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Classified scams?


Mattlikesbikes
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I've been selling stuff on Pinkbike lately and had a couple of strange things happen. They seem scammy, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what the scam is.

Twice, on two different items, I had buyers ask me to send them a paypal invoice. Then they never respond or make a payment. I send a reminder, nothing. Eventually I canceled the first one. Second one is only a couple days old.

I also had a buyer ask me to list it on ebay, buy now, and he would buy it that way. I declined.

I assume these might be trying to take advantage of the paypal/ebay buyer protection, to ultimately scam me. 

What other scams are there out there to avoid?

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are you concerned that they are going to send you payment, accept the item being sold, then claim that you didn't send it or something and get a refund? that's very possible.

I sold a bike a few years ago for $700. the buyer wanted to pay me electronically as she didn't feel safe carrying that much cash to meet a stranger in a dark HEB parking lot. (that's a relatively safe public place and the only time our work scheduled allowed us to meet.) I told her I could not accept Paypal or anything like that because of the scenario above, so we made cash work. she was surprised to hear that people can scam each other that easily with electronic payments and I said "that's the world we live in now."

I've sold some frames online and it was always scary to know I could lose a few hundred bucks that way. You're correct to we worried.

Edited by mack_turtle
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I'm way less worried about selling more confused by the request for an invoice through paypal. The last item I sold I just gave the guy my email address and he sent me paypal that way.

But yeah, I think the invoice process opens up more options for them to push back on the product when sent. So I make sure the invoices I did sent are clear that the goods sold are as is with no warranty expressed or implied.

What is also weird to me is the ask for an invoice, then ghost me. 

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Be careful when you say "hacking." These are generally always scams that are tied to getting your money, not control of your systems.

Stealing is where they take money from you, your bank, PayPal, etc. Hacking is where they are gaining access to systems.

The people doing it are not hackers, they are scammers. Hackers get control of your systems without really needing you to be involved.

It's like when people say "my car was broken into last night" and then inadvertently let it slip that they left it unlocked. Yeah, it seems like semantics, but when you elevate these people to hackers you're doing them a favor.

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1 hour ago, TheX said:

It also means a person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity. This definitely fits some of these thieves.

I think that's the difference between a "hacker" and just a "hack." hackers are defined by their skill, hacks by the lack of skill.

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that's a new one to me. I've literally never heard the word "hacker" used in that context. that's either archaic or a neoquialism so fresh that it's not crossed my path yet. one can be a hack (noun) at hacking (verb) and apparently, a hacker (adjective) of a hacker (noun).

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9 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

that's a new one to me. I've literally never heard the word "hacker" used in that context. that's either archaic or a neoquialism so fresh that it's not crossed my path yet. one can be a hack (noun) at hacking (verb) and apparently, a hacker (adjective) of a hacker (noun).

Very common in golf vernacular. Makes sense in that context because if you are a bad golfer, you are taking ax-like hacks at the ground.

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that got nerdy real quick. suffice it to say,  term does not derive from golf slang when applied to programming skill and using the same word to describe the same thing is a fun way to confuse someone, but a poor way to communicate. if someone has any sort of skill at solving programming problems, they are a "hacker" and probably wear that title with pride. if you're bad at golf or some other physical, non-programming skill, you might be a hacker in a negative sense.

that history is a fun rabbit hole that is not difficult to find if you want to dig in.

Edited by mack_turtle
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4 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

that's a new one to me. I've literally never heard the word "hacker" used in that context. that's either archaic or a neoquialism so fresh that it's not crossed my path yet. one can be a hack (noun) at hacking (verb) and apparently, a hacker (adjective) of a hacker (noun).

Is this a kind way of saying it must be a boomer thing? 

4 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

term does not derive from golf slang when applied to programming skill and using the same word to describe the same thing is a fun way to confuse someone, but a poor way to communicate. if someone has any sort of skill at solving programming problems, they are a "hacker" and probably wear that title with pride. if you're bad at golf or some other physical, non-programming skill, you might be a hacker in a negative sense.

that history is a fun rabbit hole that is not difficult to find if you want to dig in.

When I was a programmer in the eighties, I would have been offended if somebody called me a hacker in the context of my COBOL skills. I can get though how in current context it would be viewed as a compliment. I have regularly been referred to as a hacker in the context of my golf skills over the years, and that hasn't changed at all.    

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1 minute ago, throet said:

Ah ..... got it! So are you going to share your best bodge job? 

I'm too anal to do bodge jobs.  At most I hack.  I just thought it was interesting there's a hierarchy for non-standard repairs/alterations each with its own term and which may vary between areas (e.g. computers, golf, cycling).

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