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BLUBARB is NOT a SCAMMER
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Watchie
路EDIT:
UPDATE: Looks like something worked and the thread has now disappeared. I hope it stays that way. Thank you for all the International support and advice. There are way too many members and friends to list, but THANK YOU ALL (you know who you are) and happy watch collecting!
Onwards and upwards!
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And what did I get out of this, a pain in the backside and a new 4 channel CTV Thermal system and some great advice from foo2rama and the dozens of others who offered their guidance and experience.
I would like to use this post to hopefully put my side of a dispute I have had with TRF and its Australian owner Stephen Smith. It is not a gripe or a broadsheet, but a brief defence of my character and watch community reputation.
In brief:
My seven year old Rolex Forum account was hacked and the scammer tried to sell a watch using my username. Thankfully it was discovered by by an observant TRF member and my account was de-activated immediately. Exactly what should have happened.
Now, long story short, I ask for details of this scam and why it lead to a life banning. The response to my email was "Well why did you post a $14,000 AP watch for sale from California? If you didn鹿t do it then you must have authorised someone else to do so." After that, an exchange of emails that could have been handled better on both sides, ended with a permanent block. Okay. No problem. So asked for the sales forum access fee of USD28 to be refunded. I was told that because I had sold one watch (in seven years) and two days before the ban, I was told that I was a "scammer and a blackmailer" 馃槻 So 11 months and 2 weeks refund please? 馃榿
They not only barred me forever but Stephen Smith (Lol-x) published my personal information (given to him by PayPal) in a scam thread alongside the real scammer with the obvious implication that I was also a scammer as some post comments evidence. So my information was exposed on the accusation that I was i was scamming TRF out of USD28 for what they call a "donation" - donations, in my view, are generally given voluntary for no quid pro quo - at least I thought so.
Don't care about the banning as that wont change the shape of the universe but do care about exposing me to identity and perhaps property theft. Had to take all my watches back to the deposit box - probably not a bad thing - too easy to become complacent I guess. I try not to swear too often, but having my personal information exposed on-line just seems wrong (when I say personal info, I mean name, address, etc...) Link:
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=612699
***********************Link no longer accessible for me - perhaps TRF has taken it down?*****************
So, what I am trying to say, is that the implication that I am a scammer and not a victim of a scammer is really anathema to my way of thinking and an assault on my reputation as a buyer and a seller. PLEASE be assured I am NOT a scammer and I have plenty of positive comments here on OF and on WUS and one on TRF 馃檮 I also just sold another watch and the buyer WILL receive it and he paid by wire.
If anyone knows if it's wrong or against some rule to post a person's personal info on an open forum and then refuse to redact or remove could you let me know, TRF is registered in the USA I believe and Hosted by Eastern Euro servers I believe. If I was a Euro citizen I would be on to the GDPR regulators at the drop of a hat.
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO ANY SALES POSTS OR EMAILS FROM BLUBARB WITHOUT FIRST MESSAGING ME - I DO NOT HAVE A [email protected]om or a [email protected] 馃が OR [email protected]
Thank you for your patience and I am sorry for the diatribe.
ps. I believe this kind of action may be a breach of both US law and Illinois law - I believe that the posting of personal information in an attempt to harm is illegal, it is also most likely against the terms of service of the ISP singlehop.com.
*Edited for spelling corrections
**Mods. Apparently the scammer s known as William and has been up to this activity for a very long time.
I just had the EXACT same thing occur over the last three days. It appears a while back some creep hacked my identity on TRF and used it to scam a buyer. Notwithstanding Mr. Smith's admission that I had no role whatsoever in what occurred he banned my account from TRF, which I only learned on Friday when I tried to log in after a fairly long absence. His explanation when I emailed him to ask why was that I should have brought the hack to his attention. Problem was, I didn't learn of the hack until AFTER I was banned, and then only once he had at first allowed me back in just to turn around and ban me again. I've bought and sold watches on many forums as "Watchie" and have an unblemished reputation. As to my donation, like the OP I've asked for it back but am not optimistic.
I've spoken with the buyer who was hacked (good guy). We agreed Mr. Smith is the Soup Nazi of the Rolex Forum...
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Foo2rama
路路Keeps his worms in a ball instead of a can.W WatchieI just had the EXACT same thing occur over the last three days. It appears a while back some creep hacked my identity on TRF and used it to scam a buyer. Notwithstanding Mr. Smith's admission that I had no role whatsoever in what occurred he banned my account from TRF, which I only learned on Friday when I tried to log in after a fairly long absence. His explanation when I emailed him to ask why was that I should have brought the hack to his attention. Problem was, I didn't learn of the hack until AFTER I was banned, and then only once he had at first allowed me back in just to turn around and ban me again. I've bought and sold watches on many forums as "Watchie" and have an unblemished reputation. As to my donation, like the OP I've asked for it back but am not optimistic.
I've spoken with the buyer who was hacked (good guy). We agreed Mr. Smith is the Soup Nazi of the Rolex Forum...
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Watchie
路Not to my knowledge. As of now I have no way to check. Still amazed, though, at everything that transpired with my being banned (completely unwarranted and irrational) and feel even worse for the buyer.
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Draven
路Actually, just looking at it today, it may be helpful to describe on this thread how to LEAVE and delete your profile from TRF as for the life of me I cannot find a way of deleting mine.
Having read this thread, I am sorry I ever signed up. Thanks to blubarb for the heads up and I can feel your frustration and anxiety it must have caused, all the best 馃憤
Having read this thread, I am sorry I ever signed up. Thanks to blubarb for the heads up and I can feel your frustration and anxiety it must have caused, all the best 馃憤
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Partagas
路I'm on quite a few forums...topics ranging from cars to cigars and guns to watches, etc. IMHO, that is the worst forum I've ever been on. Probably the worst moderating I've ever seen, and I've done some mod work on a cigar forum for a few years, so I have some clue about being a mod. I don't bother logging in at TRF anymore.
Anyway, time to pour a nice Bourbon! Carry on!
Anyway, time to pour a nice Bourbon! Carry on!
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Njnjcfp88
路Pretty rough trade over at TRF. I posted up a pic of my Rolex Precision Oysterdate asking the members if it was a possible redial ...( it was... newbie tax) ... and it was met with abject ridicule and meanness. I鈥檓 not the sensitive sort; but I was taken back a little. Zero help whatsoever. The mods took it down after like three reply鈥檚. Never been back.
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mjb
路TRF is an interesting forum, fer sure. Lots of very knowledgeable folks, and a small bunch of really hostile people who seem to have no life outside of an anonymous forum of fanbois. I jest, I keed, OMG, what if they see this? The moderators there have been very quick to ban people who post offensive or political comments, which I'm mostly OK with, but I suspect that there may be one or two moderators who are little bit heavy-handed.
There was a warning about accounts being compromised a while back, so I changed my password to something complex and difficult to guess. That's probably wise for anyone with any kind of reputation that they want to protect.
FWIW, I once got banned from an auto enthusiast forum because someone guessed my password and apparently did some bad things. It happens.
Oh, and as for "buying" the right to post ads on TRF, it's very clearly stated (for legal reasons, I suppose) that it is a donation, not a purchase of anything. Therefore, as I see it, no refund. They do the same thing with raffles. You're not buying a raffle ticket, you're simply making a contribution toward the maintenance of the website.
There was a warning about accounts being compromised a while back, so I changed my password to something complex and difficult to guess. That's probably wise for anyone with any kind of reputation that they want to protect.
FWIW, I once got banned from an auto enthusiast forum because someone guessed my password and apparently did some bad things. It happens.
Oh, and as for "buying" the right to post ads on TRF, it's very clearly stated (for legal reasons, I suppose) that it is a donation, not a purchase of anything. Therefore, as I see it, no refund. They do the same thing with raffles. You're not buying a raffle ticket, you're simply making a contribution toward the maintenance of the website.
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pongster
路What i personally find weird about TRF is that the moderator has always deleted all jokes that i have posted. Couldnt figure out why.
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Yellowjacket
路EDIT:
UPDATE: Looks like something worked and the thread has now disappeared. I hope it stays that way. Thank you for all the International support and advice. There are way too many members and friends to list, but THANK YOU ALL (you know who you are) and happy watch collecting!
Onwards and upwards!
###########################################################################################
And what did I get out of this, a pain in the backside and a new 4 channel CTV Thermal system and some great advice from foo2rama and the dozens of others who offered their guidance and experience.
I would like to use this post to hopefully put my side of a dispute I have had with TRF and its Australian owner Stephen Smith. It is not a gripe or a broadsheet, but a brief defence of my character and watch community reputation.
In brief:
My seven year old Rolex Forum account was hacked and the scammer tried to sell a watch using my username. Thankfully it was discovered by by an observant TRF member and my account was de-activated immediately. Exactly what should have happened.
Now, long story short, I ask for details of this scam and why it lead to a life banning. The response to my email was "Well why did you post a $14,000 AP watch for sale from California? If you didn鹿t do it then you must have authorised someone else to do so." After that, an exchange of emails that could have been handled better on both sides, ended with a permanent block. Okay. No problem. So asked for the sales forum access fee of USD28 to be refunded. I was told that because I had sold one watch (in seven years) and two days before the ban, I was told that I was a "scammer and a blackmailer" 馃槻 So 11 months and 2 weeks refund please? 馃榿
They not only barred me forever but Stephen Smith (Lol-x) published my personal information (given to him by PayPal) in a scam thread alongside the real scammer with the obvious implication that I was also a scammer as some post comments evidence. So my information was exposed on the accusation that I was i was scamming TRF out of USD28 for what they call a "donation" - donations, in my view, are generally given voluntary for no quid pro quo - at least I thought so.
Don't care about the banning as that wont change the shape of the universe but do care about exposing me to identity and perhaps property theft. Had to take all my watches back to the deposit box - probably not a bad thing - too easy to become complacent I guess. I try not to swear too often, but having my personal information exposed on-line just seems wrong (when I say personal info, I mean name, address, etc...) Link:
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=612699
***********************Link no longer accessible for me - perhaps TRF has taken it down?*****************
So, what I am trying to say, is that the implication that I am a scammer and not a victim of a scammer is really anathema to my way of thinking and an assault on my reputation as a buyer and a seller. PLEASE be assured I am NOT a scammer and I have plenty of positive comments here on OF and on WUS and one on TRF 馃檮 I also just sold another watch and the buyer WILL receive it and he paid by wire.
If anyone knows if it's wrong or against some rule to post a person's personal info on an open forum and then refuse to redact or remove could you let me know, TRF is registered in the USA I believe and Hosted by Eastern Euro servers I believe. If I was a Euro citizen I would be on to the GDPR regulators at the drop of a hat.
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO ANY SALES POSTS OR EMAILS FROM BLUBARB WITHOUT FIRST MESSAGING ME - I DO NOT HAVE A [email protected]om or a [email protected] 馃が OR [email protected]
Thank you for your patience and I am sorry for the diatribe.
ps. I believe this kind of action may be a breach of both US law and Illinois law - I believe that the posting of personal information in an attempt to harm is illegal, it is also most likely against the terms of service of the ISP singlehop.com.
*Edited for spelling corrections
**Mods. Apparently the scammer s known as William and has been up to this activity for a very long time.
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pongster
路P pongsterWhat i personally find weird about TRF is that the moderator has always deleted all jokes that i have posted. Couldnt figure out why.
The recent joke i posted on TRF (which was deleted eventually) has been reposted by another. Let鈥檚 see if it also gets deleted (so it must be the joke) or not (then it must be me).
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GadgetGuy88
路Glad I checked the "latest" section of posts. I had this happen a month or so ago, as my account was hacked, too, and someone posted watches up for sale. My account was closed and eventually Stephen explained that it was hacked. I only learned this after requesting info multiple times and had to pay ~$20 to get it reactivated. I had not idea of what had occurred and when I got my account back there was no indication of the fake sale threads. I learned of it by getting private emails from people asking for these watches that had been picked up by a watch sell bot site.
I get some pleasure going to the PP forum, but it is dominated by a few folks who are basically the upper 0.1% who flaunt their wealth in obnoxious ways. An example, a thread to take a pix of your PP and your steering wheel. The thread was started by a guy who takes a pic of his watch and his Ferrari. And so on...
For PP forums, this is the bane. The one at Timezone used to be moderated by someone who was quite opinionated...that one has now sort of fizzled. The TRF one is like I said.
My apologies to bring up PP...
I get some pleasure going to the PP forum, but it is dominated by a few folks who are basically the upper 0.1% who flaunt their wealth in obnoxious ways. An example, a thread to take a pix of your PP and your steering wheel. The thread was started by a guy who takes a pic of his watch and his Ferrari. And so on...
For PP forums, this is the bane. The one at Timezone used to be moderated by someone who was quite opinionated...that one has now sort of fizzled. The TRF one is like I said.
My apologies to bring up PP...
