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Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 8:24 am
by fmblizz
Does anyone on this board know a David Morgan from Blackpool, Lancashire??

After posting a Wanted to Buy in the Yankee Trading section for phonograph related Stock Certificates I received an e-mail from this person wanting to know if I was still looking. He wanted my home address and phone number. The whole tone of the e-mail came accross like it could possibly be a scam.

Might be over reacting but wanted to throw this out to members.

Never had this happen before.

fmblizz

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:59 am
by David Spanovich
That's an all-too common problem with any forum.

In the User Control Panel, under Board Preferences, there's an option to select "yes" or "no" by "Users can contact me by email." As a security precaution, I always set that to "no," relying on PMs for off the forum correspondence.

If you're concerned, probably the first thing to do is Google the email address he provided to see if it's associated with any hobby related site. Also do a search for his name, and include Blackpool, Lancashire as part of the search.

If nothing comes up, then it's up to you if you want to email him back. If he seems like a scammer, add his email address to your email server's list of blocked addresses. (There should be a provision on the email site's web page.)

HTH,
DS

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:03 am
by Jerry B.
I received a similar email regarding a motor board that I need for an "L" door. ??? Jerry B.

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:16 am
by 52089
Jerry B. wrote:I received a similar email regarding a motor board that I need for an "L" door. ??? Jerry B.
Likewise, I got an email asking about parts as a response to a post I put up wanting to buy a record...

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:27 pm
by Jerry B.
After reading the above, I emailed and asked if he had a horn crane for an Edison Amberola 1-A.

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:25 pm
by HisMastersVoice
Jerry B. wrote:After reading the above, I emailed and asked if he had a horn crane for an Edison Amberola 1-A.
And I'm looking for a horn for my Pathé Actuelle :lol:

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 3:04 pm
by phonohound
Hi blizz;

Same thing happened to me for the Columbia C Graphophone post. He asked me for my phone #. I told him to send me a price and photos. I had a gut feeling this was a scam, but what would he do with my phone? He didn't ask for my address. I haven't heard from him yet since.

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:52 am
by Calle
The same... also received an email yesterday:
--
Are you still interested in buying the parts? I'll be waiting for your
response along with your phone number and location.

Kind regards,


David
75 Rigby Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 5EP
Email-address = [email protected]

I've checked the address on google maps and... either it's a restaurant or the address doesn't exist...
So we can be sure it's fake...

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:21 pm
by GMEMG
And i thought it was a Certain Dutch/German Collector ! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: Possible scam using our site??

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 7:05 pm
by David Spanovich
This was mentioned in the other post string about this topic -- http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=9&t=8032 -- but it warrants repeating for those who are not (yet) aware of it --

If you set your board preferences to allow members to send you email messages, a jump to your email address is displayed at the bottom of your post and is visible to anyone--even someone who is not a member of this forum or logged in--including scammers, spammers, and spambots.
Email Jump.JPG
Email Jump.JPG (45.91 KiB) Viewed 1836 times
(This screen-shot was taken before I logged in.)

Until MorDEth has a chance you tweak the settings to restrict access to email to registered, logged in members only, it may be a good idea to either disable receiving email, as mentioned above, or to replace your forum account's email with a disposable address.

DS