Small Scale Military Headquarters

It looks as if our friend in Richmond has been at it again. And succeeded.

Here are some tips we all can use to help prevent this happening in the future:

-- Practice extreme caution when trading with any member without several trade references.

-- Verify trade references are with real board members. Consider PMing the members to verify the trades took place.

-- Don't ship first if the references are not 100% airtight.

-- Don't ship first if you have any concerns.

-- Don't be afraid to ask for personal information. If you are sending items of value, you are entitled to it. Do not accept excuses.

-- Consider asking for a photo of the trader's driver's license, possibly in the same frame as the items they are offering.

-- Get a home or work phone number. Call. Verify the number matches the name and address. Again, don't accept excuses.

-- Use tracking numbers, but remember that they won't help you if you are cheated (except using PayPal-see below).

-- Remember there's no safety net on here. The police aren't interested, especially if no money changed hands. The admins can't help once you've sent money or items. Period. All they can do is ban all trades, and I don't think we want that, so don't harass them to do the impossible.

-- If trading with anyone in Indiana or nearby parts of Ohio, triple your caution. DO NOT SEND FIRST TO ANYONE IN THAT AREA. Again, don't take excuses.

-- If the trader pays you with an echeck through PayPal, wait for the echeck to clear. This may take several days. Richmond guy has tried the echeck trick too.

-- If paid by PayPal, ship with a tracking number.

-- If you think you may have been cheated, post a warning on the board.

a further word of caution if you are paid with Paypal...unless you are confident the person is ligit, don't ship to unconfirmed addresses. Even if you use a tracking number, the payer can reverse his Paypal payment after receiving his items and there is nothing you can do about it.

Also remember post office boxes are available with street adresses. That's how I was burned in Louisiana. I actually had to go to the guys house and confront him. I did call the police but was able to resolve the matter before they arrived.
Don't take chances guys. I like Aferg's idea of conducting trade in the open.

Mark

Another tip:

Scammers will often cook up some story as to why they need to receive the item quickly (kid's birthday, christmas etc etc). This is just to get you to send the item before they have to send their money or goods to you (which of course they never do).

NEVER fall for this. Do the trade the way it should be done with all precautions. Just tell them that you are sorry they are in a bind time-wise but to be honest they should have planned ahead better and that you will not send your item until payment has cleared, their end of the bargain has been rec'd etc.

I know I am new to this board but I have a 100% feedback on ebay,and as a law enforcement officer and soldier I feel as if I should give some advice from the law enforcement aspect.Most of the time the items sold are for less than what is required for an investigation by local LE agencies.Also there are certain guidelines as defined by the individual states that set the standard for the district attorneys to get involved to prosecute.Most of the time they will not even entertain the idea due to lack of funding and resources and refer you to civil court.If this happens then the burden falls on the shoulders of the victim to pursue the matter in small claims court. The scammers know this and hope that you won't try to go two states away to sue them.Even on ebay and paypal with all of their protections it is difficult to recover money if the parameters of the deal go outside the guidelines ebay and paypal set.I hope this is helpful.
Bigsarge

Another means of safe trading is to do it through Ebay, assuming both parties have Ebay accounts of course. Once a price is agreed upon list the item at the agreed Buy It Now price and tell your trading partner the auction number....he/she can then buy it.

This way you have alot more protection and recourse than you do from just trusting someone you don't know. It may add a couple of bucks in fees to the cost but well worth it for the protection IMO.

Scammers are not likely to be happy about this option.

I attempted to do a sale (two tanks) to a member here, but thanks to the states listed above it fell through. He even had the nerve to ask me to send it to him first without payment to "look it over", which I will never do.

I even supplied my ebay username as a reference. I could have offered even more but I think just because of a few bad apples from those states those that live there that are truly honest, they will suffer from the black list.

Now I know. And here I thought ebay was bad.

That's a shame Panther.

That is why it is really important we leave each other feedback. I am guilty myself of forgetting to leave feedback sometimes and I appreciate being reminded. It takes two seconds but will allow an upstanding member the chance to trade in the future. Obviously if you are unhappy about something and want to bite your tongue, that is fine, but let's not let fear and paranoia ruin this great forum.