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Tips for Avoiding Fraud
TimeZone’s sales boards provide a
venue for our members to buy, sell and trade among themselves. TimeZone is
not involved in transactions, and all TZ
sales board transactions are undertaken at your own risk - please be sure
to review our Sales Board
caveat emptor warnings
and
User Agreement. Here are a few tips to help you buy, sell and trade
safely.
Rule # 1: Know your seller or
trading partner.
It is very easy for scammers to
create fictitious online identities and to provide false references.
Accordingly, you should learn as much as possible about your seller or
trading partner and take all possible steps to verify the information -
do not accept information at face value.
Ask yourself: if you send
payment and receive nothing in return, do you have enough verified
accurate information to
locate the seller? Don’t be afraid
to request and check information! TimeZone cannot locate sellers for you.
Here are some options for
verifying your trading partner’s identity and trustworthiness:
- Check their TimeZone member
information. As shown in the image below, inside each open TimeZone post
on the left hand side, you can see the poster's alias or screen name (Joe
Watchseller in the example below), when they registered for TimeZone, and how many posts they have made. You can click the poster's
screen name to view all of the posts they have made on TimeZone.
Generally speaking, the longer
someone has been a TimeZone member and the more posts they have, the more
trustworthy they will be. This general rule does have occasional exceptions;
we have
seen fraud committed by users with over 200 posts. Click the screen name
link to view the posting
history. If someone has run up a large post count in a short time by
making quick “nt” (no text) posts, that may be cause to investigate your
seller or trading partner further.
- Check the Watchnet
Deal Watch
and Good Guys boards. Make sure your trading partner is the person they
ask you to look up.
- Ask about your seller in the
TimeZone Public Forum. You can make a post in the TimeZone Public Forum asking if
anyone can provide feedback on a TimeZone seller. Be aware that a seller
may have multiple TimeZone accounts under different names, so they may be
able to post false positive feedback for themselves. If the responses
to your reference request come from members with little TZ history (recent
members or low post count), the feedback may be less reliable.
- Get your seller’s home or office
address (not a PO Box number) and at least one telephone number. A
reputable seller should be willing to provide their contact information.
To the extent possible, use your telephone and online resources such
Google and telephone directories to verify
the information provided – a scammer can give you a
phony address and phone number, or someone else’s address and phone
number. If you are corresponding with your seller via e-mail, tell them
you would like to speak with them on the phone before concluding the
transaction, and then follow through and call them.
- Ask your trading partner to
provide their online auction site user name, check the feedback on that
person, and most importantly, send them an e-mail using the auction site’s “contact user”
system to verify that the person you’re dealing with is in fact the user
whose feedback you checked. Anyone can say "I have over 300 positive
feedbacks on eBay" and point you to an eBay user name - make sure your seller
really is the eBay user he
referred you to.
Know what you are buying or
trading for.
Do your research on the item you
want to purchase. Learn things
like where serial numbers are located and the strap size the watch takes
(the distance between the lugs) and ask your seller to provide this
information. Have clear images of genuine
examples of the watch you seek, and if you have doubts about the
authenticity of a watch being offered to you, compare your images with the
one the seller provides. Note that sellers can easily copy images from the
internet and send you images of a genuine watch they do not possess.
A few thoughts about
references.
References are easily faked. A
scammer might have a dozen free e-mail accounts set up under
different names so that he can provide his own references, or the scammer
may have friends or associates act as references. The most reliable
references are people known to you personally. References from people who
are
unknown to you are of little value.
Escrow Services
Escrow services are often
recommended as a means of avoiding fraud, however they do not provide
complete protection. Escrow companies usually do not open boxes, so a
scammer can ship a box with a rock in it. The escrow company will
send your funds to the scammer, send you the seller's box and rock, and
they will have done
their job. Even if the box is opened and checked, escrow companies do not
recognize fakes or guarantee authenticity
of items shipped, so a counterfeit watch will fool them. Finally, there are many phony
escrow companies out there. Some have very convincing websites. Do your
homework and beware of
buyers or sellers who insist on an escrow company you are not familiar
with. If you do use an escrow
service, use only a reputable and well established company such as
www.escrow.com.
You should also be aware that many
reputable sellers will not use an escrow service as it increases fees, delays completion
of the transaction, and adds another step where something might get lost or
go wrong. A seller's refusal to use an escrow service is not necessarily an indication
that the seller is dishonest.
Red flags
If the deal seems too good to be
true, it probably is. This is the oldest advice in the book but it still
holds true. Scammers often exploit greed. Be suspicious of sellers
offering items at large discounts based on an immediate need to raise
cash. Always be willing to walk away from a transaction if you are not
comfortable.
A desirable watch offered by a new
TimeZone user with low post count. Be extra careful as the seller is not an
established community member.
Be wary of sellers using free
e-mail addresses like Hotmail, G-mail, AOL, Yahoo, etc. These do not
require a credit card to set up and are favorites of scammers.
Refusal to provide contact
information. If you request the seller's street address and home/business
telephone number and they will not provide it, this is not a good sign.
Inability to provide additional
images of the item offered for sale. If the seller won't provide
additional images, this may indicate that they do not have the watch. Also
be wary if the seller's images do not match up in terms of the background,
lighting, watermarks, focus, or date/time stamp. This may indicate that
the seller is using several unrelated images copied from various sources
to create the impression that they have the watch.
Requirement that payment be sent
via Western Union or similar "instant cash transfer" systems.
The Western Union web site states that you should only use their service to
send money to people you know personally.
Pressure to send funds or provide
financial information quickly. For example, a seller may claim to have multiple offers and
pressure you to act quickly by offering the watch to the first person to
send funds or provide a credit card
number. Be wary of these tactics. Genuine sellers want you to be happy
with the transaction and will not pressure you to act hastily.
Offers to purchase the item you
are selling from overseas buyers that present unusual circumstances or
requests. For example, the buyer might want to pay with a check that is
greater than your selling price and request that you pay the extra
proceeds to a third party. Convoluted payment methods are often a sign of
fraud.
Offers to purchase your item that
include a request for you to provide the buyer with personal and financial
information, such as your name, address, and bank account.
If you have doubts about your
seller or the goods they are offering…
Ask for more images of the item. Make
sure your seller actually has the item they are selling or trading. If you
have any doubts, ask them to send you an image of the item with a current
newspaper or magazine. If the item is a watch, ask them to send you a
picture of it set to a specific time that differs from the time shown in
the posted images.
Request a face to face
transaction. If you’re not sure about a proposed deal, tell the
seller you have a friend who lives near them and that you would like to
conclude the transaction face to face through your friend. Most scammers
will not accept such an offer.
Use Google and online telephone
directories to check information provided to you. If your seller provides you with a
business name and/or phone number, run Google searches on them. If you get
an address, use Google, Mapquest and other resources to verify that it's
an actual address. Telephone to make sure the address you send your money
or watch to is what the other party claims. For example, if they say it is
a residence, make sure it is not a actually a shipping center, mail drop,
hotel, or other location where someone might receive a package anonymously.
If your trading partner has
provided a business name, check with their local Better Business Bureau.
Overseas Transactions
Overseas transactions present a
greater level of risk than deals with sellers in your home country. Some areas such as Nigeria,
Indonesia and some Eastern European nations have come to be associated
with high levels of online fraud and some experienced online sellers refuse to deal with individuals in
these areas. If you enter a transaction with someone overseas and there
are problems, the courts and law enforcement officials in your home
country or city/state may be little help. Some sellers refuse to deal with buyers who
live outside their home country for this reason. Finally, international transactions can
present tax or duty , shipping, and import/export issues. For example, some
sellers will not ship Rolex watches into the USA due to restrictions on
their import. Take all of these factors into account and do your
homework before entering
into an overseas transaction.
Common Scams to Watch Out For
Payment sent, no goods sent in
return. This is the most common scam. A seller offers an item for sale.
They may have the item, or they may use borrowed images to create the
impression they have the item. They convince you to send money, but they
never send you anything.
Trader seeks to exchange their
watch for yours. You ship your watch to the other party, they do not send
you a watch, or they ship you a cheap fake watch or a box with a rock in
it.
Counterfeit watch sold as genuine,
or genuine watch offered but counterfeit watch sent. The seller may
possess a genuine watch and so be able to send you specially requested
images. The buyer sends payment, and the seller ships a fake watch. This
scam will fool most escrow companies because they do not inspect packages
or guarantee the authenticity of the goods they handle.
Counterfeit bank checks or money
orders sent as payment. Buyer usually insists waiting for check to clear
is not required since they are sending a bank, certified, or cashier's
check, or a money order. Seller agrees and ships the watch on the same day
the check or money order is deposited. A few days later, seller's bank
informs seller that the check or money order was a fake. Today even U.S.
Postal Service money orders are being counterfeited. Be careful!
Third party checks: Be wary of buyers who seek to pay
with third party checks, or with checks that are for more than your
asking price. Convoluted payment methods are often a sign of a scam.
Phishing and Identity Theft: The
“for sale” or “for trade” posting is a ruse to get buyers to disclose
personal information such as names, addresses, credit card numbers, or
bank account information. The seller may pressure the buyer to provide information quickly to secure the item
being offered. If you are a seller, a buyer may tell you they need
your confidential financial data to transfer funds.
If you think you might have
been scammed…
Save a copy of the ad(s) you
responded to.
Save all e-mails to and from the
seller. Save anything the seller sent you, such as a box and
anything inside. These items may contain postmarks, fingerprints, or other
evidence.
Contact your local police and ask
about filing a police report. Inquire about filing a report with the FBI.
If the U.S. Postal Service was
used in your transaction, contact the Postal Inspector.
Report the incident on the
Watchnet
Deal Watch board.
Get the word out and help prevent others from being taken.
Online Fraud Resources:
Internet Crime
Complaint Center
FBI
Internet Fraud Page
U.S. Postal Inspector Mail Fraud
Complaint Form
U.S. Postal Inspector Identity
Theft Report Form
Paypal
Fraud Prevention
General information about avoiding
scams (relates to cars but contains useful information)
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