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A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

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Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#51

I don't do these sort of trades but if I did I'd try: Buyer sends 1/4 of the BTC Sellers sends 1st card Buyer sends 1/2 of the BTC Seller sends 2nd card Buyer sends 1/4 of BTC That way the risk is shared, and both parties stand to lose at most 1/4 of the value (if seller defects after receiving the first payment, or buyer defects and fails to make the last payment).

Noterized letter of intent works too for domestic sales. Not anonymous but keeps people honest, and gives you option of small claims court.

I think that even an honest unemployed 22-year-old would not be willing and able to find a notary as part of the deal.

When I was 18 and needed to get a letter notarized, it cost me $35.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#52
Yeah, I'm not buying that apology for a second. Probably the first thing any con artist learns is how to fake being really sorry as well as they faked being legitimate anytime somebody manages to turn the tables on them. I bet you can get your money back and then report him to the police too. He's way beyond being corrected by his parents, and he probably threw that in just to make you think there's an option besides the police, assuming that you're too nice to put him in jail, where he belongs. Maybe some jail time will lead him to reevaluate his choices. Or at least keep him from stealing from anybody else for a little while.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#53

I'm a cynic, I know, but the I'm sorry sounds like a prepared cut and paste for when it goes bad. He had other Apple giftcards in large amounts laying around that he could use to appease the author??? This is a well worn machine.

Eh? He got paid in bitcoin at the end I thought

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#54
post #7

The buyer assumed ebay feedback was good enough, but even veteran ebay buyers with good feedback will try to scam sellers by transacting outside of the site to save the transaction fees... and of course that's how you get scammed. The transaction fees are partially insurance for these things: if you buy and get scammed, ebay will eat the cost of it, much like credit card companies do in cases of fraud.

> if you buy and get scammed, ebay will eat the cost of it, much like credit card companies do in cases of fraud. This is not true unless things have changed in the last few years. eBay will try to get the money back by flagging the fraudster's account. But if that account has been emptied there's nothing they can do and eBay does not refund your money from their pocket. For the credit card comment. I don't think thi…

The eBay workflow in a fraud case is this: 1) if the money can be regained from the seller in any way (e.g. charging the card they use for the seller account or pulling back the Paypal proceeds from account balance or bank account(s)), they will do so and refund the buyer. 2) if not, they will throw up every possible barrier to the buyer, including (I have experienced) giving you phony tracking data to "prove" you got the item, etc.

I've never been refunded from eBay/Paypal no matter how obvious the fraud -- I've always had to do credit card chargebacks.

Never, ever fund a Paypal payment with anything but a credit card unless it's for something you can't possibly need refunded ever.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#55
post #47
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have kids? My experience of kids is that they are greatly influenced by how their parents see their behaviour. Unless of course the parents have not built good relationship with their children, in which case the kids might not care a hoot what the parents think.

He's 22, not 9.

The the police is who should be told.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#56
Agree with the others: You were scammed twice. That "apology" was 100% fake and in no time he'll be back to scamming others who aren't that skilled at doxing. Seriously. What 22 year old grown adult is afraid about what mommy thinks? Totally unbelievable.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#59
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Noterized letter of intent works too for domestic sales. Not anonymous but keeps people honest, and gives you option of small claims court.

I think that even an honest unemployed 22-year-old would not be willing and able to find a notary as part of the deal. When I was 18 and needed to get a letter notarized, it cost me $35.

You (or, at 18, your parents) probably have one or two friends who are notaries. Most banks have some on staff and they're usually willing to notarize other, non-bank-related stuff for account-holders too.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#60

As a seller never ever send something first before payment. Never send samples and never accept partial payment. Scammers know all the tricks and have the upper hand.

Doesn't the same advice apply to the buyer as well, though?
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