Buyer Beware


Audiogon has seen a number of fake accounts trying to rip off members. If you come across an item that seems very low in price and advertised by a brand new member the chances are it is a fake account trying to rip you off. My suggestion is to not attempt to buy from any of these accounts.

 

They have figured out how to get bogus tracking accounts from USPS, which look like an item was delivered to your house. Until you can prove that nothing was delivered, which can take time, you are out of your money. In some cases, the more that time passes the less likely you can prove this.

 

I’m not sure why Audiogon can not do a better job of filtering these scammers out but there are a number of ads up now that are most definitely scams.

raymonda

Watching/Warning a friend to be careful on a sell situation. There is a recently new member trying to buy a pair of speakers from a colleague. The buyer has a new account, no feedback, no posts, no purchases, no history. Instructions are to "drop off the speakers at their local UPS with a UPS account that will pay for it all" and instead of using PayPal or Zelle instant payment, buyer is sending a check. Name/Address on the check, over $500 is federal offense if fraudulent, right? My buddy said he will wait for the check to clear before sending the speakers. Buddy feels its legit, yet still cautious for him. Trying to figure out if it can still come back on him after the check supposedly clears. i.e. like initial clear, but not fully clear through (all) bank back end clearing-houses. Perhaps I’m overthinking it for him. Scammers are getting to be more sophisticated to scam you.

Yes, your bank can reverse charges on a check many weeks after you think it has cleared.  I’m not aware of any time limit.

Beware that several weeks after a bank initially clears a check it still can bounce. A friend had this happen last year and lost $2500. Get a phone number and speak to buyer. Wait 3 weeks after bank clears check.

I got scammed by one of these here on Audiogon. Right after I made the purchase and paid they RE-LISTED the same item and BLOCKED me. I immediately called up my Credit Card Company and they took care of it. Not sure how the OP paid but thats all you need to do. Forget about contacting Paypal cause that will take forever. Even after I made the claim with my CC company the "seller" went into Paypal and put a Tracking # from FEDEX. Little did he know but I have a FEDEX account that notifies me about all incoming packages days ahead of time. So I got an Email from PAYPAL saying the package was delivered to my house. Called up FEDEX and they said a package was sent EXPRESS MAIL to another address in my town with THAT tracking number the scammer supplied to Paypal. So they arent entirely stupid scammers cause they found a way to work the system. Just pay with your Credit Card and NEVER file a claim with Paypal unless you want to wait forever and your money will be locked up.