I have listed some items (racing kayak and ergometer) for sale on this website but am receiving extremely suspicious emails which have all the hallmarks of scamming. These people refuse to call the number provided but ask for an email and location. These, although from different email addresses, say basically the same odd language about having their “agent” pick up the equipment.
I have written to the webmaster but have received no response.
Beware!
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Can add to this, just had the same experience.
I’ve received two of these scamming emails since listing my SOF for sale here. This was the suspicious message in the most recent one, and they always ask for direct email contact rather than using the message feature on the classifieds here.
“$XXX sounds fine . I’m in Texas and I will have my mover agent organize a pick up from your location after you have received payment”
I don’t reply to messages like these, so far, neither scammer has reinitiated contact.
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This happens on every online sale site, not just this one. We do flag the suspicious responses but there is little any site admin can do to stop these as the scammers who use this method to find victims simply use new fake contact names once their first ones are blocked.
By now anyone who wants to sell on line should be aware that this type of scam scheme has been running for at least 20 years and know what the signs are that this is not a legitimate buyer. These contact messages usually originate in Africa or Eastern Europe and can’t be traced. Any message that claims that they are “out of the country” and will have a third party {“mover” or “agent”) pick up an item or offers lame excuses for why they can’t contact you directly or pay cash should just be ignored and deleted. Never allow anyone who actually does contact you by text, DM or email to send you a text and ask for a “verification code number” as that is a method to capture your cell phone number and use it to steal from you.
Making it clear in your ad that any sale is “cash, Venmo or PayPal only, no checks, bank transfers or crypto” and “local pickup by buyer” is one way to filter these asshats out.
Another strong clue that the “buyer” is a scammer is that their invented contact names are usually common first and last names followed by a 2 to 5 digit number, like “maryroberts1234” or “charleswilson88”. Even if a legitimate buyer has a similar handle, the odds are high that it’s a scammer and if you are suspicious you can quickly sort out by asking them questions about their interest in the item you are selling and their location.
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All good info – also, in my case both scammers had p-net accounts that had just been created with only one or two prior posts before I was contacted.
Are they fishing for identity fragments to build your dark web profile or whats the theory?