SCAMMER ALERT - nbridan

[kd126500]

To my fellow board members, be cautious of the user (nbridan). After many positive reviews and transactions through this board, unfortunately, I was taken in on a scam by the member nbridan. Nik sent the email below for parts I had posted.

-----
3.6 conversion parts

would you still have these parts?

PART # 993 612 173 DME engine conversion harness $395.

PMS 911 964 993 TC PMS THROTTLE CABLE CONVERSION $290.

I will purchase them from you.
would you take $600 shipped?

Thanks
nik
6263784500 ------


I sent the PP request to the emial Nik provided and received the $600. Upon receiving the merchandise, Nik filed a disputed claim with PayPal? For what I am unsure. PP would not tell me who filled the dispute. I received notice that it was determined that Nik was unauthorized to use the funds and appears to have used someone else's account. I challenged the claim with PP providing email correspondence, receipt of me sending the goods and stating the fact that not only does Nik have my merchandise, PP is also refunding my monies. Zero protection for the seller! I also found out that since this is peer to peer money exchange there is no protection. (note to everyone)

I have tried to call Nik at the number given but this is an incorrect number. Email was non responsive. So as of now, I am out monies, and merchandise. I could accept this if PP would have at least held funds until merchandise was returned. As it stands this is not their policy as they are claiming Nik is a use someone else's account.

[DickSteinkamp]

There is no valid reason for a BUYER to request that they pay via "Friends and Family" (peer to peer money transfer). Buyers pay NO fee for the purchase of an item using the normal PayPal system AND they get full buyer protection then if they do. With peer to peer there is no buyer protection since nothing is (theoretically) being bought or sold. If a BUYER requests "Friends and Family", they probably have an ulterior motive.

SELLERS often request payment via peer to peer money transfer to avoid fees (2.9% + $.30) and maybe to avoid PayPal's Buyer Protection too. If the seller has not priced his item to take into account the fees for a normal transaction, and if you don't know and/or trust the seller, it would be a good idea to insist on a standard PayPal transaction...even if you have to pay the fee in the form of an increase in the price.

[SegaGT]

Thanks for the warning (both of you). I have just begun to shop/buy from forum site members listings on several sites (only used to do local or eBay, have over 1000 FB there) and have recently dealt with people that seemed a bit strange and either withheld information or just bailed/flaked on me. After reading your post it makes me think some sellers may be paranoid because of the scams, and in turn it makes people like myself paranoid. Chicken or the egg. Either way I'm realizing there ARE real scammers out there and although I would like to think of myself as a part of a car community and like to give folks the benefit of the doubt there are too many crooks out there. And to think I was close to sending thousands for parts and even considering buying a car last week from a forum member...

I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

[cebotech1]

SegaGT,
Yes, we must be very careful, there are a lot of crooks out there. However, I think that the overwhelming majority of members here, are straight up people. That does not mean that you should not be vigilant and alert. There are scammers trying to hook a Porsche parts buyer all the time, but the community seems pretty good at exposing them.
If you think something seems funny, just post and ask the community for any opinions on a given seller.
I have purchased many parts from this forum and others, and so far I have never had a bad experience (knock on wood).
Bill.

[larrym]

thanks for this alert - & X2 on above cautions

the scams have escalated to a new level -

? real money actually came from a legit paypal account but not "nik's" ???? - how does that happen? (oh! - "nik" stole someone's paypal ID & login ?)

was "nik" is somebody who actually wanted those parts - or they have already shown up on ebay? - but still likely somebody who knows porsche parts ?

was the address you sent the stuff to legit? - or just a drop-box pick-up locker?


it only takes about 60 seconds to create a phony user-name gmail account & another 10 mins to become a registered user on a forum - the ones we gotta watch for are the newbies with 0 or minimum posts

- about a yr ago i got burned by an other-porsche-site seller (tho't reputable since it was a registered member) who requested "friends & family" payment & then went silent & disappeared with my money - paypal no help, as you too learned

i learned from that

- paypal is not our friend & it's gotten too easy for buyers to deny - dispute payments, all they have to do is claim "not as described" - with the 3rd party credit cards used thru paypal cancellations involved as well

now, sellers on forums that ask for non-fee money are always suspect....

- and everytime i sell something via paypal i am nervous until about 60 days after the payment rec'd

we all have learned that personal checks & "cashier's checks" should always be suspect

maybe only snail-mail & USPS money orders are safe?

- those a phony user-name gmail scammers have been working our WTB posts for a long time
( i also got burned by one of them about 3 yrs ago when i was desperate for an unobtanium part)