Author Topic: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!  (Read 151709 times)

Offline Dan

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #160 on: August 01, 2024, 04:03:48 PM »
yeah... but some people:
a) Are naïve
b) Don't read
c) Don't realize that a scam can be a scam (i.e. the ticket looks legit but then the airline cancels it after 3 days etc.)
d) Are stupid

I realize that class d) won't get helped from some added precautions, but a), b) and c) might.
Even just a line under a new member's pm saying [Warning - This Member is new. Do business with them at your own risk] may help...
Every member has a join date in their profile. It's there for a reason.
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Offline imayid2

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Re: Re: Airline Gift Cards And Vouchers Master Thread
« Reply #161 on: August 01, 2024, 04:04:13 PM »
His phone number is 706-392-0987
Whitepages is a good place to get info on phone numbers for a small yearly fee.

Offline yungermanchik

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Offline DavidsDeals

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Re: Re: Airline Gift Cards And Vouchers Master Thread
« Reply #163 on: August 01, 2024, 07:47:58 PM »
Whitepages is a good place to get info on phone numbers for a small yearly fee.

Honestly this latest scammer was quite thorough.

1. Willing to go first
2. Actually booked a ticket
3. Sent “verification” and the phone number used for Zelle was a legit iPhone so phone records search may not trigger red flags
4. Had some credible members vouch for the trade (only to later find out it was a scam)

I can see why many people would be deceived and even I would have been tricked too if the scammer had done some things better. Personally I wouldn’t have expected someone on this site would use stolen cards, have Zelle laundering mules, and have fake verification prepared.

My tip for everyone going forward is ask them for a updated video recording of whatever they’re  selling. If they have an iPhone number used for zelle, then request to FaceTime them. Avoid large purchases from new users. And most importantly don’t buy from a user that is only selling and never buying and vouches using other new accounts or themselves.

Don’t buy United Travel Bank. Literally people have been getting scammed on that forever and not just on this forum.

Be cautious with any new account after 3/2024 that doesn’t have any credibility since it seems that’s when the more complex scams started. And lots of scammers share info so I imagine this forum is now a target and there will be more scams in the future.

« Last Edit: August 01, 2024, 08:22:25 PM by DavidsDeals »

Offline Dan

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #164 on: August 01, 2024, 10:27:22 PM »
Be cautious with any new account after 3/2024 that doesn’t have any credibility since it seems that’s when the more complex scams started. And lots of scammers share info so I imagine this forum is now a target and there will be more scams in the future.
Hmm. This is a good point.
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Online mevinyavin

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Re: Re: Airline Gift Cards And Vouchers Master Thread
« Reply #165 on: August 02, 2024, 04:32:28 AM »
Even just a line under a new member's pm saying [Warning - This Member is new. Do business with them at your own risk] may help...
You're not allowed to do this - it is profiling and discrimination.  :P

Instead, you should say [Warning: every member should be treated exactly the same. Do business with everybody without checking into anything but note that they may treat you differently because no one except you cares about discrimination.]
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Offline Moshe Green

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #166 on: August 02, 2024, 04:41:11 AM »
Every member has a join date in their profile. It's there for a reason.
Perhaps you missed my post (which is actually b on the list)
Quote
yeah... but some people:
a) Are naïve
b) Don't read
c) Don't realize that a scam can be a scam (i.e. the ticket looks legit but then the airline cancels it after 3 days etc.)
d) Are stupid
If they are a)naiive then they don't understand what a "new account" means,
If they b) don't read then they simply won't see that the user is new,
If they c) Don't realize that a scam can be a scam then it wont help if they know the user is new,
and if they are d) stupid, then

A warning may help these people.

Listen, you have a forum and people are using it to scam other users. A simple warning can help people save thousands of dollars... the ball is in your court.

Offline CountValentine

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #167 on: August 02, 2024, 05:33:12 AM »
New members are in a tight spot. I would bet most are honest.
I see no good way around this.
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Online mevinyavin

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #168 on: August 02, 2024, 05:44:12 AM »
New members are in a tight spot. I would bet most are honest.
I see no good way around this.
Unfortunate but true.
Actually, the identical problem exists with profiling in general...
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Offline Moshe Green

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #169 on: August 02, 2024, 08:40:10 AM »
New members are in a tight spot. I would bet most are honest.
I see no good way around this.
I agree with you in general.

But a new member who starts selling 1000's of dollars of merchandise right away has a 90% chance of being a scammer.

Offline CountValentine

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #170 on: August 02, 2024, 08:50:44 AM »
But a new member who starts selling 1000's of dollars of merchandise right away has a 90% chance of being a scammer.
I referred several here that have a lot to sell. I also PM the other party several times to let them know they are legit.
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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #171 on: August 02, 2024, 08:55:35 AM »
I also PM the other party several times to let them know they are legit.
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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #172 on: August 02, 2024, 09:21:51 AM »
I referred several here that have a lot to sell. I also PM the other party several times to let them know they are legit.

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Offline Dan

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #173 on: August 02, 2024, 09:40:41 AM »
Perhaps you missed my post (which is actually b on the list)If they are a)naiive then they don't understand what a "new account" means,
If they b) don't read then they simply won't see that the user is new,
If they c) Don't realize that a scam can be a scam then it wont help if they know the user is new,
and if they are d) stupid, then

A warning may help these people.

Listen, you have a forum and people are using it to scam other users. A simple warning can help people save thousands of dollars... the ball is in your court.
If you are volunteering to code it, then by all means. I don't have those technical skills.

If we need to shut down this board, we will. Did it with mileage sales when airline auditors were banning people for selling in the early days.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #174 on: August 02, 2024, 12:31:32 PM »

4. Had some credible members vouch for the trade (only to later find out it was a scam)


This is the biggest problem. People shouldn't be vouching for them until it is clearly not a scam and irrevocable. They also need to undo any recommendation if they need to for any reason.
Feelings don't care about your facts

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #175 on: August 02, 2024, 12:41:08 PM »
This is the biggest problem. People shouldn't be vouching for them until it is clearly not a scam and irrevocable. They also need to undo any recommendation if they need to for any reason.
I think many are misunderstanding. Saying "I had smooth transaction with xyz and we do another" is not vouching for them. Most scammers will do some if not many trades with no issue. Then once the hook is set, LOOK OUT!

Those I vouch for I have dealt with for many years. Others should do the same.
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Offline Yehudaa

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #176 on: August 02, 2024, 12:51:02 PM »
This is the biggest problem. People shouldn't be vouching for them until it is clearly not a scam and irrevocable. They also need to undo any recommendation if they need to for any reason.
Agreed. It’s also possible that the scammers do complete a couple small transactions fully to get house legit users to vouch for them, and then find a big fish to scam. Buying a few little things like lounge passes for $20 is a small cost in a subsequent scam for a few thousand.

The other thing to remember is that someone “vouching for a member” does not necessarily mean that that new member is trustworthy. If the new member paid first and then you sent them whatever you sold, all you now know is that they exist and did a deal. You do NOT know that they’re trustworthy- they did precisely nothing that required trust.

Short of some verification system on DDF (which I don’t think is necessary), I’d just not trade with new members. Personally, when someone PMs about a transaction, the first thing that I do is look at their post history. Even if their account is a year or two old, if all they’ve ever posted about was buying/selling a few specific things, to me that’s still a bit of a red flag. I try to deal with people who have posted meaningfully in other threads outside of GFST. (I say meaningfully as it’s easy enough to post a simple “Thanks” or something to get some posts outside of GFST.) It’s not foolproof, but it’s just something I’d recommend.

Lastly, I’d say that IF people place any weight on this thread:
1. Anything there that’s posted by a relatively new member should be disregarded.
2. Maybe all posts there should include something like:
- Member Name
- Transaction value
- Did the member actually do anything that required trust? (Seems second paragraph above.)

/.02

Offline HudZ

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #177 on: August 02, 2024, 12:53:43 PM »
Those I vouch for I have dealt with for many years. Others should do the same.
Hence the reason why many wanted the vouching thread to only be used by long time members. And not new members.

This pipe official guy, even wrote in a thread, that you should look at the vouching thread, to see that I'm recommended... Which meant absolutely nothing, as it was from new members, and for all you know, it was all coming from him...
« Last Edit: August 02, 2024, 12:58:24 PM by HudZ »

Offline Yehudaa

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #178 on: August 02, 2024, 12:56:26 PM »
Maybe another way to restrict things a bit is to require 50-100 posts outside of GFST before one can send or receive any PMs at all. I’m sure scammers will try to MS some posts to get there, but it would be a bit of a barrier.

Yes, that would also restrict legitimate new members from trading, but I imagine the intention of GFST was always as a side benefit for overall users of DDF, not what we want people to join for.

ETA: This would also save innocent new DDF users from being scammed. I could be wrong, but I assume most scam victims here are relatively new on DDF and don’t understand the risks yet, like the OP of this recent scam. Nothing against him, but in a year here, it looks like he has 0 posts outside of GFST.

Basically I’m saying that we should keep new members off GFST, both to keep scammers out, and to prevent innocent new users from getting scammed.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2024, 01:02:00 PM by Yehudaa »

Offline DavidsDeals

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Re: PSA: Trading With New Members! READ THIS AND DON'T GET SCAMMED!
« Reply #179 on: August 02, 2024, 12:58:49 PM »
I think many are misunderstanding. Saying "I had smooth transaction with xyz and we do another" is not vouching for them. Most scammers will do some if not many trades with no issue. Then once the hook is set, LOOK OUT!

Those I vouch for I have dealt with for many years. Others should do the same.

Yeah I might have incorrectly used the term, vouch. I only meant that the seller (the scammer) and buyers (mix  of new accounts and credible accounts) confirmed that the trade went well. With enough of these trades, I think most people get the feeling that the seller is credible.

I think the scammer this time got 3-4 completed trades and seemed relatively credible. I was starting to doubt my scammer radar after I kept seeing people complete a trade with him.

I agree a completed trade shouldn’t count as a vouch, but after enough completed trades, the illusion of credibility doesn’t feel far off from being vouched for.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2024, 01:04:21 PM by DavidsDeals »