[FS: General] Scam alert!! Beware!!!!

A

antonionhb

Active member
I posted a "Want to buy" thread to get an Ursa Mini

To make a long story short, someone messaged me here claiming to be Mary Basnight saying that they knew someone selling one.

Next, someone claiming to be Tony Monteney with "Reel Men Studios" in their signature and a logo for that company emailed me and we started the purchase process.

I I started to get worried when they began to get pushy and they had a @gmail.com email address.

I began to start searching names and making calls. Nothing checked out.

Today I called Reel Men studios. They were closed so I reached their emergency line. The owner picked up and told me that no one by the name of Tony worked there. I had already left a message for the real MARY Basnight in NC.

The real Mary's husband contacted me a moment ago and said that they've had several of these calls where people have been scammed using their name.

My advice would be to research everyone who tries to sell to you. I literally ALMOST gave my money to these assholes. I'm pulling their IP address and turning it over to the authorities.

i think it should be standard policy to talk on the phone before these sales take place. You also should have to have some sort of valid social media account for further verification. Because, this is bulls*%t. Several people have already been scammed by these pieces of s*%t.

BEWARE
 
((((wow This men also want sale me DJI Phantom 3
i also start thread "Want to buy" and receive message on PM
Thank you for this ALERT
 
Thanks David! Alex sent me a message and I was able to report the PM I received. I also have other screenshots if necessary on what had transpired over email. They sent me their PayPal email address as well. I'm not sure if that information is helpful.

No problem Sasha! So glad you were able to avoid it!!!

I've bought and sold tons of gear on here and never had an issue. Because of that, I almost sent $4500 over PayPal (they initially asked me to do a bank wire) without really digging into who the seller was.
 
I don't know if it is the real Mary Basnight lady or not, but I made a want to buy thread for a few cameras and they pm'd me yesterday asking if I am still looking for a c100. Not sure if this helps at all.
 
Several accounts have been banned as a result of some investigating we have done this afternoon.

A word to the wise. When posting a "want to buy" in the Marketplace, please be very careful who you respond to in the thread or if you are contacted by personal message. New users are prohibited from posting items sale in the Marketplace for at least 60 days.

However, they may try to contact potential buyers by personal message or other means.

Most of the fraud we see here involves new users. Always exercise extreme caution when buying or selling, particularly when new users are involved.

Report suspicious personal message and do your homework.
 
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FYI the person has obviously seen this thread and I figured they would. They just sent me this message. I apologize for the language
 
As noted by another web site:

PERSONAL MESSAGING REGARDING SELLING OR BUYING ITEMS WITH MEMBERS WHO HAVE NO POSTS IN FORUMS AND/OR WHO YOU DO NOT KNOW FROM FORUMS IS HEREBY DECLARED STRICTLY ILL ADVISED AND MAY GET YOU BURNED
 
Mitch Gross said:
Hey, that's a tease! Print it so we can read it! Just a low rez blob that has me guessing at the vitriol. Where's the fun in that?
Click to expand...

Heavy language caution:

it says:

icon1.png
Yesterday 02:53 PM
Watch your back cock sucker.

Your enemies could be closer than you think :)

Antonio Pantoja
XXXX NXXXXX Road
Louisville, KY 40205

... Don't worry. UPS won't be the only person knowing on your front door delivering a package.

At first, I wasn't going to do anything but now I'm going to have you sent to the morgue toe tagged in refrigerated.

Expect me :)​
 
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Was he actually that stupid to put his full name and address on that e-mail. Probably a fake but I agree, you need to report this to the authorities.
 
First and foremost, I'm sorry for your situation.

I definitely agree that a death threat is a serious thing that should be reported to your local authorities. You don't want to play with chances on this.

However, if it can help to ease any anxiety on your part, I would say it is also highly unlikely that they would follow through. This person is an internet scam artist. Different types of crimes often require very different personalities. In other words, internet scams and murders are very different things with very little overlap. Of course, I am no expert. However, I would not loose any sleep over it. That said, you definitely need to report it. And I hope this is resolved in a "just" way.

Placing a WTB ad nowadays has sadly become synonimous with, "looking for scammers". Any time I have done this, I always ask for them to take a picture of the item next to a coin of their local currency...or something unusual that would be hard for them to source with a google search. Most times they say that either they are traveling and they can't, or they photoshop something that looks super fake. Either way, it is a sign to block any further contact.
 
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Making a terrorist threat over the internet is a FEDERAL offense! I would contact the feds and let them handle this jerk. As we say in the South: "That will stop this dog from sucking eggs".
 
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