SMC Discussion Areas

Ok, Let me first start by saying I am usually very cautious and able to sniff out scams but I think I may have been suckered into this one.. :veryangry:

I found a Coke Clock that I wanted to purchase from a guy in CA listed on an online classifieds site.. the guy responded and sent me additional photos and it looked pretty good for the price he was asking so was pretty stoked about it..

I proceeded to ask more questions and he was prompt in answering both my emails and phone calls for a few days..

Usually when I talk to someone, I think I can "feel them out" so to speak to make sure it's a legit deal or not.  He also had a few other items he said he got from an estate that he was selling too, so I picked up another item as well.. figured why not.

so after a few days of talking with him I decided I was secure in this transaction.. I sent the money and it was not a small amount $1000.00 ( I know.. shame on me)..

I sent him a Cashier checks to his PO Box and also tracked them.

He got the check and cashed them and they cleared on the 14th.. 

we talked and all was good.

He was going to package and ship both items via Greyhound, and we worked out the details.. then I waited..

waited and finally called again last Thursday.. Got ahold of him and asked if he shipped yet and had tracking info or a bus number etc.... he said oh you should have gottem them by now.. and at this point I was mad as he never even told me he shipped or when?

so I immediately asked for tracking info.. Never called back Thursday night, Friday or over the weekend.  I called 3 times each day
4 times Tuesday and 4 times today as well as emails. 

I've even called on a few other phone numbers but to no avail.

the items are still listed on this internet site.. of which I've notified and indicated this guy may be using their site as a place to host his scams..

I've also called the Police Dept in his home town asking if they where anything they could do, and they said to file a report locally with all info and they would transfer it out there.?

so I know shame on me for being too trusting.. but looking for any other ideas you guys might have on ways to get to this guy.

I'm kinda hoping he's laid up in the hospital from the last guy he screwed over and that is why he is not answering me, but I dont' want to be mean (yet)..

I'm filing a police report today or tomorrow, and will continue to try to reach him...

being that he still has the items listed, I wish I could contact him via phone with another number he doesn't recognize , just to see if he is truly avoiding me..

If anyone is up for that , please PM me and we'll see if we can call him and see if he answers? maybe a conference call?

Any ideas , thoughts, or ideas, please let me know either on the forum or pm me ... I'd appreciate it..

Oh, and I did already check with my bank and they said being it's already cashed they can't do anything , other than give me a copy of the cashed check which they did and of course to make things worse.. he cashed the check at a Liquour store...  :glare:

John

Did the clock look like this one?

That sucks John.  I know that you have been very helpful to me and others on the board regarding the value of signs etc.  I'm hoping for a happy outcome.  Keep us all posted wither way.

Brian

I'm in CA, where abouts is he?

Yes,
 it was a Cleveland Neon Clock as well as a Price Brothers lightup Pause sign...

He is in Saratoga CA Near San Jose I believe as that is where the PO Box was and where the check was cashed.

This con was also listing ads in Michigan.  I talked to him once and said he lived in CA.

He required Western Union and needed payment within (4) hours.  It smelled a little funny so I passed.  If I would of know he had several ads up I would of posted a thread on it. 

I hope it get resolved in some fashion.

Jared

Wow, that sucks. You can kick and scream and I would, but the odds of them doing a whole lot are stacked against you.

I'd hold out a litttle and pray. Not often you get to speak to the scammer on the telephone.
If the line went dead I'd be more concerned. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Dave

situation looks bleak from how you have described it

however, i hope it does work out for you,


as we look for those finds there are more and more

out there looking to find scam in ever more devious

ways


watched a program the other day, where the scammers

had either infiltrated or set up a fraudulent card machine

manufacturing set up.

so there bits of IT kit are already in the machine before

it reaches the stores that have bought them to operate.


you put your card in as normal & scammers get all the info

downloaded remotely instantly.


simple!


best of luck

regards GP

Sorry to hear Good Luck!!!

http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=417158&page=1


Joey

Sorry to hear about this John,

So far I have pretty much stuck with Ebay, Craigslist and fellow members for buying parts and machines without any problems. I know it sucks but wish to thank you for letting us know about this so we don't get ripped off also. It takes a big man to admit that a scammer got you and I respect you for that.

Ken

I think I had texted him about the same clock...I told him I wanted to come see it in person and where is it..he told me the city, but was very vague...I said I need an address ( it really was too far away to see In person , but this takes care of 95% of the scammers)...he texted me back about ten times but never would give me an address...even after I told him I was no longer in the area, he reassured me that we could still some how do the deal...I told him no thanks and he still texted me 3 more times...

John - if you want to see if he's avoiding your calls, just set up a new gmail account and get a new google voice number and call him from that number. You can get any area code number you want for free.

That sucks! :darn:

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Don't spend to much time on this. Do your follow ups and I'm not saying don't try at all but you don't want to get to wrapped up where it pisses you off daily because in the end all that anger adds up. You already lost the $1,000, don't add to that debit with countless hours because your time is valuable as well.

Quick story, I bought a 81A off e-bay years ago for $1,000 out of state. Got here fine with no issues. He later contacted me saying he had 2 other 81's and wanted the same $1,000 ea. for them. I already felt I knew him and trusted him so we did the deal out of e-bay, sent him the $2,000 and he disappeared. Dropped his e-bay account, killed his phone number, everything.

I was determined to find this guy so I spent days on this exploring every possible avenue and got nowhere. I was hard to live with during that time, wife was more upset on what it was doing to me rather then loosing the 2 grand.

It was then when Moondawg told me to quit my crying and not to let it affect doing what I loved in buying, selling, restoring coke machines. He also reminded how much money I had made in coke machines so I did get over it.

I will be honest in saying I do still think about it now and then. Damn that guy.

John,

Very sorry to hear this story...
Reviewing the thread on oldgas sounds like this guy is still continuing to rip people off ! ! !
Hopefully something will come out of this...

Well, you do have some recourse. Go to your local Post Office and ask to speak to the Postmaster. File a Postal Fraud claim and give them the PO Box that the check was mailed to. They can look into it and find name and contact info. Postal Fraud is a Federal Offense.

Yeah just read that thread on old gas tonight as well. I'm not letting it go just yet. I got a lot of fight in me yet. And after I posted this. He actually did text me telling me he was out if town and just getting caught up on emails and phone calls. He texted me three times tonight assuring me they where on a grey hound only a few days away from me. But of course couldn't provide any proof. So well see how this works out till the weekend. In the meantime I'm talking with the guy on old gas as well about what we can do as a group of other scammees.  To get him. Well see.

This is not my first long distance transaction but I should have insisted on PayPal or some more secure way of paying. I guess the days of trusting my gut are done.  

Ya, I agree. Those days are gone. I remember a guy in Japan sent me $300 cash in the mail for an old camera I sold. WHAT??? And another time I sent  a Western Union M/O to a guy in Germany for some old military stuff. I received the items all ok. But will never do this type of transaction nowadays.

Hang in there John. What goes around comes around, I firmly believe that. This guy seems to be rather sloppy, so I don't doubt it will all catch up with him soon.

Hate to hear that John... Be sure he'll slip up one day... He must sleep with one eye open.. No way to live.
Hope it all works out and you get your money back and he just gets it! :glare:

John,  I feel like hell for you, scammers these days are far too good with their scams...he probably bought a pay-as-you-go phone with cash, so there's no traceability which sucks.  I just bought a set of tix to the nascar race in Charlotte and about an hour after I sent the Paypal with the cash I got real suspect if I was ever going to see the tickets.  I had no recourse if he didn't send them, and I probably wouldn't do it again for that sum of cash.

I hope there's a chance you can catch the bastard and get your money back. 

I'm holding out to see what happens this week,, he told me they where in transit and where close and he responded to me 3 times yesterday with questions.. so we'll see.

I've read the post on old gas and he did fulfill a sale with another guy, so we'll see..

 :hopefull:

I had a guy in Alabama sell me a backbar and I thought he was a scammer from the begining but it turned out to be legit. There is hope. Only difference was I was a little skeptical so I had trucking company pay cash at pick up. I have a good feeling you are going to get it. Good Luck!

That sucks.... I hate hearing stories like these.
I also almost got ripped from a guy in Florida selling me a compressor for a vendo 39.

Had to hound him, we would not return calls. Luckily I used PayPal for the transaction, and PayPal corrected the dispute in my favor.
As much as I hate paying large PayPal fees, I do believe it keeps most transactions safe.

I hope this guy gets shut down. It just a matter of time before he does if he keeps up ripping people off.

We'll he is still communicating with me , sO I'm taking that as a good sign.. maybe he's trying to clear his name.. Ok i'm being very hopefull obviously..

he just texted me saying he checked my package and said it will be here by Saturday... Fingers crossed..

With due respect, why doesn't he give you the tracking numbers himself?   I hope for the best...

I was thinking the same thing.

Apparently he is shipping them via Greyhound Package Express...

I have never used this before and thought and asked the same thing for a tracking number..

he said the only way to track them is by him calling since he bought the "ticket" and they don't provide a tracking number..

so I'm going to call on that today unless anyone else has any insight on how the Greyhound Package Express works?

 :hopefull:

Ok, I just checked on Greyhound Package Express and they do have Tracking numbers you can track,, so Now I'm back to worring again.. I just texted him to send me the #'s and he texted back, they will be there by Saturday.  HMMM

If you have not already done so, I would get the police report filed and hopefully they will catch up with this clown.  I suspect that he is jerking you around.

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Sorry you are being jerked around John! Been there too - not fun!
Greyhound doesn't deliver to your door anyway. You need to pick the package up from the closest terminal.
I shipped a C-51 ammo belt to S. Carolina through GH once and was able to track it somewhat - kind of like the USPS tracking, which isn't worth much.

My town closed there Grey hound station so we have to check in with bus line and get an aprox. time of day to meet bus down town and grab the package. I think you just got run around again good luck.

I hate to be the negative one here but the whole greyhound story is BS.  From what I read here, but especially on oldgas, there are no items coming.  This guy is a %100 scumbag con artist.  I think from what I've read your best bet is to file a complaint through the post office and get him on mail fraud.  Hopefully the fact that mail fraud is a federal offense may be your best shot at really nailing this guy.

Ditto

        When I buy a machine and flip it for $1000.00 profit, I am jazzed for a few days........maybe weeks.

        But when I lose that same $1000.00 on a deal, I'm pissed for a few weeks.....maybe months  :darn:

        John, you're still way ahead. I say pick yourself up, brush yourself off.......and on to the next venture.

Moondawg, I think that is good advice as far as not letting it bother him anymore but I feel this guy needs to be stopped.  If everyone just wrote it off he will keep getting away with it and more honest people will get burned.  I think at this point consider the money gone but do everything you can to nail this piece of sh**

Yeah I know but I just can't let it go...

honestly , losing the $$ is not really bothering me as much as someone screwing with me.. that is what really Pisses me off (excuse my French)..

so I'm not letting it go.. I actually am enjoying trying to go black ops on this guy and will file the sheriffs report this afternoon and continue to hunt him down... I guess I have a bit of Vigelante in me and can't seem to let that go... but short of hopping a jet to San Jose, I'll see what I can do on my end along with the other guys who got hosed..

As far as the greyhound thing.. I know it's not door to door and there is a station in my home town and that is where it is "SUPPOSE" to be coming to.. but we'll see on that.. I've already called and text the guy about Tracking numbers to no avail.

Glen , I appreciate the advice but I still got a little fight in me yet.. we'll see..

       Was watching American Greed the other night.  They said that scammers get away with it longer than they should because most victims are to embarrasaed or ashamed to report it to police.

I've shipped via Greyhound for a customer, they DO provide a tracking number once they check in the package, HE should provide you with that number & YOU can check at the receiving end at your local Greyhound terminal it's shipping to.   Tell  (rhymes with YELL) him you want that number NOW.  then depending on his response, you may or may not be contacting the police regarding fraud & theft charges, and use of a computer to commit a crime. ( wire-fraud)  Next time, please use Craigslist for local (IE: within driving distance) purchases only. I hope all will end well for you.

That sucks John! 

I hate scammers; nothing but a bunch of low life scumbags!!!  :veryangry:

John,

Sorry to hear about this.  I've used the mail fraud route before, and it indeed worked.  The backstory is this...

I bought a coin mech (Coinco electric type) from a company in CA.  It was reasonably priced, shipped quickly with a tracking number, and arrived at my house promptly.  I paid thru Paypal.  Then, a year or so later, I needed another.  So, I used the same people.  This time, nothing.  After repeated calls, emails, and receiving the "it's shipping soon" garbage, I contacted both Paypal and the US Mail.  Since the transaction involved the US Mail, it constituted Mail Fraud.  An inspector called me promptly, took all my information, and went to work.  Within a few days, he called me back saying he was in contact with the company.  About a week later, I received my coin mech in OVERNIGHT, EXPRESS mail.  I guess the Post Office threatened police action.  So, in the end, I got my coin mech and it cost them much more to ship it to me than I paid for it originally.

Best of luck.

I've shipped greyhound....greyhound will track BUT if it starts out on trailways...they dont....and greyhound sometimes takes forever! It depends on if they have room on the bus!

Yes - I remember that now. There is NO guaranteed delivery date because passengers take priority over packages. The package will be left behind at the terminal if they have a full bus and they will try to get it on the next bus through.