Smoby24, Miffy In da Jiffy, Losi XXX trade/scam

[wilton55]

Hi, I have just got off the phone from another TC member and he told me to look on here. I have realised that this little **** has taken me as well. He offered to swap either a Kyosho NSR500 or a mint condition hornet to trade for my new built Kyosho Outlaw Raider. He gave me the sob story to send it first as he has lost a Toyota Hilux in the past in a trade to someone in the uSA. Felt sorry for him so sent and still waiting for my hornet to arrive. This person identified himself as Jonathan Sommerville at sommerville88@hotmail.co.uk. Hope this helps.

[Matt2000]

that's him alright

[wilton55]

yep he is a total pr**k in my mind as it cost a wee bit to send fom new zealand.. I only traded as all i wanted to have only TAMIYA in my collection from that point[!][!]

[RC-Rudi]

I over read this thread, till I also received a mail from jo, (or who ever he is called). In his mail he offered me (what a surprise) a Losi car for trade. Here is the original mail content:

"hi i got a team losi xx-cr vintage 1997 car ill sell or trade for a road car up 2 u"

Like some members said before, it’s important to check whether the person is trust worthy or not. For me it means I only trade with persons, who are known by myself or if it seems that the risk is very little to get ripped of.

[T.C~Tamiya]

I can't take anyone seriously who uses text speak, if u no wat i mean mate

can't even parody it if I post "M eight" it turns into mate.

[netsmithUK]

as far as i can see he's not been hassling anyone through the clu for the last 2-3 days. Maybe he's in detention?

[sgt.barnes]

quote:Originally posted by netsmithUK

as far as i can see he's not been hassling anyone through the clu for the last 2-3 days. Maybe he's in detention?

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id="quote">id="quote">he is still emaling me ! 18.11.05

[OCD]

Man you guys are PATIENT! Shut this kid down! Can't you do anything other than patronise him?

(SORRY if I am coming off as harsh here, but I have little tolerance for thieves..)

How close by does he live to you- Why not go and pay a visit to your little'friend'- Thaat might get his attention.

Once I had a guy stiff me in a trade- he lived in Florida, and played in a band. I knew this because I was trading some pro audio equipment with him. Long story short, no package received/ no answer to emails - so I started looking for him on Google. Wasn't long before I found his band was touring - and was coming to my town!! Immediately I emailed him and asked if he could put me on the guest list. Needless to say, his only reply was a large refund via PayPal. (I kept the change)

I not recommending anyone here confront criminals in this way- that would be dangerous. What I am incouraging is firmness. If he happens to email me, I'm going to let him know that he's PLAYING WITH FIRE. (By this I mean explaining to him the possible consequences of his actions.) Otherwise, it looks like the authorities are content on letting 'miffy' continue on indefinitely.

[netsmithUK]

sgt.barnes. Is he emailing you direct (which i can do nothing about) or through the club? Send me a copy.

[wilton55]

I semi confronted him by email about his dodgy dealings today and said i wanted my truck back and he replied that the hornet was on the way.My problem is that the hornet ultimatly belongs to someone else and would like to send it to it's proper home maybe this is your one Quincey?????

[XanderP]

quote:Originally posted by OCD

Man you guys are PATIENT! Shut this kid down! Can't you do anything other than patronise him?

(SORRY if I am coming off as harsh here, but I have little tolerance for thieves..)

How close by does he live to you- Why not go and pay a visit to your little'friend'- Thaat might get his attention.

Once I had a guy stiff me in a trade- he lived in Florida, and played in a band. I knew this because I was trading some pro audio equipment with him. Long story short, no package received/ no answer to emails - so I started looking for him on Google. Wasn't long before I found his band was touring - and was coming to my town!! Immediately I emailed him and asked if he could put me on the guest list. Needless to say, his only reply was a large refund via PayPal. (I kept the change)

I not recommending anyone here confront criminals in this way- that would be dangerous. What I am incouraging is firmness. If he happens to email me, I'm going to let him know that he's PLAYING WITH FIRE. (By this I mean explaining to him the possible consequences of his actions.) Otherwise, it looks like the authorities are content on letting 'miffy' continue on indefinitely.

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id="quote">id="quote">

I was gonna write the exact same thing but the forums were not working LOL[] But ya beat me to it!

[1proteus1]

well i havent seen him online for a few days on his hotmail addy an im on line a lot but he might have me blocked like i have him lol

but as rules i use for trade

Subscribed members i will trade with no probs

non subscribed i follow these rules

1. look at the general tone of the emails (send and recieve plenty more evidence if something should go wrong )

2. check to see if they have an ebay account check there feedback and email through ebay to varify its them

3. dont jump at too good to be true deals (in my experience they usual are too good to be true )

4. sob stories are a usual way scammers work

5. if you have any doubt DONT DO IT (better to have what you got than nothing and have the hassle of sorting it out)

and yes i am terminally suspicious lol

[Backlash]

quote:Originally posted by netsmithUK

And besides all those techical issues by far the majority of traffic through the contact system is involves none subscribers and is good natured and complimentary. Its currently over 4000 a month and we currentlu only have problems with this one user and the occasional one off nut. It would be a shame to cut all this out just over one 14 year old boy.

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id="quote">id="quote">

NetsmithUK, Chris, Just reading Sammys post, and have a simpler option. Would it be possible to include an option, in the subscribers menu, where the individual subscriber can choose to receive emails from non members, or non subscribers or not. I beleive this is already an option with model comments, would it be hard to offer the same with emails.

I think a warning for all sellers and Traders is needed on the main page, even if it only links to this forum thread. It gets me that this kid is still conning our members.

I also agree with OCD, that a harsher stance needs to be taken with this boy, before he takes from others. To take from the quote above, the words, " Cut out", "Nuts" and "14 year old boy", I think people will get my idea.

[RichieRich]

Guys, I feel really bad for those of you that have been scammed. My general rule is if the person's grammar is dodgy or in hack3r, I ignore it. I'm 32 years old and if you can't communicate in a level close to mine, then your e-mail belongs in the trash. A person who's native language is not english may have grammatical errors, but they are different from someone speaking like Ali G or 50-cent. I've had wonderful trades with other TC members in Canada, uK, Australia and in my own country because their courtesy and ability to communicate clearly.

I hope this gets resolved. When stuff is stolen from you it makes you feel...violated. [8)]

[wilton55]

when he traded with me his emails were ok and seemed sincere??????

[Stefan(2)]

I would also like to mention, i had some great buys / trades from non tc members

who just passed by on the site.

Some of the nicest models in my collection comes from buying from those people,

maybe others did not "dare" it?

So, there not all bad, ok!?

(so, lets hang those on a separate tree )

Stefan

[1proteus1]

hi has anyone been ripped off for a hopped up minicooper as ive been emailed by the same guy 5 times in the last 20mins on 4 trade items an 1 of my showroom models this is what the email says

i got a nice hopped up minicooper wit extra parts and motors hit me up if you still got it

which is similarly worded email to the guy this thread is about if it is him hes got a new tc id and aol email addy

[Sammy]

I'm slightly worried now...

TC member "mike!" has told me that this wally is posing as my brother!

What am I meant to do? I don't have a brother... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Sam

[netsmithUK]

As far as I can tell he's not been back to the site since i put my new security in over a week ago now. If he's fdoing anything he's doing it via direct mail

Chris

[Tinno]

As Chris has said before, this issue needs a champion, ideally someone who has been ripped of to act as a central point for collating all the information on this incident.

If someone steps up to the mark for this, then anyone with a gripe can send the champion the appropriate information, that is Dates times, postage information, costs, pictures, emails.

Each item would need to be printed out, and filed. A written and signed statement from each individual would need to be added as well. Anyone under that age of 16 (or maybe 18) get your parents to write a letter stating that this is true and correct. If you are prepared to go to court and testify, then say so.(two copies of the complete dossier, one for the police, and one for the "Tamiya Club records". This should then be presented to the Case officer, preferably in person. So if I remember correctly this chap lives in kent. Is there anyone from Kent who has been ripped of my him, or who would be prepared to travel to Kent and meet with the case officer, to discuss these issues with him, to act as liason, or as the "voice" of Tamiya club members.

I have not had any emails from him, nor have I been ripped off, but if someone wants to PM me his address, I'll find out how far away I am from him.

Thinking about this, perhaps, if the champion is acting on behalf of TC members then it would be less biased if the individual had not had any direct dealings with him. (I reckon Kent is a good 2.5 hours away from me, but I can check if I have his address via PM)

Incidentally I am in a position of Trust within my company and have security clearance higher than the standard police vetting in the uK, which builds up a strong case in terms of testifying.

Sorry for the long post, but it seems that a great deal of people have been impacted by this, and currently there is a lot of information, but it needs coordination if we are to get anywhere as a community.

[Mad Zero]

Sorry to complicate thing further guys but there are a few things you should know about our favourite trader...

1. He is not stupid, he's actually rather intelligent.

2. He is effectively immune to legal threats due to his age.

3. He was scamming people long before he subscribed to TC.

4. He scams via eBay and MSN as well (he even conned me on the phone!).

...but the good news is that if you are prepared to drive to Kent it is fairly easy to retrieve your car/parts/money physically. For anyone wanting his details, the easiest way (and no, I won't give them to you!) is to find him on eBay, buy something from him then do a 'request member details' thing from the 'my community' section. Good luck!

[wolfieuk]

hi all

well my answer is send me any info about the deal and his address, then me and and my Staffie go and knock on his door, would love to see him talk his way out of that......

TC trading is based on trust and things like this make it hard for the honest collectors.

Anyway just wanted to add my bit....LOL

regards steve AKA wolfieuk

P.s

offer there just email me the details[]

[SubaruBrattJunkie]

Greetings fellow members, seems we have a new identity. I was contacted by a fellow that Chris alerted me to. It was through the club mail system. Here is the mail; model #58074 - Grasshopper II - The Horny Hopper...

THIS MESSAGE HAS NOT BEEN SENT FROM A KNOWN/LOGGED-IN MEMBER OF TamiyaClub.

To confirm the details of this email then please click on the following link:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/confirmemail.asp...6988W6R&id=1501

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hi mate would you swap your grashopper 2 for a gy predator rtr

So we have a problem child on our hands. Ebay will do nothing, they are all talk and no action. The local police probably have better things to do than chase a "toy" thief. I, like a lot of you get several offers from non-members every month. Most I ignore, some I respond to, sometimes I send parts out for free just to help out a fellow collector if I don't need them. I had someone offer me over a thousand uS for my Avante, while nice, let's be realistic. I mentioned it in one of my car write up's that if I wanted to sell or trade something it would be in the trade room where it belongs. unsolicited trades or offers from non-members usually get the toss. Members don't tend to do that, as a matter of fact, I have never received an offer from a club member unless it was in the trade room. Rest assured, he will try for a 3 speed or other valuable car before long, and then someone will go to Kent and deal with it. We really are lucky that it doesn't happen more and I agree that limiting our freedom to contain one idiot is a bit much. I have had dealings with many of you and all have been more than satisfactory. I hope he gets what is definitly coming to him, please Chris, keep us posted, anyone else need the new address, drop me a line, he has changed his name!

[mr_pushrod]

I was also contacted by someone through the club offering a GY Predator and was also sent a warning email by Chris. It was written in the same lazy, unpunctuated way as well so it's probably the same person. Be wary!

[1proteus1]

i had the same email about my f-350 for the gy preditor an my thoughts was badword no lol , anyone know what a gy preditor is lol ive heard of GV not gy , non members are getting a wide birth from me unless like 1 did recently contacted me through ebay an i saw his feedback was 100% buying and selling high value items so i risked it