Sciencemadness Discussion Board - LD5050 potentially scamming

LD5050 potentially scamming

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 17:21

User ld5050 has potentially scammed me out of 105$ after I goodwilled the money to him, my fault but just a heads up.

[Edited on 20-3-2018 by drzdude]

JJay - 19-3-2018 at 17:23

Sorry to hear about that. He always seemed like a cool dude. I didn't want anything he was selling, but I'm a little surprised he would scam anyone.

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 17:28

Quote: Originally posted by JJay

Sorry to hear about that. He always seemed like a cool dude. I didn't want anything he was selling, but I'm a little surprised he would scam anyone.

I’m really surprised as well. Communication was great, but kept delaying me with shipping which I didn’t mind because I know life happens, but I paid his girlfriend because his PayPal wasn’t working, and he has ceased communication and she has blocked me on the account.

Very frustrated.

XeonTheMGPony - 19-3-2018 at 17:33

well are you being reasonable by factoring in shipping times n such?

I had to wait over a month on some of my orders from others.

Ok second post clarifies it!

Sorry to hear, I hope it gets fixed for you!

[Edited on 20-3-2018 by XeonTheMGPony]

clearly_not_atara - 19-3-2018 at 17:34

Shipping time is one thing, but I don't see why a tracking number couldn't be employed.

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 17:36

Quote: Originally posted by clearly_not_atara

Shipping time is one thing, but I don't see why a tracking number couldn't be employed.

He said he would provide one after he shipped it, saying it was all packaged up and ready to go but he was busy with work, that was a week after paying, and still days ago.

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 17:38

Quote: Originally posted by XeonTheMGPony

well are you being reasonable by factoring in shipping times n such?

I had to wait over a month on some of my orders from others.

Ok second post clarifies it!

Sorry to hear, I hope it gets fixed for you!

[Edited on 20-3-2018 by XeonTheMGPony]

Yeah it’s unfortunate! Two other orders with users have gone smooth and I guess I got too comfortable!

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 17:39

Update: the girlfriend has deleted her account completely, not just blocking me.

Texium - 19-3-2018 at 18:10

This is unfortunate, but we will wait to hear his side of the story before jumping to any action such as an official denouncement or a ban.

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 18:12

Quote: Originally posted by Texium (zts16)

This is unfortunate, but we will wait to hear his side of the story before jumping to any action such as an official denouncement or a ban.

I will provide screenshots if you would like them, I’m not trying to start a witch hunt, but you can clearly see his inactivity as of recent.

Texium - 19-3-2018 at 18:21

He's been active on the forum as of 4 days ago but hasn't posted in about a month. That isn't unusual by any means. I will send a U2U to him, and if he doesn't respond to it the next time he is active on the forum, I will call for administrative action.

Edit: And I'm not trying to discount your situation, but it seems very odd that someone who has completed legitimate transactions in the past and has seemed genuinely interested in chemistry would suddenly decide to burn all bridges with the forum for the sake of stealing a small sum of $105

[Edited on 3-20-2018 by Texium (zts16)]

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 18:23

Yes, four days ago he sent this:
“
Hey sorry for kind of leaving you in the dark my girlfriend who you sent the venmo to said she got a message from you. Anyway, things have been crazy with the snow storm and I plow and do snow removal so I have been swamped but I have your stuff all packed up and ready to go I even put a little something extra in there for you. I'm out doing snow removal now but on lunch break I'm going to go over to post office and send package out. Again sorry for not getting back to you but package will be sent out today. I will send you tracking as soon as I get it.
“

Quote: Originally posted by Texium (zts16)

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 18:30

@Edit: Yeah I am really hoping this is the case, but his girlfriend has deleted her account after I messaged her on there about her boyfriend's lack of communication. Mind you the message I posted was over a week after payment, which was sent after he said he could ship the next day.

I just don't know what to do in this situation, so would rather it be public information, thanks.

Quote: Originally posted by Texium (zts16)

He's been active on the forum as of 4 days ago but hasn't posted in about a month. That isn't unusual by any means. I will send a U2U to him, and if he doesn't respond to it the next time he is active on the forum, I will call for administrative action.

Edit: And I'm not trying to discount your situation, but it seems very odd that someone who has completed legitimate transactions in the past and has seemed genuinely interested in chemistry would suddenly decide to burn all bridges with the forum for the sake of stealing a small sum of $105

[Edited on 3-20-2018 by Texium (zts16)]

clearly_not_atara - 19-3-2018 at 19:18

I wouldn't worry too much about his girlfriend. She doesn't know who we are, and having seen some media depictions of collections on grey-market debts, she may be afraid that you will send several Italian men in suits to her door with a baseball bat. It's possible that LD5050 had not reassured her effectively. Hopefully of course it will not come to that.

I think you did the right thing by making us aware of the situation, but hopefully he will still come through with the payment.

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 19:24

Yes I don’t want to jump to assumptions, im reassured to see many people on here vouching for him, I just am a little uneased by the lack of communication even after apologizing for it before.

Quote: Originally posted by clearly_not_atara

I wouldn't worry too much about his girlfriend. She doesn't know who we are, and having seen some media depictions of collections on grey-market debts, she may be afraid that you will send several Italian men in suits to her door with a baseball bat. It's possible that LD5050 had not reassured her effectively. Hopefully of course it will not come to that.

I think you did the right thing by making us aware of the situation, but hopefully he will still come through with the payment.

Sidmadra - 19-3-2018 at 20:01

Hopefully he does come through. I probably would have waited a little longer before making a public post like this, because many times unexpected things do come up, but then again it's not very polite to leave someone hanging for multiple days with no word.

drzdude - 19-3-2018 at 20:21

Yeah, I mean I payed 3/11 for 3/12 shipment, so all in all I think I have waited enough to at least bring the situation up.

Quote: Originally posted by Sidmadra

Hopefully he does come through. I probably would have waited a little longer before making a public post like this, because many times unexpected things do come up, but then again it's not very polite to leave someone hanging for multiple days with no word.

Bert - 19-3-2018 at 22:09

If it came by 3/31, would still beat some orders out of China-

woelen - 19-3-2018 at 23:54

I would still be patient for a week or so. After that, you can file a dispute at PayPal, at least, when you paid for goods or a service. Then you will get back your money. If you made a private payment (from person to person, not for any business), then you lost your money.

Paypal has a kind of insurance for commercial payments, they in turn ask a fee for that (the recipient pays the fee, which is appr. 3.5% of the total sum). Personal/private payments are free, as long as no currency-exchange is needed (e.g. from euros to dollars), but these also lack the insurance thing.

aga - 20-3-2018 at 02:13

Pretty sure that China prioritises postage to the USA.

Usually takes 4 weeks for stuff to arrive here.

Bert - 20-3-2018 at 05:12

If it is "free.shipping", 3 weeks is typical to USA in my experience. Some goes 4, you might get luck and have an order in under 2 weeks. It is said that the Chinese government subsidizes the shipping costs to help Chinese businesses bring in foreign exchange.

Speed seems to somewhat depend on size/weight, I have had smaller items come quickly, apparently shipped as air cargo to USA then transferred on to USPS. Other slow to arrive and heavy or bulky items probably went into a sea container, arrived at West coast, unloaded and then transferred to USPS. If a Chinese seller DOES charge a somewhat higher, close to normal (for USA) shipping fee, the items seem to come faster, often via FedEx. Expensive, small items like a packet of nano Al or higher end electronics tend to charge more for shipping and arrive faster.

I have not ordered chemicals from China, beyond small quantities of some specialty metal powders and synthetic diamond grits. The all too common practice of declaring category 4 or even 6 chemicals as "T-shirts" or "copier toner" to get them shipped on in USA by USPS puts me off.

USPS will not knowingly handle ANY HazMat. Depending on the circumstances, submitting a HazMat item to USPS may be a felony, bringing federal charges. If my local postman breaks open a package with a category 6 chemical addressed to my business and is hurt or contaminates the local post office, it would be VERY expensive.

Attachment: Nine_Classes_of_Hazardous_Materials-4-2013_508CLN.pdf (618kB)
This file has been downloaded 1000 times

[Edited on 20-3-2018 by Bert]

drzdude - 20-3-2018 at 05:24

He made it a point to say his PayPal wasn’t working, so the payment was through Venmo, which means my money is long gone.

Quote: Originally posted by woelen

I would still be patient for a week or so. After that, you can file a dispute at PayPal, at least, when you paid for goods or a service. Then you will get back your money. If you made a private payment (from person to person, not for any business), then you lost your money.

Paypal has a kind of insurance for commercial payments, they in turn ask a fee for that (the recipient pays the fee, which is appr. 3.5% of the total sum). Personal/private payments are free, as long as no currency-exchange is needed (e.g. from euros to dollars), but these also lack the insurance thing.

Bert - 20-3-2018 at 07:08

Last Login: 15-3-2018 at 11:23 AM

5 days since LD5050 was signed in here.

drzdude - 20-3-2018 at 10:23

I just got a response form venmo telling me that the account I paid was linked to scamming and known to have been scamming, and they have frozen the funds from it and the associated accounts on it.

Unfortunately for me, there is no buyer protection so I am out the funds.

Quote: Originally posted by Bert

Last Login: 15-3-2018 at 11:23 AM

5 days since LD5050 was signed in here.

aga - 20-3-2018 at 11:11

Weird.

According to the profile info, LD5050 has 164 posts, joined here more than 1 year ago and is 29 years old.

It is hard to imagine that $100 is worth that much time and effort.
(devoting 30 minutes is stretching it a bit thin

Ah well, put it down to experience - you never know what situation people are in.

LearnedAmateur - 20-3-2018 at 11:26

I would take their recommendation and file a report with the police since he is known to scam according to that. As someone who has been the victim of theft before, it’s a massive inconvenience and completely unfair to you. It’s such a shame that it was done by a member of our community, and there are ZERO excuses to do such a thing, no matter how tight money is or the lost value. Sadly, there is only a slight chance you will see that money again, maybe since it was online there are better chances than if it were physical cash because of the ‘paper’ trail, but it will at least help to remove another criminal from the pool.

I mean I hope I’m not jumping the gun since I haven’t really interacted with him so don’t know how he is, and I hope it eventually works out, but all the signs point to that outcome so there are perfectly good reasons so suspect/expect scamming. Sorry to hear that it happened to you.

aga - 20-3-2018 at 11:44

$100 online stuff is not a police matter.

Please don't go bothering them with it - it's a waste of everyone's time.

They have seriously more important things they should be doing.

drzdude - 20-3-2018 at 11:50

It’s not worth involving police, but 100$ is a lot of my disposable funds that is allotted to chemistry, which is such a shame.

aga - 20-3-2018 at 12:05

Exactly.

Engaging in online trades with unknown entities is risky, and either we accept the risk or decline to trade (i.e. Pay).

No point wasting Police time about it.

If it's any consolation, i 'lost' more than 20x that with an SM member some time ago.

It was my choice to gamble that much, so entirely my fault.

Damned shame the gamble didn't work out - could have been really interesting.

drzdude - 20-3-2018 at 12:08

I'm more upset that he would do such a thing, he seemed like a long enough user and nice enough guy.

Quote: Originally posted by aga

Exactly.

Engaging in online trades with unknown entities is risky, and either we accept the risk or decline to trade (i.e. Pay).

No point wasting Police time about it.

If it's any consolation, i 'lost' more than 20x that with an SM member some time ago.

It was my choice to gamble that much, so entirely my fault.

Damned shame the gamble didn't work out - could have been really interesting.

aga - 20-3-2018 at 12:13

That part is the most disappointing - the fact that they need small amounts of $ so much.

Like i said before, you never know a person's exact situation.

drzdude - 20-3-2018 at 12:24

I hope the money helps him if his situation is so dire. Maybe one day he can pay it forward when he is back on his feet.

Quote: Originally posted by aga

That part is the most disappointing - the fact that they need small amounts of $ so much.

Like i said before, you never know a person's exact situation.

aga - 20-3-2018 at 12:32

'Pay it Forward' is a great saying.

First time i heard that was from arkoma

Must be a US saying - doesn't exist in UK English common parlance.

For UK-ers, it means the reverse of 'paying back'. : basically a favour gets done for someone else instead of paying it back to you (who originally did the favour).

It's a really nice idea.

drzdude - 20-3-2018 at 12:37

Wasn't aware it was a regional thing, thanks for clarifying for other readers!

weilawei - 20-3-2018 at 12:37

Aga, as far as I know, it's taken from the movie of the same name. That's where I learned it, at least.

drzdude - 20-3-2018 at 12:42

Wiki tells me it was coined by "Lily Hardy Hammond in her 1916 book In the Garden of Delight" when she wrote that ""You don't pay love back; you pay it forward."

However, the phrase was definitely popularized by Hyde's novel/movie.

aga - 20-3-2018 at 15:18

Oh there are a plethora of differences between Proper English and the scrambled botch of a language you Amuriquans speak.

It's about time America stood up and declared their linguistic deviancy out loud and proud.

Gloud Bresh Humeri Q !

NEMO-Chemistry - 20-3-2018 at 15:32

Isnt language just something that develops? alot like evolution. Why is English called English? The deeds to our house are over 300 years old, none of the language in them resembles English of today. So many countries speak 'English' i personally think the notion that English is from England is outdated.

Maybe time to call it some other shit. Actually thats a pretty good name for it.

drzdude - 25-3-2018 at 20:41

Still nothing.

Anyway we can get his account closed so this doesn’t happen to someone else on the future? Thanks mods.

j_sum1 - 25-3-2018 at 20:57

Quote: Originally posted by drzdude

Still nothing.

Anyway we can get his account closed so this doesn’t happen to someone else on the future? Thanks mods.

I don't think this will happen. Anyway it is an admin thing and not a mod thing.
I'll alert woelen and Bert and see what they think the best course of action is.

I would be less inclined to think of this as malicious or scamming and more inlcined to put it down to disorganisation, negligence or stress-induced oversight. People do not always deal appropriately with stuff that occurs in their lives and failing others is a pretty common consequence. The whole situation seems uncharacteristic.

woelen - 25-3-2018 at 22:58

We will not simply block one's account because of private issues.
I agree with j_sum1, I also have the feeling that this is not deliberate scamming. If I look at his history here on sciencemadness, then I see a non-standard pattern. An actively contributing member who suddenly stops contributing.

@drzdude: I know that you don't buy anything for that, but the amount of money involved is not that high and yes, there is a certain risk associated with dealing with private persons on the internet.

drzdude - 26-3-2018 at 00:18

I can understand your confusion, but please note the deletion of the venmo account inline with the cessation of LD5050's appearance on this forum. As well as Venmo telling me personally the account I paid was scamming.

I just hope that this doesn't disappear for another man/women to lose money over.

And the money is high enough for me when chemistry is a hobby, it's not pocket change.

Quote: Originally posted by woelen

We will not simply block one's account because of private issues.
I agree with j_sum1, I also have the feeling that this is not deliberate scamming. If I look at his history here on sciencemadness, then I see a non-standard pattern. An actively contributing member who suddenly stops contributing.

@drzdude: I know that you don't buy anything for that, but the amount of money involved is not that high and yes, there is a certain risk associated with dealing with private persons on the internet.

[Edited on 26-3-2018 by drzdude]

woelen - 26-3-2018 at 03:51

In the meantime I was pointed towards some additional information and this made me change my decision. I will ask LD5050 for an explanation. I will block his account for posting, but I will leave U2U open and send him a U2U with the request for explanation.

Bert - 26-3-2018 at 05:37

LD5050 is not so unwell that he couldn't sign in to his account at The Vespiary, according to PM from a sciencemadness.org member who is also a member there.

(Edit)

We don't do an official, sanctioned swapping and selling sub forum here for several reasons.

We also can't stop members from doing it amongst themselves, but if your PERSONAL DEALINGS do not go well, it is not a sciencemadness.org problem.

It is a big mean world, and losing money is far from the worst thing that can happen to people trying to buy the wrong chemicals from strangers online.

I am locking this down for now.

[Edited on 26-3-2018 by Bert]

Bert - 27-3-2018 at 05:33

The currently active staff have discussed this.

Consensus:

Private transactions and disputes need to be sorted out privately.

Any thread of this type will be closed with that statement as a reminder.

Sorry, but we don't have any legal standing, unbiased, accurate information or, frankly, the time to do anything else.