An important word about "Safer" trading

[blade]

Guys and gals, I know we all want to see the good in people and trust others but unfortunately because of the way people can scam others so easliy on the net it's time many of us started to be more careful and practice safer trading. With all due respect to the recent ones who appear to have been ripped off here's a couple of vital things which we all should do.

• When anyone you are not familar with gives you their evals PLEASE check them out and be sure the evals are for the actual one you are trading with. Email some on their list and ask them just to confirm they are who they say they are. Egays evals are almost worthless. We don't know traders there but we do know the ones on Heatware so you know if they are telling you the truth or not.
  
  Several like tommy4437, firehawk2 and bigtrader2k1 have successfully passed off others good evals as their own. Check em out and BE SURE they are who they say they are.
• When sending money via paypal ALWAYS get the other persons REAL info. Their real name, address and phone number. You also should confirm that info to be on the safe side by calling them. Many have been taken because they failed to even get a name.
• When sending something to someone you don't know well always get tracking info and insurance to protect yourself. There are those who will say they didn't get something when in fact they really did. Protect yourself, insurance is to protect the sender from situations like that.
• Don't be taken in by that "great price" and good communication from someone you would normally not send first to or cross ship with. That's how some trolls entice others into sending first and taking them for their money or items. Use your judgement and common sense. It's funny isn't it in a way. After you send first then that great communication stops immediately. Don't let this happen to you.
• With all due respect to newbies or those with few evals DON'T SEND FIRST to a newbie. Let me repeat myself, DO NOT SEND FIRST to a newbie. Yes they have this just GREAT deal so you let your guard down in hopes to get that great deal. Some may be legit but as we know some are not. Many are those offering a great deal and convince others to send first. Then tadaaaaa, that newbie conveniently disappears. How many times has that happened? Be smart people. Not all do this of course but is it really worth taking a chance.
• To newbies, just deal with established traders at first. Till you earn you own evals and the respect that comes with cross shipping. Ask around on any you are not familar with and are considering to send first, to get an idea about their practices.
• New scam, fake paypal. Always confirm with your paypal account that payment has actually been received. Now some are sending out fake "paypal sent" emails.

You know that old saying which I know you've all heard many many times: "If it sounds too good to be true..." You know the rest.



<font color=red><b><li>Murphy, Dade</b></font color> aka bigtrader2k1 at anands. From 6232 Babc0ck Ave North Hollywood, CA. Being a newbie he still convinced 8(at last count) to send money to him first and since they have heard nothing from him. A 411 search also lists these as potential names: Johnson, Chris Johnson, J. C. and Johnson, M. M.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview ... did=409395

[lilrandy]

Well said sir

[Nomjr]

Wow, that guy is only 10mins away from where I live. hmmmmm
^free bump^

[Edited by Nomjr on 04-30-2001 at 09:17 PM]

[Msand9898]

Damm there seems to be more people from Cali going bad...

[hammer01]

I'm witcha man.

[Rayzor]

Thanks Bro

[Coldfusion]

It should be noted that Dade Murphy is not the guy's real name. Dade Murphy is a character in the movie "Hackers":

http://www.mgmua.com/hackers/inventory/intro.html

This clown has scammed alot of people. Please be careful dealing. If someone has less evals than you, or none at all, make them ship first. If they're reluctant, move on...there's always another deal.

[blade]

^ say I

[renovation]

as we all know PCA is still growing (by leaps and bounds) and as we the board grows so will trolls so we all need to keep are eyes open and if you think someone is a troll just pass the word on to the moderator and let him investigate said troll !
and if its a fellow member thats in a tread with this possible troll just send him a heads up -and i repeat my self here ( TILL IT IS PROVEN DUE NOT POST THAT SO & SO IS A TROLL ! )
BUT DO LET THE MODS .KNOW

[renovation]

nug

[nitro237]

blade , if you don't mind I would like to add something to it also . I know of a couple of excellent , long time traders that have been burnt by letting their guard down just a little by sending paypal , never got the other traders full name or home address , phone number etc. You don't have to have that info to paypal someone . Then when you get ripped , it's a lot harder to try to track someone down without name , City and State . Let's be careful

[tangluva]

Hey Blade, any word on Tommy4437? Man, he put a fake eval for a guy that only dealt with me.

New rule: if you feel uncertain about a particular trader look at one of his evals, copy down the his and the other guy's username, the BBS, and search for the thread in the BBS by username and/or the stuff sold/bought/traded. In this case the asshole above put fake shit for anandtech when the dude I traded with was only on Sysopt and wasn't a frequent trader.

Edit: And if you're looking for that particular eval, it was deleted by Heat when I discovered this.

[renovation]

good morning all

[blade]

Good idea Phil, tis done. You're right, many have been taken and had no name or address at all to give us so that makes it much harder to track anyone down. People are still far too trusting.

No new info on tommy4437, tangluva. We had a chance to burn him but only one of the many who were burned by him filed a complaint. It wasn't enough.

[wvjohn]

people should watch out for - fake paypal "you've got cash" emails - always make sure to check your pp account before heading to the post office!