Don't Trust Anyone, Do Your Research!

Discussion in Scams = To Good To Be True started by lopezmramon • Jan 29, 2015.

  1. lopezmramon

    lopezmramonNew Member

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    I will share a scam story that happened to me a while ago. I was young, 20 years old, when the Wii came out. I wanted it and had some money saved, found some more, and went online to get one. This one seller on a service similar to eBay had a Wii for sale, really cheap, new, I was amazed! I went on to contact this person and they described the console for me, they told me it'd have free games, etc. I didn't wait one moment and went offsite , asked for their banking account, gave them the money. As you'd expect, this person disappeared from the face of the Earth the moment SHE got the money. I remember the name of the account to which I made a deposit. Police didn't help.

    So, my mistakes here:

    Being rash - Never do things in the heat of the moment when it comes to money. Business can take a day or two, in these cases.

    Going offsite - Ebay, Amazon and others have security measures for this, no need to bypass them. Use them to your advantage as both a buyer and a seller.

    Deposit without any kind of safety net - Again, I decided to not obey the rules and got punished for my stupidity.


    Make your research before buying, ask why a product is cheap, use Paypal and other safety nets. Never go alone without it being neccesary.

    What do you think?
     
  2. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    I would never ever give someone money without proper safety measures. Anyone with a website can scam you, but it's a part of life now.. we do our research, find people to vouch or if it's a person to person sale, they get my money in person when I get the item or it's through a site like Ebay et al, where you are protected to some degree. Otherwise, I won't be that desperate for something, I'll go without.
     
  3. lopezmramon

    lopezmramonNew Member

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    Honestly, most people don't realize when a scam is hitting them on time. Only after it's impossible to stop it, we see it. This is why Scam Advisors are a thing and many people consider Online Scams the new way of easy money and thievery. It's wise that you operate like that, JosieP, and I hope you help others with your knowledge. Thanks for your comment, I'm glad you showed interest in my post.
     
  4. Danii

    DaniiMember

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    I'm sorry that happened to you. I am often weary of people selling things on ebay or ebay clones.

    If the person doesn't have a good rating, I will not buy from them. It could be an account made especially for scams.
     
  5. lopezmramon

    lopezmramonNew Member

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    Exactly. I made the mistake of trying to buy fast, cheap and from an unrealiable source. We need to open our eyes for scammers. Anyone you ever buy from online has to be very reliable, have a lot of positive feedback, be attentive and has to be within the site's rules, all the time. If someone starts offering you deals for not being in-site, then there's a chance they're trying to scam you all the way.
     
  6. remnant

    remnantActive Member

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    One thing that people don't realize is that those who are most likely to scam them are close to them or are people who have invested in confidence building to catch them off guard. This is be far as offline scams are involved. Online scams invest in alot of confidence building before moving in for the kill.
     
  7. abonnen

    abonnenActive Member

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    I am sorry about your experience. Being an ebay seller (my home business) I hate when other sellers scam, it gives us all a bad name. One way to help look out for a scam look to see if they do their own pictures and not a stock picture, this shows they have the product and took the photos themselves.
     
  8. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    Should stumble into a deal that seems too good to be true then it most certainly is a scam.

    To ensure that you are never scammed do your shopping only reputable sites like Amazon. Should find a better deal on another site then find out as much as you can about that site and person you'll be buying something from. On Ebay for example it is advisable to buy from a seller who's been selling stuff on the site for a long time.
     
  9. djdontpay

    djdontpayActive Member

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    Well, scams and scamsters are everywhere. Even with security measures, some people still manage to scam companies like Amazon. Its not just the buyers who get scammed though, sellers get scammed as well. The best thing to do, is to stick to the rules laid out by the hosting site. So, I agree with you, if Amazon and Ebay have set rules and boundaries to keep things secure, try not to go outside those.
     
  10. luckycharm

    luckycharmActive Member

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    Sorry to hear about that. But you are very true. If you observe closely you can find that almost all scam shopping sites want money to be transferred through wire transfer or money orders. They are not so keen to receive money through debit/credit card transactions where the user got a greater control on it.

    It is always safer to stick to well-known and time tested shopping sites like Amazon and eBay. If we get cheated by a seller we can approach them to refund the money and it will adversely affect the business of that particular seller. So sellers always try to get positive feedback remarks .
     
  11. Forty Five

    Forty FiveNew Member

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    That was unfortunate. In my opinion, the best way to avoid such scams is to stay on reputable sites like Amazon and just go through with their entire procedure no matter how tempting it is to deviate. It is also important to consciously avoid getting emotional while shopping or making decisions based on feelings.
     
  12. Alexandoy

    AlexandoyWell-Known Member

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    Over here, the best safety net in online purchasing is the bank account. You cannot just open a bank account here because you need to present proof of identity. And when you deposit money, you get a copy of the deposit slip that you can present to the bank in case of dispute. A bank account is way much safer than sending money thru a remittance company.
     
  13. moondebi

    moondebiActive Member

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    With several advantages, there're traps as well in online shopping. So to avoid any kind of dismay, I prefer all the transaction to be done as cash on delivery. In that way I'll only have to pay when the stuff is in my hand. However, I've used other forms of payment options too, but before paying I look through all the terms and condition thoroughly. So far, there has not been any disarray, but I'm careful.
     
  14. kamai

    kamaiActive Member

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    This is why I've been hesitant to by on these sites. I am afraid to be scammed like many stories I've heard. I know we can reasearch and all but we never know. I feel much safer buying from stores everyone knows instead of individuals.
     
  15. luckycharm

    luckycharmActive Member

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    That is true, online transactions are becoming more and more unsafe these days. But we can't stay away from it completely especially when some products are not available in offline markets. I think in most of the cases there seems to be clear indications of a scam at play, like mode of payment, unrealistic offers, dubious shopping sites and so on. Usually people fall prey to incredible offers without doing a second check on that.

    I think this is true in all online dealings including online banking, social networking and all other transactions. Scammers usually target financial transactions as they are after money. They may also try to steal your sensitive information as a first step to rob you later.
     
  16. kamai

    kamaiActive Member

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    You are right someday I will have to try it if I need products not sold offline but I will make sure to research all I can. All that you have mentioned I am afraid of as there are very sneeky people who know their way around. I once wanted to purchse a tablet but ended up purchasing from the store for safety after reading many customers sad reviews.
     
  17. NinetyEighty1

    NinetyEighty1Active Member

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    Sorry to hear that you got scammed, but I'm sure a good amount of us had been in the situation. My advice is to simply wait until the product you want is on sale. Patience is a virtue, as many would say. Also, try to do a bit of research about the person you are doing business with if they have a site, you'll save yourself the drama and money.
     
  18. luri

    luriActive Member

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    I have learned this lesson "don't trust anyone" a hard way. I invested on a bitcoin mining site. Before, I invested on this site. I did a research. Every thing I read about the site was positive. However, I lost money on this site. Even when I am buying online, I never buy just because people have given good reviews. I will check the site or seller thoroughly before I place order.