Possible Scam Alert

[Retrosaurus]

Kia Ora everyone,

I would just like to start off by saying that basically everyone I have interacted with in this community has been so genuine and kind, and I am so happy to have gotten back into this hobby. In saying that, I would like to alert you all to a possible scam that could affect some others here. I am not sure if this is the correct place to post this but I just want to get the word out.

A while back I posted that I was on the hunt for an Invicta Dimetrodon, which Duna very kindly traded with me (thank you Duna!). Yesterday I received a dm from a new user who had only just registered earlier that day named jjackson. This persons message said "Contact Mr Michael, he has a Invicta Dimetrodon for sale at cheaper price. Here's is gmail [email protected].
Cheers mate, stay safe." Now I didn't immediately notice that this account had just been registered, and although I already have the dimetrodon, I was curious to see if 'Mr Michael' had any other Invicta figures for sale. I emailed them, they said they had some other figures and asked what I was after, and I said the Troodon. They said they had one and asked me to make an offer, I replied asking for photos to see the condition/evidence they actually had it. They did send photos, but I recognised them from an eBay listing. I pointed this out to them and said they were identical images, and they said that the seller was selling on their behalf as they are about to undergo stage 3 cancer surgery. By this stage I'd picked up on the red flags and emailed the eBay seller asking if they knew this person and of course they had no idea who they were. I then searched this email address on various social media and found a Reddit page discussing scams of paintball equipment, and this email address popped up. The scam was described as one account being used to contact the individual, directing them to 'Mr Michael's email eventually resulting the person being scammed out of their money. After seeing this I informed 'Mr Michael' that I'd seen this, and no longer would pursue the trade. I haven't heard back funnily enough.

Please be careful everyone.

[Libraraptor]

Thank you for this warning.

[DinoToyForum]

Thanks for this information. I'll delete and ban the suspicious new jjackson account as a precaution.

[Pliosaurking]

Thanks for this head ups, @Retrosaurus!

[SidB]

Thanks for this information. I'll delete and ban the suspicious new jjackson account as a precaution.

One wouldn't necessarily think that possible scams of this sort and on this scale would be worth while, valuewise, to the scammer, but then again, these characters often derive 'satisfaction' from doing it simply because they can. Nasty.

[UK]

Thanks for this information. I'll delete and ban the suspicious new jjackson account as a precaution.

One wouldn't necessarily think that possible scams of this sort and on this scale would be worth while, valuewise, to the scammer, but then again, these characters often derive 'satisfaction' from doing it simply because they can. Nasty.

A lot of scammers go low value high volume. It means if they get caught for a crime and convicted the outcome is diminished due cost of prosecution far outweighing the incidence.

If it seems to be too good to be true, generally this is a red flag. Facebook marketplace is full of scams, always review the accounts history and try to pay on collection.

Shame we have been targeted, it might happen again so be vigilant.

[SidB]

Thanks for this information. I'll delete and ban the suspicious new jjackson account as a precaution.

One wouldn't necessarily think that possible scams of this sort and on this scale would be worth while, valuewise, to the scammer, but then again, these characters often derive 'satisfaction' from doing it simply because they can. Nasty.

A lot of scammers go low value high volume. It means if they get caught for a crime and convicted the outcome is diminished due cost of prosecution far outweighing the incidence.

If it seems to be too good to be true, generally this is a red flag. Facebook marketplace is full of scams, always review the accounts history and try to pay on collection.

Shame we have been targeted, it might happen again so be vigilant.

That makes sense. Also, high volume means that there are an awful lot of unaware people 'out there'.