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3,773 Posts
I was recently made aware of a Buzz member who got scammed recently thru the Personal messaging system. It really breaks my heart that it seems the scammers have found the Buzz. Other than "he-who-shall-not-be-spoken=of" there hasn't been much in the years that I have been here. I buy and sell fairly regularly online, not as much here as I do in snowboarding, but I want to share a couple of tips that have helped me over the years.
Payment: Don't use Venmo or similar unless you know them personally. Just don't. While not a fan of Paypal I use it for all unknown sellers and never had a problem. However they do their vetting and some of the not great stories of the palofpay, it works most of the time. I am sure there are other similar options.
Verify who they are: If someone has just joined, has zero posts and no personal info under the About...just run.
I actually go through people's post history to see if they are real before I send them money. A bot can spoof some info through a script and get an identity. It takes a real boater to name a raft they own and three rivers near them.
If you are selling and have no info in your About, I move on. Don't put your address or phone number, but it seems pretty easy to discern an algorithms spew on related subjects versus a real fan of the whitewater.
Beware of anyone posting unsolicited thru a PM. If it's not in response to an inquiry in the classified forum look them up. The script they use is something like 'I saw you were looking for a (insert midrange priced rafting gear), my buddy has (midrange priced rafting gear) here is his bsemailadress*a*hoseyou.com. I know he has them in your size buddy.'
They won't try to sell you a raft it seems. Too much money, people get cautious, hard to ship - something.
Report - If any post seems off please let us know. There are three dots in the upper right hand corner. Report the post and by default I will look at the identity. Or someone on the team will. I'll be gone late May to an undisclosed internet free zone for 16 days, but when I am around I want to help us not to be scammed. Don't be low hanging fruit...
Also thanks to those of you who report regularly. It sure makes it a lot easier.
Payment: Don't use Venmo or similar unless you know them personally. Just don't. While not a fan of Paypal I use it for all unknown sellers and never had a problem. However they do their vetting and some of the not great stories of the palofpay, it works most of the time. I am sure there are other similar options.
Verify who they are: If someone has just joined, has zero posts and no personal info under the About...just run.
I actually go through people's post history to see if they are real before I send them money. A bot can spoof some info through a script and get an identity. It takes a real boater to name a raft they own and three rivers near them.
If you are selling and have no info in your About, I move on. Don't put your address or phone number, but it seems pretty easy to discern an algorithms spew on related subjects versus a real fan of the whitewater.
Beware of anyone posting unsolicited thru a PM. If it's not in response to an inquiry in the classified forum look them up. The script they use is something like 'I saw you were looking for a (insert midrange priced rafting gear), my buddy has (midrange priced rafting gear) here is his bsemailadress*a*hoseyou.com. I know he has them in your size buddy.'
They won't try to sell you a raft it seems. Too much money, people get cautious, hard to ship - something.
Report - If any post seems off please let us know. There are three dots in the upper right hand corner. Report the post and by default I will look at the identity. Or someone on the team will. I'll be gone late May to an undisclosed internet free zone for 16 days, but when I am around I want to help us not to be scammed. Don't be low hanging fruit...
Also thanks to those of you who report regularly. It sure makes it a lot easier.
