Tips to Deal With Scammers on Facebook
This is a long post, but please read through it, Because this is the maximum we can do. This group is a community, and if we don’t watch our own backs before watching each others’, these scumbags will prevail.
Recently I’ve been getting too many PMs regarding being scammed, knowing someone who got scammed, or just figuring out somehow that some account is a scammer. While I would love to be able to help everyone and ban the guilty party, spread the word, etc., at some point we all need to realize this is YOUR community just as much as it is MINE. It doesn’t have to be me, some admin or anyone else for that matter taking actions to keep you safe, you can do it all by yourself. To that effect, I’m going to put down a few tips that I feel helped me and my buddies when making deals all these years:
1. VET THE SELLER
Ask the seller to accept your friend request and explore their profile a little. Check when the account was created, and when they joined the group.
Check when the account was created:
- Go to the seller’s profile.
- Go to Albums.
- Go to Profile Pictures.
- Scroll to the oldest profile picture.
- Check the date it was uploaded.
The logic behind this is that Facebook suggests new users to upload a profile picture and most do so. The oldest profile picture more often than not bears the date of upload as the date of account creation.
Check when they joined the group you’re in:
- Open the group’s homepage.
- Click on the ‘Members’ heading on the middle right of the page.
- Enter the seller’s name.
- You will see the date since which seller has been in the group.
For sellers who have been in the group for LESS THAN A MONTH, be MORE careful!
Check seller’s activity log in other groups (contributed by Hadyn Herber)
You can never be too sure. So go to a couple of other BSTs you frequent and search for the seller’s name there as well. Heck, look in Vape Court too (all of the dozen that have come up now). You will find a detailed picture of what this seller has been selling, whom they have dealt with, and what those people have to say about them. If the seller was called out at some point, don’t just back off. Investigate, look into it. It takes a few minutes. In this time and age, people call out others every minute for shipping one minute late. Find out what the issue was, and once you have analyzed the seller enough, proceed with the rest of your steps.
DO NOT ACCEPT VOUCHES ON ANOTHER OLDER POST. ALWAYS ASK FOR NEW VOUCHES FOR EVERY TRANSACTION.
2. VOUCHES
I honestly don’t even need to write anything further. You MUST ensure your unfamiliar seller has good well-known vouches. NEVER believe a screenshot of vouches, they could be years old for all you know. Always ask for a LIVE vouch thread – either in a group chat in Messenger or in the comments of the original sales/trade post. No matter your method of payment, or shipping destination, or the amount of times you’ve seen this person’s profile around, ASK FOR VOUCHES PEOPLE.
3. VET THE SELLER’S VOUCHES
Just getting vouches used to be enough, but not anymore. Your immediate second-line of defense is to quickly vet the vouches. Lots of people are adding their non-vaping family members into groups and getting vouches from them. These people are more likely than not out to make a quick buck at your expense. Make sure vouches are reputed members of the community or have a bunch of mutual friends with you. If you trust one of the mutual friends you have with the seller, ask them how well they know him/her and if they’d personally vouch for the seller. Go to the seller’s profile, and check if all the vouches are related to them, or are vaper friends. It only takes about 5 minutes people, and it’ll save you a bunch of money, time, and effort in the long run.
4. PAY WITH G&S
PAY WITH PAYPAL G&S ONLY. This is your surefire method to protect you from scammers. In fact, if anyone acts even remotely shady, or doesn’t have vouches, or is setting off your Peter-tingle, DEFINITELYPAY WITH G&S. For trustworthy sellers, who are asked to receive money through G&S, you have every right to ask the buyer to add fees at their expense. Moreover, if you are afraid that the buyer might scam you by initiating a PayPal claim, make sure you take photos of packaging and shipping information, and upload the shipping information against the transaction, under the heading ‘Tracking Info’. If PayPal finds that you have indeed sent out the shipment as requested, they will check tracking, and if the package has reached the buyer, they will reconsider their stance on a refund to the buyer. Receiving money through G&S is NOT a bad thing for sellers. I’ve been receiving and paying with G&S for 4 years now. Not a single hiccup.
Addendum I – The Meaning of a Vouch
Just a reminder for those who’ve forgotten or haven’t been taught the right definition; and don’t y’all be pulling out your dictionary definitions either. I will ban you, so help me God.
A vouch is a holistic recommendation of a person, from you, in order to facilitate a deal, where they might be a buyer or a seller, in order to ease the mind of the other party involved in that respective transaction. Should the individual you vouched for renege on or violate the terms of a deal, YOU will be held responsible in some form for the losses faced by the other party.
Only vouch for someone whom you have either done a bunch of deals with in the past, who is local to you and can be easily tracked down/approached, or whom you wholeheartedly trust through friendship/relation/etc. If you go on vouching for every second person you’ve said ‘Hey sup’ to on Facebook, you better believe you will be held accountable if one of them turned out to be a rotten apple.
All that being said, sometimes some genuine people behave unexpectedly in the face of their personal circumstances. In that case, communicate with the vouches, do not accuse them, and demand compensation.
After all guys, this is your hobby, this is your community. Treat each other like you would like to be treated yourself. Have fun, and keep vaping!! Cheers!!
