Disaster_Area
Gadget Monger
It really hurts when one person sours something for everyone... I've been buying, selling and trading here and on other camera forums for a long time and have never seen anything but honesty and friendliness. I'm very sorry for what happened and I cross my fingers it never happens to me. I thought I had heard about every scam in the book, but this is a new one. I think what scares me most is that even in this day and age of electronic tracking, wireless money... paper trails that lead right to the guys bank account he's probably gotten away with it in the past and may still in the future... I really hope he gets caught... where's Vito Corleone when you need him 
I just really hope his "girlfriends" bank account that he used isn't just some random broke chick he payed off to accept the transfer for him
One trick I learned from a friend of mine who buys and sells musical equipment, say you see the add for the RDS1 and there's pictures of the item, do a google image search for that item and go at least a dozen pages back or so and see if the same picture appears somewhere else, like on a different persons blog or a different classified add somewhere else. He found a lot of scammers would just grab pics off the net and never even had the item in question.
I just really hope his "girlfriends" bank account that he used isn't just some random broke chick he payed off to accept the transfer for him
One trick I learned from a friend of mine who buys and sells musical equipment, say you see the add for the RDS1 and there's pictures of the item, do a google image search for that item and go at least a dozen pages back or so and see if the same picture appears somewhere else, like on a different persons blog or a different classified add somewhere else. He found a lot of scammers would just grab pics off the net and never even had the item in question.
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Phantomas
Well-known
Happy End!
Happy End!
Well, well, well, who woulda thunk, but this sad story ended very quickly and happily. At least for me, so I hope it’s working out for the other guys too.
Here’s what happened, and some of it is my theory of course – first of all, thank Thor I posted this thread! Have I not, all us victims would be separately wondering if our cameras have indeed been stolen in post and hoping to get the insurance back. But with this thread we pretty much nailed him. In the process we have identified ay one more “victim”, so we were at least 3 people he was trying to scam, at least this many saw the thread.
I haven’t actually confronted the scammer; instead trying to get some more info and see what his “plan of action” would be. He was very fast communicating though and was going on about arranging the insurance. But I believe other members did confront him, as well as moderators of this site. Also some practical advice on police action here might have spooked him (thanks ludoo!). That’s where the guy started panicking. He realized that he couldn’t sell the “stolen in the post office” story to the people he scammed the same exact way at the same exact time. So by Saturday I started to receive profoundly apologetic emails literally begging me to give my account number to refund all the money back, saying how he’s lost his head, etc etc. Sure enough this morning I have had the money back on my account
To be honest it still might be a scam – he might have sent multiple empty packages, refunded our money and claimed the insurance, but the shipping fee seems just too low to cover the insurance. Or he was simply dumb enough to try to pull the same scam on multiple board members simultaneously not taking into consideration that they might find out, like it has indeed happened.
All in all I consider myself very lucky. No doubt I would proceed with charges and all necessary action, but we all know what a pain in the a@$ that would be. I’m just happy I got my money back painlessly and quickly. I’ve learnt my lesson; exclusively positive experiences in RFF classifieds made me let my guard down. I still consider this quite reliable and the best place to find very nice gear, but I will surely be more careful in the future. I’m not going to keep the money, transferring it all to my girlfriend towards holiday fund.
Sas0662 and others – hope your case is closed too! And thanks for responding here!
Happy End!
Well, well, well, who woulda thunk, but this sad story ended very quickly and happily. At least for me, so I hope it’s working out for the other guys too.
Here’s what happened, and some of it is my theory of course – first of all, thank Thor I posted this thread! Have I not, all us victims would be separately wondering if our cameras have indeed been stolen in post and hoping to get the insurance back. But with this thread we pretty much nailed him. In the process we have identified ay one more “victim”, so we were at least 3 people he was trying to scam, at least this many saw the thread.
I haven’t actually confronted the scammer; instead trying to get some more info and see what his “plan of action” would be. He was very fast communicating though and was going on about arranging the insurance. But I believe other members did confront him, as well as moderators of this site. Also some practical advice on police action here might have spooked him (thanks ludoo!). That’s where the guy started panicking. He realized that he couldn’t sell the “stolen in the post office” story to the people he scammed the same exact way at the same exact time. So by Saturday I started to receive profoundly apologetic emails literally begging me to give my account number to refund all the money back, saying how he’s lost his head, etc etc. Sure enough this morning I have had the money back on my account
To be honest it still might be a scam – he might have sent multiple empty packages, refunded our money and claimed the insurance, but the shipping fee seems just too low to cover the insurance. Or he was simply dumb enough to try to pull the same scam on multiple board members simultaneously not taking into consideration that they might find out, like it has indeed happened.
All in all I consider myself very lucky. No doubt I would proceed with charges and all necessary action, but we all know what a pain in the a@$ that would be. I’m just happy I got my money back painlessly and quickly. I’ve learnt my lesson; exclusively positive experiences in RFF classifieds made me let my guard down. I still consider this quite reliable and the best place to find very nice gear, but I will surely be more careful in the future. I’m not going to keep the money, transferring it all to my girlfriend towards holiday fund.
Sas0662 and others – hope your case is closed too! And thanks for responding here!
jeff laitila
Established
What was the name of the seller?
The same exact thing happened to me when I bought (or at least thought I was buying) an R-D1s from a RFF member in Italy. Same exact thing....
Maybe their scam worked so well on me that they decided to give it another go.
They robbed me for $1,600. How much were you taken for?
The same exact thing happened to me when I bought (or at least thought I was buying) an R-D1s from a RFF member in Italy. Same exact thing....
Maybe their scam worked so well on me that they decided to give it another go.
They robbed me for $1,600. How much were you taken for?
__hh
Well-known
Congrats on the reclaiming of your hard-earned money.... and all the best to his other victims.....
Mr_Flibble
In Tabulas Argenteas Refero
Yeah, congratulations Phantomas!
Are you still going to buy an R-D1?
Regards,
Are you still going to buy an R-D1?
Regards,
ludoo
Established
Glad it all worked out in the end and you got your money back. I think it's important to stop these kinds of scams, if they get widespread it will be the end of classifieds for RFF and similar forums.
thinkfloyd
Flippy Nose
Congratulations and good job phantomas! Great to hear things turned out great! However, as jeff mentioned, he was one of the unlucky ones...
It was mentioned a few pages back, a bruno something (lario?laria?)... try to contact him again and who knows, you might still get your money back Try to PM phantomas and ask for help...
It was mentioned a few pages back, a bruno something (lario?laria?)... try to contact him again and who knows, you might still get your money back
Try to PM phantomas and ask for help...
Phantomas
Well-known
Yes, his “stage” name is Bruno Lario. But of course that’s not his real name.
Thanks for all the good wishes. Mr. Flibble – yes, would love to still have an R-D1, but right now I’m traumatized and out of funds (as mentioned, I’ve transferred everything to my girlfriend for common funds, to still teach myself a lesson ).
I feel bad because I was actually offered R-D1 by I think a couple of reliable members who posted in this thread, but I couldn’t go for it as they were out of my budget. Well, here I was getting an affordable R-D1s…. NOT!
edit: Jeff - are you talking about an R-D1s that was in classifieds about 3 weeks ago? If so, yes, that's him. Read the thread for the clues and contact him confronting about the scam
Thanks for all the good wishes. Mr. Flibble – yes, would love to still have an R-D1, but right now I’m traumatized and out of funds (as mentioned, I’ve transferred everything to my girlfriend for common funds, to still teach myself a lesson
).I feel bad because I was actually offered R-D1 by I think a couple of reliable members who posted in this thread, but I couldn’t go for it as they were out of my budget. Well, here I was getting an affordable R-D1s…. NOT!
edit: Jeff - are you talking about an R-D1s that was in classifieds about 3 weeks ago? If so, yes, that's him. Read the thread for the clues and contact him confronting about the scam
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sas0662
Member
Well,
Got a refund this morning also!!!
Lesson definitely learnt; the joint action between Phantomas, myself and our Canadian 'co-victim' - together with all your hints, pointers and support has really helped!
Much appreciated!!!
Thanks to all of you and to RFF at least this scam has not paid off...
...and YES... I'm still looking for a nice RD1!!!!
Soto
Got a refund this morning also!!!
Lesson definitely learnt; the joint action between Phantomas, myself and our Canadian 'co-victim' - together with all your hints, pointers and support has really helped!
Much appreciated!!!
Thanks to all of you and to RFF at least this scam has not paid off...
...and YES... I'm still looking for a nice RD1!!!!
Soto
back alley
IMAGES
good news!
peter_n
Veteran
Yes, this is awesome. Congratulations to everyone!!
proenca
Proenca
brilliant !
I hate scammers that take our hard earned money and sometimes we put ourselves in a wire to get that "special" thing that we were lusting and we are left with nothing.
Im trully happy that everyone got refunded.
that's why I prefer to pay a bit extra but buying from stores like Aperture, FFords, etc.
Yes, I loose 100 or a bit more here and there (in a RD1 for example ) but I get 100% peace of mind.
I could have bought my Noctilux for 200 pounds less to be honest from a private seller but I got it from ffords - friendly service, express shipping, DHL tracked and insured. And worry free . Cant beat that
I hate scammers that take our hard earned money and sometimes we put ourselves in a wire to get that "special" thing that we were lusting and we are left with nothing.
Im trully happy that everyone got refunded.
that's why I prefer to pay a bit extra but buying from stores like Aperture, FFords, etc.
Yes, I loose 100 or a bit more here and there (in a RD1 for example ) but I get 100% peace of mind.
I could have bought my Noctilux for 200 pounds less to be honest from a private seller but I got it from ffords - friendly service, express shipping, DHL tracked and insured. And worry free . Cant beat that
Tuolumne
Veteran
Bought R-D1s from RFF classifieds two weeks ago. Today the box arrived! Too bad I have no use for the software and charger cable alone – coz that’s all there was in the box. No camera.
By the looks of the box it has been opened en route and sealed again.
It’s a sad day. I’ve been eyeing this camera for months now and have finally broke down and bought it. I guess it will remain just that, a distant dream
At least I’m hoping we’ll work something out with the insurance…
How many posts did this shady character have here at RFF? I will neither buy from nor sell to anyone at RFF whose name I don't recognize or who at least has a substantial number of posts. It's not worth the risk. New comers can pop up overnight, make a few posts, if only by commenting on galleries, and then disappear into the night.
/T
Wow. Amazing turn of events.
Regarding postal workers getting side benefits:
I was going to post here a few days ago, something I learned a long time ago in one of my businesses. I had a mail order business (pre-internet days) and we shipped computer peripherals (memory, drives, etc.)
After a time we got a rash of customer complaints that their orders were not being filled properly. They would order say 4 memory modules but only 2 or 3 would arrive in the box. We did some test shipments and discovered that the UPS employees (drivers?) were pilfering the boxes and sealing them back up.
So, we started using a fiber-based paper tape, instead of the clear packing tape. The drivers can easily carry a tape gun on the truck, but it's unlikely they would carry the fiber tape (the back of the tape must be moistened for the adhesive to work.) One can even get specially printed fiber tape (I believe B&H does this with their logo printed on it.)
This way it is quite obvious if the box has been opened and retaped.
We never had any pilfering issues after that, and I still ship to this day with the fiber tape.
Regarding postal workers getting side benefits:
I was going to post here a few days ago, something I learned a long time ago in one of my businesses. I had a mail order business (pre-internet days) and we shipped computer peripherals (memory, drives, etc.)
After a time we got a rash of customer complaints that their orders were not being filled properly. They would order say 4 memory modules but only 2 or 3 would arrive in the box. We did some test shipments and discovered that the UPS employees (drivers?) were pilfering the boxes and sealing them back up.
So, we started using a fiber-based paper tape, instead of the clear packing tape. The drivers can easily carry a tape gun on the truck, but it's unlikely they would carry the fiber tape (the back of the tape must be moistened for the adhesive to work.) One can even get specially printed fiber tape (I believe B&H does this with their logo printed on it.)
This way it is quite obvious if the box has been opened and retaped.
We never had any pilfering issues after that, and I still ship to this day with the fiber tape.
bennyng
Benny Ng
Glad to hear that it all turned out well.
Cheers,
Cheers,
.ken
I like pictures
Bought R-D1s from RFF classifieds two weeks ago. Today the box arrived! Too bad I have no use for the software and charger cable alone – coz that’s all there was in the box. No camera.
By the looks of the box it has been opened en route and sealed again.
It’s a sad day. I’ve been eyeing this camera for months now and have finally broke down and bought it. I guess it will remain just that, a distant dream
At least I’m hoping we’ll work something out with the insurance…
good luck with this. If had insurance problems with the USPostal Service when I shipped to New Zealand. It took them 5 months to resolve the issue and declined to honor my claim in the end. :-(
Stan001
Established
Why don't you order one from Matsuiyastore?
Why don't you order one from Matsuiyastore?
Why don't you order one from Matsuiyastore?
back alley
IMAGES
there are a couple of rd1 bodies for sale here from known sellers.
axiom
Non-Registered User
I grabbed 1 of those
great experience
the seller(md2008) even lent me a lens to play with
nahlene
Member
reminded me of the scam i got a year ago. I am in Canada and the seller from US. He was selling a Macbook pro with a decent (yet not unreasonable) price, i did bank transfer and the seller just vaporized. The police said that they usually don't handle international scam (mostly because they don't wanna waste time on a $12xx USD case)
Anyway, just to give all you guys an advice, do not do bank transfer and do not trust sellers/buyers easily (Everytime i sell something on Kijiji there are always tons of scam guys sending email to me, basically saying that their wife/husband/son is working somewhere remote and they want u to send the pack to that person, and he/she will pay you by paypal...I guess they want to get the item free and use it to scam people like the OP ; ( The world has really changed... sigh.
Anyway, just to give all you guys an advice, do not do bank transfer and do not trust sellers/buyers easily (Everytime i sell something on Kijiji there are always tons of scam guys sending email to me, basically saying that their wife/husband/son is working somewhere remote and they want u to send the pack to that person, and he/she will pay you by paypal...I guess they want to get the item free and use it to scam people like the OP ; ( The world has really changed... sigh.