There seems to be an uptick in attempted scams so although caveat emptor is the rule, I figured I would try to make the proverbial light bulb go off above Prime's collective heads by reminding that you need to look for "red flags" such as:
1. Are you being contacted by pm by a Primate who has no posts or history on Prime
2. Are you being contacted by someone offering you a part for which you didn't post a WTB thread but perhaps you discussed in an unrelated thread
3. ARE YOU BEING ASKED TO PAY BY WESTERN UNION?!
4. Are you being asked to use paypal "gift"
5. Does the person contacting you appear unable to understand English and spelling and rules of grammar
6. Have the photos you are being sent been lifted from somewhere else
7. Does the seller sign off his email/note with something like "Have a blessed day"
Currently, there appear to be two persons attempting to scam here: "Charles I Turner" at [email protected] and "Davemacri" at [email protected]
Please always be skeptical unless it is a known member and use the search tools of the interweb to:
1. Google the screen name
2. Google the email address
3. Google the telephone number
4. Google the photos sent to you
The 4th suggestion is rarely used by people and would show if the photograph appeared somewhere else and was lifted to make you think a seller actually had the part, etc. I used it recently when someone listed an NSX and used the prior owner's photos from the prior sales ad and the prior owner had lifted someone else's pics and represented them as his car. The current seller was unaware and was indignant when I took down the ad for copyright violations and misrepresentation and he was surprised to learn that his seller had used someone else's images and car. If you search a specific image often times you can find where it originated if there are enough identifying features in the photo to set it apart from let's say a generic front end shot of a red NSX.
As always, it's caveat emptor on Prime but I hate being contacted after the fact when there were red flags waving all over.
1. Are you being contacted by pm by a Primate who has no posts or history on Prime
2. Are you being contacted by someone offering you a part for which you didn't post a WTB thread but perhaps you discussed in an unrelated thread
3. ARE YOU BEING ASKED TO PAY BY WESTERN UNION?!
4. Are you being asked to use paypal "gift"
5. Does the person contacting you appear unable to understand English and spelling and rules of grammar
6. Have the photos you are being sent been lifted from somewhere else
7. Does the seller sign off his email/note with something like "Have a blessed day"
Currently, there appear to be two persons attempting to scam here: "Charles I Turner" at [email protected] and "Davemacri" at [email protected]
Please always be skeptical unless it is a known member and use the search tools of the interweb to:
1. Google the screen name
2. Google the email address
3. Google the telephone number
4. Google the photos sent to you
The 4th suggestion is rarely used by people and would show if the photograph appeared somewhere else and was lifted to make you think a seller actually had the part, etc. I used it recently when someone listed an NSX and used the prior owner's photos from the prior sales ad and the prior owner had lifted someone else's pics and represented them as his car. The current seller was unaware and was indignant when I took down the ad for copyright violations and misrepresentation and he was surprised to learn that his seller had used someone else's images and car. If you search a specific image often times you can find where it originated if there are enough identifying features in the photo to set it apart from let's say a generic front end shot of a red NSX.
As always, it's caveat emptor on Prime but I hate being contacted after the fact when there were red flags waving all over.
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