[N Camarolina]

Thought I'd share this for the benefit of others who are considering buying through our classified section:

I recently purchased some knee pads from another member. All went fine with my private message exchange and the package is on the way to my house with a tracking number. "All this sounds good, so what's the issue?" you ask.

Well, when I sent the first PM to the seller, I also replied to the OP's listing thread, indicating my interest so that others on the public forum page would know that I intended to make the purchase. Within 12 hrs, I received 2 additional PMs (other than the seller, who thankfully responded first), and neither was from the actual seller, but both messages implied they were the seller. One message said, "I have the knee pads. Text me at ____ - ____ - ____." The other had knee pads mentioned in the PM title and the message said, "The seller is not active on Camaro6. Please email him at _______." In both cases, the PMs were from members who had just joined and had no history of posting any messages.

My take on this was that these two scammers troll the classifieds and open new member identities so they can send fraudulent PMs to impersonate the seller and redirect the conversation away from the Camaro6 hosting site. The screen names for these scammers don't match the screen name of the original seller, so that was a clear give-away.

Stay vigilant if you want to buy through our classified section. There are SCUM out there, and they are watching, hoping to capitalize.

[bandier]

I hate that SH*T. In the past I've gotten private messages here stating they have a friend who has the part I'm looking for and to contact them direct at some email. Total scam! I tell them if legit have them contact me through the forum.

[ZPirate]

I got one yesterday. I posted wanting to buy a part. The private message I got was to email the person at an email provided because they had the part. When I looked at the user they had ZERO posts on the forum. I didn't even bother replying to the private message, much less emailing them.

[walkerheaders]

Happened to me a while back when I bought a set of wheels (rolling stock LT1) from a member. It just seemed to fishy to fall for it and thank goodness, the actual member contacted me. we then Facetimed with him out in his garage and there they were. Kids running around in the background and a family atmosphere helped me feel at ease. We did the deal, no issues. BUT, had I not gotten tons of scammer training at work.....could have been way different outcome.

[Megahurtz]

Yeah it has gotten ridiculous. Now when I buy or sell, I communicate with the seller outside of the forum via email or text/call. It's not fool proof but it allows you to feel out if the person is a potential scammer.

Fortunately, when I sell stuff, I have a perfect record on Corvette Forum and here on Camaro 6. So I don't really have any trouble. But I have run into scammers when trying to buy, and my method above along with a little research has kept me from getting ripped off a few times.

[t-ray]

Yeah I fell for the same thing recently and was taken for only $550. But I will definitely be more diligent going forward.

[BlackbeastSS2]

I have never had a problem buying or selling here in Camaro6 land. Lucky maybe.

I do use one method thou, if it’s a new account or only a few post I stay away from that member.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by BlackbeastSS2

I have never had a problem buying or selling here in Camaro6 land. Lucky maybe.

I do use one method thou, if it’s a new account or only a few post I stay away from that member.

That's a pretty safe method, even though it leans heavily against new members, which may just be the sad reality we live in. Scammer activity has risen dramatically in the past year, I get these BS private messages as well.

Unfortunately, my solutions to these problems would prevent me from posting here again for a long, long time, and that's the mildest "side effect"...