SCAM Warning

A

aljst

Filing Flight Plan
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May 21, 2024
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Aljst
Reaching out to the local aviation group with a community advisory in the hopes to avoid someone else getting deceived or scammed.

About 2 weeks ago I was contacted by cloudcutterr_at_gmail.com, not sure what his name is, may be Lance Morgan with an offer to buy a headset.

After asking for pictures and having an email exchange, we agreed on a price and was asked to Zelle the funds to harrysills_at_gmail.com, I assume this person's name to be Harry Sills. Was promised tracking info and shipping to occur right away.

As soon as the funds were received, both Lance Morgan and Harry Sills (may be the same person) stop communicating. All subsequent emails have gone un-answered.

Up until now, I thought the aviation community was not affected but this kind of scams and people, and usually keep my guard down, my mistake. I now see that I bear part of the blame for not protecting myself better - lesson learned.

However remote, I still have hopes this to be a misunderstanding, but realistically does not look good.

If anyone here has ever heard of these two individuals, please protect yourself and I appreciate your letting me know any additional information to properly report it to the authorities. If not I will just keep posting my story in all aviation forums as a community service to protect others.
 
It's incidents like this that highlight the need to know and trust recipients. I'm not blaming aljst, just want to emphasize the need to pay attention to the limitations of protection of Zelle and similar payment services.

"THE ZELLE® PAYMENT SERVICE IS INTENDED TO SEND MONEY TO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND OTHERS YOU TRUST. YOU SHOULD NOT USE THE ZELLE® PAYMENT SERVICE OR OTHER PAYMENT SERVICES TO SEND MONEY TO RECIPIENTS WITH WHOM YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR OR YOU DO NOT TRUST."
 
I like to use Zelle ,it’s very convenient when you know the person you’re sending money to. They do warn you that once you hit send the money is gone and can’t be returned.
 
If I am buying airplane parts, it’s either from a dealer, or face to face, no exceptions. If I am selling a part, it’s a face to face transaction, no exceptions.
 
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I lost any and all sympathy when you said Zelle. I'm gonna say it. You got what you deserved.

How many Nigerian princes have you helped out?
 
aterry1067 said:
If I buying airplane parts, it’s either from a dealer, or face to face, no exceptions. If I am selling a part, it’s a face to face transaction, no exceptions.
Click to expand...

I prefer to do businees that way for larger ticket items but not always possible. I do use transaction methods that give the option to get my money back and try to deal only with reputable companies and people.

Still, a few months ago I almost got taken when persuing a very good deal on a headset. Actually the scammers insistance on using Zelle was the tipping point for me so I declined. Later is was discovered to be a scam.
 
aljst said:
Reaching out to the local aviation group with a community advisory in the hopes to avoid someone else getting deceived or scammed.

About 2 weeks ago I was contacted by cloudcutterr_at_gmail.com, not sure what his name is, may be Lance Morgan with an offer to buy a headset.

After asking for pictures and having an email exchange, we agreed on a price and was asked to Zelle the funds to harrysills_at_gmail.com, I assume this person's name to be Harry Sills. Was promised tracking info and shipping to occur right away.

As soon as the funds were received, both Lance Morgan and Harry Sills (may be the same person) stop communicating. All subsequent emails have gone un-answered.

Up until now, I thought the aviation community was not affected but this kind of scams and people, and usually keep my guard down, my mistake. I now see that I bear part of the blame for not protecting myself better - lesson learned.

However remote, I still have hopes this to be a misunderstanding, but realistically does not look good.

If anyone here has ever heard of these two individuals, please protect yourself and I appreciate your letting me know any additional information to properly report it to the authorities. If not I will just keep posting my story in all aviation forums as a community service to protect others.
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Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to spread the word. I’m sorry that you were scammed, and hope that the stark fist of karma finds the scumbag who took your money.
 
Looks like there’s another thread about it too.

How did you find this guy? Hopefully you can file an online internet crimes report, and file a police report. I mean it’s traceable when using Zelle so police might get involved. Who knows.

What I like about POA is that I know many people here from the fly-in’s, so you know who is active and who isn’t. So if you did buy something here, I feel like there is a better chance of it being legit. Of course make sure it isn’t a newbie and then you only need to worry about someone’s account being hacked and trying to sell stuff suddenly under disguise of a legitimate account. Make sure the name matches I guess too.

The thing about using PayPal is the fees and you get a 1099, and sometimes PayPal randomly locks your account for “security reasons” that’s an endless battle of send us every document you have with your personal info to get your account back, just another pain to deal with.

Scam ALERT

Please be aware of scam when dealing with Matt Dailey or Harry Sills. My friend purchased & sent $$ thru PayPal for API TAILWHEEL. after a week Matt replied, " you didn't buy nothing from me " listen learned.
vansairforce.net vansairforce.net
 
Yes, there have been a few instances with this and recently a few of these have run rapid in Facebook....

Had one where they told me where they were and I responded with "Great - my bother is in the same town, where, when, and what is your phone number so he can come over to give you the cash and pick it up..."

crickets......

EdFred said:
I lost any and all sympathy when you said Zelle. I'm gonna say it. You got what you deserved.

How many Nigerian princes have you helped out?
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Damm dude!!!! little cold there aren't ya!

mandm said:
I mean it’s traceable when using Zelle so police might get involved.
Click to expand...

Zelle itself cannot directly reveal a scammer's details, law enforcement or civil legal action can compel Zelle to provide the banking details behind a fraudulent Zelle account, allowing the scammer to potentially be traced and identified.
 
I don’t know if they’ve changed but when gmail started you could make up any name you wanted. Later when they wanted a phone number you could get one from…google, for free.

In these days of kyc (know your customer) i’d assume (I know) that Zelle has their real name otoh they probably can’t release it.

My question is does Zelle allow John Doe use a different name? If not then you should have his name from your Zelle transfer

Good luck
 
I love Zelle. It's designed to transfer funds between people you know. I prefer it to any of the other transfer money apps I've seen, and it's the only one I will use. They make it really clear that it's not reversible.

In my view, if you're depending very much on the ability to have your payment refunded, you need another plan.

Feel bad for those that were ripped off, but don't believe that posting people's names will help any, because they're just made up. If you're looking for a deal and willing to entertain the risk of being ripped off, buy from random ads. If you're looking for a little bit of protection, use something like ebay or whatever, but understand that while you're making the odds better, it's not perfect. Hell, you can even run into a problem dealing with reputable businesses, depending on the circumstances.
 
I refuse to use Zelle for payment here or any other forum. I recently wanted to buy a beacon right here and the advertiser refused to accept any protected payment.
 
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Sorry about your scam. Yeah, if it's not a verified seller on E Bay with reviews, or an established company like Gazelle, it's not happening. And always PayPal. I was only scammed once on E Bay, but got the money refunded.

Venmo for my CFI, airplane club fees, and pay someone to help with a B Day lunch for a friend, etc.

Zelle only for family.
 
Scammers are bold and everywhere.

I had a recent aviation related almost scam. Person was selling on Craigslist, which By itself is not a red flag. When they wanted my personal check to clear and had zero interest in PayPal or other method of payment, even with me covering fees, or a personal meeting, they disappeared. Total scam.
 
Florida Flyer said:
I refuse to use Zelle for payment here or any other forum. I recently want to buy a beacon right here and the advertiser refused to accept any protected payment.
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For purchases I actually completely agree with you. While I can understand why someone might like to take other forms of payment, if you're in business, you need to assume some risk. And if you're selling things on a forum, like it or not, you're in business. Even it's just a one time, one item business.
 
Florida Flyer said:
I refuse to use Zelle for payment here or any other forum. I recently want to buy a beacon right here and the advertiser refused to accept any protected payment.
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Are you ready to buy that beacon using Zelle? I’m not going to be at the hangar till next week sometime after Memorial Day.
 
Are you ready to buy that beacon using Zelle? I’m not going to be at the hangar till next week sometime after Memorial Day.
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I refuse to use Zelle for payment here or any other forum, Are you ready to take Paypal?
 
Whatever happened to cash on delivery (COD) at usps?
 
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