Not getting any reply from seller

[Levi the Leopard]

I think it's great the for sale ads were edited with a "seller under review" disclaimer.

 

[mike taylor]

He/she will not respond to anything until the money from PayPal is safely in his account...

So you've bought from him or talked to him?

 

[tglazie]

Well, as I said before, I didn't want to cast any aspersions, but seeing as how the guy is pretty effectively outed for being shifty to say the least, I regret not having spoken up about the fella to moderators. I mean, he really did seem suspicious to me, given that he's on here offering female leopard tortoises for $165 shipped while simultaneously offering smaller leopards at a higher price. As Mike was saying, there's also the fact that the guy has only posted a few times, and every time, it was regarding subjects of a transactional nature. Me personally, I see this forum as a discussion platform first and foremost, with the marketplace serving only one of many secondary functions. Most of my time spent keeping tortoises was, honestly, in complete darkness before finding this forum. It was on this forum that many of my suspicions and experiences were confirmed by those of others (the importance of humidity and hydration, the importance of homegrown foods, the nature of aggression, etc.).

I can understand why Yvonne and other moderators would be reluctant to kick this alleged scammer to the curb, given that this forum's mission is to greet all those with an interest in keeping tortoises with open arms, to ensure the widespread dissemination of knowledge regarding husbandry, breeding, wildlife management, and all the particulars when it comes to the world's many species of chelonia. Unfortunately, this openness allows the occasional thieves to enter our midst. Honestly, there isn't much to be done about this. To maintain an open forum, people must be given the benefit of the doubt, lest our community descend into becoming some elitist club with barriers to participation.

But I can understand thoroughly Mike's anger and frustration that this scamming scum has managed to take advantage of our members. I hope all of you who were victims of this piece of filth are able to recover your lost assets at a minimum of trouble. I, like Mike, would like nothing better than to hunt this criminal down like the hog he is and see that he repays every cent he's gained from his little schemes. However, given the fact that he's probably not from New York, probably not even from the United States, there isn't much we can do, unless we wish to hire some cyber detective to uncover his country of origin and fly there to offer up so extra judicial justice, which to me, is as absurd as it sounds.

T.G.

 

[Subersibo]

I'm sorry you guys are going through this. Thieves DO use Paypal. A few years ago, my email, Paypal, and eBay accts were hacked and the lowlife was selling non-existing items on my eBay luring buyers with great prices and used the "buy it now" feature and linked his Paypal ad to my ebay acct. luckily, he forgot to change the password to my email acct and I found out everything that was going on! (Received "your item sold on eBay" emails!) it was a nightmare but i got it fixed. From my experience Paypal has great support so you guys shouldn't have trouble getting your money back. Having the slime that caused you distress caught is wishful thinking though.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Just because his English is simply shocking and his methods are dubious to say the least doesn't mean he Isn't an American you know. Quite a lot of us foreigners have perfectly acceptable levels of English and I have seen many US members on this forum whose grammar and spelling leave a considerable amount to be desired.
Whoever he/she is, it is unlikely that they will be apprehended in the flesh, so to speak, but hopefully everyone will get their money back at least. I feel terribly sorry for the people who were so excited about welcoming a beautiful new tortoise into the new homes prepared for them at some expense and will now be sadly disappointed. I hope there are members here who can help them find a reasonably priced and suitable replacement and help soften the blow these nice people have been dealt.
This is a wonderful forum, I have not found a better one for any subject on the net and it breaks my heart that some callous, selfish individuals could take advantage of the good nature and trusting souls of people who love tortoises.

 

[HLogic]

So you've bought from him or talked to him?

No, just putting myself in the position of the scammer.

 

[wellington]

I had actually given him a heads up about this thread in the convo I sent him and letting him know, that if its not true, he really needs to not only reply to the OP, but he should let us know that he is not a scammer and explain himself.
He has avoided too many people and this isn't the only member he has scammed, I believe. I think it's safe to say, he is a scammer and probably won't be back.

 

[mike taylor]

They just change names and ip addresses .

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

I had actually given him a heads up about this thread in the convo I sent him and letting him know, that if its not true, he really needs to not only reply to the OP, but he should let us know that he is not a scammer and explain himself.
He has avoided too many people and this isn't the only member he has scammed, I believe. I think it's safe to say, he is a scammer and probably won't be back.

he was last on 9 minutes ago! he knows whats going on!

 

[wellington]

he was last on 9 minutes ago! he knows whats going on!

Oh, yes he knows what's going on. He will still lurk I'm sure. He obviously is a scammer otherwise he wouldn't sit quiet.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

Oh, yes he knows what's going on. He will still lurk I'm sure. He obviously is a scammer otherwise he wouldn't sit quiet.

he took peoples money! i think the punishment should be death!

 

[mikeylazer]

If you guys look in the "For Sale" section under the "Marketplace" tab, he just posted like 8 things, most of them he has posted before, and 3 of them have already been "bought" by me and two others who will not be receiving the tortoises we payed for. He IS a scammer, there is no doubt. I had a to file a claims with my bank and my payapl, and honestly I just want a healthy happy tortoise. It is unfortunate losing the money, but thankfully my bank is confident I will get it back. He needs to be removed from the forum and he needs to be apprehended. PLEASE do not buy from this seller.

 

[Melissa319]

Jacqui bumped those threads letting everyone know he was probably not who he said he was. He hasn't posted anything new.

 

[Subersibo]

Maybe he'll make us eat our words and everyone gets their torts within the week...?!?
Nah!

 

[tglazie]

Tidgy's Dad, it wasn't my intention to demonize non-US citizens. I infer that he doesn't speak English as his first language based on the sentence construction. It's true, there are plenty of half-wits in my country incapable of spelling, just as there are plenty of uneducated unfortunates who gave up on winning the grammar rodeo crown many years ago, but when they write a sentence, I can generally infer what they are saying rather easily. They may spell like my four year old nephew after he's devoured three pieces of chocolate cake, and they certainly fail rather consistently at utilizing periods, comas, question marks, and any other useful mark of punctuation. However, after years of teaching my Korean cousins English, and after having lived abroad in Bangkok, Incirlik, and Seoul as a boy, I learned very quickly how to spot the difference between English as a second langage, and bad English as a first. This guy, he conjugates his verbs improperly. He uses adjectives in what can best be described in an ambiguous fashion. I'm not saying he's a jerk for being on non-American soil. He's a jerk for scamming good people out of their money. But yes, the odds of him getting caught, whether he's in this country or another, are fairly slim, absolutely. I mean, scamming wouldn't be so popular were it not for the fact that it is so easy to engage in the crime with virtual impunity.

T.G.

 

[bouaboua]

Sign! ! ! !

One bad apple. I really hope we all learn from this thread. This thread should have it's own place in the forum to give warning to other member in this forum.

The bottom line is: If it is too good to be true, it is not true. The buyer be aware.

 

[bouaboua]

I'm also a member of tortoise forum in China. The majority of the duty of Mods are clean-up those thread or post from scammer.

In China, those scammer developed the software that can send sales thread automatically with different IP address. So the website holding company also developed APP to dealing with this.

But the rule of the thumb still the same......If to good to be true..........

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Tidgy's Dad, it wasn't my intention to demonize non-US citizens. I infer that he doesn't speak English as his first language based on the sentence construction. It's true, there are plenty of half-wits in my country incapable of spelling, just as there are plenty of uneducated unfortunates who gave up on winning the grammar rodeo crown many years ago, but when they write a sentence, I can generally infer what they are saying rather easily. They may spell like my four year old nephew after he's devoured three pieces of chocolate cake, and they certainly fail rather consistently at utilizing periods, comas, question marks, and any other useful mark of punctuation. However, after years of teaching my Korean cousins English, and after having lived abroad in Bangkok, Incirlik, and Seoul as a boy, I learned very quickly how to spot the difference between English as a second langage, and bad English as a first. This guy, he conjugates his verbs improperly. He uses adjectives in what can best be described in an ambiguous fashion. I'm not saying he's a jerk for being on non-American soil. He's a jerk for scamming good people out of their money. But yes, the odds of him getting caught, whether he's in this country or another, are fairly slim, absolutely. I mean, scamming wouldn't be so popular were it not for the fact that it is so easy to engage in the crime with virtual impunity.

T.G.

Very funny, and of course you are almost certainly quite right. Curious to know why your nephew's spelling goes AWOL after cake. A sugar rush? Mine generally suffers impairment in a direct relationship with the amount of vodka consumed. And one supposes you mean comma, not coma, though one can hope our cheating friend ends up in the former. ' in what can best be described AS an ambiguous fashion', you already included the in.
Can we ban him now, but keep all this in the ads section as a warning?

 

[djhoff22]

I contacted this person and I started receiving a ton of SPAM emails. I immediatly passed on purchasing; this didnt seem normal from an actual breeder account. I inquired about 1 tort and he insisted I take all 3 for $185 + shipping.

 

[mikeylazer]

Still no tortoise, and still no replies after sending him 30+ emails and PMs since last Friday. As soon as the money went in, the communication ceased on his end.