Stop scammers on the hub

[pauloc]

Also check their location (dont trust Hubbers from nigeria)

What you saying about BigH?

[Cois]

how about 50 posts and you can place an add?

[Guest Big H]

What you saying about BigH?

 

Adeyola Omosegie is on his way to see you ..... he specializes in knee's with baseball bats

[javadude]

Admin shouldn't do anything. Use your own discretion and intelligence before you buy anything from anyone.

[bikemonster]

Admin shouldn't do anything. Use your own discretion and intelligence before you buy anything from anyone.

 

Pfft! Like that'll ever catch on!

[Big J-WP]

let common sense prevail

 

I wont buy from a new member

If I buy from somone I deem border line I will ask another forum member in the area to check it out on my behalf

 

If it is a bargain be alert

I have sold and bought many things on a few forums and it is relatively simple but dont think because someone is a forum member they suddenly have ethics

 

Find out who they ride with generally if they dont ride with some or other bunch they are not real cyclists

 

I sold a motorbike for R75k the buyer never saw it paid me and sent his driver from East London to fetch it when I asked him about trust he stated he asked a few forum members who knew me and was confident based on that

 

This always works for me, but in some cases you just have to use your KOP

[ThRoTTLeS-WP]

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/94736-any-mobile-phones-is-available-for-sale/

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/94738-console-games-for-sale/

 

look at the ads above..

 

Has SCAM written all over it!!

 

No proper description aonly contact via email..

 

i say if Mods see something like this they should delete user

9 times out of ten they wont even follow up as to why they were deleted..

 

just my 2cents..

 

**Edit: that was quick, i see both those ads have vanished.. Great to see either they got scared off or the Mods are on the ball..

Edited January 12, 2011 by ThRoTTLeS-WP

[Matt]

Hi Guys,

 

Scammers are an difficult reality that most online classifieds type sites face. As has been alluded to, there's no clean cut solution as the craftier scammers will always find a way through almost any system to appear legit and scam unsuspecting users.

 

It'd be unrealistic to say that I'm looking to stop it altogether, however I'm certainly putting in effort towards minimizing the risk of this sort of thing occurring.

 

As part of the Classifieds revamp (which addresses many of the standardisation issues mentioned in this thread and others) we'll be introducing a much requested 'Trader Rating' system. While this is not a perfect solution, it will provide prospective traders with more information on which to base their buying decisions.

 

Of course there will always be new traders, with no ratings or feedback. As part of the revamp, we're also including various guidelines and safe trading warnings as a 'sense check' before trading. Ultimately it'll be up to the buyer / seller to use common sense in these situations.

 

Some of the other solutions are all things that we've considered or are considering:

 

- Trading fee: We'd never impose this as standard as it'd drive too many users away, but may in future offer premium listings for a small fee. This could help in two areas: (1) to get more exposure for an ad and (2) to indicate that the seller is "serious" (i.e. willing to spend a few bucks to improve the chance of a sale).

 

- Moderation: Moderating all listings before they are made live is not a practical solution. This would undoubtedly introduce a delay and create unnecessary work. What is more practical is requiring approval for new posters. i.e. if you have less than 10-20 posts / or have been a member for less than 1 month your listings must be approved by a moderator. This is something we will be implementing in the revamped classifieds.

 

- ID Verification is somewhat admin intensive, but something I am considering. Websites like Bid or Buy offer this as an option for a nominal fee after which you become a "Verified Seller". Much like a rating system this will help identify trusted sellers. If this were made a mandatory requirement (which is not feasible IMO) it may weed out some of the chancers, however the craftier scammers would quickly be able to dupe this system and perhaps be even more dangerous posing as a "Verified Sellers".

 

We'll never get rid of scammers altogether, but through the work on the revamped classifieds and some of the solutions discussed above we can most definitely minimise these occurrences.

 

As has been said... Ultimately it will always come down to a personal decision and common sense will be your best weapon. But hopefully we can provide enough information and guidance in the process to ensure that that 'common sense' decision is as sensible as can be.

 

Matt

[Snow]

Thx Matt,

A very levelled-headed approach to matters.

I have been caught by this latest scam and realise that I was lax in what I did and hence didn't try to 'jump' on you guys. We are pursuing our own legal avenues and hopefully that will yield results.

The system works at the end of the day, just minor tweaks are needed. I'm a meneber of canoeing egroup fraternity and thankfully we don't have this extent of problems (because we are much, much smaller). Thx for the efforts. Best Rgds

[eggsovereasywithteandtoast]

All suspicious sellers to wear a clamping devise around their nuts... if the goods aren't delivered the device tightens and can only be removed by an "appi" welder... if the buyer is happy he sends the seller a code that releases the devise (and his nuts)

 

reported for sexist remarks

[Peter L]

I would bet most members know other members.Ihave only been on for a few months and watching the adds have come across people that i know from my local area would probably be 6 other members if not more and that is the ones i have sused out,there surley must be others that i have not come accross. These members could vouch that i am whom i claim to be and are from area x and are not John the friendly Nigerian. I also feel that a bit more information should be compulsory when registering on the site EG my Club ROAG number of which there are +- 20000 members , Am a CSA member , am a member of MTBiker a cycling forum

Okay information will vary from person to person but more info =more faith hence no info = no sale We are not in the secret service and therefore donot need to be undercover Therefore your actual name should be available for all to see

Edited January 12, 2011 by Peter L

[Goose1]

bottom line is that a lot more info should be availble about the person on his profile and if the person wants to remain anonymous then that info should be kept by admin so that we can visit these "little Fockers" that want to steal or cash.

anyone can beat any system but if you want to buy or sell you have to make youself visible to all.................

[rouxtjie]

cut cut cut

 

As has been said... Ultimately it will always come down to a personal decision and common sense will be your best weapon. But hopefully we can provide enough information and guidance in the process to ensure that that 'common sense' decision is as sensible as can be.

 

Matt

 

Ta thanks Matt, agree 100%

[nolipoli]

Rating System !!!

If the guy has a bad rating, or no rating (new user), only buy from him in person.

[Shebeen]

I don't think many of you have really thought this through, but are just demanding RATING SYSTEM and USER VERIFICATION.

 

there already is a rating system in place, see how long this poster has been around, and go and search the classifieds to see if he has had successful sales before. it's really not that hard. i'm not saying that the rating is not a bad idea, but if you think it's the silver bullet to stop scammers then you're mistaken.

 

user verification?! there are now 20 085 registered profiles.

hi admin my name is mickey mouse and my id number is 853874683764, here is a scanned in copy of my certified id

. ja good luck on that.

[Eldron]

I still don't understand why we need any of this?

 

Would you transfer money to someone who phoned you or emailed you? No. So why do it on the hub?

 

I'm a believer in "cash in hand" - sure it limits the stuff I buy to commuting distance but it does wonders for my confidence. I really can't understand how anybody would deposit money into a stranger's account or give up goods with the promise of payment but no actual "cash in hand" payment. I befuddles my head completely. Sure I would love to live in a world where we can trust every tom, dick and sandy but the reality is that we can't - adjust your buying habots to match reality. Plus (and sadly) people are not more trustworthy simply because they own a bicycle (or pretend to be cyclists).

 

 

You hand over cash - seller hands over goods - voila - done deal. No mess - no fuss - no scam. Simple.