Almost Succumbed to a Scammer

Rich Cohen

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What happened? If you care to elaborate. Just to forwarn the rest of us?
I've been looking for either a Guild A-350 or A-150. They are not easy to find. So, not surprisingly, my WTB on LTG went unanswered until yesterday, when someone with no track record on LTG sent me a PM asking if I was still interested in acquiring an A-350. I said yes. Then we had a back and forth. The responder was very quick to answer my questions. Which I thought somewhat unusual. When I tried to pay him through PayPal, the PayPal website said it couldn't process the payment at that time. I stupidly tried several times, always with the same result. Then the "seller" said he could be paid by Zelle. I'm not a big user of Zelle, so I didn't pursue that. Then, I began to wonder why the "seller" was offering the guitar at such a low price. Since "he" (I don't really know the gender of the seller, and I very much doubt that the email address with the name is actually real) was a brand new user on LTG, I sent a PM to GAD. Within a short time, I got a PM from Chazmo, who informed that GAD had notified the moderators that this "guy" is a scammer. End of story. Thank god for our smart moderators who save us from scammers!
 

jedzep

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Hey Rich, nice dodge, good assist, boys!

You might want to touch base and make friends with Lou del Rosso in Summit, NJ, in case one drifts his way. He also has big love for archtops. You'll love the vids on his site. I sold him my lovely M65, which might turn into yet another regret.


 

Rich Cohen

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Hey Rich, nice dodge, good assist, boys!

You might want to touch base and make friends with Lou del Rosso in Summit, NJ, in case one drifts his way. He also has big love for archtops. You'll love the vids on his site. I sold him my lovely M65, which might turn into yet another regret.


I've bought several archtops from Lou already in the past. Coincidentally, I just emailed Lou alerting him to my GAS for an A-350.
 

GAD

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A friendly reminder to always report suspicious activity!

I'm glad it all worked out in the end but we must all be eternally vigilant!
 

Rich Cohen

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A friendly reminder to always report suspicious activity!

I'm glad it all worked out in the end but we must all be eternally vigilant!
I did feel there was something suspicious going on, thus I contacted you. And what a relief, you and Chazmo came through for me. Fellow LTGers should realize they are in good hands. But, as you say, we must all be vigilant and be responsible for our own GAS.
 

HeyMikey

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Nice work fellas! Three cheers for The Mod Squad !
 

sailingshoes72

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Thanks for sharing your experience with us Rich. It is a good reminder to pay attention to the red flags that indicate a transaction may not be on the up and up. And "Hip Hip Hooray" for the LTG moderators!
 

Rich Cohen

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Thanks for sharing your experience with us Rich. It is a good reminder to pay attention to the red flags that indicate a transaction may not be on the up and up. And "Hip Hip Hooray" for the LTG moderators!
I think the lesson here is that one needs to deal with either folks known to you or at least with a shop/company that has a track record. And second your point that we need to thank our moderators.
 

GAD

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The key to remember with this type of scam is that hearing what you long to hear is a very powerful thing.

Additionally what really helped us here was the fact that more than one person raised a flag. Each by themselves seemed to follow a sketchy path but could have been legit, but once a pattern of behavior was seen it all became crystal clear what was happening.

This is not the first time and it won't be the last. Stay ever vigilant!
 

AcornHouse

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Glad it didn’t work out for you…er…worked out for you…um…?
 

jp

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Wow -- glad you dodged the bullet, Rich, and good for you mods for coming to the rescue.
 

chazmo

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Keep your spidey sense about you, guys. Probably 90% of the time deals with new/inexperienced people will work out fine, but if anything seems untoward in the slightest, run for the hills.
 
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