Embarrassed

Scalpeler

Scalpeler

New Member
The bike i recently had up for sale to the board made its way over to another selling site.

Over there I got some offers but nothing bit until I had someone that wanted to pay full price and have the bike picked up soon after payment was received.

Well I received payment and then was duped into, apparently, the oldest money gram scam in the book. Im out $2886.00 because A.) I was too blind to see what was going on right in front of my face. B.) to naive, proud or whatever you want to call it to ask for an opinion on the scenario and C.) too honest and trusting.:getsome:

Not that it would ever happen on here, but to those of you who sell elsewhere, please take my experience as a warning and a lesson...always do your research...

on a another note the scalpel is still for sale...along with a lemond tourmalet 55cm...and possibly my dream bike i just picked up from scalpel6....
 
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Was it the "I'll pay you this and you send me back the change"? Sucks that those kind of people are out there. Let this be a lesson for anyone who thinks a situation is sketchy to speak up and ask some questions. Sorry to hear this happened to you.
 
More or less its how it went down...lesson learned here and I hope I can pass the learning experience on to others...
 
Over the years, I've sold a ridiculous amount of equipment online (shipped all over the world). I've been scammed once in the past 7 years and some friends who ran stores were scammed many times. I've come to one conclusion:

If any part of it seems to good to be true, don't do it. With bikes, only do cash and in person.

It's terrible when you are able to locate the goods, but can't do anything about it. That was a terrible feeling...
 
Ouch! When my check from Nigeria comes I'll help you out with some cash. I'm getting NINE MILLION DOLLARS!
bruce.b
 
Thanks Bruce, but my Financial Minister just emailed me and said I have 2.7 million coming to me in $7,500 incriments as soon as I send my phone number, address and SS number...So im in...looks like ill be ok:hmmm:
 
walter said:
Was it the "I'll pay you this and you send me back the change"? Sucks that those kind of people are out there. Let this be a lesson for anyone who thinks a situation is sketchy to speak up and ask some questions. Sorry to hear this happened to you.
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had this attempted on me a few times on CL, that totally sucks. As the old saying goes, "if it seems too good to be true....".
 
Sorry to hear about this. CL seems to be loaded with people trying this crap. I was recently contacted about a wheelset with the "I sent you the wrong amount, please send me the difference via wire transfer" scam.

I was hoping to do something about it so I saved all the emails, had a check in hand, names, ups tracking number and addresses when I called the FTC. They basically told me there was nothing they could do about it because it was "probably" an international scam and the most they could do was to start a file. I was hoping for a little more.

So, I've been playing with him for two weeks. The first check only had a first name on the signature line so I told him the bank wouldn't cash it. He red labeled another one and I told him I lost it. I'm sure the third one will be in my mailbox on Monday. I'll just keep having him waste is time and money for as long as possible.
 
dirtbags

same thing almost happened to me on craigslist last week. i was trying to sell a pair of ski boots, guy asked for a western union money transfer, and i almost fell for it. make sure to put your guy on craigslist scams list. what i learned from my experience with craigslist is to only deal locally, and accept cash. with craigslist, man, why put any faith in the fact that they're good people out there. dirtbags
 
I nought a bike off of craigslist search in Colorado last week. Mailed the guy a check, hope I don't get ripped off ;)
 
Let me get my mind around this................... In simple words You had a bike for sale, someone wanted it. You wanted payment, they said they will pay you and pick up the bike immediately. You got the payment and you almost shit yourself. You told the buyer to go die and you are still stuck with a bike to sell. Is that the Scenario?

Well, I have done lots of purchases and sales over the internet as far as Hawaii and Canada. I only deal with USPS Money order. If I see the person face to face, I'll take cash. I only ship via USPS with a Tracking number. Simple and secure. Screw checks, paypal and whatever denomination someone wants to pay with.
 
If you use a USPS Money Order, make sure you cash it before you ship the goods out. I'm fairly certain the money orders can be cancelled, which you wouldn't know until you tried to cash it.
 
Dr Superb said:
well, how were you scammed?
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I was sent payment via money gram money order...the payment was more than I was asking. They said their assistant sent too much can I please return the difference. So I cashed them (against my account) and sent back the difference. I didnt realize what was going on until it was too late...I still have my bike, and the money I retained for the cost of my bike, but the money retained technically isnt mine because it goes towards covering the cost of the fraudulent money orders.
 
[Well, I have done lots of purchases and sales over the internet as far as Hawaii and Canada. I only deal with USPS Money order. If I see the person face to face, I'll take cash. I only ship via USPS with a Tracking number. Simple and secure. Screw checks, paypal and whatever denomination someone wants to pay with.[/QUOTE]

I dont think the proximity of the transactions has anything to do with what went down, this buyer address was from DE....also a fake address...I went there yesterday....You're obviously well versed in the buying and selling hobby and im sure have seen many different things

I also have been buying and selling stuff for years on these other sites (no pro by any means but just like to get rid of junk)...after seeing these faux money grams i wont ever take one again...they were beyond authentic looking....the only thing fake about these money grams were the serial numbers...

If you continue to accept the money orders as payment, whether its usps or 7-11 or where ever, I would call the company and confirm that they have been paid and are authentic before cashing or depositing anything...just to cover yours and have a piece of mind...I obviously made a huge mistake and didnt cover my back...I just hope from my experience everyone takes a second glance at any other payment besides cash before they move forward with any sales....

I am a cash and carry person from here on out
 
a bit off topic

But USPS is the absolute worst to use for shipping. We used them twice when I worked at my lbs at the customers request and both times the packages were lost. They basically told us that they showed it was delivered and that we could go pound sand for recourse. Fed ex ground is only a little more money but we had a much better record with them.
 
Be careful when generalizing with various shipping services. It may have been a result of the local post office or of timing. They're all about equal. Make sure you purchase insurance, tracking and delivery confirmation (when applicable) in all cases. It's worth the few extra dollars.

To counter your point- I've shipped over 75 packages cross-country, to the Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, etc. via USPS and haven't lost any. I've had packages from UPS take twice the alloted delivery time, but still get there in good shape.
 
Scalpeler said:
I was sent payment via money gram money order...the payment was more than I was asking. They said their assistant sent too much can I please return the difference. So I cashed them (against my account) and sent back the difference. I didnt realize what was going on until it was too late...I still have my bike, and the money I retained for the cost of my bike, but the money retained technically isnt mine because it goes towards covering the cost of the fraudulent money orders.
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WHo did you send the money back to? Was that a bogus address too?
 
Scalpeler said:
I was sent payment via money gram money order...the payment was more than I was asking. They said their assistant sent too much can I please return the difference. So I cashed them (against my account) and sent back the difference. I didnt realize what was going on until it was too late...I still have my bike, and the money I retained for the cost of my bike, but the money retained technically isnt mine because it goes towards covering the cost of the fraudulent money orders.
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So what I'm getting out of this is that you're only out the $$ you sent back to them, correct?

I hesitate to ask, but how much was that?
 
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