I've seen countless people get scammed over the past couple years and it's getting worse and worse by the day. Most of it happens on the FB groups, but it's spread over to forums as well. This used to be a place you could send an established member some money without thinking twice, but those times are unfortunately long gone. I've never had an issue getting scammed here and have even done at least a couple "I'll send you the stuff and if it's good, you can send me money when you get around to it" transactions with awesome members. But nowadays, even established member accounts are getting hacked frequently, it's just not worth it anymore. PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

A member just got scammed the other day in the C5 parts section for $1,000 for some too-good-to-be-true priced CCWs. Hacker posted it up and within hours, because the price was so tempting, someone sent $1,000 unprotected and it disappeared. That quick. Please use your heads everyone, this is just getting more common by the day.

- If the price is too good to be true, it most likely is.
- ONLY send funds that are protected (Paypal goods/services, etc). A staple with scammers is they request money through Zelle, Cashapp, Paypal friends/family, etc. DON'T DO IT.
- Be on high alert to improper grammar, frequent misspelling, bad punctuation, etc. Many, but not all, of the scammers are foreign and will usually show through their communication.
- If there's a sense of urgency to sell or receive the money on the seller's end, that's a red flag. Not a deal breaker, but a red flag that you should think twice or consider that it could be a scam.

Some of you have probably heard this plenty of times, some of you probably already know, but if this can help even one person not get scammed, that'll make my day. I'm so tired of seeing people get scammed every day nowadays.

 

Also, especially on a high dollar item it’s a good idea to ask for specific pictures of the items/s

i inquired about some carbon ceramic brake rotors listed for sale here. The seller was super communicative before that request…. Never heard back from him after it

 

Your reminder reinforces 'Buyer Beware'. Luckily I have not been scammed but came close. I do a lot of vetting of the merchant before buying from an unknown internet source. If they do not have a credit card payment option, I move on.

 

Very good point. Some forums require posted pictures to have the members name and date on a piece of paper in them to help ward off scams. If it's not required, it's definitely something worth requesting on your end. Just beware, I've seen people also get scammed with this on a FB group...a scammer literally tricked a guy into sending them a picture of something with the date...he didn't even stop to think that it was scammer and now they were going to use that picture to help them scam someone. So frustrating...

 

Ya know, this REALLY sucks!!! I'm coming up soon on 20 years here, and have never scammed anyone. Don't have a Paypal account, either. About 8 or 9 years ago, I sold some refreshed (by AFR) AFR 225s to a guy in Washington state. No PayPal, no nothing. Ferrea intake and exhaust valves, new AFR 8019 springs, new guides and seals. $1,800, buyer paid shipping. I couldn't ever bring myself to screw anyone. I'm actually surprised the guy trusted me. He sent me an $1,900 money order, the extra $100 to cover shipping. I also told him to give me 4 or 5 business days to make sure it was good. I kept in contact daily with him, and as soon as I got the shipping/tracking info, I sent it to him. It all ended well. But I wouldn't try it today. My bank told me that today, there is about the same risk to the seller as the buyer!! That surprised me! She told me with today's computers and software, counterfeiting has never been easier. She also told me she once had a bank check bounce after 26 days!!!! Don't remember if it was Certified or Cashiers, or what, but it wasn't a personal check. So it's also Seller beware today! What the HELL has happened to people's morals?????? So far, the global economy experiment is failing miserably. America had one way to go, and that was/is down. The 3rd world countries have only one way to go, too, and that's up. Sad.......

 

I just about fell for it today too. I PM'd about an early model M code EBCM module. Got a response fairly quick, gave me his number to text and then said he'd get it in the mail ASAP. While we were talking, something just didn't feel right so I logged into the forum and checked the PM with the thread starter forum name. They didn't match and when I clicked on the user profile of the PM dude, there was absolutely nothing in it. So I asked about that name difference and he said his account was hacked or something and had to use a different one, plus he's an older guy and not tech savvy. Ding, ding, ding.....red flag buddy. He kept trying to get me to send money with different transfer apps but I told him I only had PayPal. So he said send it friends and family. I told him it just didn't feel right and I'd have to think about it for a while. Then he said I could just send half now and the rest when the part arrived. 🙄 Yeah, right. He tried quite a few different ideas to get me to send at least some money to him. I told him something just didn't feel right in my gut and there's been a lot of scams on the forum lately. My thoughts were that these scams acts just like this. So I told him I'm backing out, I'm done and don't want the part. Then this afternoon I got a PM from the forum stating this person was sending stuff to a lot of people. So be very careful peeps. Listen to your gut feeling and to not bite on the to good to be true stuff.

 

The problem is, the overwhelming majority of scammers nowadays are foreign, not domestic. It's not about forum members scamming each other, that would be even worse actually haha. It's no excuse and it certainly doesn't justify it, but a lot of these scammers are people from other "less-fortunate" countries that are just trying to make money to live and perhaps feed their families. Where there are no, or few, legitimate opportunities locally, it's understandable that it's easy to justify scamming "rich Americans" by thinking it's a dent in their wallet, but a lot of food on MY table. Scammers, pick pockets, thiefs, etc, have been around forever and will always be, all around the world. The internet and a little ingenuity has just made it so much easier. Morals vary by culture and of course morals get looked past when people are in bad situations. Of course, just like any other lucrative opportunity, I'm willing to bet there's criminal organization to it where the scammer is comparable to just a telemarketer working for the bigger company that gets the lion's share. It sucks for everyone all around except the organizer making a ton of money.

I've also done similar deals with a few awesome members and it was really great to be able to do that. It felt like something was right in the world. But the risk just isn't worth it anymore.

 

Well done! Way to keep your head on a swivel

 

this is wild that these "scammers" seem to have good knowledge of c5 specific parts: early ebcm, ccw wheels, etc..

it's a lot more sophisticated than the type of craigslist or ebay scammer we are probably all familiar with, but now that the cat is out of the bag I'm sure it will be getting more common.

 

I can believe that some of them do might do some research on readily available common issues posted in stickies on forums and such, but most of them I've seen are simply scraped info or duplicates of existing/older actual FS ads. Sometimes a Google search of the images they use will yield search results of the original real listing. They don't need to know anything other than copy the ad, cut the price in half, and say yes everything is ok with the part, send money asap.

 

This is especially bad, and sometimes I think we're just sitting ducks, Anyone can join the CF, and I have been here a long time. in many ways I think that sometimes I, or someone will post something ( Like I have a post going about my trials and tribulations with 2003 EBCM unit,) but when I share something that the service advisor mentioned to me, I feel I'm just putting out bait for scammers. like if I post about how near impossible it is to find a 1997 to 2000 Bosch EBCM unit, Boom anyone who walks in here can look over a few hours at how much attention it get and then thinks about what sitting ducks have just been found. Then as registered members, a few days later the same con man posts about have that super hard to find EBCM, and sits back to wait for a member to ask, and BOOM victim found ! I try to make sure if I'm looking at something in the "For Sale" section, I look at that member, how long has he or she been here ? What kind of Corvette do they have or if not , Why ? and if you begin talking and they say, I got another guy looking at it , do you want it or not? Any kind or odd wording is a tip off, and if you get to the point of them asking about funds, Do they have PayPal / no they want to use Zelle, that is the last thing. If they don't have a paypal account, just get up and forget it. Damn few people who are doing any kind of marketing, know what being a paypal account holder is, and their not going to risk having to register using their real name and account info knowing if they give false info, Paypal turns down their application. I'm a real Pain in the as and I have long asked for the forum to be a paying or dues type of on line club or organization. I don't like the idea of a more ridged king of place, but it is the only way to kind of filter the users, the people who come and go all times of the day or just the Scammers who Know really Good how to scam people. And if they rip one of us off and then disappear, their going to have to come up with all new login info and even their IP address. I hate it, but we need some protection. Internet Brands wants traffic, I get it, but this is not 1999, these are not misguided children, their thieves, and we deserve some protection !

 

Unfortunately there will always be scammers and came close just the other day to being the victim of one of these scams on some ID 1050X injectors. I personally don't have a PayPal account because it is a pain in the .... well you know what I mean. I have bought several items on the forum in the past. I try to only purchase from sellers that I can meet face to face, but sometimes that is not possible. When I can't see them one on one I at a minimum want to have a conversation with them. If they are not willing to have a conversation with you and are not willing to give you contact information that is a red flag.

 

Very interesting post, especially because I'm not a scammer, therefore my mind doesn't work in those convoluted ways.........and a previous mention that many people here are now "non-Corvette owners" got my attention. It seems that a lot of those who participate in the "PR&C" section are just there to "stir the pot", and if you look at their history, they never post in any of the Corvette related discussions, yet somehow they found this forum.

 

Personally I have had and issue with a WTB thread I posted. Anyone can see if you post that you are looking for a particular part and claim that they have it. Verify!!!

I have avoided being scammed so far by using common sense and being attentive to those red flags. Lots of good advice and tips already mentioned above.

I always report potential scammers to the Mods as well, and I appreciate that they are constantly on the lookout for us as well.

 

I only mentioned that some who come here have very little to do with a Corvette, any Corvette, and that on it's own can become a problem on it's own. but if you want to come here and sell items, than we need a system or process in which these individuals have to pass a set of Identification parameters in which these folks have to set up an "Account" where they have a profile and contact arrangement so all can see who and where they are. If someone does not want to have an account in say PayPal or other payment system that can verify they are who they says they are, then there is a immediate red flag. You have to ask yourself, Why ? If they don't want to participate in a system like that, Boom . . . Right off the bat you can see this and stay away from anyone wants to sell an item/s and wants to stay incognito ! It's not to say we don't get hustled, but at least there is a semi robust system to weed out the bad actors !

 

OP - excellent post about being very careful when it comes to scammers. The forum has seen a definite increase in this type of activity and it always pays to carefully consider the tips presented in this thread.

While the forum does not prohibit payments by services like Zelle or Venmo (which offer no buyer protection), I personally will use PayPal since it does offer the protection - if you choose Goods and Services. I will offer to pay the 3% fee if a seller asks for Friends and Family.

Luckily I have not been scammed in my 22 years on the forum but as said by others in this thread, you have to keep your guard up and carefully consider who you are sending your money to. Check the Transactions Feedback section of the forum as another resource for some feedback. And if you suspect a scammer is doing their thing, use the report post button to notify the mods/admins about suspicious activity. While we may not catch every scammer, we do keep busy removing a good number of them.

Finally, each FS section should have Sticky threads (sometimes multiple threads) that warn about scammers, what to look for and what to do if you come across a suspected scammer. Please take time to review the threads before committing your hard earned money to a purchase.

If you have suggestions on improvements to the forum, please send a PM to a member of the administrative team or use the Contact Us feature at the bottom of each forum page. Be specific in what recommendation you have as that will help on determining the feasibility of what is suggested. Forum moderators and administrators can’t possibly read every thread or post that is made so using the above at least brings things to our attention. Besides, the forum rules do specify what to do concerning suggestions for improvements to the forum: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...questions.html

 

FWIW I look how long they have been members, look to see their profile and finally if they need to be paid in some venue that I don't have a good feeling about I will just pass. It's not worth getting scammed by someone, cause you have to keep in mind that if and when you find that particular part, your gonna need to add in the price and the cost of what you got beaten on and now the overall cost is pretty large. I'm not in position to be able to lose over and over again !

 

You got that right. It’s worth the effort to make sure it’s a clean transaction.

 

Cant you also tell by how many post some one has? Kind of like ebay. I guy selling something with 0 to 10 I pass.

 

For the record I just sold my harmonic balancer to Killain. Great communication and fast payment. A pleasure to do business with.