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Thread: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Here is another angle rip-off artists are pursuing in the FPGeeks classifieds.

    Today, member singlechange posted a Balance for sale in the FOR SALE subforum. While he was still editing his initial post with photos, I posted a reply requesting the length of the pen. Two hours later the following pops up in Private Messages. Notice the member name.


    The scammer is reading replies requesting information and then tries to intervene between seller and potential buyer by redirecting inquiries to a third party.

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Did you hit the report button, Fred?
    "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 FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Did you hit the report button, Fred?
    Yep

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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    It's pretty easy to spot sockpuppets via the vBulletin Admin interface.

    I hate that people pull this kind of thing.

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Quote Originally Posted by Medievalist View Post
    It's pretty easy to spot sockpuppets via the vBulletin Admin interface.

    I hate that people pull this kind of thing.
    While bearing in mind that the vBulletin used here is probably old and out of date I hate that too. However, the scammer has already been removed from the thread that Fred mentioned.
    Last edited by Chrissy; April 10th, 2022 at 11:42 PM.
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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    ...the scammer has already been removed from the thread that Fred mentioned.
    The scammer never posted in the seller's thread. By not doing so, the seller never knows of the subterfuge to head it off. It's all done via private messaging, so we don't know how long this has been going on or whether the scammer has been successful. If what Medievalist wrote is correct, only Eric knows the extent of the problem.

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    ...the scammer has already been removed from the thread that Fred mentioned.
    The scammer never posted in the seller's thread. By not doing so, the seller never knows of the subterfuge to head it off. It's all done via private messaging, so we don't know how long this has been going on or whether the scammer has been successful. If what Medievalist wrote is correct, only Eric knows the extent of the problem.
    Oh sorry my bad. I didn't concentrate on the fact that it was a PM.
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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Quote Originally Posted by Medievalist View Post
    It's pretty easy to spot sockpuppets via the vBulletin Admin interface....
    Please expand on what the software offers or how it works in order to see and deal with "sockpuppets."

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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Nice

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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Medievalist View Post
    It's pretty easy to spot sockpuppets via the vBulletin Admin interface....
    Please expand on what the software offers or how it works in order to see and deal with "sockpuppets."
    The Admin can see IPs and the hardware footprint of a user. Depending on how the host server is set up, the Admin may have access to MAC address, the unique identifying number associated with a device's network card.

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    Senior Member Ron Z's Avatar
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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    What admin? What moderator?


    Maybe what we have to put in the sales post is "Contact me, and only me, if interested in buying the pen."
    Last edited by Ron Z; September 12th, 2022 at 08:57 AM.

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    Please contact us by email, and not PM for repair inquiries.

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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Z View Post
    What admin? What moderator?
    The admin could possibly see IP's, hardware footprints of users, access to MAC addresses etc if he cared to look but I don't think he does.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: BEWARE - New scammer approach in classifieds

    Apparently this scam method has been around for a while. I stumbled on this while looking for wheels:

    https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/s...omeone.620699/

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