Top 10 Signs You May Be Dealing With A Scammer

[houdini]

I know, I know, you are expecting a list full of stuff like "They have an evil twin" or "Their father fell off a ladder and landed on their pet" or "They were killed in the military and this is now their wife (or evil twin again) selling all their cards for funeral expenses." However, I am going to be mostly serious here and try to create an informative article.

By the way, the examples I wrote above... yeah, every single one has happened here at least once.

#10 - Their eBay account was created yesterday.

Many times a scammer cannot show you his eBay account because you will already know it - or a simple google search will expose it. They just need an email address to create a new anonymous eBay account though. Click on their feedback score to see how long they have been on eBay: Member since: May-16-01 in United States

Sometimes the dumber scammers will simply change their eBay username every month and try to pass that off as verification. If you suspect this, click on their eBay feedback number and to the right you will see "Member Quick Links." Click "View ID history" under that heading. You can also use this link by replacing "ebayusername" with their actual eBay username:

http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=ebayusername

#9 - They offer you a Paypal gift price at a huge discount.

You will not believe the amount of people who fall for this.

You are interested in a scammer's item and you know it normally sells for $100 on eBay. However, the scammer has it available on the forum for $65. You are delighted and quickly pm them for their paypal email address. You get this response:

Originally Posted by enigma

$65 goods or $55 gift to totally@notscammingyou.com

Let's look at this for a second. Paypal fees are 2.9%. Think of it this way, 3 cents per dollar plus 30 cents. On a $100 transaction, the paypal fees are only $3.20. So why would anyone offer such a huge discount for a gift payment?

#8 - They ever utter the words "cash" or "Western Union."

I know, their paypal account was hacked and it will take weeks to untangle. They really, really want to sell you this card at such an amazing price because money is tight with the huge (but temporary and completely understandable) financial snafu.

If you would be willing to send cash/mo/wu, they are more than willing to trust you and will even ship at the same time.

#7 - They think you are trustworthy enough that they will ship at the same time.

Trading is dangerous. I wouldn't even trade with that jackball on here that has the 5k iTrader score.

Some con artists try to switch up the trust game by telling you that because of your popularity/post count/iTrader score/roguish good looks (I get that last one a lot) they are willing to trust you by shipping at the same time. You feel a bit guilty because you don't really trust them at all and yet here they are trusting you... well, shipping at the same time is just the same thing as you shipping first when you are dealing with a scammer.

#6 - They need you to ship to a different address.

Paypal has sent you an address, but, shucks, that is their old place and they have moved. Or, they won't be home so they need you to ship the package to grandma's place for safe delivery.

No. Refund them and let them send you the payment again with the correct address attached. If they cannot, do not ship.

#5 - They say you must complete the transaction or they will have to leave you a negative and/or post a callout thread.

Callout threads suck. I am sure you are surprised to hear me say that because apparently I am a supercollector of callout threads - even got in the Beckett Magazine for it that one time. Alas, I hate callout threads. I hate writing them, I hate reading them, and I sure as gee golly heck hate to be the recipient of them. I even had one accompanied by some righteous negative iTrader once - that was fun.

However, all you have to do is report the message you received threatening feedback extortion. Click the top right in any pm received and it will send a message to every mod.

#4 - They won't post in the thread to confirm, they just want to use pm.

A lot of scammers know that their window of opportunity for scamming is very brief. They want as little exposure as possible. Often times the card they are selling you at such an amazing deal is also being sold to others. They want to communicate via pm only so that another mark doesn't see the post and go, "Hey, wait a minute..."

Even then they will try some stalling tactics like claiming to have multiple copies of the same rare card.

#3A - Their images are not uniform.

Sometimes a scammer will post a thread full of incredible cards at amazing prices. The scans/images seem a bit off though. The scanned cards have a wide range in quality and the pictures all have a different counter/table background.

This happens when a scammer is stealing high end card images from eBay/google/photobucket and passing them off as their own.

If you ask them to post a new image of a different angle or certain cards together, they will say the cards are at their office or in their safety deposit box - any excuse to avoid having to post a new image.

#3B - They block or refuse to show the serial number or BGS/PSA/SGC cert.

Scammers know that player collectors can sniff them out pretty quickly. They try to avoid this by keeping their card as anonymous as possible. If the card is graded, they will blur or crop out the certification number. Sometimes they will take an image from eBay and crop out the graded case altogether and play it off as if the card were raw. On serial numbered cards they will cover the number or claim not to have a scan of the back. They will even photoshop another number on to the card.

#2A - They have received a ton of iTrader very quickly on a new account.

Sometimes scammers will run a slew of small transactions very quickly to amass a relatively high iTrader score. Sometimes they will run free contests for low end or middling hits to fish for iTrader and compliments in the form of member's feedback threads.

Then they will suddenly start creating high end trade threads. Their marks are lured in by amazing cards and a good iTrader score.

Ask them to use a middle man and they will suddenly find a reason not to trade with you.

#2B - They have good iTrader and an ok reputation, but high end deals keep going wrong.

Sometimes a member will have been around for awhile and they will have even hundreds of iTrader. Mostly this iTrader is for regular transactions - simple stuff (not always cheap cards, but nothing high end either).

Then once or twice a year they will have a high end transaction go bad. Like the card they bought or traded for never arrived (and tracking wasn't used) or a package showed up but it was empty.

They do not do many high end deals, but the ones they do are never completed due to mishap. They fall back on their iTrader as evidence of their character and everyone assumes the card was lost or stolen in the mail. Yet, it happens again several months later.

Currently I know of no member who meets this description, but we have had it happen in the past.

#1 - Their evil twin pushed their father off a ladder who then landed on their pet just prior to their death in the military. Please buy their cards to pay for medical/vet/funeral expenses.

Really, the best clue is the old adage, "If it looks to good to be true, it is probably just a paypal loan."

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How to help protect yourself from a scammer:

1. Only pay using paypal goods.

2. If trading high value with someone you do not know, use a middleman. Pm iluvfish2 if you are looking for this service.

3. Only ship to the paypal address provided. Use signature confirmation.

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Is there a scammer proof system? No, not entirely.

Do not go off of just iTrader score or post counts. Longevity means a great deal on a forum such as this. Character usually wins out over time. Build relationships and read the posts of someone you are thinking about trusting. Are they worthy of your trust?

This is a great forum for b/s/t. We have (without a doubt) the most active b/s/t section of any sports card forum today.

However, that means it can be cluttered and it also means we will be a target for the bottom dwellers of our hobby as well. So again I say, build relationships first and b/s/t second. Keep your guard up but be willing to give someone a chance to prove that they are worth your trust.

...just don't send paypal gift to that guy selling a dozen copies of raw mint 86-87 Jordans for $500 each either.

[adamt326]

11. They refuse to post images of the cards and will "text them to you" or they "dont have a camera/scanner" or the only scans they have are from COMC.

12. They try to sell you a card that you are the actual owner of (sadly, it happens).

[Mikegioseffi]

Adam I love rule 12
Last year a guy tried to sell me a Brady 8.5/10.
Turned out to be the one I owned and somehow he got the photo out of my bucket and posted it in my thread.
It was fun

[BostonNut]

13. Don't ever sell to the son who wanted the card. Even if he likes beaded. You'll just end up being a metaphor....(or something along those lines...)

[hche]

Originally Posted by Mikegioseffi

Adam I love rule 12
Last year a guy tried to sell me a Brady 8.5/10.
Turned out to be the one I owned and somehow he got the photo out of my bucket and posted it in my thread.
It was fun

Ha ha ha ha! Sorry, but this is funny!

[IronMonkey415]

What if someone wants $2 cash does that bring up any red flag?

[hche]

Originally Posted by IronMonkey415

What if someone wants $2 cash does that bring up any red flag?

for what? LOL.

[Miss Lizzy]

Originally Posted by IronMonkey415

What if someone wants $2 cash does that bring up any red flag?

[cruiserdaddy7]

Originally Posted by IronMonkey415

What if someone wants $2 cash does that bring up any red flag?

I remember when you asked me for that $2. I found it to be a little weird.

[JMarchand1981]

This is stickie-worthy

[nvsb]

Great thread. Just wanted I needed to see to smile after a long week!

[daxwills]

Originally Posted by Mikegioseffi

Adam I love rule 12
Last year a guy tried to sell me a Brady 8.5/10.
Turned out to be the one I owned and somehow he got the photo out of my bucket and posted it in my thread.
It was fun

I realize it's not supposed to be funny but holy hell man that cracked me up.

[Mikegioseffi]

Oh yeah
It was comical. When I asked if he had it in hand I got no response up front.
So I sent him a picture of me holding it and that pretty much summed up that transaction.

Actually that was a big part of the whole dodski scam last year. Good times

[daxwills]

Originally Posted by Mikegioseffi

Oh yeah
It was comical. When I asked if he had it in hand I got no response up front.
So I sent him a picture of me holding it and that pretty much summed up that transaction.

Actually that was a big part of the whole dodski scam last year. Good times

I once had someone try to sell me a model car that doesn't exist. Do you know how hard it is to keep a straight face when that happens? Never had anyone try to sell me my own property. Though I did find someone using my tattoo pictures claiming they were his tattoos. That was surreal.

[ageofreason13]

Originally Posted by Mikegioseffi

Oh yeah
It was comical. When I asked if he had it in hand I got no response up front.
So I sent him a picture of me holding it and that pretty much summed up that transaction.

Actually that was a big part of the whole dodski scam last year. Good times

I had a similar run in with a guy on here not long after I first joined. He was selling a Bryce Harper Blue Refractor Auto using a picture of a card that belonged to me. He actually printed a picture of the card out, trimmed it, and stuck it in a toploader when I asked for a new picture as proof. Some how that clown is still a member here, although it doesn't look like he has been active for a while.

[RollTribe]

*They want to ride their bike to McDonald's and meet up with you so they can trade rare vintage cards for your television

[EW Cards]

Has anyone ever heard of ALT? I have a guy requesting a refund for what he says is a damaged card. But, it went to ALT first, and I’m 99.9999999999999999% certain they damaged the card and told him it came from me that way. I looked them up, not even sure exactly what they do, but my buyer’s PayPal address was c/o ALT, so THEY handled the card first, before he even saw it.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by EW Cards

Has anyone ever heard of ALT? I have a guy requesting a refund for what he says is a damaged card. But, it went to ALT first, and I’m 99.9999999999999999% certain they damaged the card and told him it came from me that way. I looked them up, not even sure exactly what they do, but my buyer’s PayPal address was c/o ALT, so THEY handled the card first, before he even saw it.

I would tell them to open a claim odds are if they are just demanding a refund they are fishing.

They can open a claim but if a reshipper was used they would still be allowed to possibly return it, but its likely they will not be able to but any neg or such they leave should be removable.

[BeardedVol]

want this card but ... scammer or ??? https://www.ebay.com/usr/ethansmith1...75.m3561.l2559