Have you had encounters with Possible scammers in Trade forum? Let us know!

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I've moved this thread here to the Want to Buy trade forum
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241235

I recently posted that I was seeking some decently high priced collectibles and within 12 hours of posting I had offers from 2 separate accounts both created within the past few days.
One of them wanted to do business through regular email.
Has anyone had similar experiences? If you have names to add to the list let us know.

Most accounts have 424 area code in the phone number.
Avoid any transactions with the following numbers

(424)330-8141
(854) 220-8212
(608)561-7362
List of known accounts:

jake7
BenjaminRoberts
omidzargandeh
porterchris2345
Terry Adasin
lovatoadams
austenalex788
salemvktechlnc
Jake Russ
danielbrittian251
Omid Zargandeh
Jale
Jameandran
williamsjame9999
michealjohson55
ablegod1940
tred
Scott Bernard
brittainjoe06
Chesterfield0323
Grovegoytte
Sleeves926
davidcarl7256
Pamela Scott
richardscott7256
letijoena
Pnl
David Carl
Paul Nelson
thomaswells369
bornlovely772

The following emails are also provided by scammers:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

A few tips for new buyers:
* Always reverse image search the photos a seller sends. If they match any online.
Use Google image search https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en and Tineye https://tineye.com/
sometimes one will find something that the other doesn't. If the image is reversed, simply correct it and then use image search.
* Ask for seller to write their user name on a piece of paper with todays date and a certain corner bent.
* If they have posts, click their profile and click their activity tab to see what they have posted. Scammers are usually lazy and will just post spam. For Example: One little scammer posted a playmates Rat King figure for sale in a thread about Hot Toys War Machine.
* If you do end up making a purchase, always go through PayPal and make sure you select goods or services so that your purchase is protected.
* If someone tells you Paypal "doesn't work for them" and they want you to use another site or app to pay for example: Whatsapp, cash app or Zelle simply stop communication, they are most likely scamming you.


Red flags to look for.
* The account trying to sell you an item was made recently or within 3 or 4 months.
* 0 or very few posts.
* Feedback.
* Price is too good to be true.


(If anyone else thinks of some tips to add let me know)
 
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Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

Yes. There were a few of us on here talking about it about two months ago, all with similar experiences. There are lots of these accounts being created trying to wheel in unsuspecting buyers, you are correct to be wary.

Most of the ones I encountered were also posting from mobile phones which are only available in certain locations that coincidentally are also well known for sending emails from African princes wishing to deposit large sums into your account.

Ask them to post a picture of the figure with piece of paper with their name and date on it. The ones contacting me kept using pictures from google (some from members I knew on the boards) and were trying to sell the figures at Hot Toys prices when the custom pieces usually fetched a lot more.

Please do list the names of the accounts on here so they can be banned by a mod.

Good luck in your search.
 
Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

Personally I don’t buy from really new members and/or those that haven’t gotten a premium account which, unless something has changed, is the only way you’re allowed to sell on this forum.
 
Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

Yeah that's pretty sad we can't have a nice little place to buy sell and trade without people like that. Now you got me waiting for an email about a Nigerian prince that has stolen all of the Hot Toys from his kingdom and needs help smuggling them out lol
 
Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

This is why it's so frustrating to see all these newbies join the forum and post in Other Topics, about inane topics that have nothing to do with the hobby. They're just boosting their post count trying to make themselves look legitimate.

It's obvious they're not here to join to hobby or discuss action figures. But Darth Snoopy isn't going to ban them until they post porn, I guess. I'm not sure what he's waiting for. I got banned for posting "unnecessary threads", but these guys join the forum to post 'coronavirus health tips' and 'essay writing advice', and they still remain. I can't figure that one out.
 
Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

Thorondor_33 I have also had jake7 and BenjaminRoberts contact me. Jake7 messaged me about a Dark Side Anakin from Hot Toys but wanted to get my email first. BenjaminRoberts contacted me to sell me a DX17 Darth Maul and the only thing he kept repeating was
I have one still new in box willing to sale in shipper price,kindly pm or text
(854) 220-****
Thanks

and

what is your target price

The first time he sent photos of another guys figure then refused to send others.

Then I noticed their join dates were around Christmas this year.

A-DEV yeah for sure I can see that coming lol
 
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Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

@SwedishHeat Yeah I agree, why join a collector forum just to talk about **** you can anywhere else and not collectibles as well? As you said totally just boosting his numbers.
 
Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

Yes. There were a few of us on here talking about it about two months ago, all with similar experiences. There are lots of these accounts being created trying to wheel in unsuspecting buyers, you are correct to be wary.

Most of the ones I encountered were also posting from mobile phones which are only available in certain locations that coincidentally are also well known for sending emails from African princes wishing to deposit large sums into your account.

Ask them to post a picture of the figure with piece of paper with their name and date on it. The ones contacting me kept using pictures from google (some from members I knew on the boards) and were trying to sell the figures at Hot Toys prices when the custom pieces usually fetched a lot more.

Please do list the names of the accounts on here so they can be banned by a mod.

Good luck in your search.

Thanks for the idea I will add the names at the top as they are reported to the post.
 
Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

Thorondor_33 I have also had jake7 and BenjaminRoberts contact me. Jake7 messaged me about a Dark Side Anakin from Hot Toys but wanted to get my email first. BenjaminRoberts contacted me to sell me a DXq7 Darth Maul and the onky thing he kept repeating was
I have one still new in box willing to sale in shipper price,kindly pm or text
(854) 220-****
Thanks

and

what is your target price

The first time he sent photos of another guys figure then refused to send others.

Then I noticed their join dates were around Christmas this year.

A-DEV yeah for sure I can see that coming lol

Pretty much word for word the same messages they sent me, except I was looking for a Hot Toys Jedha Patrol Stormtrooper.
 
Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

I've had similar issues in the WTB section as well. Once I pressed the member on their dealings with other members who seemed to have not gotten their figures, they stopped replying :lol

the member who contacted me was: porterchris2345
 
Re: Possible scammers in Trade forum?

I've had similar issues in the WTB section as well. Once I pressed the member on their dealings with other members who seemed to have not gotten their figures, they stopped replying :lol

the member who contacted me was: porterchris2345

Thanks for telling me I added him to the list.
 
Was looking for LSM004 BABY GROOT
I had to post this reply 20210103_100626.jpg
 
I posted I was looking for a Hot Toys Han and Chewie and received messages from 4 different accounts that were all new users - jake7, lovatoadams, omidzargandeh, and BenjaminRoberts. The last one at least gave me a good laugh.

D7EB2906-20B1-40A8-A607-07BE72127DB5.jpeg
 
Just received a couple PM's from Terry Adasin offering me the Jedha Patrol 3 Pack (didn't know such a thing even existed, it must be ultra rare :cuckoo:) and to message him on his Google email. Joined January 2021, no posts, no feedback score.
 
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