Be aware of a scam!
This happened outside of Audiogon, however I thought I'd share so other people won't get scammed.
It looks like a scam plot where bad guys post desirable HiFi gear for sale at various classified sites with cheap prices. Once you contact them they will tell you some BS that they need money and offer you escrow service to deliver the item, in my case some transportation company in Spain. The escrow service require full payment upfront and claim to be an intermediary between seller and buyer. In my case the guy introduced himself as Robert Szekeres (robert.szekeres1986@gmail.com...). He sent me the link to the escrow service company in Spain [url]https://transmachila-sl.com/trade_protection.php[/url]. The site looks legit except when I checked deeper it was created a couple months ago out of Reykjavik.
So needless to say I backed out of the deal.
Be vigilant people!
Very old scam, but yes everyone should be aware. I know someone who did this with her expensive wedding ring after divorce about 20 years ago. Ring gone and out shipping charges. She would have been better off loosing it down the drain. The escrow was illegitimate and simply a front for the scammer. I don't know why a person would feel secure sending money just because the destination has the word "escrow". |
@ozzy62 +1 Bingo! gmail account red flag #2. Price too good to be true red flag #1. Dealing through an "escrow service" red flag #3. Whenever I’m poking around Craigslist, especially autos, and an obvious scam comes up, every single time it was a gmail account with a fictitious name, like a name adds some kind of legitimacy to it. |
Yep - the false escrow thing is an older scam, but essential to continue building awareness of. Lately Facebook’s audio-themed groups have been hit hard. These scams are relatively lazy, but they work by spamming volume - a certain percentage, however small, might fall for it. The FB scammers steal pics of desirable equipment and simply "list" them as ads on the target group. It’s always recently-joined members with no real group contriubutions. No corroborating info or feedback links, of course. And usually too-good-to-be-true pricing. The VPI group recently got hit by a wave of ads for cheap Avengers (many using the same pics), and unfortunately someone fell for it, to the tune of ~ $2500. There is a Tannoy group also getting inundated by scam listings. The other one is to be wary of, when selling, is checks of any kind. NEVER accept a check for more than the agreed amount, no matter the excuse. |
The classic escrow scam is where a very normal sounding buyer suggest use of an escrow company and offers to pay for it themselves. they send you a link to a an escrow company. Usually it is a real escrow company. The problem is the link they send you is to a fake twin escrow page that routes the money offshore never to be seen again. always be skeptical of an escrow. If you want to use an escrow, you contact the escrow company and set it up yourself. Jerry |
Yes, thanks for the notice. I agree w @bassbuyer regarding using a payment service that includes buyer protection. Of course this means PayPal, and NOT PayPal Friends and Family. I suggest, than in addition to Amps/Preamps, Speakers, Digital, etc. that someone create a 'SCAMS' topic. (unfortunately, I do not know how...). It could be very informative... I have a few stories to share ;-) |
I have used an arrangement where a lawyer (who is subject to professional standards) is given the purchase money to be held in escrow until the piece of gear shows up and is unboxed and inspected. It was easier for me as I was also a lawyer and used another one in the same office and had the goods shipped to our office but if you have a lawyer who is willing to hold the funds on appropriate undertakings that does work. If the gear had proven to be bad/broken/nonfunctional, I would have had to prove to the escrow holder that I had shipped it back to the seller before he could release the money (shipping cost to me and the balance to the seller). |
