I got scammed
 

I suppose it's my own fault. I didn't do my homework. Someone replied to my ISO Hack Wilson thread. Everything seemed on the up and up. It's Net54 after all. Long story short, I paid $200 FF and got ghosted. Now, other "people" are emailing me, same type pictures of cards, looking to sell. If anyone gets an email from Mark Corovan or David Bassett, it's a scam. Lesson learned. I guess I'm just grateful it wasn't for more money.

I'm not trying to be a jerk but I'll never understand why people use F&F and give up all buyer protection. Protect yourself.

The overwhelming majority of sellers in here do FF, because it's a trusted page. I've sent thousands of dollars FF, and never had a single problem. However, lesson learned.

Problems can arise and there can be a difference of opinion to who is responsible.

I was scammed on another board by a well respected 15 year member, so it can happen. Now, I always pay the extra fees for G&S, the peace of mind is worth it.

It's been reiterated to death, but these rules need to be followed when buying on here:

1. Look at member's join date. If they just joined, stay away.

2. Look at member's post count. If the number is small, be careful.

3. If you're still itching to give your money to this person for some reason, ask them for a few hobby references from people you know and trust.

4. Get their full name and address. Do a little internet sleuthing of your own in an attempt to verify that they are who they claim to be.

It's very simple. Unfortunately, this isn't a perfectly secure site which can always be trusted. It's just a hobby website, nothing more. While there may be much in the way of useful information, it's mixed with a lot of misinformation. That's just the nature of the internet, where everyone has a voice, no matter how little or much they know. Each member has to be vetted on an individual basis.

Friends and family should only be for friends and family. Stealing from PayPal isn’t cool and that’s what it is when doing deals this way to avoid the fees. Doesn’t mean you deserved to have your money stolen but what you were doing isn’t kosher either. Pay your fair share don’t try and game the system and these things won’t happen. Again sorry you got scammed but you shouldn’t have tried to avoid paying for the service that PayPal offers.

If any doubt just ask for their phone number and do a 1 minute phone call. You should be able to get a good idea it’s legit or not. Most scammers won’t give out their number.

We should start a thread to post all the scammer names they are using along with their email. Maybe also include something unique about their approach like both messages I received the scammer used a black background for the image they sent and it was cropped evenly.

sorry to hear this...the same guy that almost got me! Surprisingly david bassett was ok with me paying pp gs...did he ask you how u intended to pay? definitely a similar pattern of behavior. Good suggestions:

-ask to talk on the phone
-never pay ff unless you know the person and even so there is no protection if lost
-check tenure on here
-ask leon if still unsure

I am going to bump a few of my old WTB threads and see what haps

Jay, I suggested that on another thread. It’s a good idea so long as it gets bumped regularly so it stays high up on the board

Maybe Leon could keep it listed on top for a bit until things cool down

I also received an email from David Bassett after I posted some needs. I asked him what his Net54 username was and he said he received information from a friend on net54 but wouldn't give me the name. The card was a $4k card and I told him I was interested but only if I could get a few vouches, including his "friend" on net54. After his 3rd email, I told him there was no way I was sending him $4k without knowing who he was or have vouches about him. I was ghosted at that point.

Sorry it happened to you and had I not had a minute to think about it, I may have gotten scammed, too.

Would be funny to see how many M131's magically appear for sale, including some you already own.

For many years I stopped buying using f/f on net54. I was scammed on this site about 10 years ago. You are not covered by insurance by paypal using f/f. Some buyers on net54 even refused to sell cards you me on this site because I do not use paypal f/f. I pay by using postal money orders. Postal money order are insured by the government and your 100% covered for any fraud by the seller. They even have their own lawyers. Postal money orders clear the next day once payment is received. It is better for the seller to wait a few days for the money than having have something like this happen to the buyer.

Have to agree with what Glyn posted. And there is a thread that was near the top that had tons of views about the increased BS that has been taking place on the BST. Come on people, you have to do better to avoid being taken.

I remember a guy who tried to sell me a card that I owned and he took the image from my website.

I assume he didn't realize I was the owner of the website.

I'm not criticizing anyone personally and I'm not claiming to be a saint. However, besides being against the terms, it's unethical to use F/F with people you don't know.

Ethics don't disappear because "It's a big company," just as they don't disappear "Because no one is watching." If one doesn't like the terms, one can choose to not use the service.

sscam
 

It's really a terrible thing to do to you. It seems to me that if you're known here, and if your real name / city is listed somewhere here, then you could insist that unknown sellers send you the item for your inspection before sending them $$$$.

if you paid PayPal with a credit card, file a dispute with your cc company

Question
 

Now this is a serious question..... I like to think of myself as an ethical person and not trying to cheat or beat any system.... I always felt as though the extra you paid for Goods and Services on PayPal was like insurance for extra protection.... if you feel like you dont need it, you can pay via F/F and now you have no insurance. Kind of like when you decline the car insurance at the airport rental car booth. If Im wrong I need to reconsider using the F/F with deals..... please help me get to the truth ( and please try and not tell me Im a bad guy cause Im not!) .... thanks in advance for your diplomatic and honest answers!!! Rocky PS Im almost sure that PayPal makes money on F/F transactions somehow..... what do you think??

There is always much hand wringing in these threads about using F&F, but I have yet to encounter a single seller on here who wants to use G&S at their listed price in my many buys. I find this amusing.

Right or wrong I think about it the same way. G & S is you are paying for protection.

For the most part if I use F & F it is card friends I have done deals with before. Plus I have found most of the people that say they will pay the fees to use G & S are full of it and don't. Then it isn't worth the hassle to decline their payment and ask for the correct amount for a few bucks.

I've had good luck with the BST. Never been scammed although it's easy to understand why people are reluctant to send large amounts of cash or cards to someone they don't know.

That said, as others have stated, there are several red flags when it comes to the BST. Low post members and new members are the biggest considerations.

The original poster only has 6 posts and two of those posts are in this thread. That doesn't mean they deserved to get screwed, but if the OP was selling something, I wouldn't be buying. If I were to sell to the OP, it'd be payment up front for sure.

I hope what occurred to you is a misunderstanding and that the person is just away from their computer for a while.

If you want to do this community a favor, out the person that screwed you. If you find it was a misunderstanding, you're going to be eating a lot of crow.

No misunderstanding…same david basset who tried to sell me a card gary owns.

I agree G&S you are paying for a service. FF you get no insurance.

It's non of Paypal's business who my friends or family are

I'm guessing we'll be using Zelle for most BST purchases by next year. Or something other than PayPal anyway.

PayPal banned
 

A friend of mine was banned from excepting PayPal F/F for a baseball card payment--A $10,000 F/F payment was a red flag and caught their attention.

1) Have you ever filed a claim and received your money back? I personally know many people that have been defrauded out of thousands of dollars with USPS Money Orders. USPS was little to no help at all. If the guy that cashes it was the recipient the USPS is done.

2) This is completely false.

The value of USPS Money orders in the past was that they could be cashed at a PO counter for cash. Show up with package and MO, cash the MO and ship the package and at the same time generate a transaction receipt with a tracking number. That is no longer the case as the USPS rarely has cash in their drawers.

Sending a USPS MO to an unknown individual was and always will be just as dangerous as any other form of payment.

YMMV

I recently sent USPS money orders for a few thousand dollars for cards and their bank held up funds for close to a week before they put the money in their account. Now they limit them to $1000 each and if over $3000 total you need to fill out paper work. Wish I would have know that before I got there.

It amazed me but after a little research fake postal money orders are fairly common.

just use common sense

Nothing so uncommon as...

A certified check may be a better way. Depending on the relationship/standing you have with your bank you may be able to get them for free. I happen to be a member of the private client group at my bank. It is great and I am nowhere near wealthy by any standard. I get unlimited, from what I understand, cashiers checks. If I want a bank m.o. I would still pay. I have not used it that much, but it will come in handy later this year when I buy a new car. I believe the regular fee is $10 or so.

paypal g & s has always protected me...yes theres a fee...but...it's quick and easy!

To the OP -

Well, that just sucks. It's a good thing it was only a couple hundred bucks and not more. This just goes to show that there's always some a-hole out there looking to take advantage of trusting people. This thread has many good comments on how to avoid these issues. Hope this doesn't sour you on the BST.

Scammers Suck.. You want to help out the seller and this is what happens. Karma will get him. Always does..

Which is why they are now useless without the ability to cash them at the USPS counter. USPS had a hotline that could be called to verify if they were legit. Best of my knowledge it hasn’t worked for years.

There is no longer a way that I know of to move anything other than cash that is instant. Cashier’s checks no longer clear without days long wait. They can even be stopped.

More reason to buy in person. Hard to get scammed buying from a reputable dealer at a show.

Paypal is updating their terms as I recall where friends family is not available to any business account. I've only ever used it with true friends/family (ie- buying tickets for an event and being reimbursed by the person I'm going with, etc)- otherwise everything is business and I pay the fees. But I'm a business and it's simply a cost of doing business. I would never think of asking anyone (when I could) to use f/f as why would I? But I only sell business inventory (never anything from my personal collection) and run everything through my books as...well..you're supposed to do things that way, and I like sleeping at night. Others don't do it that way, and sleep just fine so different strokes for different folks.