanity
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  #3  
Old 11-20-2018, 12:02 PM
ChalkLitIScream ChalkLitIScream is offline
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Get a hold of the local police, tell them the situation and see what they can do about it.

Thats a real shame..hoping it all works out for you
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Old 11-20-2018, 12:15 PM
GTRGUY005 GTRGUY005 is offline
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Sorry to hear about this. I hope you get your guitar back. I've sold many guitars through CL.

My golden rule is (and I put this in my ad):

Cash and pickup only!!!!

I have been contacted by so called "Buyers" who are "out of town" and interested in my "item".

Nope...I don't even reply.
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Old 11-20-2018, 12:27 PM
Shades of Blue Shades of Blue is offline
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That's tough man! Sorry to hear. When dealing CL, it is definitely best to avoid online dealings. Hindsight being 20/20.

I used to take this risk with low priced items. Question: Did you talk to a person on the phone before hand, or was it all email???
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  #6  
Old 11-20-2018, 12:48 PM
Monsoon1 Monsoon1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTRGUY005 View Post
Sorry to hear about this. I hope you get your guitar back. I've sold many guitars through CL.

My golden rule is (and I put this in my ad):

Cash and pickup only!!!!

I have been contacted by so called "Buyers" who are "out of town" and interested in my "item".

Nope...I don't even reply.
This all day. Too many liars and thieves in the world to take the chance.
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Old 11-20-2018, 01:00 PM
llew llew is offline
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Sorry for your loss? CL just seemed to have such a high scam rate I never even consider it as a buyer or seller. And to think someone actually replicated a Pay-Pal transaction is even more scary!
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Old 11-20-2018, 01:09 PM
downtime downtime is offline
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Wow, that is brutal!
It sounds like you took precautions and none of the typical red flags were there to suggest a scam. It seems these were pretty sophisticated crooks.

I'm not sure there is a 100% safe way to do an Internet transaction but right now it seems Reverb.com might be the best for sellers protections.
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  #9  
Old 11-20-2018, 01:43 PM
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Godfather Godfather is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTRGUY005 View Post
Sorry to hear about this. I hope you get your guitar back. I've sold many guitars through CL.

My golden rule is (and I put this in my ad):

Cash and pickup only!!!!


I have been contacted by so called "Buyers" who are "out of town" and interested in my "item".

Nope...I don't even reply.
+1...I do exactly the same. If I am selling something small enough to transport, the deal is made at the local State Police Post parking lot. If it is a large item at my home, I always have at least two other adults there, one female and one male. I always CMA.
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Old 11-20-2018, 02:00 PM
Paddy1951 Paddy1951 is offline
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Boy, that really sucks! I am sorry you got burned.
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Old 11-20-2018, 02:00 PM
dgt178 dgt178 is offline
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sorry to hear of your misfortune......but I must say.....I would never ship an item without full payment in my bank account.....any other arrangements would be unacceptable......
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  #12  
Old 11-20-2018, 02:04 PM
Aaron Smith Aaron Smith is offline
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Wow. This is going to make me seriously reconsider using Paypal for deals like this. Just curious, you used goods and services correct? You are paying the fee for protection, what good are they if they don't stand behind the transaction.
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Old 11-20-2018, 02:21 PM
fishstick_kitty fishstick_kitty is offline
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I am sorry this happened to you. I am interested in learning how you got duped though. Did you get an email? Who was it from? Did it have links in it and where did they lead?
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  #14  
Old 11-20-2018, 02:34 PM
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Creekside Guitar Creekside Guitar is offline
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When using PP you need to confirm the seller and payment method are both verified. This is really important. You can see these details on the PP invoice. That being said, PP is way more favorable for the buyer than the seller.......use with caution.
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  #15  
Old 11-20-2018, 02:39 PM
HeyMikey HeyMikey is offline
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Another thing you can try is to go contact the police Dept of the buyer and see if they can do anything to assist.
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