jrplatts
Member
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2021
- Messages
- 24
- Vessel Name
- Pipe Dream
- Vessel Make
- DeFever 44 Offshore Cruiser
I am not sure if this is the right place for this, but I feel the need to share an experience.
I recently posted on the general classified that I was looking for a replacement remote for my Garmin autopilot. Today I received a private message from a user suggesting that I contact someone that had some Garmin parts for sale. I did and he had what I was looking for. Not cheap but not totally unreasonable. After a little discussion, I initiated an online payment through my bank. That is where things got strange. I received an email every minute wanting to verify payment, asking for screenshots to confirm payment, etc. This went on for over two hours. I called my bank to check on things and was told that they had flagged it as fraud. I canceled the transaction. I am still getting emails from the "seller", offering other accounts to send money to and other options but all looking for money upfront. The grammar or typing skills of the seller are very poor. I let the member know of the experience as he asked if we made contact. Oddly enough, he already seemed to know the whole story and seems to have the same grammar/typing skills. I checked the profile of the member and now see that his join date is 8/7/2023.
It could be that everything here was totally legit, but looking back it just seems fishy. There were a number of flags that made me curious and yes, there is more to the story. If I can suggest, please use caution with any online transaction.
I recently posted on the general classified that I was looking for a replacement remote for my Garmin autopilot. Today I received a private message from a user suggesting that I contact someone that had some Garmin parts for sale. I did and he had what I was looking for. Not cheap but not totally unreasonable. After a little discussion, I initiated an online payment through my bank. That is where things got strange. I received an email every minute wanting to verify payment, asking for screenshots to confirm payment, etc. This went on for over two hours. I called my bank to check on things and was told that they had flagged it as fraud. I canceled the transaction. I am still getting emails from the "seller", offering other accounts to send money to and other options but all looking for money upfront. The grammar or typing skills of the seller are very poor. I let the member know of the experience as he asked if we made contact. Oddly enough, he already seemed to know the whole story and seems to have the same grammar/typing skills. I checked the profile of the member and now see that his join date is 8/7/2023.
It could be that everything here was totally legit, but looking back it just seems fishy. There were a number of flags that made me curious and yes, there is more to the story. If I can suggest, please use caution with any online transaction.
