Don Fry Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 1 hour ago, Robin Colbourne said: Our club committee has just received an email, purportedly from a widow wishing to sell her late husband's models. The wording seems a bit strange and the UK landline phone number provided is 105 miles from where our club is. The phone number also comes up on 'Who called me' as being associated with some cold calling company sales calls. This was the wording of the message: Dear Sirs, My husband was a lifelong modelmaker and flier, mostly gliders.i have a loft full of models, some servos, and other related bits and pieces which I want to dispose of. Would you call me on 01***-***878 if any of your members might be interested. Hope to hear soon .Regards, (name of purported widow) Maybe it is genuine, but my spidey senses think not... Phone her, from a neibours/non modelling friends house. Recall, from a cynic, can’t cause damage to recipient. It might be a widow. I have a friend. He will come when I die, clear all my stuff, use or sell, or gift. To the gratitude of Shmbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Colbourne Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 I tried calling it, only to receive a message, '"It has not been possible to connect your call". It turned out that when I searched for the number, the 'Who called me" site came up with the results for a different number, so it is not the call centre number after all. The name of our club is not disimilar to that of another club close to where the Widow's area code puts her. I just wonder, if it is actually genuine, that she got the two clubs muddled up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RottenRow Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Perhaps she has got the contact details of several clubs from the BMFA’s club finder on their website. This isn’t always very accurate location-wise, as it seems to use the Club’s address, usually the secretary, as the location, which could be some distance from the flying location. If the ‘phone number is unobtainable then it’s a bit irrelevant anyway. Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Colbourne Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 I received an email reply this morning. Apparently the widow had got the area code wrong and she is relatively local to me. I will follow it up and see what she has and how she wants to dispose of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted July 1 Author Share Posted July 1 We have had similar approaches over the years and they’ve been genuine - although the “collections” have been less than enticing when viewed. Tread very carefully though. If they are local and genuine, it’s most likely that they will invite you to view. I would be extremely suspicious of any offer to post or arrange a courier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 A reminder all, be careful of scammers, especially PMs that say "I have a friend who has one, contact.......". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murat Kece 1 Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Hi John I think I have been scammed out of GBP20 though the WANTED Aerostar motor.. I paid through PAYPAL. But the conversation vent quite after that.. --Aerostar 3536 850KV Brushless ruimarinho 0 Started conversation: Tuesday at 08:39 hello are you still interested in getting this?. you can contact gordon he has a Aerostar 3536 850KV Brushless for sale........... PM him @ [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 That looks very typical of a scammer’s approach - very much along the lines of examples mentioned above. He has never made a post on this forum - a warning sign in itself. Hopefully, having paid through PayPal, you might have some luck if you report it to them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 Oh - and just another reminder not to use PayPal’s Friends and Family option - often suggested to save the seller paying fees. If you do, it removes the usually excellent protection that PayPal offers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 Bump this one, scammers are hard to stop and you should be very careful before parting with monies, if as said above they have a zero post count, be suspicious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Bump this again, if they've zero post count or just a few, avoid like the plague, never follow through with a deal his/her mate has the item, it is just not worth the risk no matter how much you want the part. PM sender is banned, if you get a PM from ruimahrinho, ignore it. No matter how genuine it feels NEVER pay by family/friends on paypal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 I have just had yet another scammer via FB Marketplace. Its a clever one that involves Paypal. I was selling a model for £130. Potential buyer started asking all the right questions (how old is it, hanger rash, has it been crashed etc). I started to smell a rat, when he said he would send his nephew round the next evening to collect, but wanted to to send a deposit via paypal. Told me several times the money (£50) had been sent.......it had not. Then told me that paypal had contacted him to say that the minimum they would transfer was £150, as my account had some sort of restriction on it....it has not. By this time I had completely lost interest, and even then he continued with more outrageous paypal claims, suddenly disappeared and then blocked me. Needless to say, no Nephew, no money. Do these people actually get any pleasure from all this xxxx?. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RottenRow Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 8 hours ago, SIMON CRAGG said: Do these people actually get any pleasure from all this xxxx?. Possibly... but if they are able to convince a few gullible individuals to either part with some money or give out some vital bank or other details etc. they get a return. The odd £50 here and there soon add up. There are a lot of people out there who believe what they are told by people who are completely unknown to them, which is why the scammers are able to carry on. Whilst banks and other institutions seem quite happy to write off millions of £s by way of refunds without clamping down on where money is going to the scammers will continue, as they have little to lose but potentially much to gain. Also the scammer can be anywhere in the world, as is clear by the 'interesting' use of the English language by some of them in their attempts. Not sure which way your PayPal scam was heading... as you had the model for sale. Presumably he would have tried to convince you that you should hand over the model and some cash to the 'nephew', having sent you more than your asking price. Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu knowles Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 The people infesting this forum seem to prefer responding to wanted ads sending a 'If you still want one of these contact my mate +++++ he has one' It really give me the hump that they have been here for ages playing the same tricks and yet are seemingly untraceable and immune from any form of retaliatory action. Are e-mails completely immune from back tracking?? I hear that on line fraud is now the largest crime group. No wonder if they are immune from any form of follow up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 1 hour ago, RottenRow said: Whilst banks and other institutions seem quite happy to write off millions of £s by way of refunds without clamping down on where money is going to... Having worked for a major bank for many years, I can assure you banks are far from "quite happy" at losing millions - especially as the vast majority of this fraud/theft could be prevented easily by their customers...... competition and 'peoples champions' have forced them to do it, and they daren't now change their stance..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Acland Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 (edited) I was scammed a while back when I placed an ad for a silencer. So and so had a mate who had one. I contacted said mate, paid via pay pal, never heard any more. Luckily it was only £20 but could have been worse. I have now stopped buying anything on this site. Edited August 20 by Richard Acland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cooper Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 Other forums require a member to have at least 100 posts before being allowed access to the classified adverts, including the "Wanted" adverts. Some even want verified proof of identity and home address. Maybe this forum could do the same. It certainly has a positive effect at deflecting the scammers. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Gay Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 I find it easiest to view the item in person before buying anything. Yes, it is limited by how far I am willing to travel, but I find that scammers disappear quickly when I ask for an address! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth Ashby Moderator Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 To try and tackle this, some changes have been made so that any wanted or for sale posts will need to be approved first. Please be aware that this may cause a slight delay in your ad' going live on the site. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murat Kece 1 Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 Problem is not with the WANTED adverts it is the people offering the item! Iam not sure how wetting WANTED ads will help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 2 minutes ago, Murat Kece 1 said: Problem is not with the WANTED adverts it is the people offering the item! Iam not sure how wetting WANTED ads will help? It alerts the mod team and a warning can be issued prior to any monies changing hands, and admin can view things not visable to others, also at present Wanted adds are being targetted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 Beth said they're looking at WANTED and FOR SALE ........... belt 'n' braces imho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 14 minutes ago, GrumpyGnome said: Beth said they're looking at WANTED and FOR SALE ........... belt 'n' braces imho Belt and braces ? Absolutely. Despite the header and thread, people are being robbed of money via their Wanted adds, I would put Duct tape on aswell if it prevents the mods getting PM's stating someones been robbed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 Yup, belt braces and a bit of string is even better! Ta for doing it.... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted August 26 Share Posted August 26 Bump this one again, so it's fresh in your minds. New members come on a regular basis, whilst care is taken before approval there are no guarantees, so be careful folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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