Report Scammers on Pinkbike HERE *Read 1st Post* then contact captainbringdown directly

PB Forum :: Scams & Stolen Bikes
Report Scammers on Pinkbike HERE *Read 1st Post* then contact captainbringdown directly
Author Message
flag Raihak
Posted: Mar 27, 2023 at 15:46 Quote
jpmccrash wrote:

Shit is off the rails right now, I have bought and sold on pink bike and other forms for over a decade without any issues. Got scammed doing all the right things on a bike purchase. This is organized crime and sophisticated.

Sorry to hear! can you share more about your mishap so that others can learn from it? Were there any red flags that you ignored?
flag Sleepycapybara
Posted: Mar 27, 2023 at 16:52 Quote
Has anyone been scammed while selling the item here? I would like to know if that is a possibility.
flag Rudeboy2777
Posted: Mar 27, 2023 at 16:57 Quote
Raihak wrote:
jpmccrash wrote:

Shit is off the rails right now, I have bought and sold on pink bike and other forms for over a decade without any issues. Got scammed doing all the right things on a bike purchase. This is organized crime and sophisticated.

Sorry to hear! can you share more about your mishap so that others can learn from it? Were there any red flags that you ignored?
if they don't FaceTime or have any communication through phone in general, i won't move forward. If anyone says they don't feel comfortable, i tell them to go eat shit. I don't understand how anyone can do business and not feel comfortable showing their face.
flag jpmccrash
Posted: Mar 27, 2023 at 17:12 Quote
Rudeboy2777 wrote:
Raihak wrote:
jpmccrash wrote:

Shit is off the rails right now, I have bought and sold on pink bike and other forms for over a decade without any issues. Got scammed doing all the right things on a bike purchase. This is organized crime and sophisticated.

Sorry to hear! can you share more about your mishap so that others can learn from it? Were there any red flags that you ignored?
if they don't FaceTime or have any communication through phone in general, i won't move forward. If anyone says they don't feel comfortable, i tell them to go eat shit. I don't understand how anyone can do business and not feel comfortable showing their face.

True now. However, I have never ever needed to FaceTime during any previous transaction. It was only after getting scammed that that became a reality for me.

In retrospect, I missed a lot of red flags because I was eager to score a deal. The rule is, is that if the price is way too good to be true, or even slightly too good to be true, it likely is and you should dig deeper.

And I’ve scored good honest deals before. It’s the fear of missing out mentality.

What I’ve learned is that there’s a pattern to most of the scammers. Most are brand new accounts, or or hacked accounts from members who have been inactive for quite some time. Most of the time the avatar picture associated with the account is of poor quality, or doesnt fit for a bike seller, or is too professional looking. Most of the time the sellers user name and name associated with the account also appears strange. Or the location is weird also. Another thing to look at is the language in the description of the item and whether it fits what an American with an American location might say or whether it’s more European or foreign. Like using the metric system for measurements. If you communicate to the messaging board with the seller and they are not using good grammar or good English it’s also a serious red flag.
Also, if multiple listings, do they share any qualities, if not that is strange and bug red flag. Do image searches but they don’t always show accurately so you may have to manually dig through images. There’s so many flags and things that you need to pay attention to, but I am not gonna list them all here as a risk that scammers are watching this thread, and are learning from us.
flag Rudeboy2777
Posted: Mar 27, 2023 at 17:38 Quote
As they say, prevention is better then cure. A lot of folks I've been selling to on here literally just tell me to give them my email and send emt without any questions. I tell them im not here to screw them over but should be careful as there's a lot of scamming going on here.

Some people have just had some really good transactions on here and let their guard down. I personally haven't been screwed on here, fingers crossed as i do a lot of buying, but my guard is up as I've been scammed before and it's really shitty having to buy something twice.
flag clint2627
Posted: Mar 27, 2023 at 18:43 Quote
When I was into bowhunting, I used to buy and sell on ArcheryTalk.com all the time. It was pretty easy because 90% of the people selling were very active on the site. Posting comments etc. You could fairly easily tell the regulars and be safe. People don't seem to be overly active on this forum. Including myself. I don't interact much. I mainly just read.

It is sad we have to worry so much about scammers. And there doesn't seem to be an easy solution. I try to stick to my local facebook buy/sell/trade groups when I can.
flag joevs1155
Posted: Mar 28, 2023 at 10:33 Quote
https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3589823/

Scam posted on ebay. I wish i get that cheap

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285177488354
flag prezendes
Posted: Mar 28, 2023 at 17:03 Quote
Happy to say the scammer I reported didn’t get to keep my money. PayPal refunded me yesterday.
flag Raihak
Posted: Mar 28, 2023 at 17:43 Quote
prezendes wrote:
Happy to say the scammer I reported didn’t get to keep my money. PayPal refunded me yesterday.

I'm really please to hear that. Thank you for also responding to me in your own thread. If you share more details about your story it will help inform members about what steps they might have to take to get their money back. Why did it require you to make multiple phone calls and how long did it take overall?

Someone told me that paypal keeps the money frozen until the buyer greenlights that the goods are fine... is that true?
flag Jfreeman87
Posted: Mar 28, 2023 at 18:24 Quote
Looking for some guidance. I think I'm in a scam situation. For this listing below

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3587907/

I reached out and sent the money via PayPal but have been ghosted by this guy. Would love some thoughts on if this. Thanks in advance
flag mtn2surf
Posted: Mar 28, 2023 at 18:32 Quote
Jfreeman87 wrote:
Looking for some guidance. I think I'm in a scam situation. For this listing below

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3587907/

I reached out and sent the money via PayPal but have been ghosted by this guy. Would love some thoughts on if this. Thanks in advance

Yup that’s a scam you can tell how the profile was just made
flag Jfreeman87
Posted: Mar 28, 2023 at 18:38 Quote
Shiiiitt I feel like a dummy. Oh well live and learn. I'll report the postings and start the refund process with paypal (fingers crossed). Thanks for the feedback. I certainly learned some valuable pointers here... Always at least do a zoom call or FaceTime.
flag mtn2surf
Posted: Mar 28, 2023 at 19:20 Quote
Yeah that sucks. It happens to the best of us but here a few things to look out for or what I look out for:

Account just made with cheap items.
Bad quality/pixelated photos of said item.
Weird usernames.
To good to be true.
Accounts that are old and just have posted an item that’s super cheap with nothing else in their sold section, that’s a pretty good red flag that the account was hacked.

Things that don’t add up, like someone was interested in buying one of my parts and said they needed my number so they could contact me even though my number was in the ad.

Another good thing to do when you think something might be a little to good to be true is to say your friend wants to come by and check it out for you and if they say there out of town but still say they ship the bike then it’s probably a scam.
flag Jfreeman87
Posted: Mar 28, 2023 at 19:40 Quote
These are all very helpful and I'll certainly keep them in mind. I appreciate the input!
flag jwon1
O+
Posted: Mar 29, 2023 at 5:47 Quote
Jfreeman87 wrote:
These are all very helpful and I'll certainly keep them in mind. I appreciate the input!

Another tip: Ask for additional pictures to prove they have the item. Ask for a picture of the frame with a handwritten sign with their pinkbike username and date for example. Or you can ask for the frame S/N under the bottom bracket. They often have trouble finding a picture which matches the frame color. In the case of that user, I think they copied previous ads for the two items they are selling.

 
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