hello all - I Am a Thief and a Scammer

[thbcthomas]

Here is another email the scammer has used, jamesknaules@outlook.com.

 

[mcohen1021]

I had read his post and thought it was odd that he was a rescue with 29 dives. lol

 

[Fishhy]

He sent me a Facebook profile that matches his "Herman J Brown" from Mississippi (picture of the dump truck with the NJ plate). If you look through it, it's obviously a Nigerian scammer. Though his other posts on other boards he uses Atlanta and Houston as his location frequently

 

[Curious_George]

Any chances of pinning this at the top of the for sale pages?

There’s already a great post pinned to the top of every classified section. It clearly says not to use PayPal friends for payment - among other things. No sense adding another for people to apparently ignore.

I wish there could be a good outcome from all this FBI, etc. reporting, but more likely that there’s a scammer somewhere that just created some new identities and the goose chase is wasted effort other than making someone feel better. Even worse, the effort could be negatively impacting some sop in Texas that’s getting harassed now because his identity was hacked earlier.

I suppose it’s no surprise people on here fall for the scam - I completed a scubaboard transaction recently where the seller implied I was a scammer because I used the PayPal product purchase method and documented exactly what was being purchased in the transaction notes. Go figure that one.

 

[Sevenrider860]

Many of us do it all the time and have never been burned. The key is to be certain you are dealing with a trustworthy party. I have walked away from transactions that just didn't feel right. But when I'm selling something, all I will accept is PayPal F&F or cash in person. If you don't like that, than don't buy what I'm selling. Key thing is that I've been on SB for years and am on here and active every day. I've sold lots of stuff and have never ripped off anyone. That is what you want to look into before doing a transaction.

All of my ScubaBoard PayPal transactions have been sent/received as Friends. As a buyer, I see history, posts, etc. that give me confidence to put the money up. As a seller I always inform the buyer they can mark it as a sales transaction so they can get buyer’s protection. Nobody has used that option to date. I assume our conversations and their own verification has provided them confidence.

 

[kelemvor]

All of my ScubaBoard PayPal transactions have been sent/received as Friends. As a buyer, I see history, posts, etc. that give me confidence to put the money up. As a seller I always inform the buyer they can mark it as a sales transaction so they can get buyer’s protection. Nobody has used that option to date. I assume our conversations and their own verification has provided them confidence.

If someone screws you, and you used friends and family, you won't be able to dispute the transaction and get your money back. That's the biggest difference from a buyer perspective. It's kind of like putting cash in an envelope and mailing it or using western union.

I wouldn't compare it to a face to face cash transaction. In the case of F2F you can look at whatever you're buying and get some idea if it's what you want or not.

The reason I'm willing to tolerate paypal's fees is that I want the extra protection should something happen. If it weren't for the protection, I'd use another cheaper service.

Since you're fine with that, the buyer gets fewer fees. It's something I'm sure the scubaboard folks can't recommend. Many people won't know that nuance of a friends and family transaction.

 

[Lorenzoid]

If someone screws you, and you used friends and family, you won't be able to dispute the transaction and get your money back. That's the biggest difference from a buyer perspective. It's kind of like putting cash in an envelope and mailing it or using western union.

Is that true even if Paypal uses your credit card as the source of your funds? Couldn't you still dispute the charge with the credit card company?

 

[kelemvor]

Is that true even if Paypal uses your credit card as the source of your funds? Couldn't you still dispute the charge with the credit card company?

Well not legitimately. To do that dispute you'd have to tell your credit card company that PayPal took the money when they shouldn't have. You may be able to convince the bank to reverse the transaction, but there would be repercussions, I'm sure PayPal would close your account. Maybe they'd sue or send you to collections or something.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Well not legitimately. To do that dispute you'd have to tell your credit card company that PayPal took the money when they shouldn't have. You may be able to convince the bank to reverse the transaction, but there would be repercussions, I'm sure PayPal would close your account. Maybe they'd sue or send you to collections or something.

So, if this is correct, then it would seem that when you use Paypal the seller is not a party to the transaction as far as the credit card company sees it; only Paypal is. I had never thought of it like that. Then again, I have never read Paypal's terms and conditions.

 

[thbcthomas]

@kelemvor i agree. I do not see the advantage to sending funds as friends and family over goods and service. If I send $300 as f&f it is going to charge me $300 plus a $9 fee to send it. If I send it for goods and service it only charges me $300 and the seller has to pay the fees. If I pay the 3% so the seller profits $300, I am not saving any money. It still comes out to $309, but with goods and service I have buyer protection. Am I missing something, do I have the math wrong on the PayPal fees?