Scam alert!

xmit · 2014-04-06T12:04:23.000Z

Nice one Nils - great heads up & well done for being so alert!

Congrats on the SH-7 too - look forward to hearing it …

Ihatederekreed · 2014-04-06T14:32:18.000Z

Thanks for pointing this out. There is another discussing best practices and possible ideas for avoiding this stuff.

http://www.elektronauts.com/t/suggestion-selling-gear-only-for-established-forum-members/4652/39529

This is the first ive heard of your specific situation as nothing has been mentioned in the mod forum. I think your execution of getting this in out in the open was well done.

Thanks for sharing and glad it worked out for you.

StinkyBeat · 2014-04-06T14:45:04.000Z

After someone mentioned in another thread, it is always a good idea to check a sellers past posts on this forum, a few questionable posts popped up that appeared to be trying to create a post history. Seems scammer crisscrossed their fake stories and users names. After being called out they posted no reply.
I would be Leary of:
xplore
xidnpnlss

http://www.elektronauts.com/t/analog-rytm-availability/3924page:2

poonti · 2014-04-06T15:00:24.000Z

Yup, good looking out peeps, and considering none of the suspects have come back to “defend” their names and honor, we should mentally file all of these guys under the heading of: p.o.s. scamming slimeball rat bastages…at least, that’s what I’ve done.

avantronica · 2014-04-06T15:01:30.000Z

how did you figure they were the same person out of interest ?

edit: ^ last post bar one !

dubathonic · 2014-04-06T15:50:15.000Z

glad you caught the fargin bastidge, nils!

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.