Warning: Scammer in Buy & Sell

[Phocal]

When you think about it, a scammer would need to verify an account by linking an existing bank account or credit card and receive a small PayPal payment. It would need to have the same name and location as the hacked account, so the profile would have to be edited. Then place an advert, and do so before the account holder realised what had happened.

Not really true. My mailing address and where I physically live is Alaska. My billing address for all my accounts is Texas and I have no intent on changing that. My profile here says I live on Mars.

 

[RichardC]

Not really true. My mailing address and where I physically live is Alaska. My billing address for all my accounts is Texas and I have no intent on changing that. My profile here says I live on Mars.

Mars is even colder than Alaska.

In the above scenario, the thief still needs a verified Paypal account and therefore the buyer is afforded some protection.

 

[Phocal]

Mars is even colder than Alaska.

In the above scenario, the thief still needs a verified Paypal account and therefore the buyer is afforded some protection.

That is easy enough. I can easily get a fake ID and open up a bank account under that name and as soon as the money lands in the account withdraw it. Leaving whoever I scammed without any way to get their money back and no link back to me.

 

[RichardC]

That is easy enough. I can easily get a fake ID and open up a bank account under that name and as soon as the money lands in the account withdraw it. Leaving whoever I scammed without any way to get their money back and no link back to me.

It's a different issue.

The buyer still has protection if your Paypal account is verified meaning that they are indeed likely to get their money back. It's not the thief that is the problem. The issue is members losing their money by sending to an unverified Paypal account or by other unsecure means.

Thieving is easy (I prefer that word to scamming which sanitises things). In most circumstances, all you can do is slow the thief down and encourage them to go elsewhere.

 

[Phocal]

It's a different issue.

The buyer still has protection if your Paypal account is verified meaning that they are indeed likely to get their money back. It's not the thief that is the problem. The issue is members losing their money by sending to an unverified Paypal account or by other unsecure means.

Thieving is easy (I prefer that word to scamming which sanitises things). In most circumstances, all you can do is slow the thief down and encourage them to go elsewhere.

Not if the scammer is a professional and knows what they are doing, there are a lot of them out there. There is nothing special about a Paypal verified account. All it says is that Paypal sent some small amount of money to this account and the person verified the amount of money they deposited. They in no way check if the person who opens the Paypal account or the bank account is who they say they are.

I can open a bank account under a fake ID (super easy to acquire if you know the right people) and post I am selling this camera for $500 on multiple sites. Lets say I posted it to 10 sites and get 10 people to buy this camera. I know I will not get all the money because it will get discovered before all the money comes in. So as the money comes in I withdraw the money and lets say I am able to pull $2,000 before Paypal catches on and tries to recover the money for the people who bought my camera. How are they going to get this money to them? The bank account was opened under a fake ID and has zero links back to me and there is no money coming into the account except from Paypal transactions. It is not like it is my personal account where my paycheck goes.

One reason why I don't purchase things using Paypal and buy very few things from individuals that I can't interact with personally.

 

[Phocal]

The weak point in all this is people using easy to crack passwords on their accounts and/or not practicing good internet security and getting some virus on their computer.

 

[RichardC]

Paypal protects the buyer (check limits and exclusions in their Ts & Cs) when the money is sent to a verified account.

Paypal does not protect the buyer at all when the money is sent to an unverified or F&F account.

Whether or not Paypal are able to subsequently recover their money from a one eyed high IQ thief living in an Antarctic sub-terranean complex with their white cat is completely irrelevant. Payments are refunded regardless whether Paypal get their money back from the thief. The two are not interdependent.

Your remark about account security on here though is very relevant.

Before this gets blown out of all perspective, the vast majority of online transactions are concluded successfully. I have not seen this issue raised on this website before.

 

[demiro]

Just use standard PayPal and you'll very likely to be protected as a buyer. No need to reinvent the wheel, I don't think.

 

[Z-Shooter]

Nice, right after I buy a camera from a user. Maybe you could pm people with a list of the hacked accounts to give us a warning.

No need to worry ........ your camera was sent in absolutely as described condition. Should be at your door Monday or Tuesday if "snail mail" does their job.

 

[Bob in Pittsburgh]

Not really true. My mailing address and where I physically live is Alaska. My billing address for all my accounts is Texas and I have no intent on changing that. My profile here says I live on Mars.

Note to self: if I ever sell anything to Phocal, make sure to charge extra for shipping to Mars.

 

[speedy]

Just out of curiosity, was that the silver EM5 3 for $600 odd?

 

[Ken C]

One of our moderators' accounts was hacked and used to create listings in Buy & Sell where the scammer was trying to get people to pay him using PayPal Friends and Family.

Unfortunately, it is common on many sites for a good seller's account to be compromised and then used by a scammer. Because of this, you cannot rely on good feedback as the sole way of protecting yourself from a scam.

I personally learned this lesson the hard way last year after I sent a wire payment for an expensive watch to a scammer who had hacked a seller's account on a site called Rolex Forums.

If you are a buyer, I strongly recommend that you avoid the use of PayPal Friends and Family (Personal) and other unprotected forms of payment.

For all members and especially those who use our Buy & Sell board, please make sure that you use a strong password on our site and that you don't use the same password on any other sites. If possible, use two factor authentication for extra security.

And if you get a PM asking you to click on a link that takes you to a site that looks like Mu-43 and asks you to login, don't do it! That is a common way that people get hacked. Please be careful!!!

Amin---good watches go to davidsw--honest, reliable----I have bought numerous rolex, omega and panarei----this guy is the real deal. Met him in person in Orlando Fl----pleasure to deal with.
Ken

 

[Amin]

Ken, thanks, I actually bought from him after I got scammed.

 

[PakkyT]

Not to be rude or even accusing but why not simply identify the account that got hacked in case anyone still in contact with them with negotiations?

 

[bmhome1]

I believe it was the EM5 3 for $350.00 that was visible for a short time.

 

[Bytesmiths]

My profile here says I live on Mars.

So THAT's where you shoot all those gators!

 

[Tapper]

Man, this is depressing. So many awful creeps our there. :-/

 

[felipegeek]

I have not been on here in quite a while. Sorry to see there were attempts at defrauding members. I'm an IT geek and have started having unique passwords everywhere as of about 5 years ago. However, I had not changed the password here since I setup the account in 2014 and while it was not a reused one it it has an old base word as a memory trick I used to use in simpler times. Now it's 100% unique with TOTP 2FA enabled. It's just a necessary pain-in-the-arse we all have to deal with for the foreseeable future of our Internet connected world.

 

[Amin]

At least three more accounts have been compromised since I made this thread. I did not find any evidence of our site admin panel or database having been breached. The same advice applies.

I would strongly encourage all members to use two-factor authentication (two step verification) at this point. You can do so here: https://www.mu-43.com/account/security

 

[CyVan]

At least three more accounts have been compromised since I made this thread. I did not find any evidence of our site admin panel or database having been breached. The same advice applies.

I would strongly encourage all members to use two-factor authentication (two step verification) at this point. You can do so here: https://www.mu-43.com/account/security

Will do Amin. Just wanted to point out that you're asking us to click a link that looks like it goes to the site to login. If it was your account that was compromised then this could be a trap as well. Might be better to tell ppl how to find the security page rather than link to it.