Become a Premium member for $20 (or whatever nominal amount it is) and the ads are dramatically reduced to the point I rarely notice them. That alone is worth the price of the membership.....
I volunteer as an APPEALS ADMIN for one of the biggest gaming sites online, and have been doing it for 5-6 years now.
Sadly, I deal with people being scammed on a daily basis and while it is great advice to contact law enforcement, and to look at / check IP addresses (when ever thats possible) the truth is, law enforcement really can not help you at all. Also, there is an unlimited number of ways to mask your IP, with proxy servers, VPNs and virtual machines so, even if you could find a rock solid IP, you will find most are coming from out of the country and as such, there is no jurisdiction for the US to go after them.
There are people that have been playing this game for way longer than you might imagine and it is definitely organized. Im sorry you lost the money in your transaction but in the grand scheme of things, it could have been a lot worse.
Hopefully your story will help people realize that as much as we all want to be among friends here, sadly there are some that wait for the opportunity to screw you over.
I like SB's idea, that a new member can't PM any one, OR post in "swap meet" until they have xx posts AND have been a member xx days.
This will at least stop a scammer from joining and instantly trying to scam a member.
I was saddened to hear about the OP getting scammed here of all places because I think this site is very clean. It's why I enjoy reading the posts here. I have read good believable advice that has helped me.
Here's a similar but slightly different situation still on the theme of internet scammers.
I have been in the market for a ♂ to live in my house and drive my JD, so I have been frequenting sites where they advertise themselves since I am a very decerning ♀.
I can tell you it seems like around 60% of the profiles are scammers even on the very best sites.
As the OP said, the wording of the advert and the bad English and grammar in the reply were indicators that he should have taken more notice of and I agree with that sentiment entirely.
As also mentioned, it's important to see the advertised goods, so do I, but if it always seems like there is an excuse why the webcam, video or phone camera doesn't work, then that is a dead giveaway that the advertised item is not genuine.
So yes, real-time face to face to see what you are interested in is definitely the best way.
The internet is good for some things but not all.
Please note I'm not here looking for my forever ♂ . I simply enjoy spending a few valuable moments reading about the machinery that I favour.
If there is any way that US Postal Inspectors could have jurisdiction here (although I don't think there is), contact them. They have very low case loads and are notoriously relentless about this stuff. Good luck.
A forum community dedicated to John Deere tractor owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about towing, PTO’s, reviews, attachments, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!