SCAMMER ALERT

[gtrplayer]

Almost got taken by this scammer. I had my guitar all packaged up and for some reason I googled the shipping address;

Daiaiming
1140 River Road, Apt 7122229
New Castle DE 19720
UNITED STATES

I was the seller , he would have been the buyer. The transaction was through PayPal and he was more than accommodating with the funds. He used the name DAVE THOMAS and seemed very knowledgeable about guitars. From reading the reports his MO is; upon arrival he opens a complaint with PayPal stating a problem and PayPal issues him a refund. The seller then gets stuck with nothing. Luckily I dodged this bullet so caveat emptor prospective sellers.

BTW  He contacted me through this forum through messaging.

[ryler]

Well, thanks for sharing that story.  I'm relieved that you averted the scam.  Kind of scary that he used this forum,  though.

[mike in lytle]

I saw the warning on AGF as well.
Hopefully, you have provided the Admins with the forum members name, and the paypal payment address, and whatever else might be helpful.
We would LOVE to know the forum members name who worked the scam, since they have to be a forum member to message you thru this forum.
Was this for a recent ad for sale on the forum here? I only see one.
Mike

[jpmist]

Thanks for the heads up!

I've bought and sold recently using PayPal so this concerns me as I have several surplus guitars yet to sell. I just now googled the address and found it's been a fraud address since at least 2018! Yikes.

So your guy apparently opens up a fresh PayPal ID, "buys" a guitar and upon receipt files a "not as advertised complaint" and keeps the guitar?  <sigh> there's got to be a better way to do this . . .

[B0WIE]

Something doesn't add up. PayPal doesn't just hand out refunds without requiring either a return, evidence, etc. I have done daily purchasing and selling for my business via PayPal for around 10 years and have opened a number of cases against bad sellers. It's never been handled the way it was described here.

I'm not saying there isn't some scam going on, but it's not going on the way it's been described here.

Edit, I've looked into this further and ebay and PayPal handle things differently now because of a type of scam involving fake return tracking numbers. If you find yourself caught in something suspicious, pay attention to the return tracking. There's no longer an instant refund upon return. But, if you fail to pay attention and stay on top of it, they will favor the buyer and you will have a more difficult time following through.

[gtrplayer]

The scammer's name is gotomsdos.    His e-mail is; davethomas7724@gmail.com

I have an ad in the for sale section and I'm not %100 but I believe he also masquerades as the other two individuals;  larr,  63vibroverb, that showed interest.  The tipoff being that they're new members.

[Queequeg]

permabanned. 
He's in Guangzhou, China.
Thanks to gtrplayer for your help with details.

[JOYCEfromNS]

Certainly makes a case for considering going back to requiring 10 posts to PM. This member now banned had one post. Having 10 posts would makes this kind of thing a little more challenging for a scammer but maybe a little frustrating for a legitimate newbie looking to purchase. Will open up a poll for everyones input/opinion on the matter.

[headsup]

YIKES!!!!

thanks for this.

[Mikeymac]

Certainly makes a case for considering going back to requiring 10 posts to PM. This member now banned had one post. Having 10 posts would makes this kind of thing a little more challenging for a scammer but maybe a little frustrating for a legitimate newbie looking to purchase. Will open up a poll for everyones input/opinion on the matter.

A slight inconvenience for a new member (who is legitimate) is worthwhile for the protection of long time forum members, in my opinion.

Rules are rules; every forum has them.

[ducktrapper]

Ten posts is about right. Besides, if two people can't figure out how to correspond with each other these days without the help of the forum .... 

[bobsnuscruz]

Well this is a bit disheartening.  Question: If the receiving address is in Delaware and buyer is in China; who's doing the receiving, collecting, etc.? 

[JOYCEfromNS]

Well this is a bit disheartening.  Question: If the receiving address is in Delaware and buyer is in China; who's doing the receiving, collecting, etc.? 

A good Q for Five-O

[B0WIE]

Well this is a bit disheartening.  Question: If the receiving address is in Delaware and buyer is in China; who's doing the receiving, collecting, etc.? 

They can have a warehouse or any large building, and simply change the apartment numbers for various scams when one apt gets flagged. An employee or family member receives the items.

Like I mentioned, this isn't as easy for them to do as it used to (eBay and PayPal are actively fighting these scams) and it now requires the buyer to be a bit unaware. Still, I see a lot of people doing absolutely foolish things (like sending "friends and family" payments to strangers) so it's good to be cautious. I usually do address checks for items over $2k, just to be safe and ONLY ship to the address on the PayPal payment, otherwise you void your protection.