It heppend to me... and it CAN happen to you even on "Trusted" Sites. PLZ Read!

[BoogieMan82]

Scammed … A trusting person’s tale.

Well… it’s finally happened to me; I got scammed, bamboozled, hustled.  I was transacting business on a popular online auction website, let’s call it Eshore.   They have buyer AND seller protection. Their fees can be a bit high so prices of goods tend to be higher, but you pay for that protection.  I also used a popular payment processor often used by Eshore, let’s call it PayBuddy.  They too have buyer AND seller protection which is why I was fine paying their high fees as well.  


My thoughts on “protection”… Buyer and Seller Protection means Jack (They are like condoms… someone can find a way to poke a hole in it).  There are many “grey areas” in the terms of these types of sites regarding what constitutes “protection,” so take it with a grain of salt and assume they will find a loophole to make sure they aren’t stuck with the bill.


I am currently out ~$550 USD.  I currently can’t divulge into detail in the hopes that the Proper Authoritative Figures come up with some answers (which they said my chances were very very small… basically none) but I can hope.


Why am I posting this here?  Well, it was for some Bitcoin Mining Equipment (a popular model that runs at 180 – 200 gh/s) and I have read a lot of the threads/posts about “scams” (apparently not enough).  I wanted to make my own warning thread with my own thoughts… esp about “protection.”

             1 .“Protection” means nothing.  
             2  It CAN happen to you EVEN with “protection.”
             3. Don’t be like me, question everything… Even if there are high ratings, and “confirmed and verified” accounts.
             4. Don’t be like me (no, I’m not stupid; I’m just trusting by nature).
             5. And IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU (I can’t say that enough).

So, for now my hopes of getting new mining equipment are crushed, at least for a few months until I can save up more (having a family sure eats into your hobby money).  Now I wish I had not sold my 4 u2’s (at least I would be having a little fun).


To those who have been scammed, I feel for you, it’s a horrible punch in the throat that pisses you off.  We were stupid?… maybe yes, maybe no (hindsight and all that) but I hope Karma bites those @#(!@#@ in the butt.


********************** *******************************************

Now I’m going to ask you guys/gals to help me get back up and keep at it.  If you don’t want to keep reading...or get some cheese… or popcorn, now would be the time to stop.

So, I run a little website called www.getfreebitcoins.us .  I got into Bitcoins by doing a lot of the “Get Free Bitcoins” stuff and figured I would make a site (and make a little referral money while I’m at it… emphasis on LITTLE lol).  I think my site is coming along nicely, about 1,500 -2,000 hits/day.  If you fine guys and gals could go poke around my site a bit and let me know the good, bad and ugly… and also let me know what information would be good to add to the site, I would highly appreciate it.  The site is aimed towards newer people getting into Bitcoins.

I also know there are a TON of great products/services/people on these forums and I would love to put your information on my site.  You don’t have to pay me anything, but if you would like to make a donation (of any amount) it would be appreciated.  I would be happy to put up product descriptions, links, etc.

For you miners out there… If you ever feel generous and want to help me get back on my feet by pointing a little of your quota to my workers until I get mining on my own again, it would be appreciated.  I have miners setup at:

Ghash.io
stratum+tcp://uk1.ghash.io:3333
BoogieWu.worker11 (or whatever you want to call it as long as it starts with BoogieWu.  Example: BoogieWu.workerButtHurt
Passwords are always a lower case x


Eligus (I have never used it, but have heard great things)
stratum.mining.eligius.st : 3334
1BX8buCMvtn4ZLbicyeNY421RoNGuCtHwi


Donations (of any amount) can be made on my site (www.getfreebitcoins.us) or to:
1BX8buCMvtn4ZLbicyeNY421RoNGuCtHwi


If, through your generosity, I get enough donations to recoup my losses (IE get my miner and a PSU), anything over the amount I lost will be donated to bitcointalk.org.  I also plan to “pay it forward” to help someone else in my shoes someday.


If you made it this far, thanks for reading and please don’t let it happen to you.


--BoogieMan82

TL:DR – Got Scammed. Thought I did things right. Help me if you want to. If you don’t want too that’s cool, thanks for reading.


Time for a few moments of “zen.”  You earned it after reading my wall of text (I would embed it, but all the embed codes I know don't work!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N5OhNplEd4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdxEymWUX14

[Forexperiments]

Paypal protection... so many times where is the scammer to be protected  (whether is the seller or the buyer the scammer)

I once bought £350 of office supplies expired in 1998 but had the expiration date doctored on the label, totally worthless.
Paypal said, to send back to his London address... London SW1A 1AA (Buckingham Palace...)

I sent back with UPS to the address stated on the box, paypal denied my claim, saying I sent to the wrong address.......

[BoogieMan82]

Paypal protection... so many times where is the scammer to be protected  (whether is the seller or the buyer the scammer)

I once bought £350 of office supplies expired in 1998 but had the expiration date doctored on the label, totally worthless.
Paypal said, to send back to his London address... London SW1A 1AA (Buckingham Palace...)

I sent back with UPS to the address stated on the box, paypal denied my claim, saying I sent to the wrong address.......

That sucks.  I could definitely see them doing that.  I HATE these damn loopholes.  You do what they tell you to do... and still get screwed.

[thejewelrytech]

I had a couple similar experiences and learned NEVER BUY OUT OF COUNTRY....... I won't even get into the how because don't even want to give people any idea's on how and what could be done there's enough scams out there as it is But paypal and  ebay protection is a complete joke for the most part there are some serious holes in their policies. I found out the hard way and got ripped off twice by sellers and bought fake gold that was plated and filed petitions and complaints with both companies when it happened and both companies did jack shit to protect me and protected the seller  even when these sellers already had other scam complaints.Then ultimately learned the hard way how sellers found a loophole in their system where they really have all the protection and their is a conflict of interest when these companies stand to make a dollar off you.
 Sure on paper it looks like your  fully protected it only gives you a fake confidence that nothing can go wrong when in actuality everything can go wrong its usually only good for verified major sellers with 1,000's of positive transaction history as they stand to lose as ebay gives discounts to sellers fee's to those with close to 100% approval so those doing huge volumes usually don't play around there in it for the long haul. It's those occasional and new sellers you have to look out for because they  don't sell things for a living and could care less about there reputation. There's a old saying if it looks too good to be True? it usually is!! Words to LIVE by.....

[Forexperiments]

Read this horror story:
http://www.businessinsider.com/paypal-violin-destroy-return-refund-2012-1

[BoogieMan82]

I had a couple similar experiences and learned NEVER BUY OUT OF COUNTRY....... I won't even get into the how because don't even want to give people any idea's on how and what could be done there's enough scams out there as it is But paypal and  ebay protection is a complete joke for the most part there are some serious holes in their policies. I found out the hard way and got ripped off twice by sellers and bought fake gold that was plated and filed petitions and complaints with both companies when it happened and both companies did jack shit to protect me and protected the seller  even when these sellers already had other scam complaints.Then ultimately learned the hard way how sellers found a loophole in their system where they really have all the protection and their is a conflict of interest when these companies stand to make a dollar off you.
 Sure on paper it looks like your  fully protected it only gives you a fake confidence that nothing can go wrong when in actuality everything can go wrong its usually only good for verified major sellers with 1,000's of positive transaction history as they stand to lose as ebay gives discounts to sellers fee's to those with close to 100% approval so those doing huge volumes usually don't play around there in it for the long haul. It's those occasional and new sellers you have to look out for because they  don't sell things for a living and could care less about there reputation. There's a old saying if it looks too good to be True? it usually is!! Words to LIVE by.....

Ouch.  So, basically they had the bigger wallet, so they won.  Does every place bow down to money vs. what is right?

[BoogieMan82]

Read this horror story:
http://www.businessinsider.com/paypal-violin-destroy-return-refund-2012-1

DESTORY the item?  What about taking it someone else to verify?  Wow... that's.... freaking crazy.

[thejewelrytech]

Read this horror story:
http://www.businessinsider.com/paypal-violin-destroy-return-refund-2012-1

I'll say 1 thing in hopes of preventing a scam from happening to someone else theirs one thing in that story that is complete BS paypal and ebay will never have you send them a item to verify if its real or not.One of the times I got burned I bought a supposedly antique a advertised gold ring made year 1867 and it was from Burmingham oddly enough it was  wonder if it was the same guy lol but these antique rings have unique markings a code that the writing tells you the exact year they are made from the symbols well the symbols actually said it was made in 1934 they took out the gem and replaced it with a piece of plastic! I was bullshit and knew right away I was scammed since 1 you can easily look up the symbols for what year they are made and know what they are. I messaged the seller and he even laughed at me saying you will never get your money back!! So I filed my petition and even talked with customer reps explaining ! I've previously been a buyer of gold and antiques with $1,000's of dollars of buy history and filed my complaint with ebay and paypal.
I told them look at my history I buy thousands of dollars of gold and antiques I know what I am doing and I know what REAL IS!! I even sent them pictures and links to show the markings didn't match up and what the seller sent me was WORTHLESS! They say no worries? Just return it?I asked" If i could send it to them instead because this guy is a FRAUD" and even said he will do anything he cans to make sure I won't get my money back They said "NO we DON"T DO THAT you have to return to sender.......
So I sent the item back and as soon as the package left the country no more updates? I waited 2 months without a update? WTF and the post office couldn't give me tracking anymore? and Ebay wouldn't refund unless the web updates said DELIVERED! But here's the KICKER as soon as a out of state package leaves the country THERE IS NO WAY TO TRACK IT!! This is what the post office told me after i inquired what the hell was going on? on why there was no updates on my package being delivered!!! They said as soon as the package leaves the U.S there is no way to update the package because it left the U.S mail system and their is no linking technologies because it is now in a foreign carriers hands and they don't have the capability to give updates like the U.S postal system so they can never tell me if the package was ever delivered? or lost!!! But for some odd reason they can give status updates when something is being sent into the U.S only because it's going through our system it only works 1 way.
 There was no way to ever prove the package was delivered to a foreign country so Ebay canceled my dispute because there was no status of delivered on the web which come to find out is IMPOSSIBLE!! and the Seller most likely got his ring back and was able to keep the money and run the same scam again That's how I learned NEVER BUY OUT OF COUNTRY because once a package leaves the U.S postal service there is no possible way for them to track it and you will never get a update as other postal systems don't have the technology to link with ours for updates you only get updates when its sent into the country it's then not their problem! I tried for months calling and filing with the post office to try and get package or to find proof it was delivered to no avail and got screwed THREE WAYS by combined the postal system,Ebay, and seller unreal.... Hopefully this saves someone from my headache as your almost gauranteed to be screwed because you can never prove sending something back to a foreign country and will always lose too Ebay because of it......

[BoogieMan82]

Read this horror story:
http://www.businessinsider.com/paypal-violin-destroy-return-refund-2012-1

I'll say 1 thing in hopes of preventing a scam from happening to someone else theirs one thing in that story that is complete BS paypal and ebay will never have you send them a item to verify if its real or not.One of the times I got burned I bought a supposedly antique a advertised gold ring made year 1867 and it was from Burmingham oddly enough it was  wonder if it was the same guy lol but these antique rings have unique markings a code that the writing tells you the exact year they are made from the symbols well the symbols actually said it was made in 1934 they took out the gem and replaced it with a piece of plastic! I was bullshit and knew right away I was scammed since 1 you can easily look up the symbols for what year they are made and know what they are. I messaged the seller and he even laughed at me saying you will never get your money back!! So I filed my petition and even talked with customer reps explaining ! I've previously been a buyer of gold and antiques with $1,000's of dollars of buy history and filed my complaint with ebay and paypal.
I told them look at my history I buy thousands of dollars of gold and antiques I know what I am doing and I know what REAL IS!! I even sent them pictures and links to show the markings didn't match up and what the seller sent me was WORTHLESS! They say no worries? Just return it?I asked" If i could send it to them instead because this guy is a FRAUD" and even said he will do anything he cans to make sure I won't get my money back They said "NO we DON"T DO THAT you have to return to sender.......
So I sent the item back and as soon as the package left the country no more updates? I waited 2 months without a update? WTF and the post office couldn't give me tracking anymore? and Ebay wouldn't refund unless the web updates said DELIVERED! But here's the KICKER as soon as a out of state package leaves the country THERE IS NO WAY TO TRACK IT!! This is what the post office told me after i inquired what the hell was going on? on why there was no updates on my package being delivered!!! They said as soon as the package leaves the U.S there is no way to update the package because it left the U.S mail system and their is no linking technologies because it is now in a foreign carriers hands and they don't have the capability to give updates like the U.S postal system so they can never tell me if the package was ever delivered? or lost!!! But for some odd reason they can give status updates when something is being sent into the U.S only because it's going through our system it only works 1 way.
 There was no way to ever prove the package was delivered to a foreign country so Ebay canceled my dispute because there was no status of delivered on the web which come to find out is IMPOSSIBLE!! and the Seller most likely got his ring back and was able to keep the money and run the same scam again That's how I learned NEVER BUY OUT OF COUNTRY because once a package leaves the U.S postal service there is no possible way for them to track it and you will never get a update as other postal systems don't have the technology to link with ours for updates you only get updates when its sent into the country it's then not their problem! I tried for months calling and filing with the post office to try and get package or to find proof it was delivered to no avail and got screwed THREE WAYS by combined the postal system,Ebay, and seller unreal.... Hopefully this saves someone from my headache as your almost gauranteed to be screwed because you can never prove sending something back to a foreign country and will always lose too Ebay because of it......

Ouch, it sounds like a lot of the horror stories have to do with sales outside of the US!  I am surprised that USPS does not have tracking outside the US as they likely forward it to another carrier (like UPS, FedEx or DHL).

I'm really suppressed that Ebay didn't have any other recourse. I HATE that they get to chose sides on "he said/she said" crap.  Can't they just look at the facts?

That really sucks as I'm sure you were excited to find an item you were looking for and looking forward to getting!

Have you done any business since?  If so what types of security measures have you implemented?

[thejewelrytech]

I haven't bought gold since lol but I have continued to buy online with no hassles as of late luckily enough.A lot depends on items bought high price items with high resale value are usually the ones you have to be the most careful of .As those are the ones that attract shady individuals looking to make a quick buck.I find it best to stick with the professional sellers that sell online for a living those are the people less likely to try and pull something because they want your continued business although anyone can suddenly turn rogue.I will also go through all available data on Seller their Buy history and SELL history can tell you a lot. If they are selling something for big$ make sure they have had successful transactions of equivalent or more value before buying from them.If they never sold or bought anything over 10$ and now are suddenly selling things for $100's your better off staying away and paying more elsewhere and make sure they have a return policy if they state No refunds no matter what? 9 out of ten times your going to have problems and just best to stay away unless you don't care about chance of returning on a low cheap item and taking a chance.
People will appear to have sometimes 100's of positive transactions and they all can be small junk item transactions bought for dollars from a friend and with fake reviews and  they just only bought and they never Sold before but it can appear like they have good standings so watch out.Always Make sure they have sold these types of items they are selling before and have a reasonable track history.I will usually not buy from anyone without  1 year selling history.And always ask questions of Buyer? make sure they are knowledgeable about what they are selling! The way they converse with you can also give you insight of what kind of person they are? if you get a funny feeling ? and the price is too good to be true?stay away.........

[BoogieMan82]

I haven't bought gold since lol but I have continued to buy online with no hassles as of late luckily enough.A lot depends on items bought high price items with high resale value are usually the ones you have to be the most careful of .As those are the ones that attract shady individuals looking to make a quick buck.I find it best to stick with the professional sellers that sell online for a living those are the people less likely to try and pull something because they want your continued business although anyone can suddenly turn rogue.I will also go through all available data on Seller their Buy history and SELL history can tell you a lot. If they are selling something for big$ make sure they have had successful transactions of equivalent or more value before buying from them.If they never sold or bought anything over 10$ and now are suddenly selling things for $100's your better off staying away and paying more elsewhere and make sure they have a return policy if they state No refunds no matter what? 9 out of ten times your going to have problems and just best to stay away unless you don't care about chance of returning on a low cheap item and taking a chance.
People will appear to have sometimes 100's of positive transactions and they all can be small junk item transactions bought for dollars from a friend and with fake reviews and  they just only bought and they never Sold before but it can appear like they have good standings so watch out.Always Make sure they have sold these types of items they are selling before and have a reasonable track history.I will usually not buy from anyone without  1 year selling history.And always ask questions of Buyer? make sure they are knowledgeable about what they are selling! The way they converse with you can also give you insight of what kind of person they are? if you get a funny feeling ? and the price is too good to be true?stay away.........

Never thought to look at the value of the items bought vs what they have sold.  Nice tip!

[BoogieMan82]

Fingers still crossed that the Federal Authorities will find this person/persons.

[JunkieMiner]

Scammers are everywhere. I don't know who I can trust!

[BoogieMan82]

Scammers are everywhere. I don't know who I can trust!

Yourself... hopefully!

[sypher]

(cut - big text)

To be completely honest, you've been duped and you should have known better.
First by the seller, then by paypal; always take with a grain of salt what they say on the phone; if they require proof of resending, you should make certain that you have just that.
I honestly think its widely known by whoever ships more than 5 items a month that USPS (as mostly ANY) national mail service isnt tracking parcels outside their country of competence.

In this particular case you should have called the carrier at the destination country, because they get the parcels then re-code them in their own internal code, and you can track them with that (if its signed-for).
Having that could have saved you a lot of trouble.

Either way, when sending legal mail, always use signed for - proof of delivery system, preferably with an express courier.
Will cost you more, but thats what you gotta do unfortunately.

Totally agree with you on the 'shady' practices of the mentioned companies.