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Recently the forum had someone register by the name of Robert Armstrong who has turned out to be a known scammer. He is part of a vaguely elaborate scam where they DM users on forums about niche items, tell you to email mikerohner2@gmail.com and then they get you to buy whatever it is and send the money through PayPal.
If you google that email you will see that it comes up with loads of people saying they are a scammer. Also if you reverse google image search the photos sent to you, it will likely turn up to be random photos from the internet he grabbed as a means to convince you to send money. One person on this forum who reported this got scammed already.
There was another guy (or possibly the same one) on facebook masquerading as “Frank Paul” making the rounds several months ago. His facebook account has since been terminated.
The rule of thumb on these sort of deals is to either meet in person to purchase the item, or instruct the seller to prove themselves by standing in front of the item (or at least their hand) and take one photo with 3 fingers out and pointing upward and another photo of the item from a DIFFERENT angle with two fingers out and pointing sideways. (Change it up each time.) If they can do that, THEN at least you know the item is real and the person you are talking to has actual direct access to the item. If they state it’s elsewhere, tell them to have whomever is watching over it perform the photos. If they refuse or try high pressure “someone else wants this” just walk away because the odds are that you will be sending you money into a black hole.
The Robert Armstrong account has been deleted, but it’s still entirely possible that the scammer will re-register under another name.
Thanks,
Brad
If you google that email you will see that it comes up with loads of people saying they are a scammer. Also if you reverse google image search the photos sent to you, it will likely turn up to be random photos from the internet he grabbed as a means to convince you to send money. One person on this forum who reported this got scammed already.
There was another guy (or possibly the same one) on facebook masquerading as “Frank Paul” making the rounds several months ago. His facebook account has since been terminated.
The rule of thumb on these sort of deals is to either meet in person to purchase the item, or instruct the seller to prove themselves by standing in front of the item (or at least their hand) and take one photo with 3 fingers out and pointing upward and another photo of the item from a DIFFERENT angle with two fingers out and pointing sideways. (Change it up each time.) If they can do that, THEN at least you know the item is real and the person you are talking to has actual direct access to the item. If they state it’s elsewhere, tell them to have whomever is watching over it perform the photos. If they refuse or try high pressure “someone else wants this” just walk away because the odds are that you will be sending you money into a black hole.
The Robert Armstrong account has been deleted, but it’s still entirely possible that the scammer will re-register under another name.
Thanks,
Brad
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