Beware of the following scams and people abusing the classifieds
While the vast majority of people (and thus trades) on the forums go ahead without issues, unfortunately a handful of people, despite being banned, sometimes re-register multiple times, at times to abuse our forums, either flipping items sold cheaply on eBay (and/or elsewhere) or taking people's money or items and sending nothing in return. Following is a list of members whose activities regarding for sale/trade we have become uncomfortable with, and so whom we advise caution transacting with. If you believe they have re-registered on Head-Fi, please report them to us immediately.
Valmiera
LV-4215
Latvia
Miow and a great many aliases.
Attempted to avoid the rules for Members of the Trade and promote his headphone modding business through multiple accounts. Also issues with items not received from one of his trades (see feedback).
Address:
Luis Almeida (and other names)
Rua Dr. Maciel, 153, 6 ESQ.
3700-175 S. Joao da Madeira
PORTUGAL
Scam warnings:
From the "Protect yourself against Scammers" and another thread:
It's unfortunate that scum like this exist, but they do, so if you intend to buy something of any great value from a member .... especially a brand new member .... it would be prudent to at the very least get a phone number, speak to them in person, get proven references, and if possible pay by credit card through paypal so you at least have some sort of protection.
While it would add 2 or 3 days to the transaction, a good method to verify a name and address would be to snail mail something to the name/address provided by the seller and ask them to identify something from that snail mail via PM or email once they've received the letter....then, if you're satisfied, proceed with the transaction. It's not 100% foolproof, but it would weed out the majority of these low-lifes. A non-scammer should understand your concerns and be willing to go through this procedure. If not, take a pass. And keep their information on file at least until the transaction is 100% complete.
It's up to you to act prudently and to protect yourself. Don't send off money to someone, especially someone you know nothing about, without having some sort of verified identification from them.
Please report any suspicious For Sale forum activity to the moderating staff immediately.
Thank you.
PS: Be very cautious of any non-For Sale thread posts where someone says something like: "I'm thinking of selling my XXXX . How much do you think I can get for it?" This can often be bait designed to get people to quickly respond via email or PM hoping to be the first to scoop an item before it officially goes up for sale. A scammer can sell the same item many times over to different people this way, without any public posting to tip everyone off.
Quote:
The matter is still being looked into, but it appears there might be a scammer attempting to prey on members who have posted "WTB" ads. At least one member has possibly been robbed of a considerable amount of money by this person and several others have been "offered" the specific item they "WTB"....from a relatively new member who has zero feedback.
AGAIN - Make sure you know who you're dealing with before you send some stranger money or equipment. Check for feedback. Know how long they've been a member. If the amount of money or product is considerable (you be the judge of how much you're potentially willing to have stolen from you) get the person's full name, address and phone number ... phone and speak with them and confirm that the information is legitimate. Match their name, and phone number, and address through the various internet 411 services to prove they are legitimate.
I'm not going to post the suspected scammer's name until they've had a chance to respond to my questions, but at this moment things don't look good so I'm posting this warning. The member in question only joined in January and approached several WTB ads with offers to sell since that time .... several were on the same day, which is often a tell-tale sign they are looking to make a quick score then disappear.
If you suspect you've been defrauded, please contact a moderator asap with details.
