[stevesbirds]

I had a hit on a window I need and the seller on here wants a cash app to get his payment. Says too busy... doesn't do cash.

I am pretty skeptical most of the time. Anyone else use venmo or chime to pay for stuff? OK experience?

I don't want any app that has a link relation to a bank. Too easy for a hacker to access your phone and voila, money is moved.

Are fraudsters active on this site?

[b-man]

If the seller can’t agree to use some sort of payment method that gives you recourse if something goes wrong then move on.

Also if the seller has no posting history, just joined yesterday or sends messages in broken English then well……and answering parts wanted ads giving you his cousin Vinny’s email to contact for the parts purchase…..you got the picture.

Join the 21st century and link your secure PayPal payments to your checking account. Better yet open a separate account just for PayPal payments and only transfer enough money into it to cover your current transactions.

Easy and safe.

Many people use their smartphones to do all their banking, I’ve never had an issue doing it that way.

Anytime you use an app that moves money just like using a check such as Zelle or Venmo you lose all that money if someone is screwing you, plain and simple. Apps like PayPal where you pay a fee for security are what you need to use.

On internet forums with classified ads the fraudsters are always working overtime to fleece the suckers. If you’re answering ads right out in the open they’ll message you looking for payment. If you’re foolish enough to be displaying your email or phone number they’ll use those to contact you, people here get taken so frequently because they’re not being the least bit internet savvy.

Always use private messages to contact the seller to start your deal. Never post your intentions to buy right in someone’s ad thread.

[stevesbirds]

David Marlen responded with the off site email link to a luffymika4 email.

I look more ckosely and that user has a suspended status.

Anyone else confirm this is another scammer?

[b-man]

What does your gut tell you?

Follow your gut.

Or get taken.

Of course he’s scamming you man!

People gotta start using their heads and not be so desperate when looking for parts.

[65madgoat]

90 percent of the time any email address with a number in it from an online ad is a scammer.

RUN!

[PAUL K]

I cash doesn't work the fellow isn't worth dealing with.


Cash has always been King.

[burd]

Buy your parts at a swap. Done.

[1965gp]

Dude don’t do it. I got screwed out of $2700 from www.irocmotorsports.com by using Zelle. I wasn’t looking for it because I went to him trying to buy parts and he had great communication… until I sent the $$. Even sent updated invoices noting it was paid via Zelle.

I mean would you think this place was a scam?

https://irocmotorsports.com/

[RocktimusPryme]

I do all the time, but only when everything else adds up. Your situation seems sketchy though.

I just paid a deposit for a hood I’m picking up at Norwalk on an app, but it’s a member I see all the time on the boards etc.

When I sell stuff I usually say “I’ll take cash app, Venmo, zelle, PayPal” and then let the buyer pick so they don’t feel like Ive got some specific scam going.

[RocktimusPryme]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

Dude don’t do it. I got screwed out of $2700 from www.irocmotorsports.com by using Zelle. I wasn’t looking for it because I went to him trying to buy parts and he had great communication… until I sent the $$. Even sent updated invoices noting it was paid via Zelle.

I mean would you think this place was a scam?

https://irocmotorsports.com/

I believe that dude is notorious. I’ve seen tons of complaints about not receiving parts ordered on reddit and 3rd gen facebook groups.

[b-man]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

Dude don’t do it. I got screwed out of $2700 from www.irocmotorsports.com by using Zelle. I wasn’t looking for it because I went to him trying to buy parts and he had great communication… until I sent the $$. Even sent updated invoices noting it was paid via Zelle.

I mean would you think this place was a scam?

https://irocmotorsports.com/

Exactly why you should insist on using your credit card or PayPal.

Nothing delivered, you get back all your dough.

Any truly legitimate business would have no problem taking either one as payment.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

PayPal or cash in hand .
Otherwise they can keep their crap.
Money is expensive.

If a seller whines about the 3% PayPal fee , offer to cover it.
If they still balk , take a walk.

It's not worth the risk of no recourse because a seller doesn't want the 3% fee or frets about PayPal reporting transactions to the govt.

Make a separate email account for your PayPal ID/account , and use that email only for PayPal interactions.

Pretty much the same thing b-man is saying.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

I don't have any credit cards but thinking of getting one.
Extra layer of protection versus a debit card.

If you have a problem with debit card fraud they freeze your entire bank account linked to the card.
Takes months to clear it up

Credit card isn't your liquid money or your bank account.
Not as big of a mess.

My brother got frauded by a cab driver in Miami after using his debit card to pay the taxi , before leaving on a cruise.
Really screwed things up for him on the cruise , and about 3 months afterwards as well.

[b-man]

I use my debit card at my bank teller window to identify myself and my accounts,

Nothing else. Fraudsters love when you use a debit card.

It makes no sense to resist having at least one credit card. Pay the balance each month and it costs you nothing, reap the cash back rewards and get a small discount on everything you use it for. Pay some of your usual bills with it as long as there’s no additional service charges for using the card.

Good luck ever renting a car without a credit card. In a financial emergency your credit card is a lifesaver. Build your credit without even trying, get a credit card and use it often. Traveling abroad you absolutely need a credit card.

I was a cash only and debit card user until 15 years ago. Looking back I feel silly for waiting so long to get a credit card. However I did learn to only buy what I could afford.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

I can rent a UHaul with my Debit Card , not sure about a Rental Car.

However the place I just rented a 20 footer from locally - I would not trust them with a $20 loan -
so a credit card would be Much Better.
They took a picture of my debit card front and back with their UHaul tablet.
So they could do me the same way the cab driver did my brother , but they haven't.

PayPal has never been corrupted in the last 20 years , but eBay has.
Now eBay requires my PayPal to be direct linked , or I can't do the "make an offer" or bid on items.
Could only do Buy It Now items without being linked.
It also prevents from using Pay In 4 option on offer and bid items , because it pays automatically.
I don't like those new hoops.

Another rant about eBay
They have started letting sellers list shipping as "Varies"
You have to do a false B-i-N to find out their shipping charges.
They also have let sellers not disclose their location on their listings.
It screws up some of my search criteria.

[Longs]

I have never used a "cash app" like Zelle or Venmo so I don't know the details but it would seem to make sense to have a separate bank account with limited funds tied to those apps. Only keep enough cash in the account to cover your transactions so that if a scammer did fleece you and empty the account, you're not out too much.

For PayPal you can associate a credit card with the account so that the card is charged, instead of funds being pulled from a linked bank account. That should provide an extra layer of security, both PayPal's and the credit card's.

[78w72]

Agree paypal as merchandise payment is the best option vs friend/family if you dont know the seller or they dont have a history on a forum or online place like FB. You can also set up an account with only a credit card and check out on ebay as a "guest". Also, the bigger payment aps like venmo, cashap, zelle require a SSN & link to a bank account, they report income over the required amount via 1099k to the IRS.
When I sell to members on here or other forums that know me or can see my long history of selling on ebay with 100% positive reviews & a few thousand transactions, there is no issue with sending F&F payment, do it all the time buying or selling between well known members. Just like most auction companies there is a buyers fee, the seller shouldnt have to eat that charge IMO if they didnt build the cost into the sale price? Same for shipping charges, lots of sellers offer "free shipping" but its never free, they dont eat the shipping cost its built into the price of the item, same for ebay fees. If i want $100 for something, I list it slightly higher on ebay to cover the selling fees or shipping if I do free shipping... same goes for bigger companies like summit, they offer free shipping above $99 orders, but the price of everything they sell has that shipping cost factored in.

As for swap meets, those may work for people in bigger cities but the chance they have exactly what youre looking when you need it at a swap meet that goes on 2 times a year or maybe a couple more are slim to none. And most average size cities or smaller ones dont even have swap meets, finding needed parts at a swap is hit or miss chances at best after walking around for hours, but just like junkyards that is fun to do for car guys and ya never know what you might go home with... but the majority of people dont have access to swap meets & they rarely have specific Pontiac parts someone needs ASAP.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

PayPal charges the recipient 3% , plus a transaction fee ($1 or little more)

Credit cards do similar fee to recipient merchants.

If you use a credit card as funding source for PayPal , does it double dip the recipient with fees from both sources ?

I'm not seeing why anyone uses Zelle Venmo or others besides PayPal.
Do they not charge any recipient fees ?
What is their perk ?

Other than a seller or recipient does not want you to have recourse if they screw you over with bum merchandise ,
or no merchandise at all. Is what I'm mostly seeing.

Never lost a nickel with PayPal in 23 years.
The only place I will do business with that doesn't accept PayPal is Amazon.
And I would rather they did allow PayPal.

[PAUL K]

From what I understand PayPal double dips the fees if it's pulling the money from a credit card.

Zelle has zero fees


As mentioned earlier, an easy way to identify a scammer is if they don't want payment from PP with fees prepaid. That is also a great way to protect yourself if you offer to pay the fees and they won't accept that deal.

[1965gp]

I went by the location listed for the company that scammed me. Rough neighborhood., very rough. I knocked on the door of this crappy little house in North Hollywood and they said that he didn’t live there anymore. After looking around and accepting how out of place I decided I wanted no part of the locals.