Beware of scammers

They're unusually active right now. Had one message me saying that his friend had an SRT Center for sale. Gave me an email address for his friend. Luckily his friend, while multitudes more convincing than your average amateur Nigerian scammer, fell for my bait and told me that his SRT center was indeed the "Rosewood" color one that I am seeking.. A statement of "fact" that any true vintage Polk, especially SRT, speaker owner or lover will understand the significance of ;)

Then there's the more traditional signs of a scam. The anxious 4 messages back asking if we "have a deal" or if I had received the last message when I fail to reply to one of their messages within a few short hours, the request to use Western Union in lieu of PayPal or any other safer method, the failure to send any photos because of a "crappy" phone, the phone number that when called has a foreign guy who barely speaks English stating "Yes, yes, it's all good" to every question asked..
Too many good quotes to list..waiting for some fresh ammo. :)

Comments

  • villian
    villian Posts: 412
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    Too many good quotes to list..waiting for some fresh ammo. :)
  • villian
    villian Posts: 412
    jhdbiwxuxzs0.png
    Too many good quotes to list..waiting for some fresh ammo. :)
  • villian
    villian Posts: 412
    8or7qcde9d2u.png
    Too many good quotes to list..waiting for some fresh ammo. :)
  • villian
    villian Posts: 412
    alonzoivv3is.png
    Too many good quotes to list..waiting for some fresh ammo. :)
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    You're like a magnet.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • villian
    villian Posts: 412
    Feel free to post personal ads on your local craigslist directed to the following email and phone number:

    ernesttrem@gmail.com

    626-219-7960
    Too many good quotes to list..waiting for some fresh ammo. :)
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,306
    I had a similar one a few weeks back on a VPI 16.5 for sale for a really nice price. Low but still believable. Guy was apparently a doctor, etc., etc.

    Red flag went up when he started talking about wiring money, and some weird excuse as to why he wasn't able to accept PayPal. I just told him I was going another direction and stopped responding. One of his repetitive behaviors was assuming a sale and kept using the phrase, "let's do the deal".

    Oh, and then he mentioned about not being able to ship the item right away, because he was going to be traveling.
    I disabled signatures.
  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,553
    They can also make your head blow up...

    tmcyir0do72a.jpg


    oh....scammers....

    sry...
    :#
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    edited May 2018
    This is the IRS. This is your last chance to pay on your outstanding taxes. If you fail to do so, we have no other option than to start court proceedings or collection actions.
    I repeat........The voice says the same thing.

    yea, yea, yea...

    Go to h**l a** H**e!
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    I have been hearing from local realtors of a scam that involves real estate listings.

    People (or whatever you choose to call them) are making Craigslist ads for properties they are offering for rent. They use the images from the real estate listing and any other pertinent information they can glean to create their own ads. Then claim they are out of town for a few months with "Experience Mission". o:) They ask for checks for first month and deposit. (Usually $800 + $600 or some such low-ball amount.)

    What has sent up a red flag with this whole deal is when potential renters stop by a $450,000 property to take a closer look and the realtor is having an open house. :p
  • pongshi
    pongshi Posts: 376
    The scammers and spammers are all over Craigslist and it seems they like to feed especially in the electronics for sale area. Things to watch for:

    1. Responses that are very general.... Is the ITEM still available? What is you final price on the electronics?
    2. The contact number is coming from an area that is not local.
    3. My father, brother mother, sister is interested in the item..and they ask you to contact them.
    4. Google the number to see where it is located. If it is not local or at least close to you, move on. Of course, they are probably using a fake number and identity anyway.

    Suggestions:

    1. Get yourself a google voice number and another email address for CL actions. Suggest you don't sign up with your real name. This is free and you will only use it for CL.
    2. Post that your sale will be a "cash only, local, in person sale and that you require a local voice phone call for initial contact and that anything else will be rejected.
    3. Post that if the item is listed, you still have it, and that you will not respond to the question of whether the item is still available.

    This has worked well for me. A lot of these guys are either trying to rip you off or harvest your contact info for spamming purposes. Don't give them the opportunity to get your real id, sensitive info, and your money.


    Living Room
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    Turntable 1 - Technics SL-1210Mk2 turntable with Shure V-15 Type III cartridge
    Turntable 2 - Dual 1229 turntable, Dual AS-12 45 RPM stacker, Shure V-15 Type III cartridge
    Schiit Mani Phono Preamp for Turntable 2
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    Technics RS-1500US reel to reel
    Polk SDA SRS (2nd Gen) fully modded
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    edited May 2018
    pongshi wrote: »
    The scammers and spammers are all over Craigslist and it seems they like to feed especially in the electronics for sale area. Things to watch for:

    1. Responses that are very general.... Is the ITEM still available? What is you final price on the electronics?
    2. The contact number is coming from an area that is not local.
    3. My father, brother mother, sister is interested in the item..and they ask you to contact them.
    4. Google the number to see where it is located. If it is not local or at least close to you, move on. Of course, they are probably using a fake number and identity anyway.

    Suggestions:

    1. Get yourself a google voice number and another email address for CL actions. Suggest you don't sign up with your real name. This is free and you will only use it for CL.
    2. Post that your sale will be a "cash only, local, in person sale and that you require a local voice phone call for initial contact and that anything else will be rejected.
    3. Post that if the item is listed, you still have it, and that you will not respond to the question of whether the item is still available.

    This has worked well for me. A lot of these guys are either trying to rip you off or harvest your contact info for spamming purposes. Don't give them the opportunity to get your real id, sensitive info, and your money.

    That is some GREAT advice and guidlines to follow for sure!

    That's what I put in to reply emails who didn't call me first to check on my for sale items years ago.

    I want to hear a human voice and see a return phone # before ANYBODY comes to my house. And any meetings will be during daylight hours when my neighbors are home and/ or my wife will be looking from the house or even writing down license plate #s. My wife is skeptical of all strangers.
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • BMF35
    BMF35 Posts: 86
    Tony M wrote: »
    This is the IRS. This is your last chance to pay on your outstanding taxes. If you fail to do so, we have no other option than to start court proceedings or collection actions.
    I repeat........The voice says the same thing.

    I get this on a regular basis. The latest says they're a jail and need my credit card info so the prisoner can call me to get him out.
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    I used to get that too...used to be once a month or more. Not any more. The voice was a distinct middle eastern accent to.

    But some spammer wants to lower my credit card interest rate once a week or so for the past 10 years. I have a flip phone and they said it's hard to block a # on it..??? I'm looking at my phone's box it came in so the instructions are in it. I'll have to look in it to see how to block this/these spam callers' #'s. It has to be able don't you think?
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • Hermitism
    Hermitism Posts: 4,192
    I got an email from Trixie, I've never met her before and I don't know how she got my email address, but she wants to be my "sexy time" partner. I'm meeting her at 7. High-five!