I think I am getting scammed...

[alperozt]

So, I have posted a WTB classified about a week ago. I received a direct email (not a private message on FPG) from a user (I will leave unnamed for the time being), telling me that he has the pen that I am interested in. I asked for pictures, he sent me some, then I asked for additional (specific) images and a writing sample, he sent me what I wanted although the second set is not the same pen as the first one. (original pen, he said, is a medium, writing sample says it is a stub. first set doesn't have an inlay, second one does etc.). I did a google search and found out that the first set of pictures come from a website in Singapore, second set comes from a reddit user's posting a year ago.

At what point do I report? What is the process (since none of this is happening within FPGeeks)? I am relatively new, and this user has been around few more months than me. I don't want to damage someone's reputation either.

Suggestions from experienced folks?

[Ron Z]

You may as well post the "seller"s name. There are a few here who have a record of behavior like this. With a name, others can confirm, though with what you have found I'm not sure that's needed. You can report, but that doesn't seem to be very effective in stopping people like that. If you haven't sent anything, the thing to do is to just cut off discussion.

[manoeuver]

nothing to be done except disengage or find the person and kill them.

[alperozt]

nothing to be done except disengage or find the person and kill them. I prefer "disengage" option, the other one is a little too drastic :)

[724Seney]

You may as well post the "seller"s name. There are a few here who have a record of behavior like this. With a name, others can confirm, though with what you have found I'm not sure that's needed. You can report, but that doesn't seem to be very effective in stopping people like that. If you haven't sent anything, the thing to do is to just cut off discussion.
I agree.
"Out" the "seller." Members need to know.
If said "seller" disagrees or has another side to his/her story, they are free to post it.
Do it.

[alperozt]

The seller's username is franklinbland (profile here (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/member.php/19125-franklinbland)). Here're my red flags, some of them inconsistency / misrepresentation, others circumstantial evidence:


Seller reached out directly instead of private message
I requested information. Referred to the color as "brown with green lining" (Heki-tamenuri would have been my expectation from a Nakaya owner)
I asked for pictures. Sent pictures of the pen. Pen had a medium nib.
Just to test if they actually had the pen, I requested writing sample and specific parts of the pen. They sent me what I asked for, but writing sample was from a stub nib, and had the Zogan inlay (initial set did not)
I asked, just to be clear, if these are the pictures of the actual pen they owned, and they said yes to that
I made a really low-ball offer. They accepted it without any pushback or negotiation
I googled and found the two sets of the images. First set (link here (https://www.carousell.sg/p/nakaya-dorsal-fin-2-fountain-pen-143036069/)) comes from a website in Singapore, second set (link here (https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/owycid/a_closer_look_at_the_beauty_that_is_the_nakaya/)) comes from a reddit user's review of his new pen.
I pointed out that these two pens are different and sent them the links, they ignored the physical differences and claimed those are the same pens and that they "listed them to sell there"


Anyway, I am open to clarification, if any of this doesn't make sense.

P.S. I edited this because my original post had a gender assumption.

[Ron Z]

Sounds like a scam to me. Run the other direction!

:crazy_pilot:

[724Seney]

Sounds like a scam to me. Run the other direction!

:crazy_pilot:

Absolutely no doubt about it.
Thanks for sharing the information with the membership.

[FredRydr]

Just stop communicating with franklinbland. There's not much you can do to stop or punish the scammer, other than reveal his FPG name and contact information in the Marketplace Feedback forum to warn others. I am unaware of any effort to ban or block them from FPGeeks.

Unfortunately, the FPGeeks Wanted classifieds are a magnet for this kind of activity. Scammers will claim to have available anything. One rip-off artist assured me his friend Alex had latex ink (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/36106-WTB-Coronado-sepia-latex-ink) for sale. I outed him (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/36234-Spam-warning-member-quot-jonasmalik-quot-email-quot-fritzalex93-quot) in the Marketplace forum, only to discover that he'd already been active here.

Of course, these frauds might be committed by the same person changing ID again and again, since the method is repeated.

So, bear in mind that if you post a wanted ad, chances are quite good that responses will be fraudulent.

[OCArt]

I am so sorry to hear of this bad experience. Thankfully, most of the folks in the fp world are good people.

[alperozt]

Thank you all.. I’ve been here for a few months but I had very pleasant interactions so far. I bought a couple of pens, notebooks and nib. Fred, Rick and others were all simple/straightforward. I am not taking anything personally, and I get that it’s quite difficult to weed out the scammers. Anyway, I guess I’ll follow the traditional route for the Nakaya that I’m looking for.

[Chrissy]

This sort of thing happens all too regularly on here as the other long standing members have said. Thank goodness your instincts were right and that you protected yourself so well from a scammer.

It was a great idea to look to see if the pictures were from another source. I've seen TV shows where reverse image searches are done to find relationship scammers who use other peoples' Facebook images to pretend that they are someone they are not. Was yours also just a Google reverse image search?

[alperozt]

This sort of thing happens all too regularly on here as the other long standing members have said. Thank goodness your instincts were right and that you protected yourself so well from a scammer.

It was a great idea to look to see if the pictures were from another source. I've seen TV shows where reverse image searches are done to find relationship scammers who use other peoples' Facebook images to pretend that they are someone they are not. Was yours also just a Google reverse image search?

This was a weird experience. I’m sure nobody thinks they are gullible but the wish that it is true tricked me into overlooking all the signs (or hoping that my instinct were wrong). Quite frankly, starting the thread and getting the feedback made it easier for me.

What’s funny is, before interacting I did a search for the email address (franklinbland717@gmail) and there actually was a Franklin Bland in Pennsylvania with area code 717. That made me a little more comfortable to communicate, but then became the justification to deny the obvious as well.

Yes, I used google to figure out sources of the images. First attempt was less glorious. I did an image search on google for Nakaya dorsal fin and saw a picture on the second page that reminded me of the writing sample. When I clicked on the link for the source site, that’s when I found out all of the second set. I did the reverse image search for the first set of pictures. Voila website in Singapore.

[724Seney]

This sort of thing happens all too regularly on here as the other long standing members have said. Thank goodness your instincts were right and that you protected yourself so well from a scammer.

It was a great idea to look to see if the pictures were from another source. I've seen TV shows where reverse image searches are done to find relationship scammers who use other peoples' Facebook images to pretend that they are someone they are not. Was yours also just a Google reverse image search?

This was a weird experience. I’m sure nobody thinks they are gullible but the wish that it is true tricked me into overlooking all the signs (or hoping that my instinct were wrong). Quite frankly, starting the thread and getting the feedback made it easier for me.

What’s funny is, before interacting I did a search for the email address (franklinbland717@gmail) and there actually was a Franklin Bland in Pennsylvania with area code 717. That made me a little more comfortable to communicate, but then became the justification to deny the obvious as well.

Yes, I used google to figure out sources of the images. First attempt was less glorious. I did an image search on google for Nakaya dorsal fin and saw a picture on the second page that reminded me of the writing sample. When I clicked on the link for the source site, that’s when I found out all of the second set. I did the reverse image search for the first set of pictures. Voila website in Singapore.

Thanks for putting this out there for us. It is definitely easy to get lulled into a scammer's trap which is why I have been a strong advocate for people doing what you have done in terms of outing Franklin Bland. He or she will go elsewhere now and that is too bad but at least we should be rid of them...until they assume some new identity. As long as someone is fact based and descriptive, as you have been, you are on safe ground. And, given this person is registered on this site, they are free to refute anything you say, if they wish to do so.

My guess is this scammer "stole" Franklin Bland's identity and is now doing as many nefarious deeds as is possible until he/she gets shut down. A Google search also shows a recently deceased Franklin Bland and I wonder if that might be the identity he/she has assumed.

Meanwhile, I recommend that you stick with @whichwatch for your Nakaya needs. This Forum has no member with a better seller's reputation than his.

[umjw21]

By the way, if you are looking for a Nakaya Heki-Tamenuri, I am planning to sell one soon on Reddit. Happy to discuss with you if you want.

[724Seney]

By the way, if you are looking for a Nakaya Heki-Tamenuri, I am planning to sell one soon on Reddit. Happy to discuss with you if you want.

Why not post it for sale here, too?

[umjw21]

I find the forum too difficult to navigate, pen_swap is just more fit for purpose, to me.

[umjw21]

This is a great place to learn and explore things but I just don't feel comfortable selling or buying. I once posted a WTB ad here and got numerous scammer attempts similar to OP. That doesn't happen to me elsewhere and I've done almost 30 trades.

[Orangutan]

How unfortunate, this individual tried to scam me as well. A bummer, too, because I really would like to get my hands on that Piquadro Nikolai pen case.

[alperozt]

Awesome!!! Here's another one: tony29 (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/member.php/19580-tony29).

Direct email to me (not a PM).


The last time I purchased parts from Mr Steven He mentioned he had a Visconti two-tone nub Stub or Broad fro sale. Hit him up. prestensteven@gmail.com he might still have what you looking for. Cheers Mate and stay safe

I guess this is for another WTB that I posted a while back.

[724Seney]

Awesome!!! Here's another one: tony29 (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/member.php/19580-tony29).

Direct email to me (not a PM).


The last time I purchased parts from Mr Steven He mentioned he had a Visconti two-tone nub Stub or Broad fro sale. Hit him up. prestensteven@gmail.com he might still have what you looking for. Cheers Mate and stay safe

I guess this is for another WTB that I posted a while back.

Thanks for letting us know!

[Frank]

"Franklinbland"??

FYI- No Affiliation- Whatsoever!! :thank_you2:
:rolleyes:

Frank
AKA-
Frankiex
Franklin Xavier Group
Federalist Pens
Frank Xavier
Frank Limper Jr

[fountainpenkid]

The same person tried to scam me with a Soennecken. Used the name Presten Steven and then asked for Zelle with email cancuncondo@aol.com

[mark320i]

Just got the same email....

mailto:trey29189@gmail.com

This is the message:

The last time I purchased parts from Mr Presten
He mentioned he had a Visconti large nib removal tool for sale. Hit him up prestensteven@gmail.com he might still have what you looking for.
Cheers Mate and stay safe

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