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Thought a 145.022-69 SW was incoming, got burned instead....

gbesq
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asrnj77 asrnj77
I know you said the credit card company will cover it but until that’s totally resolved I wouldn’t be satisfied. I’ve heard stories in the past of credit companies rejecting claims paid via PayPal friends and family because that’s not a “purchase”. They’ll also want you to file a claim with the payment provider (Venmo, PP, etc) to see if they can recoup the money first. In the end you’re in a good place if the credit card company eats it. So many horror stories of people wiring $17,000 and it’s gone forever.
+1. I’m still fighting with Barclay’s Bank over a $95 charge to my AA Aviator MasterCard that was clearly fraud. Their “investigation” was absolutely useless and they reinstated the charge to my credit card. I’m filing a complaint with the CPFB in the U.S.
Edited:
 
sonicosa
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Ebay seller claims to be in Wichita Kansas. Is that where your FB marketplace scammer was located?

Did you ever wind up filing a police report?
 
pitbos
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What’s odd, is where did your scammer steal the original photos from if this watch was only just posted to eBay?

It’s just too coincidental that your scammer ripped off photos of an 69 SW Speedmaster to run a scam. There are 100 watches a scammer would turn to before this one. If I was a betting man, I’d wager it’s the same person.
 
Larry S
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Sorry this happened to you and thanks for reminding us all not to disregard the flashing warning lights when they come on.
 
paddymoran
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Hi,

Thanks so much for sharing your update. I too had seen this on eBay and intended bidding on it. As an FYI, on the eBay listing there’s no reference to it being posted via the eBay authenticators.
 
OneTwo
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asrnj77 asrnj77
Presumably the eBay one is the real one that your guy spoofed, right? It’s going to have to go to an Authenticator first. If this one is a scam they have no way of getting any funds and even if they did the buyer at least has the protection.
Potentially this could be the case. But the photos from the eBay listing are not the ones that were posted on the advert that I had been dealing with when I thought I purchased the watch. For example the photos of the backside of the papers were not included in my listing. I had to ask for a photo of those which the seller I interacted with did provide and the photo did not match the one in the eBay listing but the information did match. I thought about the authenticator as well but unless the watch sells for over $2000 - which the current bidding is close to passing - or the buyer requests the authentication service, it doesn't have to go to the authenticator.

If it does have to be authenticated, I have to figure if it the same seller and they're as a savvy scammer as I encountered that they will have a way of ghosting both eBay and the seller while this fake watch is on the way to authentication. I have sold a couple watches on eBay that had to be sent to the authenticator and I received full payment distribution to my bank account prior to the watch even arriving to the authenticator, which as a buyer has made me a little redescent to purchase through eBay.

paddymoran paddymoran
Hi,

Thanks so much for sharing your update. I too had seen this on eBay and intended bidding on it. As an FYI, on the eBay listing there’s no reference to it being posted via the eBay authenticators.
No worries and see above regarding the authentication service. I think it kicks in as an option at a certain dollar amount and then it's mandatory after the watch passes $2K.

sonicosa sonicosa
Ebay seller claims to be in Wichita Kansas. Is that where your FB marketplace scammer was located?
Did you ever wind up filing a police report?
The seller that I was dealing with told me they were in the Ohio area and that is were the watch was shipped from via UPS.

pitbos pitbos
What’s odd, is where did your scammer steal the original photos from if this watch was only just posted to eBay?

It’s just too coincidental that your scammer ripped off photos of an 69 SW Speedmaster to run a scam. There are 100 watches a scammer would turn to before this one. If I was a betting man, I’d wager it’s the same person.
Yeah I agree, it's a surprising one to use for a scam and I tend to think the same thing. But as I'm not 100% sure I won't say for sure.

They rub of the whole situation with it coming back up on eBay for me and what I've is what if the eBay listing is actually legit? Obviously I'd be happy for the buyer who wins it but not gonna lie it's a bit of salt on the wound as I was really looking forward to owning one of these 69 SW models, especially that one as it looked to be a nice honest example.
 
OneTwo
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gbesq gbesq
+1. I’m still fighting with Barclay’s Bank over a $95 charge to my AA Aviator MasterCard that was clearly fraud. Their “investigation” was absolutely useless and they reinstated the charge to my credit card. I’m filing a complaint with the CPFB in the U.S.
Appreciate you sharing that and sorry to hear you're having that hard of a time with Barclays. It's not fully resolved on my end but my CC servicer is still in process investigating and reviewing all the information I provided. I made it pretty clear with and written documentation of what occurred, photos of what I thought I was purchasing and photos of what I received.

Larry S Larry S
Sorry this happened to you and thanks for reminding us all not to disregard the flashing warning lights when they come on.
No worries and yeah sometimes we just want it the situation to turn out for the better and don't realize that's what's pushing us to ignore some sketchy signs.
 
Dan S
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kaplan kaplan
Personally I believe the percentage is 4 for me - compared to the total amount of money I spent on watches, I lost 4% on missing packages, scams or misrepresented items
Wow 4% is extremely high, IMO. I feel like I'm pretty risk tolerant, but have not had nearly such bad luck. I would say that my number is a fraction of a percent, maybe 0.3%.
 
RevZMan123
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gbesq gbesq
+1. I’m still fighting with Barclay’s Bank over a $95 charge to my AA Aviator MasterCard that was clearly fraud. Their “investigation” was absolutely useless and they reinstated the charge to my credit card. I’m filing a complaint with the CPFB in the U.S.

My wife is fighting with Ulta over $80 they say she owes but they can't tell us what the charge is for since we were at a $0 balance.

We fought with Amazon over $75 gift card that was purchased by a scammer on the site using a debit card on file. Amazon promised they would fix it but never did and the bank closed our accounts.

Banks get even less trust than an individual in my eyes.
 
RevZMan123
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Here is one that JUST came across a Zelos facebook group. A guy posts a WTB, someone outside the group sends a scam message. BUT this was foiled by the buyer asking a simple question: "Please send me photos of the watch with times at 12:30 and 3:45 along with a paper of your name and the facebook group with today's date."

boom, blocked.
 
ErichPryde
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STANDY STANDY
I knew you were getting scammed the second I read the split payment…..no seller of anything expensive ships without full payment. Scammers are happy with half a scam. Sellers aren’t happy with half a sale.

Nominated for wisest post of 2024
 
kaplan
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Dan S Dan S
Wow 4% is extremely high, IMO. I feel like I'm pretty risk tolerant, but have not had nearly such bad luck. I would say that my number is a fraction of a percent, maybe 0.3%.

It is bad, I like to think of it as a life tax
 
NotJackson
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eBay listing now shows as ended with zero bids. It looked at least sort-of legit — seller had no recent activity but the account dates to 2018. Makes me wonder if a crook got hold of a previously valid account, or if it the eBay ad was real. Looks as if the eBay seller didn’t know much about the item for sale.
 
Davidt
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Or they ended it early as someone offered to pay via transfer. Hopefully not. F
 
ErichPryde
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Dan S Dan S
Wow 4% is extremely high, IMO. I feel like I'm pretty risk tolerant, but have not had nearly such bad luck. I would say that my number is a fraction of a percent, maybe 0.3%.
Van Tharp position sizing for a watch collection- I like it.
 
BlackTalon
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paddymoran paddymoran
Hi,

Thanks so much for sharing your update. I too had seen this on eBay and intended bidding on it. As an FYI, on the eBay listing there’s no reference to it being posted via the eBay authenticators.
Chances are the 'seller' would try to sell via email once someone bites on eBay.
 
OneTwo
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RevZMan123 RevZMan123
BUT this was foiled by the buyer asking a simple question: "Please send me photos of the watch with times at 12:30 and 3:45 along with a paper of your name and the facebook group with today's date."

boom, blocked.
Yep, I agree that a question like this is very helpful to establish legitimacy of the sale. As I mention in my first post, this was similar to the first question I asked the FB seller to get the watch. Even asked them send me a photo of it while I was on the phone with them, which they did. Then photos along the way of packing the package, etc. All checked off so I am sure the switch happened as they handed the package to the UPS store.

paddymoran paddymoran
I’ve asked if it’s sold or still available - awaiting a reply.
Looking forward to hearing if they get back to you. I message the eBay seller on Tuesday (PST) to see if they’d share how they came to own the watch but so far no response.

Davidt Davidt
Or they ended it early as someone offered to pay via transfer. Hopefully not. F
I had a similar thought when I saw it was ended early but hope not as well.

NotJackson NotJackson
Looks as if the eBay seller didn’t know much about the item for sale.
IMO Looks more like the seller used the AI product description option that eBay offers now and added a little at the end.
 
lawler
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These scammers make me sick. How they think they can get away with it.
 
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