I got scammed - don't be a victim

[hawkeye93]

A couple of months ago, I posted a search for a gray sunroof switch panel. I got a couple of replies. One of them was a PM that stated something to the effect of "My friend George Donald has one, it's in excellent condition. Contact him at [email protected]". The PM has since been deleted, so I don't have it anymore. Anyway, I contacted "George" and made a deal. I tried to pay via PayPal, but had problems making the payment as Friends/Family (PayPal kept blocking it). Since I have Venmo, it was suggested that I make payment to his "wife's" Venmo account, @Mskoffie8, which had a name "Cynthia Scales" attached to it. I was a tiny bit skeptical because of the difference in names, but since the SHO community is so great, I trusted it. I made the Venmo payment, and got the runaround from "George" for almost 2 months now. At the limit of my patience, I requested my money back, and was ghosted. Finally, I did a Google search for [email protected], and found the email address was a part of similar scams on other auto forums.

Fortunately for me, there are good people in the SHO community, as I already knew. I got what I was looking for from a well-known member of SHO Forum, Chad ("Irish Pride"). Now my car is looking great with the proper part. Thanks again, Chad.

I'm posting this as a reminder to be wary of scams like I encountered, but also a reminder that this community is made up of good people.

Scott

 

[luigisho]

Was the person who PM'd you a new member?

 

[hawkeye93]

I honestly didn't check, and I don't have the PM any more. But that's certainly a good suggestion - check the history of the person sending the PM.

At age 53, I'm still learning some lessons.

 

[luigisho]

It's happened before even with members who have been here for a while. I haven't seen that in a good while. Mostly opportunistic people who sign up to do bogus stuff like this.

 

[hawkeye93]

I found my original email to "George," and the member who referred me was "Benjamina". That member does not appear to exist any longer, as far as I can tell.

 

[luigisho]

That sounds right. Folks, check who is messaging you and how long they've been around, post count, etc. It helps from getting scammed

 

[Texas Marauder]

Sorry you got scammed. There's a special place in h*ll for people like that.

I've seen several times when a new 1 post member just happens to have the part someone is looking for. It screams "scam" to me. If I see that I'll usually post a warning though, it should be common sense.

 

[BaySHO Performance]

One thing we do on the Facebook groups when the first post from a new member is to try to sell a part or car is to let them know per one of our rules that it's imperative that they post a pic of what they are selling with their name and date in it so that folks know they actually have it.

 

[Devin]

When I use the classifieds I get a scammer.

Every

Single

Time

 

[DannyDrey]

I don't reply new member

 

[ShatteredMJ]

I don't reply new member

Said the new member lol.

 

[Steve93]

Don't get scammed by forum member Dawn Pruett, AKA "Jewe" - a thief and liar. Please don't make my mistake!

 

[FREAK_SHO]

A little context goes a long way. Please expound

 

[Steve93]

He claimed to have the dipstick and instrument bezel I was looking for. I paid through Venmo. this was on May 28th. Promise after promise after promise, then silence. Finally a response Saturday, April 19th, again promising it would arrive on Monday the 21st. Nothing. More silence. I fell for it, shame on me.