Buy the seller, not the watch. I have been scammed.

[duckowner]

I am here not asking for sympathy, ridicule, or laugh at. Just a warning about an individual. It is a long story so I just want to thank those that will read this. Thank you.
As a longtime member on the forum, I have learned so much about watches and making friends along the way. I saw an ad for sale from a member named aawatches80, and he told me in the emails and call conversation his name is White Diane living in Miami, Florida, that he listed for a date just 41mm 126234 and I contacted him. He emailed back and after he sent me 2 refs, they both checked out (I am now thinking they are both bogus as well.) I proceeded to deposit to his Chase account the money the next day. He then asked if I would like to buy his "2023 Batgirl" and gave me a very good price, I then sent him more money. He then told me he would drop the watches at his local USPS in Miami, FL. He then sent me a label showing his name as the sender and mine as the recipient. The next day he emailed me stating that USPS just emailed him letting him know due to weather and technical issues, the package will not be updated in their system and that the delivery will be for Wednesday, 8/28/2024. Now this is 4 days after I sent him the money. He also emailed me asking me to send him the remaining $5000 for the watches, at this time, I started to worry and contacted him. He texted me back stating he needed the money since his company sent him to Germany for a meeting. I declined and called USPS and was told by a customer rep that USPS never sent out an email to anyone. I have been trying to call, text, and email him but of course he has since been gone. His phone number is 305-998-3186. When I took the photo of his " Florida" driver license to my local police dept here in Concord, CA., an officer here told me this was in fact a fake driver license. I have contacted a trusted seller here on the forum since he lives in Floridia to see if he can help but he told me the money is gone. The old advice: Buy the seller but not the watch is so true. This guy even has the gut to write a positive review about me on the forum the day he asked me sent him more money. When I logged into my account the next day, I was informed that my account has been banned due to phishing issue. I have requested and granted by the Mod to reopen my account. I am writing this long warning, so all of the members here just watch out for this individual

[Gearjockey]

Very sorry to hear about this.
Many of us (myself included) have had a difficult learning experience with private purchases, some more painful than others. I realize this may sound insensitive but ultimately, it’s just money and hopefully you will forget about it soon.

[ArtNouveau]

Sorry to hear. I have bought and sold many watches person to person over the years but won’t do it anymore. Too many tire kickers on the low end and too many scammers at the higher end.

[duckowner]

The money I sent him is my saving for over 3 years. He is still on the forum listing the same watch and he last logged in on 8/27/2024. I hope Mod will ban this guy.

[Ursusarctos]

Thanks for sharing your experience. More reason to wait for my AD to have another watch for me. I get that many have success with other venues but stories like this one are awful. I'm pretty certain, based on watching many videos, that I'd not be able to determine the difference between the most recent fakes and a real Rolex.

[daysky1]

I was almost the victim of fraud by a supposedly legitimate gray Market dealer. fortunately for me I used PayPal as the intermediary for the payment and I filed it dispute payPal investigated and refunded my money. It's a long story I really don't want to get into it at this time but even though somebody has a long history and supposedly a stellar reputation doesn't mean much when it comes to them wanting your money.

[puma1552]

So you got banned here, and the scammer didn't?

[duckowner]

Yes. For some reason TRF forum banned me but since has restored my account after they verified my identity. Guess what, that guy is still here listing the same watch on this forum. Check out aawatches80 listing a date just in the for-sale section dated 8/16.

[KatGirl]

I’m really sorry you got scammed. I had a 5 digit Sub I loved stolen, and had no insurance, so I know the feeling. I had to tell myself it’s just stuff. Sometimes , bad stuff happens to us. But things will get better. Chin up!

Kat


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[duckowner]

The mod informed me that my account was compromised and phishing issues. I emailed and requested my account be restored, paid the fee, and after the Mod was able to verify my identity, he or she reopened the account thus I am able to report my incident to this forum.

[996marty]

Sorry to hear your story. It’s unfortunate that we get scum like this infiltrating the site just to bring misery on people and financial gain for themselves

[duckowner]

I received an email on this forum from a guy named luckypiper asking for ref for DavidSW, and of course I gave David a glowing review since I have bought and sold at least 4 watches with David and next thing I knew was my account was compromised. Mod told me, via email, that I must have clickedh is email and that was how my account got compromised.

[Socal Runner]

Very sorry about this. What a bummer. No legitimate dealer or seller would ever send a watch USPS. Fed ex or UPS only. References prior always a necessity. Sorry you had to go through this.

[Mr. Superlative]

Very sorry to hear this news. Thank you for taking the time to share.

[tike71]

I'll parrot what I posted in another thread. Scammers use multiple hijacked accounts to provide false references. A quick look at a scammer's post history can indicate when an account got hijacked; usually when they start posting a bunch of useless comments within a short time span. Also compare past sold listings to current ones to note any changes in writing style or contact info.

[1259]

Sorry to hear. Hope you get some justice.

[joli160]

Terrible, I feel for you

[xrole]

Originally Posted by duckowner

I am here not asking for sympathy, ridicule, or laugh at. Just a warning about an individual. It is a long story so I just want to thank those that will read this. Thank you.
As a longtime member on the forum, I have learned so much about watches and making friends along the way. I saw an ad for sale from a member named aawatches80, and he told me in the emails and call conversation his name is White Diane living in Miami, Florida, that he listed for a date just 41mm 126234 and I contacted him. He emailed back and after he sent me 2 refs, they both checked out (I am now thinking they are both bogus as well.) I proceeded to deposit to his Chase account the money the next day. He then asked if I would like to buy his "2023 Batgirl" and gave me a very good price, I then sent him more money. He then told me he would drop the watches at his local USPS in Miami, FL. He then sent me a label showing his name as the sender and mine as the recipient. The next day he emailed me stating that USPS just emailed him letting him know due to weather and technical issues, the package will not be updated in their system and that the delivery will be for Wednesday, 8/28/2024. Now this is 4 days after I sent him the money. He also emailed me asking me to send him the remaining $5000 for the watches, at this time, I started to worry and contacted him. He texted me back stating he needed the money since his company sent him to Germany for a meeting. I declined and called USPS and was told by a customer rep that USPS never sent out an email to anyone. I have been trying to call, text, and email him but of course he has since been gone. His phone number is 305-998-3186. When I took the photo of his " Florida" driver license to my local police dept here in Concord, CA., an officer here told me this was in fact a fake driver license. I have contacted a trusted seller here on the forum since he lives in Floridia to see if he can help but he told me the money is gone. The old advice: Buy the seller but not the watch is so true. This guy even has the gut to write a positive review about me on the forum the day he asked me sent him more money. When I logged into my account the next day, I was informed that my account has been banned due to phishing issue. I have requested and granted by the Mod to reopen my account. I am writing this long warning, so all of the members here just watch out for this individual

Sorry to hear this that really sucks, but just the name itself would have raised a red warning flag. White Diane? It's a womans name, just reversed.

[basicxj]

I am sorry someone scammed you. In doing a little searching online with that username, there is an "aawatches80" with an online profile on various platforms, though the watch content seems to revolve around Cartier and JLC rather than Rolex. The poster claims to be a surgeon out of New York.

I wouldn't be surprised if the scammer simply registered here with a found username for legitimacy or used phishing to compromise an existing registered account here on the forum. I used to moderate an online forum not connected to watches years back, and you'd be surprised at what information can be available to moderators when they do a little digging. I won't speak for mods on this forum and what they have access to, but sometimes registration emails and IP address data exists which could potentially reveal location data or other online identities for the scammer, provided it wasn't spoofed, proxied or VPN'd. Scammers tend to think of themselves as "smart," but you can often find breadcrumbs to who/where they actually are with some help from a moderator that could prove useful to law enforcement.

[Gerardus]

Originally Posted by xrole

sorry to hear this that really sucks, but just the name itself would have raised a red warning flag. White diane? It's a womans name, just reversed.

x2

[waterman1]

I am sorry this happened to you.
What I find really insane is that this person is still on this forum and waiting for the next victim. Is there not a way to identify this person and go after them legally. Isn’t there an investigative branch of the FBI that targets internet crime like this? And can the moderators of this site get involved along with the police to root this person out? Sorry I don’t have answers - just questions , but scumbags like this need to go.

[fooey]

This is very grim!
I wonder what % of Watch listing's on here are actually scams?

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[Ali1009]

Really sorry to hear this. I have bought watches privately in the past, and have always bought the watches in person. I have never done a transaction and paid before receiving. If anyone is thinking of purchasing privately don't, be put off by the OPs experience. Just do your due diligence. There are a lot of good private sellers

[Exceeder]

That sucks man, it’s a minefield out there

[Bazil]

Horrible this, some rotten people out there ..

[brandrea]

Dry sorry to read this OP.

Did you file a police report? I wonder if there is any way to track down this character by following the money …

[Daryl]

I’m sorry to hear this 🥲


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[subtona]

thanks for sharing the education. hopefully this helps someone in the future.

hopefully your scammer gets hit by a train.

[PeterKelly]

Fortunately scamming someone is just inconceivable to the vast majority of us on this planet. I have bought and sold many expensive cameras and lenses on various photography boards without any issues and I have never heard of a scam in this area.

I guess high value watches are “ hot items” and relatively easy to trade which attracts the criminal element. I am now ultra cautious and avoid private deals unless I can thoroughly check out the seller through a variety of independent means.

I feel for the OP - what a horrible experience!

[southtexas]

Originally Posted by Socal Runner

Very sorry about this. What a bummer. No legitimate dealer or seller would ever send a watch USPS. Fed ex or UPS only. References prior always a necessity. Sorry you had to go through this.

To be clear, this is not correct. USPS registered is used.


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