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Is this a scam?

Alan S. Glos

Alan S. Glos

Well-Known Member
I see this ad on Facebook Markeplace: Log into Facebook

$75 + S&H is a pretty good price as new Intensity Sunfish aftermarket sails usually sell for $125 - $150. Is this FB ad a scam?

Alan Glos
Dubious in Cazenovia, NY
 
Mama H Chicago

Mama H Chicago

Mother of sailboats
I don't know. It's such an odd assortment of items. Plus, they are selling a bunch of 420 sails from UCONN, but the seller is out in California?? Seems a bit fishy. Seems too good to be true...
 
Mama H Chicago

Mama H Chicago

Mother of sailboats
Alan S. Glos said:
I see this ad on Facebook Markeplace: Log into Facebook

$75 + S&H is a pretty good price as new Intensity Sunfish aftermarket sails usually sell for $125 - $150. Is this FB ad a scam?

Alan Glos
Dubious in Cazenovia, NY
Click to expand...
Hmmmm.....now another person has one of these for $65 and $10 shipping...

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signal charlie

signal charlie

Well-Known Member
Staff member
They're using photos from Intensity, that's a Minus 1 in our book.

I suppose you could Press To Test and send them a message asking for more pictures of the item in its packaging.
 
beldar boathead

beldar boathead

Well-Known Member
It’s got to be a scam. Look at her other items for sale. Tons of fishing equipment, massive quantity of auto parts, etc. She’d need a warehouse to stock all this stuff. And it’s all pictures from the manufacturer. I wonder how she decided Sunfish sails were a good scam item?
 
Breeze Bender

Breeze Bender

Breeze Bender
SCAM. Saw the ads last week.
I messaged the seller three times asking if she would combine shipping if I bought three sails. I got the same canned response each time, but she never answered my question.
 
Breeze Bender

Breeze Bender

Breeze Bender
Breeze Bender said:
SCAM. Saw the ads last week.
I messaged the seller three times asking if she would combine shipping if I bought three sails. I got the same canned response each time, but she never answered my question.
Click to expand...
** Seller now says yes, she will combine shipping. Meanwhile another seller is selling the same Intensity sail with window and sail tabs for even less- $65 and just $10 shipping. As Beldar points out with other seller, this one also has an apparent warehouse full of other items listed.
Definitely seems too good to be true, and yet… I’m still curious about it. Maybe I’ll message this guy and ask where the sails came from just to see if he replies.
 
Alan S. Glos

Alan S. Glos

Well-Known Member
Part of my suspicion is informed by a Facebook buyer who had a fake shipping address, fake Venmo account and a very complex payment procedure and almost scammed my wife on the sale of a purse. It was similar to an older scam where the buyer wants to overpay with a fake certified check and then have you send a refund for the difference.

Caveat emptor.

Alan Glos
 
Mama H Chicago

Mama H Chicago

Mother of sailboats
Breeze Bender said:
Now down to $55?? Now I KNOW it’s too good to be true!
Beware, fellow sailors!
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I bought this one just now….I have PayPal buyer protection on…. Let’s see what shows up. It now went down to $2 shipping .

if an intensity sail shows up, I’m calling to see if they had a bad run that they tossed in a dumpster or if they had a delivery truck that went missing somewhere. Crazy.
 
joe c

joe c

banned
Mama H Chicago said:
I bought this one just now….I have PayPal buyer protection on…. Let’s see what shows up. It now went down to $2 shipping .

if an intensity sail shows up, I’m calling to see if they had a bad run that they tossed in a dumpster or if they had a delivery truck that went missing somewhere. Crazy.
Click to expand...
so any result here?
 
cmac233

cmac233

Member
My name is Chris McLellan and I am the owner of Sunfish Direct. I have lost thousands of dollars over the past couple of weeks due to this scam.

The ones getting scammed here are actually retailers like SunfishDirect.com, Intensity Sails, etc. and the customer is getting a great deal.

Here is what's happening.

1) A Customer purchases one of these items on FB Marketplace.
2) The seller on FB Marketplace then places an order for the same item with SFD, Intensity, etc. using a stolen credit card and having the item dropped shipped to their FB Marketplace customer.
3) SFD, Intensity, etc. ships the item to the drop ship customer.
4) The customer receives their items and think all is well (because it is for them).
5) Whoever's credit card info was stolen files a chargeback claim which they win as they should.
6) SFD, Intensity, etc is now out the item they shipped and the monies paid for said item.

The end result is as follows.
1) The customer gets what they paid for and is happy
2) The FB Marketplace seller has their money from the customer and paid zero dollars for the items shipped (100%) profit and are very happy.
3) SFD, Intensity, etc. is out the item they shipped and out the money originally paid for the item because of the chargeback case.

So while this is not a scam to the end customer, who is getting a great deal on their desired item, they are unknowingly part of a scam. SFD, Intensity, etc is who actually is being scammed.
 
Mama H Chicago

Mama H Chicago

Mother of sailboats
cmac233 said:
My name is Chris McLellan and I am the owner of Sunfish Direct. I have lost thousands of dollars over the past couple of weeks due to this scam.

The ones getting scammed here are actually retailers like SunfishDirect.com, Intensity Sails, etc. and the customer is getting a great deal.

Here is what's happening.

1) A Customer purchases one of these items on FB Marketplace.
2) The seller on FB Marketplace then places an order for the same item with SFD, Intensity, etc. using a stolen credit card and having the item dropped shipped to their FB Marketplace customer.
3) SFD, Intensity, etc. ships the item to the drop ship customer.
4) The customer receives their items and think all is well (because it is for them).
5) Whoever's credit card info was stolen files a chargeback claim which they win as they should.
6) SFD, Intensity, etc is now out the item they shipped and the monies paid for said item.

The end result is as follows.
1) The customer gets what they paid for and is happy
2) The FB Marketplace seller has their money from the customer and paid zero dollars for the items shipped (100%) profit and are very happy.
3) SFD, Intensity, etc. is out the item they shipped and out the money originally paid for the item because of the chargeback case.

So while this is not a scam to the end customer, who is getting a great deal on their desired item, they are unknowingly part of a scam. SFD, Intensity, etc is who actually is being scammed.
Click to expand...
Hello - I’m outraged on your behalf! I placed an order for one of these, never expecting to receive anything, and hoping to figure out and expose the perpetrators. My order was ultimately cancelled by Facebook Marketplace, with a reason of “Seller failed to ship in a timely fashion”. This allowed me to submit a response that was copied to the “seller”. I don’t know that it had any impact, but in my response, I noted all the various sellers that appeared to be a part of this, and implied that sailors were outraged and actively looking for sellers to report.
 
Dsoc

Dsoc

Member
cmac233 said:
My name is Chris McLellan and I am the owner of Sunfish Direct. I have lost thousands of dollars over the past couple of weeks due to this scam.

The ones getting scammed here are actually retailers like SunfishDirect.com, Intensity Sails, etc. and the customer is getting a great deal.

Here is what's happening.

1) A Customer purchases one of these items on FB Marketplace.
2) The seller on FB Marketplace then places an order for the same item with SFD, Intensity, etc. using a stolen credit card and having the item dropped shipped to their FB Marketplace customer.
3) SFD, Intensity, etc. ships the item to the drop ship customer.
4) The customer receives their items and think all is well (because it is for them).
5) Whoever's credit card info was stolen files a chargeback claim which they win as they should.
6) SFD, Intensity, etc is now out the item they shipped and the monies paid for said item.

The end result is as follows.
1) The customer gets what they paid for and is happy
2) The FB Marketplace seller has their money from the customer and paid zero dollars for the items shipped (100%) profit and are very happy.
3) SFD, Intensity, etc. is out the item they shipped and out the money originally paid for the item because of the chargeback case.

So while this is not a scam to the end customer, who is getting a great deal on their desired item, they are unknowingly part of a scam. SFD, Intensity, etc is who actually is being scammed.
Click to expand...
This is good to know. A sticky post should be made to inform everyone.
 
sadkins372

sadkins372

Member
cmac233 said:
My name is Chris McLellan and I am the owner of Sunfish Direct. I have lost thousands of dollars over the past couple of weeks due to this scam.

The ones getting scammed here are actually retailers like SunfishDirect.com, Intensity Sails, etc. and the customer is getting a great deal.

Here is what's happening.

1) A Customer purchases one of these items on FB Marketplace.
2) The seller on FB Marketplace then places an order for the same item with SFD, Intensity, etc. using a stolen credit card and having the item dropped shipped to their FB Marketplace customer.
3) SFD, Intensity, etc. ships the item to the drop ship customer.
4) The customer receives their items and think all is well (because it is for them).
5) Whoever's credit card info was stolen files a chargeback claim which they win as they should.
6) SFD, Intensity, etc is now out the item they shipped and the monies paid for said item.

The end result is as follows.
1) The customer gets what they paid for and is happy
2) The FB Marketplace seller has their money from the customer and paid zero dollars for the items shipped (100%) profit and are very happy.
3) SFD, Intensity, etc. is out the item they shipped and out the money originally paid for the item because of the chargeback case.

So while this is not a scam to the end customer, who is getting a great deal on their desired item, they are unknowingly part of a scam. SFD, Intensity, etc is who actually is being scammed.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear this. I have been suspicious of all of the cheap Sunfish sails and other items. I will start reporting and we should all do so.
 
Alan S. Glos

Alan S. Glos

Well-Known Member
Chris,

Can you modify the drop ship feature to delay shipping until you are sure the credit card is valid and not stolen? There must be some way to break the chain of steps. Of course you can also file a criminal complaint, but these scammers probably change their identities like I change socks. As this crime is interstate, is the FBI the agency to contract?

Alan Glos
 
A

aborgman

Member
cmac233 said:
So while this is not a scam to the end customer, who is getting a great deal on their desired item, they are unknowingly part of a scam. SFD, Intensity, etc is who actually is being scammed.
Click to expand...

Assuming they're running the way they should - it's SFD/Intensity/etc. insurance company that is getting scammed.

Any business that is paying out of pocket for chargebacks (or shoplifting, or etc.) really needs to involve some actual business folks.
 
joe c

joe c

banned
Reporting them is mostly useless. They're scamming from overseas and will have a fake account setup before you can hit the report button. Diligence with selling and buying is the best way to put them out of business.

Specifically for fb marketplace I only buy locally. Cash pickup.

Using due diligence as a buyer, intensity gives me the creeps. How ever they have so much product out there... I love dinghy shop and fogh. And have gotten a bit of stuff from sfd. If there's no phone number to call and talk to someone during business hours, or no brick and mortar retail front, I'll look somewhere else first. Google the adress listing. (Example the guy in lvx is fairly easy to debunk) also. Forums like this one are a way better resource for parts and services than random fb stuff.
As far as the cc scam goes, the credit card companies have different standards for in person purchases and virtual.. purchases with signatures are treated differently than ones without. I do know that for a fact..how a card can be approved that is previously reported as stolen I don't know but this is the scammers turf. but I do know I've had large amounts tacked onto my cards without my explicit "approval" first, for shipping, after weeks have passed from my initial order and payment.

In the end it costs them nothing to put the ads up..if they can pocket 100 bucks a week from one ad or even a month, harvest a credit card number somehow, and use that or sell it, it's a cash cow. Well at least until some you screwed actually finds you.

:)

Stay safe out there.
 
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