PSA: forum scamming

[mrgizmo04]

Is anyone else getting pm from random members (I got one from kellyson111) with a subject of their recent wtb thread title (mine was "Passenger side manual slider") saying something to the effect that hey, I recently got some parts off [fill in the blank random screenname] and he might have the parts you need, so email him at checkpart3@gmail.com?

Mind you on Tapatalk I can't search or see member info (I can't even see my own post count 😀). Join date is the only thing it shows me and this kellyson111 screen name was created Nov 1. I know that a lot of people join the forum just for parts/sales threads.

There are some subtle red flags:
Subject of the message is exact copy paste of my thread title
Some poor grammar/english in the pm
Asking to email someone else

PM screenshot attached.

I did email just to see, asking for pictures, what it came off of, etc, the message in gmail was excuses and more poor english/grammar, pasted below.

"
------- Original message --------

From: Part Check

Date: 11/13/22 21:53 (GMT-08:00)

To: mrgizmo

Subject: Re: E46 parts


Yes I do have them both and they are off a coupe.

I have exact thing you need sir but I’m sorry I can’t take the pictures because I’m a bit old and I use a crappy phone too and my daughter is out of town to work,  but if you’re ready I will have it shipped to you tomorrow morning and I’m sure it’s what you need according to what you requested for so let me know

Thanks 
"

Admins/mods - should we rethink rules for PM-ing (which I don't think we have)? Actual contribution/posts count requirement before ability to pm?

Having powered up my laptop (which I do VERY infrequently) and signed into the forum, I see that neither username actually exists (username who pm me, or username he/she said would have parts if emailed). At least they don't show up in results. This is friction to validate members are active and to not be harassed.

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[Obioban]

If anyone gets anything like this, please do use the report button so we can ban them. Can't ban what we can't see 🙄

[DJAM3]

I saw that he was banned but I got the same exact message.

[Estoril]

"I have exact thing you need sir but I’m sorry I can’t take the pictures because I’m a bit old and I use a crappy phone too and my daughter is out of town to work".

[EthanolTurbo]

Same thing happened to me for a Karb box. Honestly nobody should be able to PM without having a certain amount of posts or being vouched for by another member to an admin.

[mrgizmo04]

If anyone gets anything like this, please do use the report button so we can ban them. Can't ban what we can't see 🙄

This is "a" solution, but it doesn't stop them from creating another account, and valid forum members have to go through the friction and harassment.

I don't know the inner workings of the forum, but can we make it more difficult for these guys? Like a policy to contribute publicly before being able to post in classifieds, applied similarly to PM? I'm pretty sure they don't use scripts (maybe yet), so posting random things to meet the policy might get noticed. I know it might clutter the forum or they might figure out a way to post in less trafficked subforum like off topic, regionals, testing, etc. But other than that, in this day and age of AI/ML, do we have tools on the forum to help our members and community? I know members of the forum have been ripped off by a couple of these (like bye bye $), and some are keeping quiet because it is somewhat embarrassing.

I would love to have admins/mods to chime in and help alleviate. If community (whatever the composition) can not be trusted, it will further negatively impact the forum.

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[eacmen]

Agree on min post count before being able to PM or list in for sale section.


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[Nate047]

Oh damn! I got one of these messages. I was ABOUT to send them some money for some brake caliper brackets. I was just waiting to see the pictures. I thought their grammar was a bit weird but TBH, you can't really judge if someone is real or not just based on that.

Glad I clicked this thread.

[Crowley739]

I also got this, but couldn’t find user he referred to and he also stopped responding once i asked for photos.

I feel some of those rules would be hard to enforce. I’m a real user but my contribution is minimal. Setting up low limits would be easy to work around and any higher would keep lower users out. I forget if when we signed up if there was an email confirmation. Or maybe required user profile complete? Still easy enough to get around. Pictures and phone number at least build some confidence for me.

[mrgizmo04]

I also got this, but couldn’t find user he referred to and he also stopped responding once i asked for photos.

I feel some of those rules would be hard to enforce. I’m a real user but my contribution is minimal. Setting up low limits would be easy to work around and any higher would keep lower users out. I forget if when we signed up if there was an email confirmation. Or maybe required user profile complete? Still easy enough to get around. Pictures and phone number at least build some confidence for me.

Yeah I get it, we can't make it referral only/exclusive, but we also can't make it free for all where community members on here are actually losing their $. For these guys creating a new screename tied to a new email address or even a new "phone" number is not that difficult.

E46fanatics I believe has a rule that only posts in certain threads count toward post count (so hiding in off topic/regional or other low eyeball subforums will not help you get activity up). And if we require 10 posts of actual contribution, it would be easy to notice a new screen name that only posts "+1" or some other meaningless banter to get posts up.

The rule we have is to have an account open for 10 days and then you can start scamming? There has to be a middle ground and it's up to the admins and mods to protect the community as they are running the forum.

I don't know the solution, as I've never run a forum, but just having the victim report a username to be blocked is not a good one, in my opinion, especially since some victims have lost $.

I'd invite admins and mods for discussion on rule changes, or like I mentioned, I don't know if there are machine learning tools or other security tools for forums, or maybe some are already in place here, in which case an explanation for the community would be beneficial.

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[mrgizmo04]

Another day another scam. Joined yesterday and starts pming and scamming without any other posts or activity.

I don't see a report button, I even logged in to the web. Where is it and how are people reporting this? And per previous posts, reporting a username doesn't stop anyone from creating another one. Are we going to be changing forum rules at all?

Seems like I can't use the forum to source parts I want because it's getting annoying.


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[eacmen]

josh gideon also messaged me. ban this asshat and his whole IP block!


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[EthanolTurbo]

This is the same scammer that tried to get me for a Karb box.

[Casa de Mesa]

I love messin with scammers of all types. Especially the ones that call my cell looking to buy a house I own, sell me an extended warranty or help consolidate my credit card debt. If they catch me at the right time, I will string them along for as long as they will stay on the phone. I will also start long conversations with them on text message.

Yes I know this isn't smart. But it's fun as hell!

Exhibit A: