pappy

It may not happen often here, but is there a big problem with scammers that PM members that post in the For Sale/Wanted to Buy sections of the forum?
This problem seems to be a pandemic on another forum I belong to at least for now. I have been contacted by an obvious scammer on mentioned forum, and just ignored it, because they are almost always very sketchy and most want you to contact a third party to make a transaction. On the mentioned forum, the members freak out if an obvious scammer contacts them. When reported the mods act immediately and remove the low number poster and their posts.
The forum, which I have been a member of for about 20 yrs. is blaming the scam traffic on newer posters which is always true, so now they want to remove all non "Club" members from their forum unless you pay $25 to join their club, which until now was separate from their forum. I don't want or need to be in a club.
Anyway, I'd like to know how this forum handles scammers and if it is a significant problem here on this forum.

VI Cutty

It's definitely a problem here as well...anyone looking to source parts online needs to be very diligent in vetting the potential sellers and use all available safeguards to make sure they're not scammed.

The Moderators here are very engaged, and will take immediate action when they either detect or are notified of scammers on the board. There are a few technical hurdles placed in the forum, such as a minimum post count before sending messages, etc, but many scammers don't have a problem circumventing or meeting the requirements.

oldcutlass

It's a problem on all internet forums and we take a proactive approach. I doubt this will ever be a "pay for" site. If you receive a suspect pm click on the red triangle to report it and we will investigate it, same goes for forum posts. You can review some recent discussions in the site help section.

Horsepower

It's a problem here to I can't believe I fell for it,lost $120

2blu442

It wasn't a problem here until recently, maybe within the last year. Eric has shared on several posts how to report possible scammers to moderators. In addition, use good judgement when making a purchase. I would only do PayPal family/friends if its someone I know and trust. The fee portion of PayPal does offer some protection and can help get your money back. Or use a USPS postal money order as the feds can go after scammers for mail fraud. I have also made deals here, then used Ebay to sell the item to the buyer. Shipping costs have gone nuts since Covid and I've found large/heavy items have a good enough shipping discount on Ebay to cover the fees. Ebay can also protect a buyer from getting scammed.