Issue resolved.......thank you

[krlyuzh]

Please watch out for 540-395-3773 texting you. "Darryl Seow Zhi Qiang" as he presents himself. I am 100% sure its a scam, guys.

Guy texts you, commits way too quick at full asking price, refers to your TRF listing. Asks for bank wire info then tells you to send a picture tagged with his name on it. I told him no and that he can Google me or look on my website or call me or look at my post count on here, WUS, etc.

He then said he just wants to be sure the watch is there and was scammed before. I said I will only send him a picture of watch and wrote down next to it to only send funds to my business name. He then said the picture was blurry (it was perfectly clear).

He's fishing for a picture with his name on it so he can scam someone by pretending to be selling a watch. Please, always do your homework on sellers. Buy from trusted sellers, buy from guys with long history, and if the deals sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I hope someone finds this thread if they Google his name or phone number when he contacts you.

I am also fairly certain he is using a text messaging app, so number can change after he sees this.

-Kirill

[Lime]

Someone should verify if the number is just VOIP. What was his username? Sorry to hear about this attempted scam. Luckily you didn't follow through on it.

[MonBK]

Is he a member here?

[imperio]

Do you know which watch/listing he's looking at? If yes, do a google images search using the photos you have listed to see if they appear on any other site.

[krlyuzh]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Is he a member here?

I doubt it. Or a ghost member. He said he saw the ad on TRF and told me his name.

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by krlyuzh

I doubt it. Or a ghost member. He said he saw the ad on TRF and told me his name.

So you didn't get a PM?

[triton]

out of curiosity, i did a search on the number you mentioned and it is a land line.

i am not in USA, hence i like to find out if it is possible for someone to text using a land line?

furthermore, i can tell you over the phone that i am so-and-so, does it mean i am really so-and-so.

Originally Posted by krlyuzh

Please watch out for 540-395-3773 texting you. "Darryl Seow Zhi Qiang" as he presents himself. I am 100% sure its a scam, guys.

Guy texts you, commits way too quick at full asking price, refers to your TRF listing. Asks for bank wire info then tells you to send a picture tagged with his name on it. I told him no and that he can Google me or look on my website or call me or look at my post count on here, WUS, etc.

He then said he just wants to be sure the watch is there and was scammed before. I said I will only send him a picture of watch and wrote down next to it to only send funds to my business name. He then said the picture was blurry (it was perfectly clear).

He's fishing for a picture with his name on it so he can scam someone by pretending to be selling a watch. Please, always do your homework on sellers. Buy from trusted sellers, buy from guys with long history, and if the deals sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I hope someone finds this thread if they Google his name or phone number when he contacts you.

I am also fairly certain he is using a text messaging app, so number can change after he sees this.

-Kirill

[schnipples24]

Ok this is bizzare...

I'm currently in a deal with Darryl. Sold him a watch over on WUS, the Black Bay Noir. It's currently in transit to Singapore. He paid with paypal. Darryl seems to be a pretty prolific seller over on WUS with over 1.7k posts.

So it seems someone is pretending to be him on these forums, under the guise of Darryl to get shots of expensive watches with his name on it? What was the username he messaged you under on TRF? Did he say he was located in the US?

[gaoxing84]

oh pls. hahaha this is a joke george abrahams. i am going to post the entire email here. I don't have a USA line. i resides in Singapore.

[gaoxing84]

Originally Posted by schnipples24

Ok this is bizzare...

I'm currently in a deal with Darryl. Sold him a watch over on WUS, the Black Bay Noir. It's currently in transit to Singapore. He paid with paypal. Darryl seems to be a pretty prolific seller over on WUS with over 1.7k posts.

So it seems someone is pretending to be him on these forums, under the guise of Darryl to get shots of expensive watches with his name on it? What was the username he messaged you under on TRF? Did he say he was located in the US?

I guess it is. pretty sad.

these are the email

[gaoxing84]

So this is what went down.

i saw this ad
http://www.network54.com/Forum/73792...MAN+116710BLNR

It's a red rolex tag batman.
1. I email the guy george abrahams.
2. Asked for a tagged photo, didn't specifically state that it has to be my name. usually tagged photos meant the sellers name, date and time on the paper taken photo with the watch.
3. I asked for a discount, wasn't given.
4. Pictures came with my name tagged, weird, looks legit right?
5. Realised the picture tagged has a green rolex tag with 5 years warranty.
6. He said the red tag rolex was given to his brother and he will be selling me the green tag rolex.
7. Huge big red flag for me so i pulled the plug on the deal.

I think this scammer asked for a photo from Lunaroyster aka kirill, using my name as the tagged photo and he used the same photo to send it to me.

Pretty smart and dumb at the same time.

I actually bought a seadweller from kirill just last month and I went to text Kirill on the matter. he was shocked and notified.

I am definitely not a scam although i was scammed before on a batman deal a few months back. So I am very careful on the deals i do on the net.

I do sell watches on TRF and WUS as well. my reputation and feedbacks has been nothing but positive. People likes to deal with me as i reply fast and no games involved.

I hope these clarifies.

[gaoxing84]

Originally Posted by schnipples24

Ok this is bizzare...

I'm currently in a deal with Darryl. Sold him a watch over on WUS, the Black Bay Noir. It's currently in transit to Singapore. He paid with paypal. Darryl seems to be a pretty prolific seller over on WUS with over 1.7k posts.

So it seems someone is pretending to be him on these forums, under the guise of Darryl to get shots of expensive watches with his name on it? What was the username he messaged you under on TRF? Did he say he was located in the US?

Anyway, thanks buddy for the back up.

Still waiting on the Noir.

[triton]

glad that you have posted your side of story.

Originally Posted by gaoxing84

So this is what went down.

i saw this ad
http://www.network54.com/Forum/73792...MAN+116710BLNR

It's a red rolex tag batman.
1. I email the guy george abrahams.
2. Asked for a tagged photo, didn't specifically state that it has to be my name. usually tagged photos meant the sellers name, date and time on the paper taken photo with the watch.
3. I asked for a discount, wasn't given.
4. Pictures came with my name tagged, weird, looks legit right?
5. Realised the picture tagged has a green rolex tag with 5 years warranty.
6. He said the red tag rolex was given to his brother and he will be selling me the green tag rolex.
7. Huge big red flag for me so i pulled the plug on the deal.

I think this scammer asked for a photo from Lunaroyster aka kirill, using my name as the tagged photo and he used the same photo to send it to me.

Pretty smart and dumb at the same time.

I actually bought a seadweller from kirill just last month and I went to text Kirill on the matter. he was shocked and notified.

I am definitely not a scam although i was scammed before on a batman deal a few months back. So I am very careful on the deals i do on the net.

I do sell watches on TRF and WUS as well. my reputation and feedbacks has been nothing but positive. People likes to deal with me as i reply fast and no games involved.

I hope these clarifies.

[Lime]

I would like to see the original poster state a further defence.

[krlyuzh]

Originally Posted by MonBK

So you didn't get a PM?

No, like I said in original post, the guy texted me.

[krlyuzh]

Ok, some additional development on this.

So, the scammer, who was texting from 540 area code number was trying to get someone who was selling a legitimate BLNR to take a picture and write down the real potential buyer's name. In this case, the real potential buyer who was going to be scammed was Darryll.

Darryll has actually purchased a Sea-Dweller from me in beginning of December. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember exactly. The REAL Darryll is a member on here, already posted his side, and has a Singapore based phone number. When I shipped the watch to him (to Singapore), we communicated to ship to Darryll Seow, without the rest of the name, so that's why it slipped my mind.

So, again. The scammer wannabe was texting from US based 540 area code number (which I think its an online text app number anyways). He introduced himself as Darryll in this case, but was simply looking to get someone to send him a picture with Darryll's name on it so he could then send that picture to real Darryll and make him believe the watch was legit for sale, which would result in Darryll sending the money to scammer.

It just so happened that I have already dealt with real Darryll on a different watch at a different time and this other guy was messaging me about a BLRN that real Darryll was trying to buy and I had one in my inventory.

[mtgjr]

^Must have been his other brother Darryl.

[JZD]

Originally Posted by mtgjr

^Must have been his other brother Darryl.

Haha!

[gaoxing84]

I am glad it all got sorted out. Thanks Kirill

amazing how elaborate a scammer can be but he missed out the little details of a red and green rolex tag.
1st red flag.

2nd red flag is when he send a tagged photo of my name instead of the scammer's name which is weird because tagged photo naturally meant a photo with the seller's name.

[redfoxer]

Glad it all got sorted out - from reading this it sounds like the deal could of went ahead if the scammer didn't make those little mistakes to set of alarm bells.

It's this kind of stuff that makes me super worried about purchasing online!

[Cryten]

It's good to see a success story here for a change

Originally Posted by redfoxer

Glad it all got sorted out - from reading this it sounds like the deal could of went ahead if the scammer didn't make those little mistakes to set of alarm bells.

It's this kind of stuff that makes me super worried about purchasing online!

Spend some time on here reading and you'll start to recognise the regular sellers (or trusted sellers as most call them). There are plenty of honest and reputable sellers on here.

[gaoxing84]

I hope the mods can change the title or something - doesn't reflect well on me.

[Star Ferry]

Sounds like a clever scam. Many, many people would have fallen for this.

[jhacker]

Originally Posted by gaoxing84

I hope the mods can change the title or something - doesn't reflect well on me.

I agree, was going to come here to say this.

[Aventura]

I recognize that there must be decent people but at my age I am not in for a shock. I have an offer of my watch that I was going to accept, a face to face operation in my bank, but my wife who gave it to me 5 years ago opposed saying that I only accept a wire transfer and then send the watch.
Now I read what you have put and really there may also be problems because you may want to steal the data as in the case you put. I'm going to give up that sale and I'll sell it to a gray dealer of which there are many in my city Miami.

[freefly]

Originally Posted by triton

out of curiosity, i did a search on the number you mentioned and it is a land line.

No it's a VOIP/Google Voice number. Huge red flag, as I've mentioned numerous times here. This is the site I use to check numbers: Phonevalidator.com
Anytime you see "Bandwitdth.com" it's a VOIP/Google Voice number.

[nb53]

Guys this was very informative. I was about to purchase a 9/2015 Batman from George Abrahams Johnson who has this telephone number 540-395-3773 until I googled the phone number which led me here. If a deal is too good to be true it probably is. Thanks

[Jim Smyth]

Originally Posted by nb53

Guys this was very informative. I was about to purchase a 9/2015 Batman from George Abrahams Johnson who has this telephone number 540-395-3773 until I googled the phone number which led me here. If a deal is too good to be true it probably is. Thanks

You got very lucky that you didnt get scammed. Congrats and now find a trusted seller here that has what you want.

[nb53]

Thanks Jim. After this experience I'm pretty shaken up and think that if I can't inspect the watch in my hand buying online may not be for me.

FYI what went down with "George Abrahams Johnson" was this:

1) Found a post for a Batman from him through WatchRecon posted 12/26/17 from network54 (sorry can't post the URL since I don't have enough posts on TRF)
2) Contact him via email and he was super eager to sell, asking price of $8200 and quickly dropped to $8000 for a "flawless 9/2015" model with books/papers.
3) I asked if he would FaceTime or WhatsApp video with the watch and he said no he would only communicate via text (very strange, red flag #1). He said he lives in NYC but the phone number he has is a Orange, VA number. When I ask if could meet up in NYC he says only if the money is wired first.
4) Kept emailing and texting me to wire him the money to another person's back account (Mary Ann Johnson Bank of America), Red flag #2. He said that was his wife's bank account and it was easier for him to get the funds that way, makes no sense to me at all. When I asked why, he said he likes BoA but yet he doesn't have his own account with BoA????
5) I called his number and was informed it was a Nextel number. There obviously was no answer. Texted him to call me ASAP.
6) He calls me later and has what I would describe as a West African accent, very very broken English, I can barely understand a word he's saying. He keeps referring to me as "buddy" and everything I ask him about the watch he says "don't worry, it's fine." BTW, the original post picture has a Caucasian hand holding the watch, not to racially profile but things just aren't adding up.
7) Ask him where he's from. Takes a big delay then he texts me he's Georgian (his accent was anything but Georgian although admittedly I'm not a professional linguist, just a guy who has travelled extensively and speaks 4 languages).
8) Ask him to send me text pictures of the watch immediately. Takes him time, he makes excuses for the delay just like he did with Darryl, when he sends the photos they're a different watch with scratches on the case and lugs. RED FLAGGGGGG!!!
8) He keeps asking for the wire, I google the number, it's a VOIP, leads me to here (thank you TRF) and I uncover this scammer.
9) Call him out and he thanks me for my time. POS.

How can I mark his post on network54 so no one else wastes time or possibly money with this A-hole?