[turbojeep95]

So I thought it might be beneficial to start a thread on all the scamming going on social media platforms and how best to avoid it while also bringing attention to potential bad sites.

Recently I purchased an intake from an instagram seller camero_warehouse (yes I know it's spelled wrong) in which I sent a paypal payment via friends and family. What tipped off the scam is the shipper was through TNT shipping and tracking information was through a blatantly fake tracking information page. The second scam is the package (which never shipped) was stuck in St. Louis with a note: "Immediate payment of a $120 refundable insurance fee". This is just to see what sucker out there is willing to pay the scammer a second time. Other oddity is that he asked me to send a screen shot of the payment page on paypal as soon as the payment was sent. Have not figured that one out yet. Lastly, whenever you click on the link to get your tracking information, it tries to download a program to whatever device your using and since then I've had multiple failed attempts to get into my Venmo account. I'd be happy to hear any additional comments on what happened here and still trying to wrap my mind about the whole ordeal. Everything seemed on the up and up until the transaction was made but by that time it was too late. Be safe and stay alert out there guys.

-1st mistake learned, never send via friends and family to an untested seller.
-2nd mistake learned, never pay via paypal with a linked bank account. Always use a credit card because a credit card company is better suited to get some of your money back.

[kropscamaro16]

yup you got scammed spelling errors are one of the biggest things if they cant even spell camaro right i dont believe it.

[turbojeep95]

Originally Posted by kropscamaro16

yup you got scammed spelling errors are one of the biggest things if they cant even spell camaro right i dont believe it.

I thought it was normal because I have friends on IG that didn't get the username they wanted so they misspell the camaro part. Been following his page for over a year and it seemed legit. Even the dialogue was great until after the payment was sent.

[s346k]

what happened to making purchases from known vendors & suppliers?

[Yang N’ Bang]

It happens, I was one of those who got caught up in the bs with Maryland Speed with parts for my 5th gen years back…

[raptor5244]

Originally Posted by Yang N’ Bang

It happens, I was one of those who got caught up in the bs with Maryland Speed with parts for my 5th gen years back…

Same here. I purchased an exhaust through them and i got the run around. It took 4 months to receive it. Evidently they play games and you won’t get your product until they get enough orders to do a bulk purchase. The just never say this when you place your order. Luckily I did finally receive the exhaust.

[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by turbojeep95

So I thought it might be beneficial to start a thread on all the scamming going on social media platforms and how best to avoid it while also bringing attention to potential bad sites.

Recently I purchased an intake from an instagram seller camero_warehouse (yes I know it's spelled wrong) in which I sent a paypal payment via friends and family. What tipped off the scam is the shipper was through TNT shipping and tracking information was through a blatantly fake tracking information page. The second scam is the package (which never shipped) was stuck in St. Louis with a note: "Immediate payment of a $120 refundable insurance fee". This is just to see what sucker out there is willing to pay the scammer a second time. Other oddity is that he asked me to send a screen shot of the payment page on paypal as soon as the payment was sent. Have not figured that one out yet. Lastly, whenever you click on the link to get your tracking information, it tries to download a program to whatever device your using and since then I've had multiple failed attempts to get into my Venmo account. I'd be happy to hear any additional comments on what happened here and still trying to wrap my mind about the whole ordeal. Everything seemed on the up and up until the transaction was made but by that time it was too late. Be safe and stay alert out there guys.

-1st mistake learned, never send via friends and family to an untested seller.
-2nd mistake learned, never pay via paypal with a linked bank account. Always use a credit card because a credit card company is better suited to get some of your money back.

Looks like they caught you with your pants down. Here is probably the best advice I think any decent person can offer you: only purchase from highly rated forum vendors, no exceptions. I can continue, but it sounds like you have suffered enough.

[Smokin19]

A little bit of insight. In my town there is a fellow I know who sells car parts on his website. I have been to his home that he does business out of. In his garage there is nothing but a go cart and his car with tool boxes. He raves about all the money he is making selling parts with NO inventory in sight. How does he do this business you ask. Everything he sells is dropped shipped from somewhere else by another provider. He never sees the part and just gives the provider the order. Beware of sites like this.

[LT1gen6]

Originally Posted by turbojeep95

So I thought it might be beneficial to start a thread on all the scamming going on. . I purchased an intake from an instagram seller in which I sent a paypal payment via friends and family. .

Irony is that using "friends & family" as a Paypal payment option for a physical good in a retail situation is a scam in itself. It's fraud against Paypal by both the seller and buyer, and cause for account termination. So, in this case scammer meets scammee. . Oh well. Apparently, lesson learned

Originally Posted by Smokin19

In my town there is a fellow I know who sells car parts on his website. . with NO inventory in sight. . Everything he sells is dropped shipped from somewhere else by another provider. He never sees the part and just gives the provider the order.

This is a common situation for many authorized product distributors and retailers, and is a legit, accepted business practice. It's also an idea and practice from "entrepreneurial success 101."

[jamala00]

Sorry you got taken OP..! I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said.

[FlukeSS]

Originally Posted by turbojeep95

So I thought it might be beneficial to start a thread on all the scamming going on social media platforms and how best to avoid it while also bringing attention to potential bad sites.

Recently I purchased an intake from an instagram seller camero_warehouse (yes I know it's spelled wrong) in which I sent a paypal payment via friends and family. What tipped off the scam is the shipper was through TNT shipping and tracking information was through a blatantly fake tracking information page. The second scam is the package (which never shipped) was stuck in St. Louis with a note: "Immediate payment of a $120 refundable insurance fee". This is just to see what sucker out there is willing to pay the scammer a second time. Other oddity is that he asked me to send a screen shot of the payment page on paypal as soon as the payment was sent. Have not figured that one out yet. Lastly, whenever you click on the link to get your tracking information, it tries to download a program to whatever device your using and since then I've had multiple failed attempts to get into my Venmo account. I'd be happy to hear any additional comments on what happened here and still trying to wrap my mind about the whole ordeal. Everything seemed on the up and up until the transaction was made but by that time it was too late. Be safe and stay alert out there guys.

-1st mistake learned, never send via friends and family to an untested seller.
-2nd mistake learned, never pay via paypal with a linked bank account. Always use a credit card because a credit card company is better suited to get some of your money back.

There's nothing wrong with paying through paypal with a linked account. I did so when I went to buy a snow blower, Never got the snow blower, they never responded to inquiries, and finally I just told Paypal they were a scam business. Cost of doing business with China. Paypal refunded the money and the rest is history.

Basic rules: Never use the same email/passwords for financial institutions that you use for vendor sites or any other services or goods.

Even if they get your login ID they won't be able to get into those sites when you use different unrelated passwords / emails.

Granted I work in the IT field, but I've been doing online transactions for well over 20 years, and I've never had an account compromised or hacked.

That download was probably a virus to compromise your computer which they can phish for more information.

Another basic rule when it comes to hackers: Never put private/sensitive data on your computer that you can't afford to lose.

All of my personal data as such is stored on an external drive. Any hacker can hack my PC and they won't get access to anything I don't want them to have access to.

Any hacker can send me a virus all day long and I just don't care, simple wipe and reinstall since I have nothing of consequence I can't afford to lose.

As an example while I use the same email for some things, I don't use the same passwords from one thing to the next.

Just some suggestions.

[ZED SLED]

This probably should be a sticky in the Marketplace under Venders and Sellers Feedback, which is where you'll probably find it when the mods move it.

[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by Yang N’ Bang

It happens, I was one of those who got caught up in the bs with Maryland Speed with parts for my 5th gen years back…

It was so satisfying to hear that the Maryland speed guy was finally found guilty and fined and put out of business. I ordered headers from him, waited twice the amount of time I was quoted for it to ship and then immediately contacted my credit card company and got my money back.

What I found really annoying was forum admins kept taking his side of the story (on different forums not camaro6) because he was a sponsor.

[jamala00]

Originally Posted by FlukeSS

There's nothing wrong with paying through paypal with a linked account. I did so when I went to buy a snow blower, Never got the snow blower, they never responded to inquiries, and finally I just told Paypal they were a scam business. Cost of doing business with China. Paypal refunded the money and the rest is history.

That is only true if you do not pay someone from PayPal via "Friends And Family" as the OP did. You have zero recourse if you pay with Friends And Family