Caution adviced when dealing with this member (41 Viewers)

Wait sorry, putting the pitchfork down as requested.

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A couple of random comments.

Usually shipments from US to Norway takes about 6-7 weeks because there are hardly any planes flying and there are lots of goods being transported, so it might be stuck some where for weeks, waiting for a plane. I have had packets from US both going through NL, as it is a hub, and not. Regardless, it should've arrived at the international post hub within days.

This looks like a clear cash grab scam to me based on the volume of trades, the amount of money, the non-moving parcels and the radio silence.

I would immediately contact the bank used for payment, and say that you've been frauded. You should also report this to your local police. This won't cause any international action, but I'm coming back to that. If you do report him to the local police, provide as much documentation as you can. If he ever comes to the US, even as a lay-over to other countries, he has to apply for ESTA which in turn means that there will be law officers waiting for him when he leaves the plane (if the local police does their job and files a warrant for him).

As for international actions which actually has some impact, you have to file a case with the dutch police. This is similar to if you go to another country and are robbed. The crime happened in that country and the police there has to investigate it. There will be a case officer and every one should use the same one. Given the volume of this and the number of countries involved, it is likely to be prioritized.

That being said, if someone here is coordinating this, let them and they'll get things started. The easiest and probably most efficient way is for someone in the EU that was frauded would start with their case, and once they get a case officier, they can inform the officer of the scale and get the officer's contact information for the rest of the victims. Also, matching time zones helps.

The hack was not likely related to poppin at all. I might be wrong but the english posted by the hacker was better than Poppin and why he block his own fraud? Cash grab scams like what the hacker did is usually not that elaborate.
 
He sold me almost $2500 of PNYs that have been sitting in Amsterdam since Jun 1 and were supposed to be shipped at the beginning of May. Tried texting him over the last few days but haven't heard back. Now that I see all of this, I no longer feel bad mentioning my experience.

Poppin tried his best to get me to pay not over PayPal, but over some cockamamie payment app called Revolut. He refunded my PayPal payment saying there was a problem with his paypal, before trying to get me to send it over Revolut. I thought nothing of it until now. At this point, though, I assume the worst.

If anyone else was sold PNYs by Poppin, please let me know. This is tremendously upsetting; even though I have a tracking number, quite frankly I don't trust there's anything in the package. I'm 24 years old, I can't just lose $2.5k. If anyone wants to take a group trip to the Netherlands, I have his address.
If you have a Venmo or PPF&F account you could make exclusively for this and would share the info publicly, I would love to contribute funds to help get you back what was lost.
 
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A question to veterans of private online transactions with strangers:

If sellers refuse to take regular PayPal payments because of more onerous tax reporting, in what ways can a buyer pay for/with more protection?

Of course, this is in addition to doing your research on the seller.
 
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A question to veterans of private online transactions with strangers:

If sellers refuse to take regular PayPal payments because of more onerous tax reporting, in what ways can a buyer pay for more protection?
Does it seem like only newer members were targeted here and not long timers? Just wondering if that’s another flag, if he avoided long timers who aren’t maybe as trustworthy about giving out account numbers and stuff.
 
I guess that everyone involved in this story knows they made a mistake. It is sure important to you to point that out. Very constructive...
I understand where you are coming from, but actually, @BNM's post is worthwhile to remind people who weren't scammed by Poppin this time that they should be vigilant in the future when the warning signs are there.
 
Does it seem like only newer members were targeted here and not long timers? Just wondering if that’s another flag, if he avoided long timers who aren’t maybe as trustworthy about giving out account numbers and stuff.
No there are 1 or 2 long standing members involved, however they are not overly active in forum drama
 
I would also be on the lookout for banned ex-members creating new profiles, to the extent these can really be detected… I don’t know for example whether PCF can monitor IPs used previously by banned members, or for other tells, to prevent such end-arounds.

But the community might want to be on alert for behaviors of new sellers which match up. I can’t imagine that a scammer would just give up a 10K cash source that easily.
 
I would also be on the lookout for banned ex-members creating new profiles. I don’t know to what extent PCF can keep an eye out for IPs used by banned members, or other tells, to prevent such end-arounds. But the community might want to be on alert for behaviors of new sellers which match up. I can’t imagine that a scammer would just give up a 10K cash source that easily.
From the bit of information I have (not provided from any PCF members) he has multiple IP addresses. So this is probably a wise word of advice for the moment. I also would consider keeping tabs on random eBay sales for matching items
 
From the bit of information I have (not provided from any PCF members) he has multiple IP addresses.
Given the prevalence of VPN's these days, IP addresses are not going to be a reliable way to identify anyone. Even if I set up my VPN connection to always route through the same country/city combination, I'd likely cycle through a variety of different IP address every time I connected just due to the number of servers used by a company to provide the service.
 
Given the prevalence of VPN's these days, IP addresses are not going to be a reliable way to identify anyone. Even if I set up my VPN connection to always route through the same country/city combination, I'd likely cycle through a variety of different IP address every time I connected just due to the number of servers used by a company to provide the service.
Okay, that's helpful to know I suppose. I am not a tech savvy person so any insight from others here would likely be more helpful than I can offer
 
I had one interaction with said individual, and it was shady.

For some chips, I sent PayPal, and he said he was unable to access the funds so he said he had initiated a refund on his side. He said we'd find some other method of payment, once the current funds settled.

Being that I'm a suspicious fucker (especially of foreigners- a healthy attitude to have, no matter where you are from- and to hell with political correctness), I called PayPal. I confirmed that his account got my cash and confirmed there was no refund pending.

I PM'd him and said "ship my chips". He said maybe I ordered too many and that he could just ship half and refund half. Rather forcefully (that's something many contemporary delicate snowflakes don't understand) I said ship them all.

And fortunately for me....he did.
Based on what I see in this thread...I was lucky to get my chips.

*Damn* lucky.
 
I hadn't had any previous interactions with him, but I sure wish I had stumbled across this thread earlier. I went off feedback, which was positive and had recent positive feedback as a seller. Unfortunately, as @ReallyGoodUsername pointed out, the feedback system really only works if people actually use the neutral and negative options too and not just the positive.
Stories like this are why I think he should have been banned after this first incident. However, the fact he ended up scamming people who defended him in this very thread and thought it was a laughing matter when it was "settled" is.... interesting.
So what are some of the potential solutions to this problem, if the feedback system is unreliable and international transactions considered too risky? Everything PPG&S or some sort of M2M escrow service?
Using paypal properly is one, heeding the warnings is another. The warning signs were clear as day. A month ago I refused to deal with poppin on a trade due to this thread alone.
This. I have always been very vocal about issues such as this when it’s happened in the past, and then I get beaten down by the do-gooders that never have skin in the game. I was totally unaware of all the past issues with Poppin, and used a very reputable member’s remarks about him as a reason for transacting with Poppin. Had I known about the previous issues, I would have never done business.

In this day and age, everyone is so worried about posting negative interactions because the group of people that come out with scathing guilt trips how we should all be patient, and as one person stated in a thread, we should give the seller “six months” before anyone got upset. The naivety of some people is mind blowing. I feel terrible for everyone involved in this, as it looks like numerous people have been scammed out of well over five digits worth of money.
If for some reason horseshoez comes through and everyone is made whole, this forum better not let it go again. He's at the very best a coward and a liar (Poppin, not horseshoez), at worst, a scammer.
 
Good luck to all involved with this piece of shit, I hope everyone gets made whole.

I definitely think this forum needs to be more vigilant against this sort of thing in the future. I've had him blocked from the outset, due to the initial thread created by @Eriks, but people are way too forgiving with these things, and too many jump in and defend people like him.

I know it's not nice to bring out the pitchforks too early, but with prices where they are now, we just can't be too careful. It's going to be increasingly tempting for these type of scumbag scammers.

PS, for anyone that is in contact with him, and perhaps once this all gets resolved please let him know that I said he's an asshat, a clown and a fucktard. This stuff makes me so angry.
 
I had one interaction with said individual, and it was shady.

For some chips, I sent PayPal, and he said he was unable to access the funds so he said he had initiated a refund on his side. He said we'd find some other method of payment, once the current funds settled.

Being that I'm a suspicious fucker (especially of foreigners- a healthy attitude to have, no matter where you are from- and to hell with political correctness), I called PayPal. I confirmed that his account got my cash and confirmed there was no refund pending.

I PM'd him and said "ship my chips". He said maybe I ordered too many and that he could just ship half and refund half. Rather forcefully (that's something many contemporary delicate snowflakes don't understand) I said ship them all.

And fortunately for me....he did.
Based on what I see in this thread...I was lucky to get my chips.

*Damn* lucky.
I agree with this, especially the part about foreigners. I've always been careful to watch out for those crazy Americans :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
 
I had one interaction with said individual, and it was shady.

For some chips, I sent PayPal, and he said he was unable to access the funds so he said he had initiated a refund on his side. He said we'd find some other method of payment, once the current funds settled.

Being that I'm a suspicious fucker (especially of foreigners- a healthy attitude to have, no matter where you are from- and to hell with political correctness), I called PayPal. I confirmed that his account got my cash and confirmed there was no refund pending.

I PM'd him and said "ship my chips". He said maybe I ordered too many and that he could just ship half and refund half. Rather forcefully (that's something many contemporary delicate snowflakes don't understand) I said ship them all.

And fortunately for me....he did.
Based on what I see in this thread...I was lucky to get my chips.

*Damn* lucky.
I had a similar interaction. I actually left positive feedback on the guy, but after leaving the feedback things got weird. I received a PM from one of the folks that are currently out $$$ to him a couple days ago, and I explained the story:

Hey man. Sorry to hear you're having a less than great experience. And, I will say this: the chips I got from him were actually physically with another PCF'er that lives in California, so I got chips really fast (just normal USPS Priority Mail type speeds). However, I did have a problem with a PP payment with him. Ultimately it was resolved, but it took about a month to get it done. Somehow, when I paid him the first time, since he is in EU, Paypal converted the funds to Euros and he wanted it is USD. So he refunded the payment and I paid again - right away - in USD. But the original "refund" didn't "complete" per Paypal (when I found this out I had already paid him the second time). I had originally paid using my debit card on PP, and according to PP that can take some time to come back to my bank. So it seemed legit. But then later the message on PP about the refund changed from "pending" to "cancelled" so the whole thing was............"weird" at best. I will say that I felt the whole time I was getting a bit BS'd by him on all his reasons for the refund not coming through. But it eventually did come through, just a month later. It should be noted that ultimately he had to use his wife's PP account to make the refund; i.e. it just shows as a payment from her to me, not a refund since I never actually paid her any money.

I should also say that after this purchase and before the refund thing was so delayed, I tried several times to buy additional chips from him, each time using my PP balance instead of a debit card, and for some reason PP would not put the money into his bank from his PP account. That's what he said anyway. This happened like 4 times and every time he refunded the money immediately (like within minutes) and every time the money was returned to my PP balance just as fast. So this helped me to attribute the original delay to my use of the debit card on PP.
Anyway, it is all good now, I didn't change my original transaction feedback on PCF on him - gave him the benefit of the doubt so to speak - and all is well. I got the impression that he may be "flagged" or something within the PP system, but this is just speculative on my part. I don't have any proof of this.
One last thing, if I'm honest, I would likely not transact with him again. He seems a really nice guy and, like I said, there were many other payments/refunds that went off without a hitch. But between the refund delay and my perception that he has some kind of problem with PP, I personally would just avoid working with him in the future. I cannot say that about ANY other PCF person I have dealt with.

My advice is to stay on him about the delivery. I was super patient most of the time and the tone of my messages back and forth with him reflected that. At some point, I started getting a little more direct with him. That is when the stuff got resolved. Hope this gets worked out.

Oh, one more thing. Deliveries are definitely jacked up these days. The USPS is pretty bad and I don't think it is any better overseas. Your issue might not be more than just that. Sorry this is so long, and I don't mean to bash the guy, that is not my intent. But you asked and I am being 100% transparent. I assume that is what you wanted by asking and I really appreciate the community we have at PCF so I am trying to respect that. Good luck!


I feel bad now for all the folks that are out money to him. But I can say I didn't see this thread before I dealt with him. Also, since there was another PCF'er involved (@horseshoez) whom was really helpful during the transaction, it seemed like it was ok. The story of his PP being screwed up or whatever seems a common theme here, but overall the only shady thing for me was the long time it took to get my original payment back.
 
Good luck to all involved with this piece of shit, I hope everyone gets made whole.

I definitely think this forum needs to be more vigilant against this sort of thing in the future. I've had him blocked from the outset, due to the initial thread created by @Eriks, but people are way too forgiving with these things, and too many jump in and defend people like him.

I know it's not nice to bring out the pitchforks too early, but with prices where they are now, we just can't be too careful. It's going to be increasingly tempting for these type of scumbag scammers.

PS, for anyone that is in contact with him, and perhaps once this all gets resolved please let him know that I said he's an asshat, a clown and a fucktard. This stuff makes me so angry.
Those that defend the criminals are an embarrassment. Where are they now? Maybe they should all pitch in to make everyone whole?? I’m sure they’ll be stomping all over each other to line up to help!
 
This is what happens when people who don’t transact faithfully don’t get called out.

How many times has someone mentioned something like “there is a member who didn’t ship” or “there is a guy here who circumvented the ChipRoom purchasing rules” and nobody ever wants to name names.

Sadly my only surprise is that this doesn’t happen a lot more frequently, particularly with non-CONUS deals given how many people here are from the US.
 
This is what happens when people who don’t transact faithfully don’t get called out.

How many times has someone mentioned something like “there is a member who didn’t ship” or “there is a guy here who circumvented the ChipRoom purchasing rules” and nobody ever wants to name names.

Sadly my only surprise is that this doesn’t happen a lot more frequently, particularly with non-CONUS deals given how many people here are from the US.
Yep, nobody wants to name names because the do-gooders come out with pitchforks blazing. You know, the same ones that are radio silent now.
 
Yep that’s the one I posted when all this started
If this whole thing is as bad as it looks right know, I feel absolutely disgusted about defending him (even though I guess I’ve only stated facts, but still). I felt terrible reading that someone made business with him because of my added comment to the negative feedback. Fuck second chances, I will be a lot more careful in the classifieds from now on. Perhaps 10 posts/10 days isn’t nearly enough to receive classified privileges.

Nawras, if you’re reading this I sincerely hope that this is some sort of honest mistake on your part and that you’re gonna make everyone whole again but right now it looks REALLY bad.
 

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