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Icelandic Scammer Update - Stefan Birgir Stefansson and Magnus Sigurdsson

Foo2rama
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gostang9 gostang9
Question for those who have both SOLD and TRADED watches:
- it seems many of this user's scams involved trades
- is there some psychological reason that maybe makes such a scam easier for the perpetrators to pull off?
-- when selling a watch, the buyer sends money and worries the seller won't ship the right thing... 'feels' like bigger risk on behalf of buyer, seller likely only ships when money received
-- when trading a watch, as each have something to lose, perhaps it 'feels' like less of a risk as each party has an equal amount to lose and this feeling of 'shared risk' maybe makes one more prone to trusting the other party?

Just curious... (I have never sold or traded anything away... but have sent funds in advance on 9 occasions to 9 different sellers, each time I received exactly what was promised)

no banking info in trades.
 
Time2watch1973
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engben engben
Was this before the entire discovery/investigation or after?

Before. Right before. After raising the stink on the Rolex Forum, Robin contacted me and then we merged our findings and our efforts.

The scammed became quite communicative afterwards and mind shipped to me on the same day as Robin's went to him. Assuming, I am really getting mine back that is.
 
engben
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Time2watch1973 Time2watch1973
Before. Right before. After raising the stink on the Rolex Forum, Robin contacted me and then we merged our findings and our efforts.

The scammed became quite communicative afterwards and mind shipped to me on the same day as Robin's went to him. Assuming, I am really getting mine back that is.
From what Robin gathered, does anyone know how much the dollar value that was swindled by this individual?
 
Time2watch1973
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engben engben
From what Robin gathered, does anyone know how much the dollar value that was swindled by this individual?

Well, mine is worth approx 3500$ USD preowned. No idea what Robin's IWC is worth, I'm not a vintage guy, but it sure is nice.
 
MCC
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@guaranteed.rohu congratulations it must feel amazing to have your watch back, @Time2watch1973 hope your watch comes back to you too.

It would be nice to think that this would put an end to his/their scams but I very much doubt it. They might keep their heads down for a while but I fully expect them to re appear.
 
gostang9
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
no banking info in trades.
Great point, so that means trade does carry a greater risk... at least in the sense of being "invisible". I did notice that without @Taddyangle sharing the PayPal data from an actual sale, none of the connections may ever have been solidified to the point of getting resolution.

What are possible risk-mitigation tactics (other than knowing the person before-hand...)?
- each trader to send an equal token value of currency to at least have solid banking info shared?
- other?
 
engben
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gostang9 gostang9
Great point, so that means trade does carry a greater risk... at least in the sense of being "invisible". I did notice that without @Taddyangle sharing the PayPal data from an actual sale, none of the connections may ever have been solidified to the point of getting resolution.

What are possible risk-mitigation tactics (other than knowing the person before-hand...)?
- each trader to send an equal token value of currency to at least have solid banking info shared?
- other?
Could both parties also send a photo of themselves next to their passport and driver's license (with key information blacked out)?

I think @WYO_Watch has mentioned before that using a third party also has helped mitigate potential scams.
 
chronos
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gostang9 gostang9
Great point, so that means trade does carry a greater risk... at least in the sense of being "invisible". I did notice that without @Taddyangle sharing the PayPal data from an actual sale, none of the connections may ever have been solidified to the point of getting resolution.

What are possible risk-mitigation tactics (other than knowing the person before-hand...)?
- each trader to send an equal token value of currency to at least have solid banking info shared?
- other?

If you find an independent middleman, then both can send their watch to this person who then verifies the models and forwards them to the other party.
Sounds complicated and I‘m not sure if this works out in real life, but if I wanted to trade an expensive watch and I wouldn't know the other person I would probably suggest sending the watches to my lawyer.
 
gostang9
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chronos chronos
If you find an independent middleman, then both can send their watch to this person who then verifies the models and forwards them to the other party.
Sounds complicated and I‘m not sure if this works out in real life, but if I wanted to trade an expwnsive watch and I wouldn't know the other person I would probably suggest sending the watches to my lawyer.
I can just see the wheels in Stefan Birgir Stefansson's head turning as he reads this (along with other a**holes like him)...

'hmmm... so I need to set myself up as an "independent middleman"... then TWO people will simply send me watches, I keep the both and VOILA, 2 watches with nothing sent on my side... hmmmm, and hopefully they haven't read any threads on OF...'
 
gostang9
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chronos chronos
If you find an independent middleman, then both can send their watch to this person who then verifies the models and forwards them to the other party.
Sounds complicated and I‘m not sure if this works out in real life, but if I wanted to trade an expensive watch and I wouldn't know the other person I would probably suggest sending the watches to my lawyer.
I guess if both parties send their watches to a neutral trusted watchmaker, like @Archer, @ChrisN, @JimInOz or Simon Freese could be the middleman. But then what's in it for them? Why would they want to take the risk and hassle of getting in the middle of two individuals?

Perhaps, the 2 parties could determine a fair market value for the watches, then send funds to each other (trade bank info, which creates higher visibility of each other and hence increases trust), with the funds cancelling out less the transaction fees. If using PP, the net delta between them would be quite high on combined fees, but might be worth it in the case of a somewhat unknown 'trader'...?
 
GordonL
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I've been following this thread avidly and i am really pleased about how it has turned out for the op. Great work!
 
repoman
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Congrats @guaranteed.rohu !! Don't forget to leave positive feedback for Stefan (or Magnus, or whoever it is) in the OF sellers feedback forum ::stirthepot:: 😜
 
Henneth
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It really made my day that everything worked out for you. I just hope that Magnus/Stefan or both get pressured hard by the police so that other watches resurface as well... 👍
 
chronoboy64
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Very happy for you, You really deserved to receive your beauty back. Awesome work that probably will help the other victims of these criminals. HAGWE 👍
 
jsflog
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Congrats @guaranteed.rohu
You really deserve it.
I am also one of the members scammed by this guy, who lost his hopes on recovering my watch.
Now, thanks to your help and lots of your efforts there might be a rest of hope for me.
Even I don't recover my watch, I am really really happy for you.
Well done.
Congrats
 
Screwbacks
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jsflog jsflog
Congrats @guaranteed.rohu
You really deserve it.
I am also one of the members scammed by this guy, who lost his hopes on recovering my watch.
Now, thanks to your help and lots of your efforts there might be a rest of hope for me.
Even I don't recover my watch, I am really really happy for you.
Well done.
Congrats

if you have kept your transaction records, you can still run after him. plus %.😀
 
guaranteed.rohu
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gostang9 gostang9
I guess if both parties send their watches to a neutral trusted watchmaker, like @Archer, @ChrisN, @JimInOz or Simon Freese could be the middleman. But then what's in it for them? Why would they want to take the risk and hassle of getting in the middle of two individuals?

Perhaps, the 2 parties could determine a fair market value for the watches, then send funds to each other (trade bank info, which creates higher visibility of each other and hence increases trust), with the funds cancelling out less the transaction fees. If using PP, the net delta between them would be quite high on combined fees, but might be worth it in the case of a somewhat unknown 'trader'...?

Chrononext I read does a pick up service within certain cities... Could be worth it? Not sure what their prices are for this though.
 
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