I wanted to recount my recent experiences using WTB as they have been something of an eye-opener. I also hope they will serve as a warning/reminder to others.
A few months’ back I put out a WTB both here and in WUS (where, otherwise, I never post) for a Citizen Chronomaster. I was contacted within a couple of days by two members on WUS. One was Visa (“buffon.bj”) – I’m sure he won’t mind me mentioning him as he was an absolute superstar, answered all my questions promptly and in detail, sent plenty of photos and was extremely up front and brutally honest in his description of the watch. Happily, I ended up buying from him, and the whole transaction couldn’t have gone better.
The other was “kurtwells”, now banned from WUS. It turns out he was a prior offender so, in fact, he was banned within a few days of rejoining. I’d like to set elements of the transaction and all the warning signs that I should have seen but failed to pick up, albeit in the end the penny dropped and I avoided getting scammed.
1. The initial photos sent, although I didn’t realize it at the time, were copied from the internet. Lesson learned: always perform a search of images on the internet.
2. He had joined only a week or two prior to contacting me. Clearly many members may join or start posting simply to sell a watch. However, the absence of much posting history is a warning sign.
3. The description he used sounded slightly familiar – this was because he had copied both the photos and the description from a previous (authentic) seller. In this case, it was plausible though because he claimed he had bought it and then simply kept it in a safe i.e. conditions of sale were effectively exactly the same as before. If something sounds a little fishy, it probably is.
4. Responses to some questions were slightly evasive. If something sounds a little fishy, it probably is.
5. He wanted to handle all discussions via email rather than via WUS. A classic tactic of scammers.
6. He wanted to do the deal by bank transfer, claiming his PayPal a/c was having problems. As well as being another classic scammer tactic, if it sounds fishy, it probably is.
7. While we were exchanging emails I saw that he had been banned. He claimed he had no idea why and that the WUS mods could be pretty arbitrary. It didn’t even occur to me at the time but I should have contacted the Mods to find out why. If something sounds a little fishy, it probably is.
By this stage, you’re all rightly rolling your eyes in disbelief and asking what sort of idiot could still even be contemplating continuing with the transaction but here’s the thing:
1. because (a) I really wanted to buy the watch and (b) I tend to have faith in people, I found myself rationalizing everything in my head. When you don’t want to believe something you’ll find ways to justify doing so.
2. because I suffer from the British disease of not wanting offend anyone, I found myself reluctant to push the seller on some issues for fear of appearing rude or that I didn’t trust him. I was prepared to go ahead with the transaction even though I wasn’t satisfied with some of the answers.
In the end, it was only when I asked for further images of the watch that the deal fell through as the seller simply didn’t reply. After this shambles, I did what I should have done at the very beginning and read the specific advice that WUS offers when buying via the platform. This would have raised very clear red flags on about half a dozen occasions during my dealings with the scammer! I would recommend all those who haven’t to do read this thread.
Postscript:
I sent out another WTB about a month later. Once again I was contacted almost immediately by a member. This time I checked the posting history and saw that he had joined immediately before contacting me and his 14 posts consisted of one-word congratulations to members posting their purchases (along the lines of “awesome”, “love it”, “congrats” etc.) Again he wanted to deal purely by email. This time, as per WUS guidelines, I asked him to send a photo of the watch at a specific time (not 10.10am!) to which he never replied.
At the time I did nothing, the sad footnote to which is that I was later contacted by another member to warn me that he had been scammed by the same lowlife to the tune of $4,000. Within hours I was pm’d by a WUS Mod who had checked all the scammer’s postings to see whom he had contacted.
Another lesson learned: at the time I did nothing because I thought I had no concrete proof, didn’t know whether the member was on holiday or otherwise busy and didn’t want to start making unfounded accusations. In hindsight, I should have reported him absolutely immediately to the Mods, simply presenting the facts and leaving it in their hands.
I'm a mod on another forum and all phone sales require a pic with user name and date - not a bad request if offered a watch
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