NOTICE OF SCAM

[Evan B]

Hey everyone, wanted to give a heads up that we have had reports of a tricky type of scam happening that may succeed if we don't educate our users.

How it works: You post up a wanted ad for something. Someone, usually a new account, will private message you saying to email for info. Sometimes they'll make you think you're emailing a known forum member. They'll say "oh they haven't been on recently, but you can email them and they'll respond."

The email address they give you is to the scammer. So scammer will email back and say "oh, I'm totally the forum member! You can send me money and I'll get that reel to you!"

Please only interact with and do deals with known forum members, and only through private messages so you know you're talking to that person. If you're unsure, never hesitate to reach out to one of us admins so we can investigate their credibility.

 

[onefish]

cash, F2F

 

[mcswny]

Oh damn, thats actually pretty good (in a bad way).

 

[Evan B]

cash, F2F

Or just take precaution. I rarely if ever deal in cash and have done many dozens, or probably hundreds at this point, of deals online, using Paypal and Venmo to buy and sell gear to forum members and other outlets. Never once had an issue. This is in 2+ decades of doing it.

In person cash deals have their own risks (the only time I've been ripped off was an in-person cash deal where the offender stole something out of my garage while I wasn't looking). Just no matter which type of deal you prefer, make sure you do your due dilligence.

 

[cascadian]

If you're unsure, never hesitate to reach out to one of us admins so we can investigate their credibility.

That's a nice touch, and thanks for doing it. I'm not buying or selling, currently, but this is pretty close to two-factor authentication.

 

[ffb]

Any way to disable DMs until 10 posts or something like that? Wonder if that would help at all.

 

[Evan B]

Any way to disable DMs until 10 posts or something like that? Wonder if that would help at all.

There's pluses and minuses to that. A lot of these scam accounts sneakily rack up a few posts to look legit. This one was in the process of it. If anything, I'd rather them have a low post count when they try just so it's a clue.

 

[DimeBrite]

In person cash deals at a high traffic public location with your people watching out for their people.

 

[Evan B]

In person cash deals at a high traffic public location with your people watching out for their people.

View attachment 156578

Definitely the ideal scenario. But most of our people on this forum are in the Puget Sound area. But plenty of us, including us admins, live hours away from the Seattle metro region. So there is often a need for a distance deal-making option.

 

[DimeBrite]

Definitely the ideal scenario. But most of our people on this forum are in the Puget Sound area. But plenty of us, including us admins, live hours away from the Seattle metro region. So there is often a need for a distance deal-making option.

I agree. Most times I need to go the PayPal, Venmo route and ship packages. I appreciate the alert! It is fun to meet forum members and chat when doing an in person exchange near a fly shop, etc. I can't believe your boat hasn't sold yet by the way!

Another word of caution in a paranoid world... Don't post photos of your gear hoard or fly tying room on social media unless you are convinced your identity is sufficiently masked to conceal your home address. It is great information for burglars.

 

[Wetswinger]

Do at least a couple correspondents through PM. Do you really want everybody snooping into your biz. Use the PM..

 

[albula]

I agree. Most times I need to go the PayPal, Venmo route and ship packages. I appreciate the alert! It is fun to meet forum members and chat when doing an in person exchange near a fly shop, etc. I can't believe your boat hasn't sold yet by the way!

Another word of caution in a paranoid world... Don't post photos of your gear hoard or fly tying room on social media unless you are convinced your identity is sufficiently masked to conceal your home address. It is great information for burglars.

Good advice. The last thing I need is someone breaking into my house and stealing my bread.

 

[krusty]

I agree. Most times I need to go the PayPal, Venmo route and ship packages. I appreciate the alert! It is fun to meet forum members and chat when doing an in person exchange near a fly shop, etc. I can't believe your boat hasn't sold yet by the way!

Another word of caution in a paranoid world... Don't post photos of your gear hoard or fly tying room on social media unless you are convinced your identity is sufficiently masked to conceal your home address. It is great information for burglars.

Sort of related to not posting info regarding vacation absences on social media like Facebook.

And a vehicle sporting shitloads of outdoor gear stickers is just an invitation for that sort of break-in...anybody that thinks a sticker that says something along the lines of 'This vehicle protected by Glock' scares away criminals is sadly deluded. Stickers just mean there may well be valuable goodies inside this vehicle.

 

[kmudgn]

Wait, somebody trying to scam me on the internet? I'm shocked, just shocked!

 

[Evan B]

Sort of related to not posting info regarding vacation absences on social media like Facebook.

And a vehicle sporting shitloads of outdoor gear stickers is just an invitation for that sort of break-in...anybody that thinks a sticker that says something along the lines of 'This vehicle protected by Glock' scares away criminals is sadly deluded. Stickers just mean there may well be valuable goodies inside this vehicle.

My Glocks don't work very well if I'm not there to operate them. Not that I'd ever leave them in the truck.

 

[Banned user]

When I don't know the seller or buyer, I always do face-to-face, and always in the parking lot of the nearest police station, less than a mile from my house.

It seems that the "My friend has one of these to sell/wants to buy" scam has been going on for a while and has been pointed out on this and other FF forums.

I recently tried to buy a car on Craig's List. The first FIVE cars I looked at had issues, like the title is not in the seller's name, or the VIN didn't match. One guy admitted the car had been stolen in Milwaukee and driven to Chicagoland to sell. I got his number, the VIN and plate number of the car, and alerted the police, so at least that car was recovered, the police told me. After those experiences, I just decided to pay up and go through a dealer, and only one which also sells new cars, not "Floyd's Used Cars." It still doesn't guarantee no issues, but they are far less likely to occur.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

Slightly off topic, but... con artist often work in pairs (or teams). Where many savvy, street smart people get conned is when more than one person is involved in conning you. Even the best con man is no match, when it comes to two (seemingly unaffiliated strangers) are working together to steal your money. Food for thought. The movie "Paper Moon" illustrates this quite well.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

A classic example of a simple con....A well dressed, lady in a sports car buys gas. She leaves and soon comes back to the attendant, distraught over the fact that she had lost her $10,000 engagement ring and would be glad to pay a $2000 reward to anyone who happened to find it, and leaves her phone number.. An hour later a man walks up to the attendant holding a $20 fake diamond ring. "I found this out by the pumps. It's obviously probably a fake. Do you want to buy it?"....the dishonest attendant quickly offers him $200...Annnnnd the con is successful. This very simple principle (of using two people) has been used for thousands of years. The internet can very easily use this same principle. I will add this...it is much easier to con a dishonest man.

 

[Peyton00]

^^^^^the movie "zombieland"^^^^^^

 

[Zak]

A classic example of a simple con....A well dressed, lady in a sports car buys gas. She leaves and soon comes back to the attendant, distraught over the fact that she had lost her $10,000 engagement ring and would be glad to pay a $2000 reward to anyone who happened to find it, and leaves her phone number.. An hour later a man walks up to the attendant holding a $20 fake diamond ring. "I found this out by the pumps. It's obviously probably a fake. Do you want to buy it?"....the dishonest attendant quickly offers him $200...Annnnnd the con is successful. This very simple principle (of using two people) has been used for thousands of years. The internet can very easily use this same principle. I will add this...it is much easier to con a dishonest man.

If anyone has not yet seen the movie The Sting, it is a fantastic classic about a long con.