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I posted a WTB for 997 car seats. User ecclesiastes private messaged and claims a person named Charles Cotton had seats I was looking for. "Did you try to contact Charles Cotton ? He’d have for sale, he is your best bet, owns a Classics department , talk to him via Charlescotton895@gmail.com if you’re still interested have a good day."
I emailed this so called Charles Cotton, and there were so many red flags I immediately knew this was the dumbest scammer I've ever come across.
RED FLAGS
1. User ecclesiastes asks if I contacted a person named Charles Cotton like I'm supposed to know who that is. Zero info over Google.
2. Shows me a photo of mint condition 997 hard back seats claiming they are in sea blue but clearly in black. I used Google Image search and led me to a post from 2015. https://rennlist.com/forums/parts-ma...ort-seats.html
3. Offers it for $2300 shipped which is pretty much giving away a pair of mint seats.
4. I asked him to speak over the phone but rejected it.
5. I asked for additional photos of the rear and sends me a completely different seat.
It is incredible how poorly executed this potential scam was set-up I feel disrespected
I posted a WTB for 997 car seats. User ecclesiastes private messaged and claims a person named Charles Cotton had seats I was looking for. "Did you try to contact Charles Cotton ? He’d have for sale, he is your best bet, owns a Classics department , talk to him via Charlescotton895@gmail.com if you’re still interested have a good day."
I emailed this so called Charles Cotton, and there were so many red flags I immediately knew this was the dumbest scammer I've ever come across.
RED FLAGS
1. User ecclesiastes asks if I contacted a person named Charles Cotton like I'm supposed to know who that is. Zero info over Google.
2. Shows me a photo of mint condition 997 hard back seats claiming they are in sea blue but clearly in black. I used Google Image search and led me to a post from 2015. https://rennlist.com/forums/parts-ma...ort-seats.html
3. Offers it for $2300 shipped which is pretty much giving away a pair of mint seats.
4. I asked him to speak over the phone but rejected it.
5. I asked for additional photos of the rear and sends me a completely different seat.
It is incredible how poorly executed this potential scam was set-up I feel disrespected
most of them are moron youngsters that look for a quick buck.
personally whenever they ask for bitcoin, zelle or paypal friends and family I simply ghost them.
most of them are moron youngsters that look for a quick buck.
personally whenever they ask for bitcoin, zelle or paypal friends and family I simply ghost them.
Yup, pretty much a dead give away.
On those days when I do have an extra minute, I dont give them the satifaction of calling them out, but rather play along with it to give them hope their scam may actually be working.
All the scammers can be stopped by rennlist if they did an ounce of security
have all user offer a form of verified IDENTIFICATION to a secure 3rd party
Do we have a feedback tool on the forum specific to marketplace? Like we see on ebay. This could be helpful as buyers could easily review seller history.
All the scammers can be stopped by rennlist if they did an ounce of security
have all user offer a form of verified IDENTIFICATION to a secure 3rd party
All of that costs money, requires hiring people, paying for services. Right now it’s mostly community moderated, i.e., unpaid volunteers, and they try to do what they can but there are really only a couple who are active and around. Best thing to do, “if you see something, report it.” The community can also be made better by the members who participate in it.
Theres "easy" things that can be done.
For example, putting a time based hold on who can post and reply threads in the Marketplace.
A lot of the fishing involves fake/similar name to the OP. Example, "jchen10" becomes "jchen10."
"jchen10." then responds with, "hey brother, email me at XYZ@gmail.com or text me at XXX-YYY-ZZZ for quicker response"
Majority of the time, the fake accounts were setup that same day as their message going out.
Put a 90 day window on new accounts posting in the marketplace or messaging people. You will no longer have the strong association between the actual OP and the fake accounts. And you're counting on the scammer to come back in 90 days, utilizing the correct password/login,email accounts, etc.
That can all be done, with little to no additional workload.
I also agree, report when you see it. I've also PM'd people who looked like they've taken the bait. Or potentially taken the bait.
All of that costs money, requires hiring people, paying for services. Right now it’s mostly community moderated, i.e., unpaid volunteers, and they try to do what they can but there are really only a couple who are active and around. Best thing to do, “if you see something, report it.” The community can also be made better by the members who participate in it.
Rennlist is run by internet brands. A public traded company with annual revenue of 2.1 billion. They are making millions off the back of us enthusiasts. We give up our valuable information on how to keep these car's on the road and they profit from it. They should, at the very least, invest in some protection for the members who made the site what it is. I also no longer post up my videos to Rennlist because after a certain amount of time, you can't delete them and they are the property of Rennlist. I now upload everything to my YouTube channel and if I feel like sharing, I do so via a link.
Trying to get off of Rennlist but too many folks that I consider friends are on here. Don't even get me started on Purge 2.0
Carry on
Last edited by RAudi Driver; 01-20-2024 at 05:56 PM.
most of them are moron youngsters that look for a quick buck.
personally whenever they ask for bitcoin, zelle or paypal friends and family I simply ghost them.
This is good advice. I made two transactions lately that seemed really sketchy but worked out - and it violated both of these rules.
1. Selling: a brand new member with only one post PMed me about buying one of my items for sale. I googled his username and followed the rabbit hole, and luckily the guy had multiple accounts on other forums with the same name, and it was easy to find his email + his actual FB and LinkedIn profile to confirm if it was an actual person. Used Goods and Services (I was seller) and it went fine.
2. Buying: Long term member on here (we all know sometimes these accounts can be hacked) PMed me knowing I was looking for an exhaust - he wasn't the OP I was responding to (flag 1), and wanted to use exclusively ZELLE (flag 2). This was an expensive item as well, as exhausts usually are. Took a major leap of faith, and it worked out fine. Was very close to walking away from this.
01-19-2024, 04:01 PM
