[rboatertoo]

On the other forum they have a want to buy section. A guy by the name of Charles Keepler, is offering items for sale and requesting funds transfer my "money Gram" Turns out he email a number of people who are looking to buy. He has been tiring this every once in a while. In order to get members emails you have to be a member which he claims not to be, but gets the information from his friend Big Bob.

Not to endorse another forum, but this information should be shared so everyone knows about it. http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/has-anyone-bought-a-train-via?page=1

 

[CDNJ]

I have been scammed by them.
Haines City Florida
Patissia Keepler
John Keepler
James Keepler

Any fake name with last name being Keepler.

Wants Moneygram,gives fake story on how THEY got scammed through paypal.
Pro scam. Have no intent to sell just steal.
Buyer Beware.

I have even called Haines City Florida Police Dept.
They have never gotten back to me.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Anyone that wants to use Money Gram gets the cold shoulder from me, regardless of how good the deal is.

 

[Passenger Train Collector]

You got that right, John!!!!!

 

[CDNJ]

Anyone that wants to use Money Gram gets the cold shoulder from me, regardless of how good the deal is.

I wish I had a notice. Learned a lesson and will not be fooled again.

 

[teledoc]

Early on I used Postal Money orders for most of my purchases, and then when there were deals that I could have really used, and they wouldn't take a money order, I soon switched to PayPal. Been using it ever since, and is the only way I will either sell or buy anymore. It's the feeling of a more secure way to do business, without the fear of being scammed. I only had one bad experience with a sale, but learned a good lesson from it. Fortunately is wasn't an expensive experience, just aggravating dealing the the "Slime Ball buyer". Yes they guy was a real Slime Ball to deal with. He's blocked now.

 

[MOVL]

Not to endorse another forum, but this information should be shared so everyone knows about it. http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/has-anyone-bought-a-train-via?page=1

I'm very sorry for those that have been victims of this man, but I am surprised that thread is still there. Keepler has been doing this for some time now. There have been many threads posted on OGR about him...they usually get deleted. It does not help us hobbyists at all, when they delete a thread like that. It instead deserves a sticky at the top of the for sale and buy forums.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Great idea Keith, done! It's in the sale forum and I stickied it.

 

[MOVL]

Great idea Keith, done! It's in the sale forum and I stickied it.

Wow...
...okay...
...now I want 10 million dollars and I'll think about the third wish.

 

[rboatertoo]

Good Idea, on the other forum they stopped letting people post to it so it will get buried. They could have done what John did, but they avoid the whole issue.

 

[MOVL]

Interestingly, when I search "Charles Keepler money gram", he comes up for the OGR post you mentioned and for a site called Ford Barn. Ford Barn seems to be about restoring old Fords and they have a buy parts forum. So this Keepler is trying to ruin at least two hobbies.

Folks need to know to stay far away from anyone requesting payment by Money Gram. There is something seriously wrong if a seller won't take the usual credit card/check/money order or even PayPal as payment.

rboatertoo, thanks for bringing this to attention here. John, thanks for making it a sticky so more members notice it.

 

[Big Ed]

Great idea Keith, done! It's in the sale forum and I stickied it.

Good ideal to sticky this, but as the money gram scammers can use all different names. (as noted)
I think the title should be changed to,

BEWARE, MONEY GRAM SCAMS!

It rhymes too.

I don't even like using a money order, what can you do if the seller just cashes it and doesn't send anything?
I have only used a money order once in the last 10 years for a few items on e bay. Luckily, I dealt with an honest person.
I never checked this out, If you get scammed when using a money order is there any kind of protection provided for you?

 

[RonthePirate]

Good ideal to sticky this, but as the money gram scammers can use all different names. (as noted)
I think the title should be changed to,

BEWARE, MONEY GRAM SCAMS!

It rhymes too.

I don't even like using a money order, what can you do if the seller just cashes it and doesn't send anything?
I have only used a money order once in the last 10 years for a few items on e bay. Luckily, I dealt with an honest person.
I never checked this out, If you get scammed when using a money order is there any kind of protection provided for you?

Yes there is, but not a lot. The only one I know of, is USPS mail fraud. They will investigate, and, if proven, will prosecute the offender. I have no idea what their rates of success in retrieving the money is, though.

 

[Big Ed]

"There's a sucker born every minute?" :goofball:

I get a local paper once a week. Look what was in it.
Tell me some are not just plain STUPID!?:dunno:

A resident of Park Ave reported that she was a victim of fraud on Sept 11.
She was scammed out of $2845.79 beginning in April and continuing until Sept.

In April she got a phone call from PSS technology who said her computer was at risk She paid them $499.97 to fix, with a Money Gram.

In July she was contacted by Farji Technology and was told that she had no network security and her computer had a virus called Kooface She sent them $349.99 to fix.

In August she was contacted by James Gomez from Tanish Technology and was told that she needed computer security again, she sent him $497.98 by electronic check to fix. But James told her he was canceling the check and to send a Money gram to Devon Small in Houston Texas instead which she did.

In Sept she got a call from Richard Parker from Universal PC care advising here that if she wanted a refund she would have to send a $1000 to Bikas Gupta in India which she did.

The resident now believes that all the transactions were to the same person. :goofball:

I think Pt's quote should have been, "There's a sucker born every second!"

Shows you how some people are just plain gullible, which translate into just plain stupid!...DUH!

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Stupid kills, but not enough to really help.

 

[Bwells]

Stupid kills, but not enough to really help.

Excellent point!

 

[flyernut]

"There's a sucker born every minute?" :goofball:

I get a local paper once a week. Look what was in it.
Tell me some are not just plain STUPID!?:dunno:

A resident of Park Ave reported that she was a victim of fraud on Sept 11.
She was scammed out of $2845.79 beginning in April and continuing until Sept.

In April she got a phone call from PSS technology who said her computer was at risk She paid them $499.97 to fix, with a Money Gram.

In July she was contacted by Farji Technology and was told that she had no network security and her computer had a virus called Kooface She sent them $349.99 to fix.

In August she was contacted by James Gomez from Tanish Technology and was told that she needed computer security again, she sent him $497.98 by electronic check to fix. But James told her he was canceling the check and to send a Money gram to Devon Small in Houston Texas instead which she did.

In Sept she got a call from Richard Parker from Universal PC care advising here that if she wanted a refund she would have to send a $1000 to Bikas Gupta in India which she did.

The resident now believes that all the transactions were to the same person. :goofball:

I think Pt's quote should have been, "There's a sucker born every second!"

Shows you how some people are just plain gullible, which translate into just plain stupid!...DUH!

Yep, but sometimes, greed is involved too..

 

[bluenavigator]

Very interesting on this thread. My friend got US postal money order once and he was not sure if it is legit so he took it to US Postal Office and showed it to the postmaster. It was money order for a hundred dollar. The postmaster thanked my friend and actually gave him the money and said that it was confirmed that it was fake. The postmaster queried for the information for where and how my friend got it. My friend provided the information and they will take care of it and report it to FBI. That was the last thing he had heard from them.

 

[Peter Herron]

Slightly off topic but watch out for winter rental scams in FL......

The first place we wanted to rent (super cheap)we were asked to send a money order to a woman in Arkansas. No thank you. Turned out someone hijacked a legitimate ad for a place off Craig's List. We found the true owner and they confirmed it and advised the place was rented.

Armed with this knowledge we decided to only deal with Multiple Listing rentals and a Real Estate Broker. We rented a condo for the month of February and after receiving the signed lease and having our attorney look over the lease, we paid for in through Pay Pal in March 2015. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. Lauri called the guy to confirm how to get the keys etc etc and was told, "I'm sorry, that lease just won't work out" Huh?? He offered to send me the $ into my Pay Pal account after we signed a release. No thank you. Lauri's nieces had purchased non-refundable air tickets to spend a week with us. Lauri reported it to the Local Real Estate overseers as well as the Collier County Sheriff. The deputy said "hang on, that address sounds familiar". Came back and said they'd take the case as there was a person from Minnesota who reported the same problem with the same address and person for the same month of February!!! The real estate overseer Ombudsman contacted the owner, a real estate agent, and said he had to make good on both rental fees and send copies of the checks to his office or face disciplinary action. He sent a check for the rental and lost air fare to our attorney with a note not to deposit until Friday as he needed to move some money around. I'll bet! Since then a 3d person, also from Minnesota popped up-same address same month of February. This broker had lost his license in Illinois for rental "irregularities". We have to hope his check doesn't bounce. The over/under is 10 feet!

Caveat Emptor

Peter

 

[CW Burfle]

Can anybody share their experiences using PayPal to recover funds from a bad deal outside of EBay?
I ask because a lot of folks say they will only pay for goods using the standard PayPal option, and not to use the Friends and Family option because then there is no protection.

 

[rdcfellow]

Fees

While many folks seem to want a buyer to use Friends-Family for payment, there is no way PayPal will help as there is nothing in it for them and I don't blame them as they are a business and should be able to get paid for their services. I have passed on a few items because of a seller wanted to save a few bucks with F-F. I personally know of two fellows that ate their payment that way. They tried to get P-P to help, nada. Your version might be different but I doubt it. Cheers

 

[CW Burfle]

While many folks seem to want a buyer to use Friends-Family for payment, there is no way PayPal will help as there is nothing in it for them and I don't blame them as they are a business and should be able to get paid for their services. I have passed on a few items because of a seller wanted to save a few bucks with F-F. I personally know of two fellows that ate their payment that way. They tried to get P-P to help, nada. Your version might be different but I doubt it. Cheers

Understood.

I was asking about experiences with trying to get assistance from PayPal when a standard payment was issued.

 

[DennyM]

A while back I got a email claiming some distant relatives were killed in car crash and if I sent them my information I would get money. A month later I got a email claiming they were killed in a plane crash.

A friend of mine told me he got a call claiming there was a problem with his computer. Well he's computer tech so he told them he has three what's the IP address. They hung up on him.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

I got a letter that said I could have six million dollars from Nigeria if I would just let them use my bank account to transfer the funds. So, when the deal goes through, I'm going to have one knockout layout building!

 

[DennyM]

Stupid kills, but not enough to really help.

Stupid doesn't kill like it use to. I blame doctors. There was a time when stupid people did stupid things they got killed. Now they go to the ER and the doctors put them back together and they go out and do more stupid things. Them they married stupid people and have stupid kids and the legacy continues.hwell:

 

[Krieglok]

I got a letter that said I could have six million dollars from Nigeria if I would just let them use my bank account to transfer the funds. So, when the deal goes through, I'm going to have one knockout layout building!

Sweet! I won the British Lottery for the tune of £1,000,000! I just need to send the lottery agent $1000 to cover transfer fees!

My layout is gonna be huge!

The funny thing is I never bought a British lottery ticket....

Tom

 

[DennyM]

Sometimes when I get calls and I know it's a scam I like to screw with them so I answer the phone with a really bad Polish accent and can speak very little English. Then I act like I'm yelling at someone in Polish. Plus I talk very loud when I do this.

 

[Viperjim1]

Scammer Ira Goldberg

Sells items as new and only accepts money orders or checks no PayPal so you can ask for refund. But won’t refund money or take product back and says repair it or claim insurance from post office. Got a loco front railing missing truck was off when I got it and no drive shaft or worm gear or blocks and said was intact when shipped. Take it up with the post office and other loco was dcc but lite up but no movement but says both worked when they were shipped. Another forum banned him so BEWARE OF IRA GOLDBERG. BAD BUSINESS.

 

[bluenavigator]

Sorry to hear that. I do not understand why people do that to us. We didn't do anything wrong to them. What drives them to do that kind of bad business? Who know? Let's move on and deal with better people. However, Pierre Omidyar, creator of eBay, said there are good people that we can trust to do such kind of business. We can do the same.

 

[Viperjim1]

Amen just own up and make it right. It’s not hard. I figured I’d let this forum know as he probably will searching elsewhere to sell his stuff.

 

[DennyM]

Same type of people that scam elderly people out of their life savings or steal Social Security checks from mail boxes. They should all be flogged.

 

[RonthePirate]

Thought I would share a new scam involving PayPal's name.
I was checking the emails and saw one: "Attention: your PayPal account has been limited. Click here to see why".

mmmm........ALMOST did. Looks legit, PP logo, exact font they use. Real good planning.
Except I took my mouse and hovered it about the link.
It read ( I lost the real address, but this is close) that it went to a sales site.
NOT payPal! Nothing to do with PP at all.
Delete. Click. Gone.

I did ask PP about it, but they sadly never got back to me. They kinda dropped the ball in customer service there. But then I got it back again. I didn't send it to PP, because if they didn't answer once, they probably wouldn't answer again.

But I am waiting for the next time, if there is one. Then I will give to to PayPal.
For sure.

Edit: I found the link:
[email protected]
I Googled it, and all that comes up is "How to report a suspicious email to payPal"

EDIT: Yes they should Danny, with a cat o nine tails that has barbed wire instead of leather.

 

[Lehigh74]

For a while, I was getting 2 or 3 PayPal scam emails a week. There was always something fishy about them like bad grammar or a slightly wrong address. PayPal has an email where you can forward the scams. I did that for a while and each one was acknowledged. But after a while, it got to be a pain so I just deleted them.

Now that they have your email address, you can expect many more scam PayPal emails.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

I just got one of those last week, I forwarded it to the PP link for scams.

 

[67flh]

Honesty and Trust

An old thread but certainly worth reading and reviving. It has been a long time since I have attempted to sell anything on the internet. I have been purchasing things for years, usually with a credit card sometimes with a personal check and at one time through a Pay Pal account. I never sold anything using Pay Pal, just as a purchaser. I probably was suffering some paranoia when I dropped them. Am I too naïve believe in the honesty of my fellow man? My honesty was recently called into question by someone who may have been cheated at some point in a transaction. I told them I did not accept Pay Pal but would accept a good personal check, bank cheque or Postal Money Order. Their response was how were they to believe that I was not just going to cash their check and not send them the promised goods. In my antiquated way of thinking they would get their purchase because I said they would, because I am an honest individual. It is always how I did business and that is how I would like to do business. Is honesty and trust in people a thing of the past? I hope not.

 

[Big Ed]

An old thread but certainly worth reading and reviving. It has been a long time since I have attempted to sell anything on the internet. I have been purchasing things for years, usually with a credit card sometimes with a personal check and at one time through a Pay Pal account. I never sold anything using Pay Pal, just as a purchaser. I probably was suffering some paranoia when I dropped them. Am I too naïve believe in the honesty of my fellow man? My honesty was recently called into question by someone who may have been cheated at some point in a transaction. I told them I did not accept Pay Pal but would accept a good personal check, bank cheque or Postal Money Order. Their response was how were they to believe that I was not just going to cash their check and not send them the promised goods. In my antiquated way of thinking they would get their purchase because I said they would, because I am an honest individual. It is always how I did business and that is how I would like to do business. Is honesty and trust in people a thing of the past? I hope not.

I think it is, at least using PayPal or a credit card you have some protection from the damn criminals.

I only sent a money order out to one once, for a train item. He was like you and didn't use them, the first thing I thought was am I going to get the item. Luckily I got it.

Look around today, every corner you turn someone is trying to con folks out of their money.
And millions are lost to scammers every year.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

I will only send a check or MO to someone I actually know. If a stranger wants to sell me something and doesn't take PayPal, I can live without it.

Is honesty and trust in people a thing of the past? I hope not.

If you feel that way, why not send him the item and then wait for payment?

To answer your question, it may not be totally a thing of the past, but it's certainly been battered and bruised in recent years. One only has to look at the myriad hoaxes, hacks, and scams perpetrated by millions around the world to realize we live in a different climate than years gone by. The impersonal nature of the Internet has allowed a new breed of souls with minimal to no morals to flourish and operate freely. I suggest you simply get used to the new normal, it's not likely to change any time soon.

 

[jimben]

He is the scum at the bottom of a stagnant swamp.

 

[67flh]

I guess until I decide to take Pay Pal I am at a disadvantage regarding anything I wish to part with. I am OK with that.

 

[Big Ed]

I guess until I decide to take Pay Pal I am at a disadvantage regarding anything I wish to part with. I am OK with that.

Well if you do want to sell something here can't you request the gift thing? No Fees?
Like I said in the PM I never used PayPal for selling, just buying.
So I don't know what the fees are, I have had sellers tell me some of them.
Heck, now they get part of the shipping cost too?