I see no need in having this thread removed as it serves as a warning for others. I would advise to keep it updated and be sure as to not slander a mud member that could be innocent. I buy and sell things all the time and consider myself very scam aware. I fell right into their story without even realizing it. In my case Dave turned out to be an awesome upstanding legit guy who I hope to have beers with one day when I’m in the area. The scammers have upped their game. In future we all have a friend of a friend on here that can vouch for the other one. Perhaps cross reference phone numbers and always make sure you speak to someone on the phone. All that said it sucks you got scammed and perhaps this thread will serve as a warning to help others. I am glad Dave agreed to leave his ad up so others can read our story. Too many times we only get half the story. Best of luck to ya.
At a minimum the first post needs severely edited.
While I don’t disagree that the message of the thread provides a good warning of what’s currently going on, leaving a post up calling a member a scammer isn’t right, even if an apology and the truth is buried later in the thread.
People need to stop responding to emails if they never gave out their email. PM the person on here. If you do get an email, PM the person on here. If you get a phone call, PM the person on here. If you get a Facebook message, PM the person on here.
Whenever I’m interested in parts from the classifieds, I send them a PM and make a reply in the thread “PM sent”. Nothing else. You can check in the PM at the bottom and it’ll tell you if the recipient has ever read it and what time. If I got an email, first thing I’d do is check the read receipt on the PM. And if read, PM them back asking if they emailed and what their email address is.
I see a lot of people on here posting their email and phone number in threads looking for help or on classified threads. These days it’s not hard to find that information regardless, but stop making it that easy.
It’s not my forum, but I agree about private classifieds, just like chit chat. But, the other forums I’m on, you can still see the classifieds, you just can’t respond if not a member. These scammers would still get all the info they need from a view only classifieds.