Scam alert!

matheusleston · 2014-04-06T15:51:25.000Z

People, be aware. I do believe xplore is a scammer. Here is my story:

I’m new to Elektronauts and joined in to buy an Octatrack (and then become a Elektronaut!).

I contacted xplore thought email about his OT and got pretty far in the conversation. He told me he was going to ship it from England, so I assumed he was british. But in the post StinkyBeat linked here he said he is Swedish. And, in the email conversation, he said he was a Polish living in England and gave me the information for a bank account in Poland. British, Polish or Swedish? Scam alert.

I told him that NRain commented that his post was suspicious and that I have done a quick Google Search about him (with his name and email) and found absolutely no information whatsoever. I asked for some references and he never answered.

The selling post for the OT was deleted. And now he created another one trying to buy an TR-808: Deleted

As you guys said, he never showed up to justify himself. And even worst, it seems he is trying to forge some posts.

Be careful, guys. I almost got scammed.

avantronica · 2014-04-06T16:32:35.000Z

wow - if you’re the real* matheus leston, can’t wait to hear what you do with the OT, just checked your site - your post here reads through almost like a double-bluff ! no offence meant

*ain’t trusting nobody’s identity no more

wintermute · 2014-04-06T16:44:10.000Z

""avantronica"":

wow - if you’re the real* matheus leston, can’t wait to hear what you do with the OT, just checked your site - your post here reads through almost like a double-bluff ! no offence meant

*ain’t trusting nobody’s identity no more

You SAY you’re avantronica, but that waveform is totally photoshopped hahaha

avantronica · 2014-04-06T16:49:12.000Z

It wasn’t done in photoshop (or similar) !

But it’s a fair cop, i’m busted, i’ve been slowly grooming you lot so i could sell some Chinese Elektron clones in about 6 months time

matheusleston · 2014-04-06T16:56:48.000Z

Avantronica, you are right. No offence taken! Those “who did who” things might get really confusing. I know that I have no credibility in this forum, I’m a new member, just as xplore is. But I decided to post it here because I was naive and maybe other people can get scammed. I was literally “saved” by NRain’s post. I almost made a wire transfer to this guy!

I’m just a honest brazilian musician trying to buy an used OT (because it is out of stock). I can prove everything I wrote here. No need to delete posts and leave questions unanswered. That’s why I wrote as complete as I could.

And hey, I’m the real Matheus Leston and got really flattered by your comment! I’m updating my website, it is lacking a bunch of things. But I’m really glad you liked my stuff! And I’m hoping I can get my OT soon!

avantronica · 2014-04-06T17:00:54.000Z

that’s good to hear, we can share tips on doing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDo1YN_q3c&feature=kp with the OT, excellent content on that site. kudos

edit: both peeps above, bold formatting can mask links (mine’s a link), elektronaut hq should colour links in orange to help differentiate

NRain · 2014-04-06T18:02:36.000Z

Also be cautious of user Hublot recently selling an Analog keys http://www.elektronauts.com/users/hublot
Pretty sure he is the same person as xplore

PlayRecords · 2014-04-06T19:06:13.000Z

[quote=“” avantronica""]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDo1YN_q3c&feature=kp
[/quote]

^ Nice!!

@ everyone els esp nils great detective work!! Shame you guys haven’t got time to moderate.

xmit · 2014-04-07T15:42:39.000Z

as any of you cats from the old EU-forums will know I’m not actually me, I’m someone else.

But seriously, be careful out there on the internetz. And well done again Sherlock Nils.

pmoldzio · 2014-04-07T16:39:51.000Z

Ben-Hart is a known scam alias on some 2nd Hand sites.
I hope my lucky monomachine bargain doesn’t turn out to be scam. I’ve got a good feeling and some security…

Sometimes life is a b**ch,
Avoid scam but keep spreading the love to fellow musicians!.

Now back to my smoke

jeffe · 2014-04-07T16:46:55.000Z

Playing a little devil’s advocate here, be careful not to get to invested in your internet sleuthdom.

I popped into a forum once to comment that a ‘wary’ buyer was being a little uninformed and nitpicky. Fast forward a week later, the internet ‘detectives’ had determined that I was actually the ‘scam seller’…which was only fueled by a troll post who started posting fake communication that he had with me (all fabricated).

I had NEVER talked to any of these people before and was new to the site. It was no way my auction, but once the witch hunt began, and that jerkoff added fuel to the fire (including personal, family information), the guys on that site went crazy with how awesome they thought they had done.

So just play it cool…be smart, and dont believe everything you read on the internet.

skylab001 · 2014-04-07T18:41:03.000Z

Always looking for good tips to avoid scammers. Thanks for looking out guys. I admit I was taken for a fool a few years ago and lost quite a bit in a sale gone wrong. I’m not sure if Paypal has changed their take on seller protection either but since the transaction wasn’t on eBay and the scammer instantly removed my payment from his account I was never able to recover anything. Paypal pretty much said tough luck. I try to be more diligent these days but it can be tough.

Nils · 2014-04-08T09:27:57.000Z

""jeffe"":

Playing a little devil’s advocate here, be careful not to get to invested in your internet sleuthdom.

I popped into a forum once to comment that a ‘wary’ buyer was being a little uninformed and nitpicky. Fast forward a week later, the internet ‘detectives’ had determined that I was actually the ‘scam seller’…which was only fueled by a troll post who started posting fake communication that he had with me (all fabricated).

I had NEVER talked to any of these people before and was new to the site. It was no way my auction, but once the witch hunt began, and that jerkoff added fuel to the fire (including personal, family information), the guys on that site went crazy with how awesome they thought they had done.

So just play it cool…be smart, and dont believe everything you read on the internet.

Wise words. Things can turn into a witch hunt quickly… I only posted my story here when I knew for sure I was being scammed.

G0n35y · 2014-04-08T11:18:02.000Z

[quote="“skylab001” date=“2014-04-07 18:41:03"”]
Always looking for good tips to avoid scammers. Thanks for looking out guys. I admit I was taken for a fool a few years ago and lost quite a bit in a sale gone wrong. I’m not sure if Paypal has changed their take on seller protection either but since the transaction wasn’t on eBay and the scammer instantly removed my payment from his account I was never able to recover anything. Paypal pretty much said tough luck. I try to be more diligent these days but it can be tough.
[/quote]

I don’t know if it’s a new Paypal thing but for a fee, the seller could issue an invoice and treat the transaction effectively as a retail sale. You are protected a lot more that way.

I guess the premium you pay (not much, was 3% or something) covers you for the sort of shit you went through with your experience and reduces the risks somewhat.

namnibor · 2014-04-08T11:44:03.000Z

""J0n35y"":

[quote=“skylab001”]Always looking for good tips to avoid scammers. Thanks for looking out guys. I admit I was taken for a fool a few years ago and lost quite a bit in a sale gone wrong. I’m not sure if Paypal has changed their take on seller protection either but since the transaction wasn’t on eBay and the scammer instantly removed my payment from his account I was never able to recover anything. Paypal pretty much said tough luck. I try to be more diligent these days but it can be tough.

I don’t know if it’s a new Paypal thing but for a fee, the seller could issue an invoice and treat the transaction effectively as a retail sale. You are protected a lot more that way.

I guess the premium you pay (not much, was 3% or something) covers you for the sort of shit you went through with your experience and reduces the risks somewhat.[/quote]
^+1
That’s the only way I do things. It’s a nominal fee and gives seller/buyer protections akin to as if doing an ebay transaction. For instance, a Radikal Technologies Spectralis I bought from a member here recently, the added fee was $27. USD and I of course, agreed to pay that for peace of mind. The buyer really should pay that extra fee rather than seller. I do not think doing a PayPal “gift payment” is ever the route to go. Having an official invoice issued with the exact item and description also attaches a tangible address, name, email, and phone number of seller as well as buyer, making the transaction transparent if there should ever be some issue. One should note that even though an official invoice may be issued, there’s nothing legally binding the buyer to not change their mind…and given that, one should never send the item being sold UNTIL payment has been sent and cleared. The invoice should also clearly depict any shipping costs and method in which it will be shipped. Goes perhaps without saying but do the right thing and provide tracking info and fully communicate with each other and there should not be any problems.
I never would agree to a wire transfer because you really are relying on total blind trust and is easiest method to get scammed. Craigslist is another bad (or can be) underbelly of internet scams. In my metro city there’s a plethora of people getting robbed or people acting like they are wanting to check-out your item at your studio/home, and are actually just checking out the situation to perhaps later burglarize. A whole group practice place was wiped out in my area recently by exactly that method. Stuff was posted on CL eventually and they caught the scumbags.
Morale or story is unless you really know the person, never allow a stranger to come over and check out an item for sale!! Police are highly encouraging anyone using Craigslist to get the person to meet you in front of a police station and never bring your cash with you upon first visit if you are doing the buying. These tips weed-out would-be crooks effectively.
Hope this helps even just one person from falling victim. People can suck sometimes!

analogback · 2014-04-08T12:40:40.000Z

thanks for the tipss guys… sadly i just sent that multinational person?!
XPLORE (aka Mitch Lamb aka exploredj@###.com)
9 nice pics of my 808… with serials, I hope he doesn’t use them to scam anyone. so here are a few of them , serial 290499 is my tr 808 and is not for sale

Ihatederekreed · 2014-04-08T13:22:21.000Z

[quote=“” analogback""]
thanks for the tipss guys… sadly i just sent that multinational person?!
XPLORE (aka Mitch Lamb aka exploredj@###.com)
9 nice pics of my 808… with serials, I hope he doesn’t use them to scam anyone. so here are a few of them , serial 290499 is my tr 808 and is not for sale

20140407_141309.jpg653×490 111 KB

20140407_141338.jpg653×490 107 KB

20140407_141842.jpg653×490 91.4 KB

[/quote]

Why send pics if it’s not for sale?

skylab001 · 2014-04-08T16:07:02.000Z

""Nils"":

[quote=“jeffe”]Playing a little devil’s advocate here, be careful not to get to invested in your internet sleuthdom.

I popped into a forum once to comment that a ‘wary’ buyer was being a little uninformed and nitpicky. Fast forward a week later, the internet ‘detectives’ had determined that I was actually the ‘scam seller’…which was only fueled by a troll post who started posting fake communication that he had with me (all fabricated).

I had NEVER talked to any of these people before and was new to the site. It was no way my auction, but once the witch hunt began, and that jerkoff added fuel to the fire (including personal, family information), the guys on that site went crazy with how awesome they thought they had done.

So just play it cool…be smart, and dont believe everything you read on the internet.

Wise words. Things can turn into a witch hunt quickly… I only posted my story here when I knew for sure I was being scammed.[/quote]
I do prefer sellers now to send me an invoice, it also keeps the confusion of possibly messing up and sending payment to the wrong email address. When I was scammed there was no paypal invoice option, it was about ten years ago. The idea of sending somebody payment as a paypal gift is a joke, and I personally feel a little disrespectful to the buyer. If you are selling something you need to realize there are fees involved to do it properly and price accordingly. Even retail establishment pay fee’s on every credit card purchase.

analogback · 2014-04-08T23:39:59.000Z

""Ihatederekreed"":

[quote=" analogback"]thanks for the tipss guys… sadly i just sent that multinational person?!
XPLORE (aka Mitch Lamb aka exploredj@###.com)
9 nice pics of my 808… with serials, I hope he doesn’t use them to scam anyone. so here are a few of them , serial 290499 is my tr 808 and is not for sale

20140407_141309.jpg653×490 111 KB

20140407_141338.jpg653×490 107 KB

20140407_141842.jpg653×490 91.4 KB

Why send pics if it’s not for sale?[/quote]
oh, well… the guy wanted to buy one. we started to negotiate. the 808 is not listed for sale anywhere, he put a WTB ad up. and yes, even my 808 has a price moohaha

Nils · 2014-04-09T08:37:53.000Z

Got my synth from the real seller yesterday. Glad things worked out and I avoided being scammed…

Good trader - Tom Carpenter of Analogue Solutions!

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