Right,

I didn’t want to do this but unfortunately I have to. I bought some bars on here from ‘jamiebanks1982’. Paid via paypal however no contact a week later and he’s gone. A quick google suggests he’s been at it a while. His real name could be Sean Madden so look out for this when paying via paypal as it will show. He has sold under a few names see thread :

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-gopro-hero-wide-sd-price-drop

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/brand-new-maxxis-swampthing-tire

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/mens-armour-elbow-knee-shin-cheap

Also look out for:

Danny-M-1892@hotmail.co.uk
TTGVayZaa@hotmail.co.uk
yorkshirejamie1982@hotmail.co.uk
djharvey

As this is him too. Google suggests he’s been at it a while and sells on Pinkbike and also looks like he’s scamming with online game hosting. I really dont want this to decend into a joke and anyone that can help us get this guy would be good. PayPal wont let me dispute the transaction due to it being paid as gift – Lesson learnt before anyone says it. I have spoken to another forum member who has been scammed by this guy. Watch out.

Also if anyone has bought anything off this guy and has his address it’d be good.

He’s been going for a while round here, If its the same guy

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-scammer-in-the-classifieds

Cheers Neal. Looks like a notorious scammer that has been flagged several times yet no-one has stopped that paypal which is used everytime?

DONT PAY WITH PAYPAL GIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also….

DON’T BUY FROM ANYONE WHO HAS ONLY EVER POSTED ON THE CLASSIFIEDS!

Lucky miss from me! Thanks for the heads up. He replied to a wanted add I had up but all of a sudden went cold when I asked for pictures.

Should have known the price was too good to be true.

Is there nothing legal that can be done to this guy?

He’s obtaining money under false pretenses/fraudulently no matter how he’s doing it so surely the police should be involved at some time if enough people are willing to own up to being scammed by him.

Genuinely sorry to see you’ve been duped. I hope it wasn’t for a lot of money although that’s not the point.

It’s all been said before, buyer beware etc. I personally wouldn’t buy from a classified only poster but by the same token. I wouldn’t hesitate to use PP gift for a deal with an established member.

FWIW I think given the amount of these cases appearing on here, and given its not up to the mods to look after it. I agree wholeheartedly with a premier, members/ subscription type deal which may not eradicate the dishonest element but would weed out the chaff.

Hope you get some recourse.

just goes to prove nothing good came from the nineteen eighties

It appears that I’ve been duped too.

Only ever used pp gift for less than £10. Oh well

It this place populated by mugs?

Sorry to hear that Transporter. I’m not posting anything up on here just yet but we may be close to catching him. I’ll try my best to get anything he’s scammed you for back. What did you ‘buy’.

Apart from music that is… Bah dah tish!

Crackin smiles since ’86 ;D

I enquirer about a backplate for an e13 ls1 chainguide. I paid £10 for it
Never had a problem in 9 years so I can’t complain too much.

Would like to meet him though

It this place populated by mugs?

I think so. There is one of these threads a day at the moment.

People oh so keen to send their money to the magic cheap bike part shop, it’s almost tempting to say that the scammers and the scammed deserve each other…

OK, they do deserve each other!

A fool and their money are easily parted and all that stuff.

Personally I wouldn’t buy from any classifieds only user with less than a years history.

Hi,

I know it’s a tenner to you but he got £20 from me and does it every week. He’s sold go pros for £100 and over a year that really adds up. £20 is a nights work for me and I want to make sure I get that back and he isn’t just left to continue taking what amounts to £100s with no objection.

Fair enough Ross. If you do manage to find his details I’d be interested.

To everyone else. Thanks for your input. My mistake for not doing the right checks. I normally do when it’s a name I’m not aware of.

I’m glad you’ve all chipped in. I made a mistake not checking posting history yes I owned up to that honest mistake. If you don’t have anything useful to say, why bother posting?

This guy has been at it for over a year and has been flagged up on here using the same paypal 3 times. I’m doing this now so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. I’m sure you wouldn’t be so smart if you made a simple mistake.

Perhaps contact some of the other buyers who’ve dealt with him on some of his threads?
Did this when I was having a problem with a seller (the only time on here). Someone I contacted (who it turned out I had dealt with on here once) came up trumps with the seller’s direct work number. He was somewhat surprised when I called him!

yeah, I’ve been popped by him for £20.

I buy so much stuff that I didn’t check this one.

I’ll try and ring paypal and let them know.

Did anyone else pay their money to : ttgvayzaa@hotmail.co.uk

TTG stands for a thetechgame which is a COD forum. He’s been scamming people on their too via hosting games. He’s done it on a lot sites any help getting the guy is appriciated.

Googling his number seen in other threads shows up loads of posts where he’s sold stuff that didn’t turn up.

I’ve been stung on PB after becoming trusting from many good classified transactions here. I learned the same lesson, PPG FTW!

It may be worth pushing it a bit with PP to say you acknowledge your money is gone but this person repeatedly scams. Have you mentioned him on PB yet?

This is crime you’re all talking about. Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 covers it fraud by misrepresentation.

I know STW has its haters, but I would report it to the Police; give them everything you know, all contact details etc. and get a crime number. He’s a sh!t and needs dealing with properly. Eventually he’ll be caught and wouldn’t it be nice to hammer him with a load of jobs? Just don’t expect miracles; most financial investigation units only take on jobs worth over £15k in pretty much a single transaction. It’s likely to be a poor local bobby with another 30 odd jobs in his socket just trying to spin the plates and survive, but if someone gets this persons real ID or even an alias that is know to the Police by (believe it or not they do try to x reference them all), then ‘he’ll be coming in’.

I got caught out for a tenner a while back. It’s quite an operation, but between this site and the gaming site (and others?) presumably there are details that can be assembled? I know when this guy came up on a past thread there was a telephone number.

DONT PAY WITH PAYPAL GIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve offered to buy recently on STW and every single seller has asked for PP gift still. They want all the benefits without any of the cost of Paypal to themselves. Nevermind any scamming issue.

Ps. NEVER buy anything from anyone based in Plymouth of high value…..just incase its IWH…..

For anything of reasonable value I refuse to pay by paypal gift and if the seller won’t budge I’ll begrudginly offer to pay the fees as it is my protection and its only 3%. I do find it amazing that people expect you to dish out £400 on a frame with no come back.

Agree. If anyone demands Gift I walk now.

I had to halt a purchase recently.

seller was only asking a fiver less than new price and wanted gift or me to pay the fees. Reason was ‘I won;t give those scum at paypal any of my money’.

I am more careful now than I have been in the past.

I hate to think how much stuff we see reported as stolen on the main site finds it’s way onto the classifieds 6 months later.

They want all the benefits without any of the cost of Paypal to themselves.

If this is the case you can always pay by purchase of goods and add a few pence or a few quid depending on the price of the item to cover the fees. This is what i usually do to ensure i am covered by paypal.

The reason I prefer to buy and sell on here as opposed to Ebay is because this forum feels, and mostly acts, like a community rather than a digitally connected bunch of strangers. I’ve bought goods that I haven’t been totally happy with and had the full amount refunded immediately, and done the same in return for goods I’ve sold.

I’ve had offers of guided rides from people if I’m ever nearby, I’ve had offers of bike loans to do charity rides, tons of advice about routes, fettling, tracking down bits of kit etc.

So Rosss – you’re right to speak up and let everyone know what’s going on, and to see of there’s anything to be done about it. Those calling scammed people mugs seem, in my opinion, to be missing the point of this forum.

Hope something can be done. Mods – what do you think?

Those calling scammed people mugs seem, in my opinion, to be missing the point of this forum.

not at all.. quite the opposite surely..?

For the love of Jehovah, and for the umpteenth time, this is nothing to do with the mods. They cannot and should not be expected to police the classifieds.

If you’re buying from the classifieds, you are buying from a stranger, so you need to take suitable precautions. However, I totally accept that in a lot of cases there is some assurance to be gained from the fact the STW is to all intents and purposes a community, but, still, caveat emptor. Personally, I’ve never had a problem on the classifieds, buying or selling, but I accept, every time I entr into a deal, that there is a risk that it could go wrong and I could be out of pocket for parts or cash.

There are simple ways that everyone could help (but no-one ever does):
– conduct all communication on the FS/WTD thread (I don’t like doing this as it’s a bit of a pain, but I can see the advantage of doing it)
– when a sale/purchase has successfully completed, stick a quick bit of feedback on the original FS/WTD thread. That way anyone doing a bit of research into someone in the future (like you should do before agreeing to buy or sell to anyone on the classfieds) can get a feel for how transactions have gone ithe past.

The second one’s the key for me. If more people did it, it would make the whole thing much less risky.

I’ve just phoned paypal and logged my complaint. I’d suggest anyone else who has been scammed to do the same. I’m not suggesting paypal will refund anything but at least they can freeze his account.

On a BMX forum I frequent also we have a “Buyer/Seller Feedback Megathread”

It’s essentially full of good (and sometimes negative) feedback from members on the forum who have bought or traded in the classified’s section.

Easy to search to quickly find someones history – then you can decide if you want to do gifting.

Personally, I never gift anything. Part of my terms of selling and buying.