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Are the parameters on my scam detector set too tight? Login/Join 
Three Generations
of Service
Picture of PHPaul
posted
Selling that BMW K1200RS for Dale the Builder.

Two replies are obvious scams, but a third started out looking pretty legit.

Then it's "I need to see a VIN report from SoftVINlab.com" ($30 out of my pocket) followed by "I have to take a day off work to come see it" (on a Saturday?) and "I sold my car so I have to hire someone to bring me down"

Ummmmmmm...bullshit?




Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
 
Posts: 15180 | Location: Downeast Maine | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fire begets Fire
Picture of SIGnified
posted Hide Post
Maybe not malevolent, but certainly a pain in the ass and deserves another $2000 uplift in combat pay.





"Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty."
~Robert A. Heinlein
 
Posts: 26756 | Location: dughouse | Registered: February 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
I sold my car so I have to hire someone to bring me down"

^^^^^^^^^^^
Denotes poor judgement. I would casually ask where he works. The more info you have the better. I have friends to transport me, I do not have to hire somebody. Skeptical.
 
Posts: 17175 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:

"I need to see a VIN report from SoftVINlab.com"
Response: "No problem. Here's the VIN, feel free to obtain your report."



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30544 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of P250UA5
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:

"I need to see a VIN report from SoftVINlab.com"
Response: "No problem. Here's the VIN, feel free to obtain your report."


^Agreed




The Enemy's gate is down.
 
Posts: 15150 | Location: Spring, TX | Registered: July 11, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
Picture of parabellum
posted Hide Post
If I can't sell it in SIGforum, I'll just keep it.
 
Posts: 107254 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
Picture of smschulz
posted Hide Post
quote:
"I sold my car so I have to hire someone to bring me down"



Who talks like that? Confused
 
Posts: 22857 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Three Generations
of Service
Picture of PHPaul
posted Hide Post
1. No way no how I'm publishing the VIN. That's an invitation to "Hey, that's MY bike!" and a lot of hassle proving otherwise.

2. It's been crickets since I called him on the multiple excuses. Either he really is a scammer or he's pissed at me. Frankly, I don't give a shit either way.




Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
 
Posts: 15180 | Location: Downeast Maine | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Little ray
of sunshine
Picture of jhe888
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
1. No way no how I'm publishing the VIN. That's an invitation to "Hey, that's MY bike!" and a lot of hassle proving otherwise.



Not really since you (or the owner) has the title. The title is the best evidence of ownership. Anyone can know the serial number, they are written all over most vehicles.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
 
Posts: 53117 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Three Generations
of Service
Picture of PHPaul
posted Hide Post
Turns out my instincts were correct:

Scoop on SoftVINLab




Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
 
Posts: 15180 | Location: Downeast Maine | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Great catch, stay vigilant!
 
Posts: 491 | Location: St. Augustine, FL | Registered: April 03, 2019Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His Royal Hiney
Picture of Rey HRH
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
Turns out my instincts were correct:

Scoop on SoftVINLab


Business must be fucking slow.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 19582 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oriental Redneck
Picture of 12131
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
Turns out my instincts were correct:

Scoop on SoftVINLab

Yes, the asshole is scammer for trying to get you go on SoftVINLab to obtain their fake report then stealing your CC info. That is the scam, not the "Hey, that's my car" scam attempt based on VIN, which they can't prove shit. It's not your VIN that they want.


Q






 
Posts: 26203 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: September 04, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
Picture of parabellum
posted Hide Post
As I recall, some credit card companies give you the option to use "one-time" account numbers for a transaction. The account number can be used once only. That might come in handy.
 
Posts: 107254 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:

As I recall, some credit card companies give you the option to use "one-time" account numbers for a transaction. The account number can be used once only. That might come in handy.
Capital One allows you to create a "Virtual Card" that is only valid for a specific merchant. Any attempt to make a charge at any other merchant is declined automatically. It is not specifically a "one-time" card, it can be used repeatedly at the same merchant, but you have the ability to lock / unlock the card any time that you want to, or delete it completely, so it can be a one-time card, or it can be multiple use.

Example: I have a virtual card that is valid only for auto insurance premiums with Travelers. Another that is valid only for Spectrum (internet and cable TV service). Another for the city's utility department for water and trash pickup. I think I have a couple dozen of these virtual cards. Easy enough to keep track of with a password manager (I use 1Password), or you can create a database or track them in a spreadsheet. I like 1Password because I don't even have to look the card up, the information is filled in automatically on a merchant's website, but it's not transmitted to the merchant until I click an approval for the charge.

I believe that some other card issuers have similar offerings, but I don't know which ones.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30544 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oriental Redneck
Picture of 12131
posted Hide Post
Yeah, when MBNA was still around, they gave you a different virtual number for each online purchase. That sure beat all the theft attempts.


Q






 
Posts: 26203 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: September 04, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His diet consists of black
coffee, and sarcasm.
Picture of egregore
posted Hide Post
quote:
"I have to take a day off work to come see it" (on a Saturday?)

Partly, "kinda-sorta" legit. Some people do work on Saturdays, you know. I did myself for much of my career.
 
Posts: 27834 | Location: Johnson City/Elizabethton, TN | Registered: April 28, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Three Generations
of Service
Picture of PHPaul
posted Hide Post
Got another one this morning: "hella (sic) is the BMW K12RS still for sale?"

I replied "No, I just left the ad up to annoy scammers."




Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
 
Posts: 15180 | Location: Downeast Maine | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of sigcrazy7
posted Hide Post
^^^ Ha Ha ^^^

I love doing business with cranky old men. We understand each other, and can mostly communicate with grunts and stink-eye glances. Wink



Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus
 
Posts: 8200 | Location: Utah | Registered: December 18, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by smschulz:
quote:
"I sold my car so I have to hire someone to bring me down"



Who talks like that? Confused


Someone who learned British English, so probability of Nigerian scammer is very high.

No American uses phrasing like that.


 
Posts: 33601 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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