Beware this page on FB; prices looked great but seller told me he was in Sydney but noticed selling item with an American wingfoiler's name and phone number. When asked for sellers name and Oz phone number got reply in pics and immediately blocked.

The FB groups are getting littered with scammers.

Hi Guy's I'm a Newbie who copped a scammer on here. His member name was TimO from SA. After I'd paid the $600 for a Cabrinha X3 and realised I'd been scammed, I clicked the link on his name and seabreeze admin had removed his membership, I should have done it earlier but didn't know. All the others I've purchased from on Seabreeze have been awesome to deal with, so it caught me off guard I spose. I've really loved a lot of the posts, learning the stuff you can't learn from the retailers, it was invaluable for me! So don't be put off, just carry out more checks than I did as a matter of course.

Checking - if you are paid through Paypal and log onto your account to see money in there you are a safe seller, and if you buy as Goods through Paypal you are protected?

I ALWAYS ALWAYS call people and talk to them about gear. Buying, selling, whatever. Pickup the phone and have a conversation. Pretty hard to fake foil knowledge and stoke. Also, don't ride Moses/Sabfoil - 100% of those listings are scams!

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TooMuchEpoxy said..
Also, don't ride Moses/Sabfoil - 100% of those listings are scams!

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patronus said..
Checking - if you are paid through Paypal and log onto your account to see money in there you are a safe seller, and if you buy as Goods through Paypal you are protected?

Yeah - the way paypal scams usually work is they send you an email using the paypal template, so it looks official (but it's just a regular old email anyone can send). Always log in to your account to make sure the balance is there, it updates instantly when someone sends you money.

If you buy with goods & services you can file a dispute if something goes wrong. Unless they have a history with successful sales on paypal already, the money is held in escrow until you mark the item as received, or the seller uploads shipping info.

If you send money with the friends & family option, it avoids paypal fees (2.9% I think - which is why legit people want you to use this), but it also opts you out of all the protection (which is why scammers want you to use this).

In my case as above, as soon as I wanted a name and phone number and a picture of the serial number on the wing, his tone changed. If I can't phone or FaceTime a seller, I'm out of the deal. Also, through FB I was able to contact the original wing owner(in America- his name was in one of the item's pics) to alert him his pics were being used.

Agreed. Tons of scammers on FB. Definitely have a call on the phone and ask details like why they are selling, ask for a video where they say your name while recording (hard to produce. Most are just downloading pictures online) and what gear they moved to and why. Most true coolers love to talk gear. They typically have some sob story about why they have to mail it instead of meeting in person and are aggressive in getting your mailing address. Don't be fooled. Take your time and ask questions. If they try to rush you it's a big red flag.

A recent thread on the kiting side which has some handy tips from me and others

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Scammers-2