A general message about Scams, Scammers and recent techniques

[Cyclofiend Jim]

Hey all - 

As I'm sure you are aware, we have had some instances of non-group members emailing members who have posted "wanting to buy" or "want to trade" listings. These emails often have very good descriptions and contain very believable photos.

They have largely been scam attempts. Other group members have recognized images that were theirs or belonged to riding partners. These are believable attempts and through the excitement of saving a few bucks or getting a model which is currently unavailable, it would be very easy to fall for the scam. And we do not fall for scams because we are stupid. We fall for scams because we are human. 

This is reason I have tightened the bottleneck for new members posting "For Sale" items. If you haven't been an active member in any discussion, and your first post is a "For Sale" listing, it will not be passed through. (I had changed the group description to reflect that a number of weeks back. And if you are a new member who wants to post some items for sale, I'm happy to be convinced that you are completely legit. Reach out and let's talk).

At this point, I am advising anyone who is approached via email to:
- Search the other person's email in the group archives, to see if they have a track record of posting. If they have no posts, it's likely a scam.

- Search their email in the group member section, to see if they are actually a member. If they are not a member, it's likely a scam. 

If you do choose to proceed with any transaction, you do so at entirely your risk. Due diligence and paying with a protected method are always good practice. 

And, yes, I do realize that there are a number of folks who have lurked on this list for a number of years and may not have ever posted. So, the above method is not foolproof. The vast majority of folks in this group are solid citizens who act in good faith. I don't want to lose site of that. 

Thanks for your contributions to this group. 

Jim / List Admin

[Peter Bridge]

Thanks for your attention and efforts, Jim.  

~pb

[Garrett Kautz]

Thanks! I recently posted a WTB ad for a Gus or Susie. Got an email from someone with one for sale and after google image searching their provided photos, it ended up being from an old pinkbike ad. Scammers are real on here too. 

[Cyclofiend Jim]

Note that the original post in this thread was from July of this year. 
The situation of course predates that date of course. 

The most common scam vector attempt seems to be to preying on people who post a WTB message.  

As a reminder (from that first post in this thread):

"At this point, I am advising anyone who is approached via email to:

- Search the other person's email in the group archives, to see if they have a track record of posting. If they have no posts, it's likely a scam.

- Search their email in the group member section, to see if they are actually a member. If they are not a member, it's likely a scam. 

If you do choose to proceed with any transaction, you do so at entirely your risk. Due diligence and paying with a protected method are always good practice. "

Trust, but verify.... 

Get some miles in this weekend!

Jim / group admin

[Robert Blunt]

I really appreciate this. I belong to another group dealing with spey style fly fishing and was scammed for about 250 dollars recently. I should have known better but the pictures were good as were the terms. I guess the old adage that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, is important to keep in mind when trying to keep the integrity of a community like this one intact.  

Robert Blunt

Pennington, NJ

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[Rider4life]

Great job Jim