possible scam or was I out of line?

[philly98459]

Hi. Need advice from the community.

I joined recently and have been looking to buy my first rolex. Recently, a long time member posted a watch for sale at a crazy good price (like, ~$2k under what others were asking for a similar watch).

I've seen good prices a few times but I usually stay away because the seller has little history on this site. This member, though, has posted for years, although not as often in recent months. Looking through their posting history, it was clear they had a great watch and car collection (watches worth multiples of the one I was trying to buy) and I thought, maybe they just want to sell this watch quickly and don't care if they're $1-2k under market. They had bought a few watches on the forum but I couldn't find evidence of them selling any.

And this is what happened next. All communication was through private messages here, although I did offer up my phone and email address.

-- Reached out to see if watch was still available. It was.

-- Said I'd like to buy the watch at asking price but needed a few days to move the money into the right account for wire. No problem, they said, get back to me when you're ready.

-- I read about a thread about long time accounts being hacked by scammers offering really good deals and got a little nervous that I wasn't dealing with the actual account holder.

-- 3-4 days later, after moving the money, PM'd seller and said money was ready and, although it was clear they had a solid reputation on the forum, would they be willing to text me a picture of their drivers license to verify I was talking to the actual account holder and that their account had not been hacked.

-- Have not heard back for 1.5 days. I am assuming the deal is dead.


So my question is: was I out of line asking for a copy of the license or was that okay, just trying to mitigate the risk of being scammed from a hacked account?


Because now, either the seller is a) too busy to respond, b) thinks I'm scamming them for their ID and is not responding, or c) not the actual account owner. I don't want to share this person's username yet because this still might be a big misunderstanding. I'll add here that at this point, I know nothing about this person other than their username, their home city from their bio (confirmed by the content of some posts), and a few other things from their posting history like watches and cars, but no full name, email, phone, etc.

If anyone can offer some advice, I'd appreciate it. Like I said, I'm pretty new here. I thought I had read some threads where buyers asked for ID before wiring money. But perhaps that's not normal and I pissed off a legit seller.

[2bigalow]

Not out of line at all. Sending thousands of dollars via a wire to someone based solely on a screen name is insane. On the flip side, some people are uncomfortable sending photos of their driver's license to someone based solely on a screen name.
If the deal is still a go, I would recommend using an escrow. IMO the cost of an escrow is worth the peace of mind.

[bwdellorf76]

I never send a wire unless account matches drivers license or business is verified to be owned by seller. You did the right thing. Nothing out of line at all. Just reach back out and see if the deal is still a go, and of course proceed only once you are satisfied you are dealing with the actual person. If they have a problem sending a license or verification you are comfortable with, it’s a no go.

[tike71]

Things scammers hate most are being asked for their ID, being asked for a picture of the watch set to a specific time and date with a handwritten note of your username, being asked to do FaceTime to show the watch in real time.

[ExplorerI]

Last time I bought a watch over the internet I had them take live action video of their id with the watch/box/papers. They were happy to do that and all went smoothly. If they aren’t willing to give peace of mind like that I’d look elsewhere.

[amh]

You did well OP. The suggestion of asking for a handwritten note is a good idea. Legit sellers will have no problem with any of it.

I've noticed several watches posted ~2k under market price as well, along with stolen accounts. A couple weeks later the post is deleted entirely! To find them, just search for your favorite model on Watchrecon and look for cheapest listings on TRF.

I fully understand the allure of saving a few bucks by dealing directly with a seller but that's why the biggest Grey dealers can charge a bit more: Trust.

[EEpro]

Not at all. I require wire first but have provided Live Photo or FaceTime, drivers license pic, DoD common access card pic, pic of watch in front of number sign of my house matching address on my license.

You name it. I'll do it. It's all about buyers comfort during that 24 hours where their money is gone and their watch is with FedEx.

[brandrea]

Welcome to the forum Eric.

It’s an age old saying here, but buying the seller is prudent.

Who are you dealing with here?

[Humble michael]

Even more prudent is NEVER send a wire for thousands of dollars to someone you don’t even know . Use CC so you have some recourse or simply don’t buy from them. So see how this expectation of seller makes no sense - tell them to send you the timepiece now and you will wire dough as soon as you get it - ha! There are plenty of reputable sellers who have no problem w cc , if need be I will pay discount charged by cc company - you must protect yourself !

[Bustelo]

They should be forthcoming and bending over backwards with tons of info, pics, communication to make you comfortable. If something feels off, it probably is. That said, life happens and he may not be checking the forum PMs, so if he gets back to you then the delay itself shouldn't be a deal breaker.

Good luck!

[philly98459]

Thank you all so much for the feedback. It’s made me feel a lot better about the decision to ask for some kind of ID confirmation before closing the deal.

Update: It’s been 2+ days now and still no response. Late last night, I wrote a short note to officially back out of the deal. Maybe, as Bustelo says, life happened and the seller is busy. But the lack of any reply is a red flag and I’ll look elsewhere. I’d rather pay market price than lose everything.

I don’t want to give out the username. It’s a long time member, and I’d hate to tarnish their reputation in any way if I was truly communicating with that person. Unfortunately, at this point, I have no idea.

Also, for anyone else going through something similar: don’t hesitate to ask to confirm a seller’s identity, especially if a deal looks too good to be true.

[bullies]

Agree with the above - You're not in the wrong.

Also, if the person went from responding quickly to now letting it go 2 days I'd consider it dead and I'd probably send the user name to a mod so they can see if they've been hacked.

[philly98459]

Thanks. What's the best way to send a user name to a moderator?

[EEpro]

Originally Posted by philly98459

Thanks. What's the best way to send a user name to a moderator?

Flag a post of theirs and leave a note.

[ZOOK]

Originally Posted by philly98459

Thanks. What's the best way to send a user name to a moderator?

Go to the sale ad and click on the red triangle below the users name. Then type a message explaining your interaction with the member. Also mention this thread. This will go to all the moderators and they will decide how to proceed.

[train-time]

You did everything correct and were wise in the way you handled everything. As others have said, "buy the seller."

[philly98459]

Done. Thx.

[sensui]

Trust goes both ways to be honest. If a buyer asked me for my driver's license I would politely decline and move on.

[walds11]

Originally Posted by sensui

Trust goes both ways to be honest. If a buyer asked me for my driver's license I would politely decline and move on.

Oh yeah, no doubt. Same here.

[rmwill]

If a watch is substantially under priced, be very wary of it being a scam. Read all the posts here from folks that lost the cheapskate game.