HF FS/T scam - thoughts / a nod to the community

T

trikat

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 5, 2006
Messages
227
Earlier today a user account was compromised and used to scam me and possibly others.
Big shoutout to FrgMstr for removing the listing, banning the user, and contacting all the potential victims.
Also a nod to all the community who pointed out the sketchy seller using recycled images.
Unfortunately I paid quickly via Zelle.

My thoughts / tips:
Try to use PayPal G&S not F&F / Zelle, etc.
Contact your bank ASAP. My credit union was able to start a dispute. Although not 100% confident since it is Zelle.
Zelle won't help, but they will take a report.
Filed a complaint with FBI IC3.
Will also file a report with the police.
Alternatively file the reports with Zelle, FBI IC3, and police first and then provide the printouts / report numbers when making the bank dispute.
Print to PDF of conversations for support documentation.
If banks won't help contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), "a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly."
 
Um, details? Username? Or is that forbidden? How are we supposed to know whom to avoid?

Was it that recent 3080 FTW that was suspiciously cheap?
 
Woah. That guy has 100 positive heatware feedback. I might have trusted him too.

edit = oh, latest was 2014 though....
 
Slam it, bam it, jam it dammit..... 2FA folks, 2FA... it may not stop all scams, but every little thing we can do will help !

Glad they got busted & identified quickly so others will not get scammed....All hail da FrgMstr :D

And just to reiterate, for like the 1000th time...*DO*NOT*USE*UNPROTECTED*PAYMENT*SERVICES* for anything over $25 or so...

And yea, all those steps in trikat's post above may help AFTER THE FACT, but it would have been soooo much easier & less expensive to just use a reputable payment service in the 1st place & be happier for it.
 
kyang357 said:
There was so many red flags with that post. With higher priced items, insist on PP G&S and pay the fees. I also reported the post.

  1. price = too good to be true
  2. heatware in post did not match heatware in signature
  3. recycled images
Click to expand...

This, even when people ask for papal F&F, I'll do G&S and add the 3% to what I send to cover the fees.
 
Nimisys said:
Funny how this community always says people ought to use protected payment services when scams happen, yet sellers always want F&F and other services that charge no fee for no protection.
Click to expand...
Sellers can ask for me to wash their GTR and give them a rub'n'tug. I'm not gonna do it lol.

In all my years and many, many deals on here there is 1 seller I'd trust F&F, because I've bought 10+ times from him. And he doesn't ask for it lol.

Hell I bought a windoze key here, guy wanted $15 F&F and I sent him $20 G&S.
 
Burticus said:
Um, details? Username? Or is that forbidden? How are we supposed to know whom to avoid?

Was it that recent 3080 FTW that was suspiciously cheap?
Click to expand...

How cheap was the scammer asking for it? I vaguely remember seeing a dirt cheap 3080 FTW when I was scrolling through the postings during my break but passed up because I'm trying to go on a hardware diet.
 
DTN107 said:
How cheap was the scammer asking for it? I vaguely remember seeing a dirt cheap 3080 FTW when I was scrolling through the postings during my break but passed up because I'm trying to go on a hardware diet.
Click to expand...
Tree fitty.
 
Nimisys said:
Funny how this community always says people ought to use protected payment services when scams happen, yet sellers always want F&F and other services that charge no fee for no protection.
Click to expand...

I do F&F only or mail me a check (cross ship with good heat), that's how my prices are so low and I am not spending hours itemizing my sales and purchases to the IRS over a BS $600 threshold law. I may not have the receipt of my original purchase and I outright refuse to claim my sales as income when I more than likely already paid sales tax on said item. Lots of members know me here and I provide as much comfort and proof that I am a legit seller that I don't get push back here. I guess I might have more of a reputation for my deals here but I could see if I went silent for 4 years then came back with a sketchy deal, then yeah. I get it.
 
Rvenger said:
I do F&F only or mail me a check (cross ship with good heat), that's how my prices are so low and I am not spending hours itemizing my sales and purchases to the IRS over a BS $600 threshold law. I may not have the receipt of my original purchase and I outright refuse to claim my sales as income when I more than likely already paid sales tax on said item. Lots of members know me here and I provide as much comfort and proof that I am a legit seller that I don't get push back here. I guess I might have more of a reputation for my deals here but I could see if I went silent for 4 years then came back with a sketchy deal, then yeah. I get it.
Click to expand...
Yup that is the reason, the new-ish tax rule.
Two of my buyers on this forum paid F&F. One asked to cover the fees with G&S. Happy to oblige since I'm still under the yearly $600 threshold it was under $600.
I have extensive references, but can't be too careful.
 
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Use F&F with extreme caution. I normally don’t bother with sellers who insist on it, good reputation or not. I’d rather pay the extra percentage (assuming the deal is still good) if that means I have some small degree of buyer protection. You only need to get burned once to lose thousands just because you wanted to save a few bucks
 
I think the account was from when EVGA forums got hacked a while ago. Apparently many used the same PW here and there.

You see something that looks off in FSFT, click the REPORT button! I will dig through it. I do not mind anyone asking for me to take a look for something odd.

By the time I got it on my radar, payment had been sent, and the dormant account was logged into from a Turkish IP this morning.
 
trick_m0nkey said:
Use F&F with extreme caution. I normally don’t bother with sellers who insist on it, good reputation or not. I’d rather pay the extra percentage (assuming the deal is still good) if that means I have some small degree of buyer protection. You only need to get burned once to lose thousands just because you wanted to save a few bucks
Click to expand...
The same is true of sellers - you only need to encounter that one asshole "buyer" who files a "not received" claim months after the sale (and often after exchanging heat) - now you lose the money and the items. I only sell with F&F now - prices are low to compensate, and items move fairly quickly. It's still all about reputation IMO.

Anyone remember the days of Money Orders, Western Union, or just straight up cash in an envelope?
 
schoolslave said:
Anyone remember the days of Money Orders, Western Union, or just straight up cash in an envelope?
Click to expand...
Yup, lol. I'm contemplating going back to those methods thanks to the stupid PayPal reported "income" bullsh...

I remember when I first joined the forums ([H] and AT) and having to ship first due to no/little Heatware rep, lol.

20 years is a long time.
 
Sheeze, one day after the scam I get dark web alerts for my email address.
 
I have no problem taking GS if you pay fee. But I don't do it for anything over 600. Not doing the IRS thing paypal is doing lmao. Sorry for that in advance. This is one of the reasons lot of users now ask for F&F or zelle, cuz of that stupid rule. Always tell people if there is no trust don't do transaction, everyone happy.
 
DTN107 said:
How cheap was the scammer asking for it? I vaguely remember seeing a dirt cheap 3080 FTW when I was scrolling through the postings during my break but passed up because I'm trying to go on a hardware diet.
Click to expand...
$350 I think. I feel bad because I almost linked it to someone who was on a budget. I generally check post history / heat history for recent posts to make sure the account isn't fake. If it suddenly became active after a long absence that's usually a dead giveaway.
 
Andrew_Carr said:
If it suddenly became active after a long absence that's usually a dead giveaway.
Click to expand...
I come and go fairly irregularly. But that is a good place to start. There was a bunch of scam listings for CPUs on amazon earlier today. About 2 weeks ago the HR department where i worked got scammed. I wish there was some 'one size fits all' advice here. But there just isn't.
 
rgMekanic said:
This, even when people ask for papal F&F, I'll do G&S and add the 3% to what I send to cover the fees.
Click to expand...
I do the same.
Rvenger said:
I do F&F only or mail me a check (cross ship with good heat), that's how my prices are so low and I am not spending hours itemizing my sales and purchases to the IRS over a BS $600 threshold law. I may not have the receipt of my original purchase and I outright refuse to claim my sales as income when I more than likely already paid sales tax on said item. Lots of members know me here and I provide as much comfort and proof that I am a legit seller that I don't get push back here. I guess I might have more of a reputation for my deals here but I could see if I went silent for 4 years then came back with a sketchy deal, then yeah. I get it.
Click to expand...
Key here is most people who are legit understand the hesitation and they aren’t in a rush. They’ll work with you until you are comfortable with the person and deal. If they are pushing for fast and telling you other people are waiting, it’s likely a scam and I move on.
 
NKD said:
I have no problem taking GS if you pay fee. But I don't do it for anything over 600. Not doing the IRS thing paypal is doing lmao. Sorry for that in advance. This is one of the reasons lot of users now ask for F&F or zelle, cuz of that stupid rule. Always tell people if there is no trust don't do transaction, everyone happy.
Click to expand...
the IRS thing is not for a $600+ transaction, it's for $600 total over the course of a year. If you received 10 Paypal payments for $60 each, paypal will send you that tax form for the $600 in transactions. this is for all of the e-payment processers except for Zelle I believe since that is considered a bank to bank transfer.
I read that they might change that law back to where it was or close to it.

Edit: this was the old law,
  • For returns for calendar years prior to 2022:
    • Gross payments that exceed $20,000, AND
    • More than 200 such transactions
  • For returns for calendar years after 2021:
    • Gross payments for goods or services that exceed $600, AND
    • Any number of transactions
 
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Gillbot said:
Key here is most people who are legit understand the hesitation and they aren’t in a rush. They’ll work with you until you are comfortable with the person and deal. If they are pushing for fast and telling you other people are waiting, it’s likely a scam and I move on.
Click to expand...
This, so much this. There are many deals here which I walked away from as a buyer and seller due to shady and/or shitty communication.
 
Gillbot said:
I do the same.

Key here is most people who are legit understand the hesitation and they aren’t in a rush. They’ll work with you until you are comfortable with the person and deal. If they are pushing for fast and telling you other people are waiting, it’s likely a scam and I move on.
Click to expand...
hands doen. I sold so much here and never will rush anyone. Will send em whatever they want, screenshots of the order etc.
 
I don't sell much, but when I do I give the buyer the choice of f&f or g&s.
 
trikat said:
Earlier today a user account was compromised and used to scam me and possibly others.
Big shoutout to FrgMstr for removing the listing, banning the user, and contacting all the potential victims.
Also a nod to all the community who pointed out the sketchy seller using recycled images.
Unfortunately I paid quickly via Zelle.

My thoughts / tips:
Try to use PayPal G&S not F&F / Zelle, etc.
Contact your bank ASAP. My credit union was able to start a dispute. Although not 100% confident since it is Zelle.
Zelle won't help, but they will take a report.
Filed a complaint with FBI IC3.
Will also file a report with the police.
Alternatively file the reports with Zelle, FBI IC3, and police first and then provide the printouts / report numbers when making the bank dispute.
Print to PDF of conversations for support documentation.
If banks won't help contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), "a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly."
Click to expand...
Get your money back???
 
Rvenger said:
I do F&F only or mail me a check (cross ship with good heat), that's how my prices are so low and I am not spending hours itemizing my sales and purchases to the IRS over a BS $600 threshold law. I may not have the receipt of my original purchase and I outright refuse to claim my sales as income when I more than likely already paid sales tax on said item. Lots of members know me here and I provide as much comfort and proof that I am a legit seller that I don't get push back here. I guess I might have more of a reputation for my deals here but I could see if I went silent for 4 years then came back with a sketchy deal, then yeah. I get it.
Click to expand...
Same for me. I use gift but I've been here years now and actually moderate hardwareswap where coincidentally we no longer allow gift because the kids on reddit are a lot less vetted than traders here.

Sidenote anything for sale? :p
 
Zoop99 said:
Same for me. I use gift but I've been here years now and actually moderate hardwareswap where coincidentally we no longer allow gift because the kids on reddit are a lot less vetted than traders here.

Sidenote anything for sale? :p
Click to expand...
Yeah, have been trading exclusively here for years and only with the ones I can trust.
 
FrgMstr said:
Yeah, have been trading exclusively here for years and only with the ones I can trust.
Click to expand...

Same here. I am motivated to sell shit here cuz of the people. Have never had an issue taking the precautions even with F&F. if its too good to be true I usually stay away lmao.
 
That really stinks, I am so sorry that happened to you. Especially as this is a pretty vetted forum. I have never trusted trading on any other site except here and once in a blue moon overclock.net.

Nothing worse than someone trying to pull a fast one, didn't think we would have it happen here :(. Def. not going to let the bad apple ruin the experience. Thank God it was taken care of so swiftly
 
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