Potential scam through Craigslist

[G1911]

How did you pay? You didn't send it PayPal F&F or similar, right? It is easy to get your money back if you used G&S or a similar sensible service for sending lots of money to a complete stranger.

[hcv123]

1) If it's on Craig's list - assume it's a scam until proven otherwise.
2) If I am doing business with someone I don't know or who isn't well vouched for by people I do know (and trust) I use a protected method of payment including being willing to pay the extra 3-4% fees so the seller nets their ask and I am protected.

I am sorry the above doesn't help with your current situation.

Another thing that would have made my warning sirens sound with your transaction is it appears the pictures you shared are photoshopped - as they appear 100% identical except the card has changed.

Good luck with the situation.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by hcv123

1) If it's on Craig's list - assume it's a scam until proven otherwise.
2) If I am doing business with someone I don't know or who isn't well vouched for by people I do know (and trust) I use a protected method of payment including being willing to pay the extra 3-4% fees so the seller nets their ask and I am protected.

I am sorry the above doesn't help with your current situation.

Another thing that would have made my warning sirens sound with your transaction is it appears the pictures you shared are photoshopped - as they appear 100% identical except the card has changed.

Good luck with the situation.

Good advice. But the two pictures are not the same. Look at the space between the index and the middle finger. Much bigger in the Mantle pic.

[BigfootIsReal]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Good advice. But the two pictures are not the same. Look at the space between the index and the middle finger. Much bigger in the Mantle pic.

Not identical, look at the gap between the index and middle fingers

[butchie_t]

Does anyone go so far as to look at the metadata on card photos?

This can be looked at and is another evaluation point to provide information about the picture.

It may not be enough to determine authenticity, but there is enough information there to aid in garnering an opinion prior to a transaction.

Butch

[Zan]

Originally Posted by butchie_t

Does anyone go so far as to look at the metadata on card photos?

This can be looked at and is another evaluation point to provide information about the picture.

It may not be enough to determine authenticity, but there is enough information there to aid in garnering an opinion prior to a transaction.

Butch

How does one go about doing this, and what does it mean? Pretty unfamiliar. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[butchie_t]

Originally Posted by Zan

How does one go about doing this, and what does it mean? Pretty unfamiliar. Any help is greatly appreciated.

https://pixelpeeper.com/exif-data-viewer

This is an on-line program. I will caveat that you are not going to exclusively rule in or out a particular photo from someone. That being said, take a photo that you have and drop it into this program. You can then see the underlying information associated with the photo.

Things like what sort of camera was used to take the picture.
What date the picture was taken.
In some instances you can even get GPS coordinates and GPS date/time information.
There is also a PhotoShop header. Not sure what would be entered here if something was photoshopped, BUT it is another datapoint for evaluation.

What does all of this mean when gathered together. A level of intent on the part of the seller. Someone legit is not gonna muck with this information if they have nothing to hide.

A red flag for me would be the absence of this metadata. One has to make an effort to remove this data.

Again, not foolproof but just another datapoint to evaluate when you are looking to buy something from someone and they send you photos of what they are selling.

Butch

[effe]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Good advice. But the two pictures are not the same. Look at the space between the index and the middle finger. Much bigger in the Mantle pic.

His hand is casting a shadow, the cards are not.

[stlcardsfan]

Probably the same guy. Here's his '53 set.

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/atq/d...48039217.html#

[ClementeFanOh]

The problem isn't paying a complete stranger- most of us on net54 have
done this very thing, on net54 itself. I have yet to be defrauded...

The problem is transacting on Craigslist. I have never, and will never. I
think I remember a comedian saying that, when a person contacts another
person on Craigslist, the two people need to decide who the murderer is first

Also, there's no insurance for covering a scam like the one mentioned.

Trent King

[Zan]

Originally Posted by stlcardsfan

Probably the same guy. Here's his '53 set.

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/atq/d...48039217.html#

It's possible, thanks for posting this.

[bmattioli]

octavio is a well respected good dude here,,

Always pay PayPal G/S Always..

Hope everything works out for you..

[ronniehatesjazz]

Originally Posted by stlcardsfan

Probably the same guy. Here's his '53 set.

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/atq/d...48039217.html#

Not an RV guy but if I owned one and sold it leaving behind a graded 53 Jackie, I don't think I'd be so generous to tell the purchasers to just keep it. Also, if I didn't collect baseball cards but saw hundreds of old cards from the early 50s, I think I'd do some research before selling lol.

A huge flaw I see in most of these stories is somehow coming into these graded cards from an elderly person's estate or some collector who doesn't have any care for them. Of course it's possible, but based on the circumstances, I don't think you'd find a slabbed card in your grandfather's childhood collection and I doubt an investor who had a graded Jackie, with a ~1 year old SGC slab, would be the type to just forget about it.

[jingram058]

The only way to do business on Craigslist is to arrange a meet up, face to face, not by yourself but with company, and no money changing hands until the merchandise is seen and handled. No long distance deals or money sent. I have several glorious antique tube radios purchased in this way.