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Thread: SCAMMER!

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    Default SCAMMER!

    Everyone be careful, I just fell victim to a fraudulent FPGeek user. I'm usually quick to identify a scammer, but this guy got lucky; the subject title of the user's message to me was the EXACT same as one of the conversations I was having at the time "pelikan". And I had just cleared some of my inbox to free up space for conversations (this is the most frustrating part of this forum).

    To make matters worse, I have since erased my inbox and lost that persons FPGeek username. I do have the email address that we used shasta osbey <shonaosbeyvon@hotmail.com> and they phone number 1(409)666-2877 as well as their zelle account info Eric @ erichey007@gmail.com

    Does anyone have any advice on where to find instructions on how to best manage their inbox? I want to make a folder and place all my current/open conversations in it, so when i clear my inbox it doesnt erase important info. ALSO, how can i erase individual conversations in my inbox from my PC? I know how to delete individual messages when i use the TapTalk app, but I cant on my PC.

    The scam was 100% my fault, it was just luck that the user emailed me with same subject title as i was actively having a conversation with someone who I had just successfully made a transaction with, right after i had just deleted my inbox lol Not the end of the world (luckily I can afford it) but be careful out there.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Please see my reply in Buy or Trade forum.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Senior Member manoeuver's Avatar
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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    spencer got hacked yo.

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Quote Originally Posted by Inkognito View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Inkognito View Post
    Sorry - who are you and why are you spending time posting links like this? Most people don't care because they don't put themselves in this position in the first place. It's almost as annoying as spam phone calls warning you of ripoffs.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    In all fairness, his posts seem to indicate fraudulent activity by someone with the same name on other forums. Might be worth knowing.

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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    I like getting news on any fraudulent issues. But the links may be a bit much.

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Quote Originally Posted by DustyR View Post
    In all fairness, his posts seem to indicate fraudulent activity by someone with the same name on other forums. Might be worth knowing.
    Understood. Bear in mind, I happen to exercise a lot of caution, and as such I don't go anywhere near these type of 'deals'. But I'm also wary of someone with an extremely low post count coming into a thread to post links to other sites as evidence against some person I've never heard of.

    Honestly, I don't get how people get roped into making deals like this that go south so easily.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by DustyR View Post
    In all fairness, his posts seem to indicate fraudulent activity by someone with the same name on other forums. Might be worth knowing.
    Understood. Bear in mind, I happen to exercise a lot of caution, and as such I don't go anywhere near these type of 'deals'. But I'm also wary of someone with an extremely low post count coming into a thread to post links to other sites as evidence against some person I've never heard of.

    Honestly, I don't get how people get roped into making deals like this that go south so easily.

    Precisely!
    I had some bum try to scam me for my F-C nib a few weeks back when it was for sale, even posted money to my paypal...then when I asked more questions, they disappeared.
    I refunded the money they sent immediately because I didn't trust it and didn't want it connecting me to any scammers.
    Everyone has to do their part in staying vigilant!
    "I can only improve my self, not the world."

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    Default SCAMMER!

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by DustyR View Post
    In all fairness, his posts seem to indicate fraudulent activity by someone with the same name on other forums. Might be worth knowing.
    Understood. Bear in mind, I happen to exercise a lot of caution, and as such I don't go anywhere near these type of 'deals'. But I'm also wary of someone with an extremely low post count coming into a thread to post links to other sites as evidence against some person I've never heard of.

    Honestly, I don't get how people get roped into making deals like this that go south so easily.
    I can spot a scammer from a mile away, but like I said, I had just cleared my inbox and the message subject was the same. I thought it was the same person I was dealing with about a totally different Pelikan. And I have a hunch that it’s someone who has a different active account on here because they were fluent in regards to fountain pens. Still, it was may fault (part luck, part due to the fact that the inbox system on here sucks, and partly due to the fact that I juggle an ungodly amount of different things in a single day that I made the mistake not to look twice)

    But we put a lot of trust into each other on here. No matter how well we all think we’re protected from these things, it’s still quite easy to pull one over on someone. Most platforms like eBay and PayPal as well as tracking numbers give us a lot of protection, but not 100%. And sometimes we make mistakes on top of that.

    And like I said, I have a hunch that the person who got one over on me could be an active member on here, so he knew the lingo. After all, what’s to prevent someone from mailing out a lump of coal, sending the tracking info, and then closing out their PayPal after they get the funds. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t know if PayPal will reimburse someone if they can’t get the funds back from the person who scammed you. I know eBay won’t lol


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  16. #12
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Quote Originally Posted by spencerwilli View Post
    But we put a lot of trust into each other on here.
    I want to be clear that I'm never happy about people having problems in sales and getting ripped off, that is a given. My earlier comments about being cautious mainly have to do with "back-channel" deals or responding to some random PM that is looking for a pen or offering a sale. If someone posts a public sale item, at least the community has a look at what is going down.

    But I do want to highlight one point, relating to your comment above.

    It may be easy to look at the FPG forum as one group of people, but I believe - and I think others will back me up - that there are two very distinct groups at play. The first are the members who come here for discussion and sharing photos and gab about pens and all the other stuff. Traditional forum usage, long threads, pissing contests, the whole gamut. And then there is the second group, the one that consists of people who come here either only, or mainly, to make sales posts and sell (and occasionally buy) pen-related items.

    There is a small group that crosses over to both of those, but there is a very large number of people who ONLY come to FPG to sell. They never join in discussions, they never post photos, they never hang, and - bottom line - I don't know them from Adam. So to say that we "put a lot of trust in each other" only goes so far as to how well I 'know' a person (in the manner of knowing a person through an internet forum) and, for me, doesn't include the many people who ONLY show up to sell. I say that because I can only get a handle on someone's trustworthiness by getting to know them through their writing, their thoughts, their interactions with others.

    There are a ton of people I trust here, some I trust as much as close friends or family (a small number), but there are just as many who I don't know and would operate, in a commerce way, only with all protections in place. The total population of FPG is not a monolithic group and especially when it comes to sales, there are many who really aren't part of the community, but use FPG strictly for their own commercial (sales) needs.

    I felt that needed to be said.

    Now I have to go fix a busted weed trimmer. Gah!
    Last edited by Jon Szanto; March 23rd, 2021 at 03:48 PM. Reason: Clarity.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Sorry that my post offended you, Jon Szanto.
    I was just trying to help - obviously it backfired.
    I have been following FPG comments for a while.
    The reason that I do not post as often as others is related to the deep respect that I have for the vast knowledge of most people posting here (including you). The other reason was related to avoiding feedbacks like the one that I just got.

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Quote Originally Posted by Inkognito View Post
    Sorry that my post offended you, Jon Szanto.
    I was just trying to help - obviously it backfired.
    I have been following FPG comments for a while.
    The reason that I do not post as often as others is related to the deep respect that I have for the vast knowledge of most people posting here (including you). The other reason was related to avoiding feedbacks like the one that I just got.
    I think it is I that owe you an apology, and I'm sorry that I was so sharp in my reaction. This is all part of the nature of trying to figure out motices, etc, and if I had trusted my instinct that most people are of good nature, I wouldn't have snapped at you that way. It was mostly just the circumstances.

    So, that being said, please, do join in to the discussions. I know that many of the people here who know a lot about pens and have been banging on about them for a while are really nice, good folks. The more we get to know you, the better we'll all be able to help each other. I look forward to future posts and will most certainly re-examine my knee-jerk reactions. No one is above growing their self-awareness.

    Again, I'm sorry that I misread your intentions.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    I have to disagree with Jon's point, or at least what I got from it. I only come here to sell pens. I am not interested in chit chatting about them but I am not isolated or very distinct either. When I sell pens they are bought by all types of members, including very well established ones with hundreds or thousands of posts. Us 'commercial types' are not grifters. When I come here I bring in new pens to sell, pens people want. This community would be very boring everyone just traded the same PFMs back and forth. As for trustworthiness, a few years ago there was a man that was part of the fountain pen community. He went to pen shows and had a table, he made friends and had long chats with people. People trusted him with money and merchandise and then one day someone asked some questions about how that money was being allocated and instead of answering them he disappeared. Maybe I am taking too much from Jon's post but the idea that a scammer won't be fluent in pen lingo, or that they don't have patience enough to be part of a community, or that 'good people' don't go bad with temptation- is a mistake. That being said, I don't see any reason not to take precautions in every transaction. I would never, ever use a cash app for pen sale or purchase. I don't care what the excuse is. I wouldn't even want to sell a pen to someone that thinks that is ok because it should not be condoned. I think trust should be taken out of the equation always. Any honest person, any friend, is willing to do a transaction the right way so everyone safe. I think the focus should be on promoting the proper precautions should be at the forefront and not trying to figure out how we can determine if someone is trustworthy. Just my two cents.

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Quote Originally Posted by LiquidSailor View Post
    I have to disagree with Jon's point, or at least what I got from it.
    You may certainly disagree, but you most definitely misread or misinterpreted what I was intending. At no point did I indicate that all people who were primarily here for sales were untrustworthy, and no aspersions should be inferred.

    That said, this is a pen discussion forum with no regular administration or leadership. Sales forums are in place with absolutely no oversight, and the only remotely applicable token of trust is the reputation system for buyers/sellers, which is just a built-in widget for the forum software. You are - all are - welcome to sell and buy on this forum, but we have precisely no way of knowing if you are gold standard or back-alley. That is just how it is.

    I am absolutely aware of the panorama of human behavior and I realize people exist with both good and bad motivations, that decent people can lose their way when swayed by $$$, etc. All of that is beside the point, which is simply that it is very much caveat emptor when purchasing in a realm that has zero protections, and especially if someone is offering sales outside of the sales forum. The fact is that over around 10 years or so, the times that a known regular seller caused problems have been few, to my memory. It is often a fly-by-night, new or seldom posting people. I also never implied that sellers were grifters, though with no contribution to the community outside of the sales area, you are using the resources without giving anything back. If that seems like a pejorative stance, bear in mind it is only my opinion.

    I'm happy for the sales that occur here, and have found some nice pens. That I ended up buying them from people I recognized is a data point that might only be of import to me.

    I hope this makes things a bit more clear, and sorry for the verbosity.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Thank you so much for the kind words - it means the world to me. No need for apologies - as you said it very well "it was mostly the circumstances."
    The most important thing is that FPG is a true oasis of happiness - it's such a great feeling to be here especially at the end of a long day of work.

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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    I guess my point got lost in the wall of text. People should use best practice regardless of how many times and where a person posts. The notion that there are different types of members creates the fallacy of trustworthiness on a platform that can be entirely anonymous and abused. What I do take offense to, though, is that both of you (Jon and Empty_of_Clouds) have explicitly (no misinterpretation here) stated that those that only use the Classifieds "contribute nothing" and "use resources without giving back." We simply use the forum in a different way than you.

    I guess why this bothers me is because, particularly in Empty_of_Clouds' second paragraph, there is a lot of gatekeeping language. "Only in it for sales," "only joined in March," and "has contributed nothing to the forum." Well, this forum has many sections for many purposes and I use it for mine, and you can use it for yours. If never the twain shall meet, ok. But the way one member believes they can set the terms for membership in this "community" is just insulting.

    Again, my whole point from the start was that people should use precautions in all cases and not try to pretend that they can spot a scammer just from how they use a forum. But I will leave it at that because I only come here to sell stuff anyway.
    Last edited by LiquidSailor; March 23rd, 2021 at 09:48 PM. Reason: added paragraphs 2 and 3

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    Quote Originally Posted by LiquidSailor View Post
    Again, my whole point...
    Fair enough.

    One area that I will concede and agree is that divisions do not strengthen a community, but quite the opposite. It would always be a good thing to foster a more holistic sense of belonging in a place like this, even if one acknowledges that some people stay in a very small area. I'll keep this in mind when addressing some of these issues in the future.

    I'd also suggest that if we actually had input (not to mention control) of the infrastructure of the FPG forums, there are any number of changes that could be enacted to create more activity that brought these different sub-communities in contact with each other. That is not likely, so it is only occasional ongoing dialogue.

    Having said the above, LiquidSailor, let me ask you the following: my perception of a person that connects with FPG the way you do is quite one-sided. You come, place posts to sell something, and you either don't and nothing happens, or you do, and you make money. What, precisely, do you give to the entire rest of FPG? If you have no interest in any other part of this operation, feel no purpose whatsoever in contributing anything besides selling your product - which only benefits you, and tangentially a buyer - you don't have a lot of skin in the game of how the place is run. Every mention you make above regarding the forum is how you "use it". What is absent is what you bring to the table for the forum itself.

    I don't mean this specifically pointed at you, but most any seller: what do you bring besides product and the opportunity for yourself to make a sale? I think the nature of this difference is why many people who are not involved in sales have concerns about how it is used, how it can cause issues, and why it at times seems to be the "tail wagging the dog". These are broad topics and not directed at any one individual, and in this instance we are discussing it because you brought it up. I think that as I have tried to consider your perspective in this, you might take a moment and consider how the sales aspect looks to others here. Nothing more than that.
    Last edited by Jon Szanto; March 23rd, 2021 at 11:03 PM.
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    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: SCAMMER!

    You may only come here to "sell stuff", but the three "stuff" I bought and received sure brought me a lot of happiness. Okay, so I'm a fountain pen floozy, or perhaps the Will Rogers of fountain pens in that I have yet to meet a fountain pen I didn't like. About as strongly opposed to a fountain pen as I can get is: "I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more project pens until the current mountain is restored", "That one is not really my thing", or "That one is way out of my price range." I probably should be more cautious about who I buy from, where and when, but then I get all excited and and and...I've been lucky so far. Very lucky.

    I freely confess that I don't know a ton about fountain pens other than the obvious "I like them". Maybe I never will, because I always have something else battering my brain. Right now (and has been for 8 years now) it's what I do for a living. Before that, it was a new degree program, before that, what I did for a living, two degree programs, what I did for a living...you get the idea. And when I retire? I plan to go back for at least one more brain-battering degree. With fountain pens, I like to relax, so I don't get all wound up about becoming the ultimate expert on some aspect of fountain pens. If someone wants to just sell pens, that's fine by me. I'll buy if I want to buy, and won't buy if I don't want to buy. If someone wants to present an entire Powerpoint session on the finer points of, say, W.A.S.P. pen ink feed technology, I'll watch or not watch.

    But mostly I'll just be the idiot sitting or strolling quietly through the halls of fountain pen collection, enjoying myself and not worrying too much about it. Just as I'm typing it there's another helicopter flying overhead, which means one of my colleagues will have to deal with what's in that helicopter (it's one of my days off). But I can't break the habit of at least mentally registering the helicopter or checking the news because those are intertwined with my job. There's enough worry in what I do for an entire platoon of worriers.

    I hope that there's room for all of us in the world of fountain pen collectors, from just-sellers to just-buyers to calligraphers to internationally recognized experts and fine craftspeople and everything in between. And I know that fountain pen collectors aren't all people I will like, or should like. It wasn't all that long ago that a very prominent, well-known person I particularly dislike (even though we've never met) was profiled in some magazine or other, and that person collects fountain pens. In some ways, it's just like the rest of the world.
    Last edited by TFarnon; March 24th, 2021 at 12:40 AM.

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