Not Just Another BST Scammer Thread
 

It is disheartening as to the amount of scamming that has gone on in the Buy, Sell, Trade (BST) sections, mostly over the last few years. To help with that, there are now stickies in all of the BST areas alerting members of scammers. We can refine them as needed. I would much prefer not to have those there. But it is what it is.

To take take a little sting out of the fraud, to some small extent, I am announcing a one time program.

If you were scammed on the forum (not off of the forum) then I will reimburse you 30%. You can pm me and it will stay private.

A few caveats:

*The fraud had to occur in the last 5 years from today. Pm me anyway but that sounds pretty fair.

*$2000 dollar total loss limit. If it's more still PM me about it and we'll talk.
(I don't think I have seen any over approximately $1600 and that was maybe 1. Almost all others have been $50-$600.)

*This program is not for any bad transactions between members. That wasn't scamming. That was a bad transaction. This had to be theft, of money, by an unknown scammer.

*The member must have made the fraud public on the forum, sent me a private message or email, or can otherwise show me they were defrauded.

*This program will extend out until 1200 am CST, 1/1/2023.

Each case will be an independent decision and I reserve the right to cancel, or change anything about this program at any time. :) Just to cover my arse...

I hope this stuff stops.

And a Cobby because every thread needs a card.

Amazing thing you are doing Leon!

Wow, quite generous and I can't help but wonder how many scammers will attempt to claim they were the victims of scams, lol

You are too kind, Leon. I hope no one tries to scam you, and seek reimbursement for a bogus scam transaction!

Very generous but I would like to know how folks are getting scammed just to educate myself. I would assume transactions that are paid with G/S services through PayPal are protected.

Wow just very generous of you. Thanks for running such a great site and community. I am very thankful that I do not need to send you a pm
Bob

Incredibly generous

That's honestly an incredible gesture, and one that I'm sure any victims of the scams wouldn't have ever considered to expect. Thankfully, I have to believe that nobody blames the forum, its owner or moderators for such occurrences.

Awesome gesture Leon.

What Phil said +100.

Leon that's a great gesture on your part but I really don't think you or the Net54 site are at fault on this at all.

There have been several posts about scammers here, I know you have done everything within reason to inform people about how to vet a potential transaction.

I know I am in the minority but I don't have much sympathy for the people here who have been scammed. It is very easy to check references here, if you buy a $500 card on this site from somebody without checking them out it's nobody's fault but your own.



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Unless, and I'm just thrown' this out for the conspiracy theorists from over at the Covid thread, Leon has had some time on his hands and decided to masquerade as multiple scammers to stress test the membership here, we failed btw, and is now running the classic "Robin Hood" reverse grift to return the proceeds...

Just sayin'...

We love you Leon.

Dude, I can't even remember what I ate yesterday. :)
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Leon, you are a gentleman and a scholar.

Incredible gesture Leon, but I don't feel it is warranted. You offer users a great board at no cost to exchange thoughts and find great cards. You don't take a cut of any of the sales conducted on the site. I just don't see why (other than pure benevolence) you would be responsible in any way to step in here. Far be it from me to tell a man what to do with his money, but you have already gone above and beyond by maintaining this site.

+1

Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."

Terrific leon

A likely response from the black ops handbook.

As long as we're on the subject, can I get compensated for you and your pre-war henchmen sucking me into pre-war? I get it now, "Hey Bro, 1st E-card is on me, let me know when you want another one", and before you know it you find yourself spending a mortgage payment on a Sacto Big Eater.

There should be a recovery group, pre war anonymous or something like that.

That's unbelievably nice of you Leon. I haven't had any problems with the B/S/T so I won't need to take advantage of your offer. At least not yet! I sure hope it stays that way. :D

I'm Ben and I am a Pre-War-Aholic.
Hey Phil, don't forget that next week's meeting is moved to a night when the auctions aren't closing.

Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."

Hi Ben,
And welcome to the group, bad coffee and Diet Coke is on the back table, as long as you aren't holding any off back T206's n the parking lot you are welcome here.

Way too generous Leon! Too kind, and although I haven’t been on here for as long as some, I think this is beyond generous.

Wow, what an amazing gesture. I have never been on another board that was so good to their members. But, Leon, it is not your fault at all when someone tries to scam on here. This board does a great job of getting rid of scammers quick.

Very well said.

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What if the guarantee only occurs if the scammed had checked with Leon in advance, so that adds that second level of comfort? If Leon thinks the seller is good and it still happens the the “program” is triggered.

Today and back 5 years. I feel the stickies offer at least some warning going forward and they are there now.

I appreciate the kind words. I never thought this was necessarily my fault, but it's my forum , so everything is my fault lol. It's something I want to do. I hope to receive some PMs soon.

Gi'day, mate, I would trade with people I know from here. No way I would trade with someone I didn't know.

Completely agree. Leon - you are very generous.

That said, it isn’t clear how this act of generosity will change anything.

Long-time users of this website already think very highly of you and love this site.

Scammers will still exploit the B/S/T section’s openness if there isn’t any gating/eligibility requirements/fee to use it.


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+1

I’ll also add, if I had been scammed, which thankfully I haven’t. I would never ask you for any compensation, I truly believe in being accountable for my own actions. I’m definitely triggered by people that can’t admit their own mistakes and need to find someone else to blame. Somehow you shouldering part of the blame is, well as my 16 yr old son might say, “whack.” Anyway, thank you for trying to be accountable for everything that happens on this fantastic forum, but these scamming assholes are not due to any fault of yours or the framework of the forum.

I’m thankful to be a very small part of this community. Thank you for allowing me to poke my head around here every so often, it’s truly a great place that you’ve created.

Jeff Rogoff

TREMENDOUS offering on your part, Leon! No wonder Net 54 is such a GREAT Forum to be a member of!!

Very generous Leon. Just when I start to think the world sucks, the good people fight back.

+1 I grew up in a world where one was accountable for their own actions. This is a great place that you have created and I appreciate all you do for us. This is one more example of that and I hope you don't get any PM's and people acknowledge their own mistakes.

Jim Boushley

+1. Well said Jim.


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Amazing gesture Leon. Thank you for providing this forum and everything you do to run it with such integrity.

(Crap, ..... thought this was gonna be a good side gig)

+1

I also agree with those who say, had they been scammed, they would not ask for reimbursement. The first rule if BST is Caveat Emptor.

Agreed. Another Thank You.

some further thoughts
 

Agree. NO one ever asked., They all took full responsibility. That's not the point.
And I agree with most of the thoughts in this thread. The offer to reimburse, a small part, is because I feel a sense of responsibility, like it or not. For some money, resources and pain the security issue could probably be taken care of. Not one person has PM'd me and no one has ever asked for any monetary remuneration. Everyone took responsibility for themselves when it happened. Every single one.
That said, if I can lessen that bad experience just a little bit, it would make ME feel better. If any of ya'll owned a site, that has monetization, you might feel the same way. It would make me happy if I get some PMs. That's all I will say about it, other than it's my pleasure to help run and manage the site. For those that remember, a little under 2 decades ago, there was no monetization. Being a type card collector, I felt I could participate in a lot of threads. I just wanted to do it because I love collecting these old baseball cards. around a year and half later I thought banners might be a good idea.

Thanks again for the kind words, but it's truly my pleasure.
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And another card....because if 1 card is good then 2 is better!

Fortunately, no problems here. I am totally impressed with your unselfish gesture and commitment to net54baseball.

This is THE BEST forum for old cards, period. After my many obnoxious posts and I am still allowed to be here proves that! While I haven't had that many trades and purchases from the BST as many others have, the ones I have made have been first-class in every regard.

Incredibly generous of you, Leon.

Thank you for everything you do, Leon. Always appreciated. Another reason this forum and community is so great.

Leon, incredible gesture - thanks for this forum!!!

Reporting of suspect members.
 

Is there a formal (or informal) way of reporting likely scammers? I get PM'd nearly daily (sometimes multiple times a day) by accounts wanting to sell and they have no bio, no posts or comments.

Are there any rules/restrictions on these accounts or should we report?

You should report every one to me in a pm, please. I know it's rampant but the amount you get is surprising.
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Sadly, I resemble that remark, Leon. More and more every day

+1 I've had nothing but positive experiences in BST but that's a very kind gesture Leon.

Leon:

I would assume most if not all of scammers are newbies?

Is there some way to add to everyone's ID when they post, something like " A Net 54 member since 2017" for example? That would alert guys to new sellers on BST to either avoid or check with you first before sending any $$?

Or someway you could add a red star or something to everyone's ID that you would "pre-certify" as trustworthy"? Or some similar idea that would work?

Click on their ID and you can see their info page. It shows when they've joined and how many posts they've had.

And more importantly, if you are buying something from somebody you don't know, send them a private message and ask them for references. And then send a PM to those references and ask if the seller is legit.



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Every post shows when the person posting joined and how many posts they've made. It's right in the header of the post.