Scammed on Scuba Board

[admikar]

That should have been the end of the conversation right there.

During less hectic parts of the year, I would milk this for all its worth. More time they spend on me, less time they have to scam someone else.
My proudest moment was keeping tele-marketing on the line for 3 hours, trying to sell me encyclopedia. Who the hell needs encyclopedia now?
I was driving and I was bored.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

During less hectic parts of the year, I would milk this for all its worth. More time they spend on me, less time they have to scam someone else.
My proudest moment was keeping tele-marketing on the line for 3 hours, trying to sell me encyclopedia. Who the hell needs encyclopedia now?
I was driving and I was bored.

World Book or Britannica?

 

[TravisD]

Some other things you can do are to ask for a video call - facetime, whatsapp, facebook, whatever - so you can see that they have the merchandise. Or even just get pictures with a physical note in the pic that indicates that it's 'them' (same username, current date, etc). If they start balking, saying that the item is in some warehouse that they can't get to right now, that's a red flag. If it's a big ticket item, can you find someone you trust in the area of the seller to check it out in person?

Reverse image search is also your friend - see if those pics pop up elsewhere, from a different seller.

And as always, if the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is...

 

[admikar]

World Book or Britannica?

It's some domestic name, 12 books

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

It's some domestic name, 12 books

No. Don't do that. Get one that takes up a whole shelf...

 

[Miyaru]

I'm open to suggestions for combating scammers and abuse.

Several scams included hijacked SB accounts. 2FA is an effective way to counter hijacking, but using an authenticator app is apparently still a hurdle for many.

Until now, all scammers used VPN connections, without exception. If you want to sell your gear, why would you hide your real location? Anonymity and selling - do they go hand in hand?

Blocking the marketplace forums from VPNs is technically possible, although not easy to implement. An SB-wide VPN block is easier. And a discussion point....

 

[high_order1]

There's honestly not much you can do. In my case, I was the one that talked to the guy on PM's, and took it off board.
I feel like this is a decent board, and that many on here want to be a community and help others. (and, I really really like a deal lol) So, I was briefly lulled into not watching the signs. (used visor and abv for $100 USD... I bit)

Guess if the board has the functionality, you could restrict PM capabilities until they have like ten posts. Plenty of room to see if someone tosses 10 shitposts in one day in a bid to try and poach a bunch of older, unsuspecting board members that way.

I've modded other places; it's a labor of love, and it would be very taxing to monitor new accounts to see if they come and read first, or start blasting the first day . Maybe hide the buy/sell subforums to nonregistered people, and make it a little more work for driveby criminals?

 

[Wookie]

Guess if the board has the functionality, you could restrict PM capabilities until they have like ten posts.

We do, exactly that

Plenty of room to see if someone tosses 10 shitposts in one day in a bid to try and poach a bunch of older, unsuspecting board members that way.

I do, whenever I see someone posting from a dead account or posting enough crap posts so they can DM.

 

[greeniguana]

I'm open to suggestions for combating scammers and abuse.

An SB-wide VPN block is easier. And a discussion point....

And so I'll just quit using it, and donating my money. Like I have everything else that has banned VPNs. If you don't care, I don't care.

Don't make your problems my problems.

 

[Wookie]

And so I'll just quit using it, and donating my money. Like I have everything else that has banned VPNs. If you don't care, I don't care.

Don't make your problems my problems.

So far that’s one….