Scam Warning

  • Thread starter Thread starter Predrag Trpkov
  • Start date Start date
Treeline said:
Stop whining. Deliver the unit to Predrag and then leave.


Yea, really! I don't think you'll be making a whole lot of sales round these parts.
 
kragbax said:
I did leave a feedback at Sweetwater explaining that 'waste@aol.com' is XHipHop who has been commiting fraud all over the place, and left a link to this and other forum topics regarding it. As of yesterday the mixer was still listed on Sweetwaters trading post, but it IS the weekend.

I really can't stand people who rip honest people off. It not only sucks for the people who lose the money, but for other honest people trying to sell their own used gear. Frankly I just won't make a purchase from someone anymore unless I can
a) see the item up front, or
b) get the item prior to sending my cash (why is your item worth more then my cash that I should send it first? - at least you can send an item COD, and/or prove a package was delivered); or
c) The person has a legitimate verifiable business location where the item is being sold from. Legitimate business owners are less likely to be scamming people (IMO), or possibly
d) the seller has a ton of positive feedback from a wide variety of sources

-Krag

This goes into the "duh" catagory. eBay is a frickin joke and anyone who buys from them is asking for trouble. Meet the person, see the item, check it out, buy the item cash. Done for both parties.

If you can't find what you are looking for locally, drive a reasonable distance. If you can't do that, look for actual buisinesses who sell used stuff and deal with them. You may pay higher, but you will get what you want, period. One scam could wipe out all the money you ever saved on eBay.

I wish eBay would just go away, but there are no limits to the stupid people out there, so be it.

BTW, the last one on your list means nothing. There are several "scams" that allow a con artist to steal many times and STILL get positive feedback.
 
well things like this turn me off to ebay. granted i've never had a problem with sales and buying things in the past. I know it'd be rediculously expensive but i would like to see something like a selling hub. something where sellers send the product to a third party hub and then the hub ships the product when its sold on ebay. that would weed out shady people especially if the product could be tested by and approved by the hub.
 
I've bought hundreds of things on eBay without problem. I think it's actually a very good system if you look at feedback, and don't buy from people with low/no/negative feedback. I buy on eBay on a monthly if not weekly basis, and I've saved a TON of money, and gotten some very cool obscure gear that just isn't available in Neenah Wisconsin. Being in Neenah leaves me very little opportunity to go and 'see' gear before I buy it. I suppose if you're in New York or LA that may work, but for those of us in podunksville, we have to purchase our gear online.

I think with anything, you just have to be smart about your purchases. I've also bought a lot of gear on internet classifieds and have only had one problem. Again, it's a case of researching the people you're transacting with.
 
That's weird... I emailed this guy yesterday about a Digimax he had up on harmony central (and a couple other places). He replied that it was still available...


...but THEN I found this thread.


It's kinda weird, because, in post #19, half-way up the page, he said (on 8/11) that he tried to sell a digimax but it ended up being broken and that he couldn't replace it.....


...so how is it that he couldn't find a replacement digimax 6 days ago, but now he has one to sell me?






I'm so cornfused? :confused:












:p



WATYF
 
distortedrumble said:
well things like this turn me off to ebay. granted i've never had a problem with sales and buying things in the past. I know it'd be rediculously expensive but i would like to see something like a selling hub. something where sellers send the product to a third party hub and then the hub ships the product when its sold on ebay. that would weed out shady people especially if the product could be tested by and approved by the hub.

Uhhh, too late, it's called escrow.

Bob sounds a lot like a scam artist I ran afoul of recently. His name is Geno Sapio and he burned me and a lot of others on a number of sites including e-bay, Harmony Central, Gearslutz and Sonic State. I found him through a local tabloid here in Southern California called the Recycler that also has online ads.

I don't think they're the same guy (Geno is in Michigan), but the MO sounds VERY similar. Is there some kind of instruction manual these guys are using? Even his posts read much the same. A lot of semi-plausible denials, promises to "do the right thing", insistence that items have been shipped, etc.

For what it's worth, Geno got arrested last Friday so he's out of commision, for the time being. He's still got $900.00 of my money, but it could have been worse- he DID refund me $1000.00. (I "bought" an Akai DPS24 from him.) I know he got others for similar sums. I fear that he'll get out and even if there is a judgement against him he'll just move out of state and start over again.

Still, I've had mostly excellent experiences buying online and I've done fairly well selling. Got perfect feedback on E-bay! :) I'll be more careful in the future, but I'm sure I'll buy again.

Acorec- It's stupid to blame E-bay. Do you think scamming people was invented with E-bay? You think you can't get ripped off meeting someone face-to-face? Thieves, con-artists, scammers are as old as commerce. They will never go away. All we can do is try to be careful and weed them out as much as we can.

Ted
 
distortedrumble said:
escrow holds money....not product

What's the difference? They hold the money until the buyer has the product, has tested it, and agrees that it's as advertised. What's the point in double shipping the product which only increases the chance for damage and problems?

Ted
 
hm.....

at first, predrag had only 4 posts, and 2 or 3 of them in this thread, he had no real rep, adn probably just joined to grind his axe.

I mean, thee are several scams where someone in another country gets an item, then packs a DIFFERENT item back, usually same item thats broken...also various "stop payment" frauds going on. Its always a foreigner who knows its cheaper to let it go than to fly there and give them a lecture.

But...i have to say the ebay rating thing was fairly conclusive, yet it is possible to "spoof" a "legitimate big name site"...just because your click on a ebay link, and your browser SAYS youre at an enay site, you could still be looking at a spoofed page somewhere else....but i dont think thats the case here.

it IS a legitimate scam to simply claim you never received the merchandise, and get a second free one.

Thats why I've heard of a new invention.....shipping insurance!
doesnt that take care of lost/stolen/missing shipments when they do occur?
 
For the record, I've seen Predrag's posts on various audio forums for several years. I believe he came here to help avert more folks being scammed. So I thank him, and you should too.
 
what is the way people normally ebay... get money then ship if you are selling or get product then pay if you are buying..? What do you do?
 
sadly.....no

sadly...no. To get good "feedback" as a buyer, you have to have that magic "prompt payment...reccomend this buyer" fo all your buying feedbacks. They get their money paypal quick...you get the package when and if they feel like sending it at all. Ive bought like 20 diff items here and there on ebay. some were only cd's, some were hundred dollar items.

i know a couple of times i was so excited to save an extra coule bucks off the ebay price, sniping and such late at night, only after i bought did i notice the super low rating. I sweat it out, but i got the item quick. Ive never had an ebay problem, but my time is coming, i suppose...its like a reverse lottery. Nowadays, no one will buy unless youre a "powerseller" with a gazillion sales 100% positive to your name, its made it so commercial so only the big guys can play. I mean you can still sell your item with a 100% feedback of 20, but less people bid and they bid lower because they KNOW you have to take it with a low rating.

hey...buying at a good price off ebay is like taking home a stranger from the bar to a lonely cabin...its quite fun...its a cheap, quality product...but eventually youll get burned and pick up some wacko. Statistics are a bitch that way.
 
What's important for me when bidding on eBay I not just the quantity of items bought/sold, but what was bought and sold. If a guy has 15 feedbacks and several of them were recent, high (several hundred and up) dollar items from various sellers with large quantities of feedback, I'd feel pretty good about bidding. But I've run across a lot of people who have 25-30 '100% positive' feedbacks, and when you check what it is they bought or sold you see most of the items were 5 cent recipes and 99 cent CD's. Those people I wouldn't send money too. Unless I wanted to buy one of those 5 cent recipes and bake a cake. Plus I don't ever bid on peoples auctions who just joined eBay prior to listing that $1000 Buy It Now item (that typically lists for $1500). That's an accident waiting to happen.

Just be smart - and find out EVERYTHING about the seller you can. If you don't feel at least 95% comfortable, and you can't afford to lose the coin - don't bid.
 
by the time you end up finding out everything about the seller..the sale is almost over. but now that you mention all the ways to rip people off.....I think I'll just stick with the store and classifieds
 
Quote XHiphop: "You've never dealt with me and all you have is 2nd hand information about me."

Yes, it is too bad that I have this information about you. Unfortunately for you, though, I do have this information. For your information, now that I've been informed by this information, I don't plan to buy anything from you. Ha, "the information superhighway" actually does contain information. Ha. See the birds in formation?
 
I buy and sell a ton of things on ebay. I have 99 positive feedbacks. I think what eases peoples minds when selling at least is:
Give them your phone number or tell them you can get it when they ask you a question.
Always offer to have the item picked up (being in the NYC area) that works out pretty well.
And take pictures of the actual item you are selling, not a "File" photo.

I know I wrote that in reverse but the same can be applied to what buyers can look for. I've done tons of transactions over ebay. I have come close to getting ripped off but been lucky and trusted instincts.

All in all though, I've made purchases ranging from 3 bucks to 2K with no problems. Sold a 23K car. Sold tons of music equipment.

I'm a big ebay fan but have noticed that its been getting bad the last few years with non paying bidders. Speaking as a seller, I can't stand that! A collossal waste of time.
 
umair said:
I buy and sell a ton of things on ebay. I have 99 positive feedbacks. I think what eases peoples minds when selling at least is:
Give them your phone number or tell them you can get it when they ask you a question.
Always offer to have the item picked up (being in the NYC area) that works out pretty well.
And take pictures of the actual item you are selling, not a "File" photo.

I know I wrote that in reverse but the same can be applied to what buyers can look for. I've done tons of transactions over ebay. I have come close to getting ripped off but been lucky and trusted instincts.

All in all though, I've made purchases ranging from 3 bucks to 2K with no problems. Sold a 23K car. Sold tons of music equipment.

I'm a big ebay fan but have noticed that its been getting bad the last few years with non paying bidders. Speaking as a seller, I can't stand that! A collossal waste of time.

Unfortunately, I did ALL of those things and I still got ripped off for $900.00 from a guy in Michigan. The good news is that he's been arrested and will probably serve some time and hopefully all of us who got ripped will see our money again.

What I've noticed is that several of the different scam artists I've seen lately all follow the same protocol. Is there an instruction manual out there or something? (Maybe they bought it on E-bay???)

He gave me phone, address, even his bank name and phone! Wasn't too hard for the police to find him.

But I still like e-bay!

Ted
 
tedluk said:
Unfortunately, I did ALL of those things and I still got ripped off for $900.00 from a guy in Michigan. The good news is that he's been arrested and will probably serve some time and hopefully all of us who got ripped will see our money again.

What I've noticed is that several of the different scam artists I've seen lately all follow the same protocol. Is there an instruction manual out there or something? (Maybe they bought it on E-bay???)

He gave me phone, address, even his bank name and phone! Wasn't too hard for the police to find him.

But I still like e-bay!

Ted

Wow! Well, he's just a moron then. Stupid criminals crack me up.
 
XHipHop

I wish to inform the community that XHipHop has sent me the Aphex 109 EQ. I consider this case closed.

Thanks everybody for your help.

Predrag
 
Last edited:
Great news, Predrag!

Going through all of this probably has taken some of the pleasure out of getting it, but at least you have it now.

My guy has been officially charged and the case is moving forward. I don't know if I'll ever get my money, but at least he'll be punished.

Ted
 
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