Has anyone bought a train via...

Doesn't sound right to me. 

The more valuable it is, the more I insist on seeing it in person before purchase. 

I have not had a problem so far in dealing with members on this forum.  I prefer to see their history and ranking first to have some confidence, but that luxury has been removed from the forum.  So now the join date is about all you can judge by.

It was Haines City, for my scam too

How did you leave it with him/them, Jim?  Just quit responding or did you call them out on it?

You can still see the activity points as well as their join date, the only thing missing is the ranking figure.  I also look at some individual posts in the forum to see if they look real.

 

I haven't responded yet, what did you do Larry?  Thinking of just telling him I am not interested.  The real question is what id is he using to get our email address?

I had asked for a specific picture and he did get it for me...after I thought that it might be a scam.  I thought if he used someone else's photos, he wouldn't be able to get what I was looking for.  Then I asked for a phone number which he also provided.  I think I will just sit on it; if he asks, I will say that I read on Money Gram's site not to send to anyone you don't know, which I did read somewhere there.  If I'm a seller, I completely understand this.  

 

It's too bad.  I so much want to trust people.  

I received an e-mail yesterday morning from the address below from the same person about 2 pairs of Weaver trucks I wanted and posted on the wanted to buy forum. I responded to the e-mail and asked who he was and what his OGR forum name was. I think I scared him off. I haven't gotten a response back.

 

This forum is such a good platform for those in the hobby and those willing to honestly learn about it. It's great that we all can put our heads together and figure stuff like this out so no one gets scammed. The address is below along with a pic of the e-mail I received. These guys were definitely phishing. The scam address was:

 

Charles Keepler

2410 Weiberg Rd.

Haines City, FL 33844

 

 

 

 

Yes, I'm very thankful for this forum for many reasons.

We need to find out how this guy is getting access.  I am wondering if the forum can look at the history of who looked at the wtb list yesterday and then accessed all of those on the list affected. Protect the members please!!!!

I googled both Charles Keppler scam and Jim Keppler scam and then googled the address.  I think it's a bot generated email as he has car parts, train parts and guitar parts as well.  

 

The problem is that if they delete his account associated with the email we received, he can just create another account (and another etc).  Awareness and verification is the only way to beat this scam. 

 

Here is the facebook profile associated with the "big.charles" email address.  It's Big Charles himself:

 

https://www.facebook.com/profi...2MTk5YjYwYzI4YWI0In0

He did give me his phone number...or should I say, a phone number.

 

It's like the movie "Fletch," but it's not funny.

 

 

it would be a good idea to post the thread at the top of the buy and want list.

Guess who I just got an email from?

 

I got one too, I'm hoping to bait him into a little game of screw with the scammer

I notice the email body has a small word mix-up, i.e. " a 2 pair" I wonder if this is some kind of harvester program/algorithm that is capturing the emails and items. It might be just a simple email template with a "name here" box. 

Either way it sounds very like "spear phishing". Just another scammer looking for your personal info. Read this: http://ca.norton.com/spear-phi...am-not-sport/article

 

 Also, it appears that the same scam is being used across various forums, not just ours:

 

http://f10.m5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1156778

 

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/...179591&showall=1

 

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f...m-alert-2443506.html

 

http://www.saabcentral.com/for...thread.php?p=4730353

 

Stay away from Keepler!

Not sure if he is really in Haines City Florida but I did forward this on to the States Attorneys Office there.

 

Jerry

When I get home I'll look at the email header that contains all the routing information for the email. The origin IP address will be in there then I can use an IP locator to tell me where it came from

     I got an email yesterday from China about molding parts for me. The only person I ever contacted for something like that was Myles Trainman2001 and that was for transformers on phone poles. It was in my junk file so I got rid of it but now reading this post I am wondering if it could have been another scam? Take care. Choo Choo Kenny 

Its not just trains. I was looking for two rare Lego sets, and wouldn't you know the guy from above emailed me saying he had both of them, and wanted 415.00. I said I wanted to see actual pictures, and wanted to know his screen name On Euro Brick. Like you guys never heard from him again.

My message was routed thru a server in southwest Africa

Mm-hm.

AGAIN, this topic has surfaced before on OGR.

Money grams are nothing but trouble and are used by

unscrupulous characters!!

Wow, you guys shure beat around the bush.  The ONLY reason a seller wants a Moneygram is because you wont be able to track HIM or YOUR MONEY once you hit send.

I want to send him one cent so he waste all his time to go get it

Matt,

 

I like your logic.

 

Ed

He is at it again, was looking for an item and sure enough he had it. 

Glad I found this, still want to know how he is getting email from wtb post.

Thanks,
JB

Just got this....

Thanks for writing. Sorry i don't take USPS money order. I prefer payment via money gram as my wife works with money gram and she's a registered member and we can easily confirm your payment after the close of work and make shipping arrangement without no form of delay, I think all banks have Money Gram or you can locate a money gram outlet close to your location to make the payment, All you need to do is get to the outlet and proceed with the payment. I did some research online to check the nearest money gram outlet close to you, This what i found

Payment will be sent in my wife's name and we'll confirm your payment after the close of work. Below is the information you need to complete payment via Money gram.

Payment Information:
Name:
Address: Haines City, Florida 33844
Amount to Send: $270 (Price shipped).

Once you are done with the payment, you are to email the below information from your payment receipt to enable us confirm your payment.

Reference #:
Sender's Name:
Amount Sent:

I'll email you a tracking number and relevant shipping information once payment is received or confirmed.

Thanks,

I like his "without no form of delay" comment.   I am guessing he maybe  skipped a few English classes in his day

 

I know I am wrong in my thinking and I certainly don't want to be condescending but when I see really poor grammer by someone trying to sell me something it raises a small flag.  

 

BTW - I am sure there are some members who have read some of my posts and are thinking the same about me.  

 

I am curious as to how he gets our emails.  I always thought you had to be a member to view someone's profile and email.  

 

Ed

This is looking more like the Nigerian bank scams every minute; just a little more personal, and without the tragic plane crash and the massive amount of money to be deposited in your account.

If this boiler-room organization (not just a single person I believe) is using Gmail addresses, then whoever receives these emails should report them to Google as spam and hopefully get them blocked. They are obviously scanning every type of hobby forum for want ads and offering these items as a scam lure.

quote:

They are obviously scanning every type of hobby forum for want ads and offering these items as a scam lure.

 

Folks don't help themselves when they put their contact information in their posting.

 

hey guys   I got an e-mail from Thomas Keepler about my request to purchase 2 MTH aero train cars   Exactly the same e-mail except it was from Thomas Keepler   Haines City FLA  Is this guy a scammer ??

Yes

Hey guys THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP !!!  I googled this guys name before I proceeded any further and Google took me straight to our OGR FORUM !!!   Thanks for keeping me from getting SCAMMED !!  Happy Railroading    GARY

Your Welcome, also thank Rich for not deleting this thread.

Mine wasn't in my listing, he has to be a member then. Only way he could get a look at the contact info.

 

 

 

I asked him for some pictures and condition and what he was asking for it. Never heard back from him.

 

Jerry

Same here.  I received an e mail from him and deleted it immediately.  This is a SCAM.  There also was a guy by the name of TYLER WILSON from KC, MO., who was using the same Money Gram Scam.  Be aware of these two.

quote:

Folks don't help themselves when they put their contact information in their posting.

 

But as some recipients have pointed out, their email address was not in the posting, myself included.

 

Understood. Anybody can join to harvest contact information. Most crooks don't bother. When I am dealing with someone on a chat board, I look at their profile to determine whether they look to be a genuine participant. I look at how long they've been a member, and how much they post.