|
|
Post by Crake on Nov 19, 2021 21:05:05 GMT -8
Hi everyone.
There is an advertisement for Automeris metzli and A. dagmarae cocoons on the classifieds. The seller, who goes by “Monica Ida” gave off the first red flag of insisting on the “friends and family” option for PayPal. When I asked for photos/rearing advice as proof of authenticity, “She” provided me with an article copied off of breedingbutterflies.com and a photograph from 2019 copied off Actias.de.
I really wish we could appoint people to properly manage the classifieds. Actias.de has moderators that authenticate sellers *before* they place ads, sifting through the scammers instead of removing them once they’ve caused harm. I hope I’m not overstepping any boundaries in saying this—I’m sure many fellow members can sympathize with the frustration of having to deal with fraudulent sellers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post by wollastoni on Nov 20, 2021 8:49:26 GMT -8
Hi Crake, thanks for the report, I have deleted "her" account and ads.
"She" registered in Feb 2019 before the introduction of the Insectnet Classifieds registering fee.
There is nearly no more scammer registering, we only have to deal with less than 0.5% scamming ads from old members who registered in the Classifieds when it was free (versus around 5% scamming ads when I bought Insectnet from Clark). It is a major improvement and we will soon have no more scams.
Actias.de marketplace has some moderators as the listings are published on a forum.
The software we are using for the Insectnet Classifieds is really hard to manage and adding some moderators there would be very hard, it is not made for multiple managers.
But this software is much more efficient for Search Engine Optimization, so Insectnet classified ads have much more views than Actias ads which is the most important for classifieds ad posters.
This said, let's find the last scammers, and we will soon have no more scamming issue on Insectnet Classifieds, which is a good news.
Please send me an email to : contact.insectnet@gmail.com when you see a dubious ad. I don't visit the forum everyday.
|
|
|
|
Post by kevinkk on Nov 20, 2021 20:13:59 GMT -8
I've noticed the same things, a lot of these scammers really thought ahead- there is more than 1 that joined in '19.
Crake asked the right questions and that individual is gone.
I just learned another simple way when asking for proof- the stock with a "post it note" that has my name on it, then I don't need
to search photo databases, which I don't know if I know how to do in the first place-
|
|
|
|
Post by Crake on Nov 28, 2021 1:09:03 GMT -8
Update: I’ve caught another one.
The ad for G. isabellae on the classifieds is from a scammer called “Clara blazer”. They refused to provide photographic evidence of livestock.
“Clara blazer” does sound like a character from street fighter so I suppose that was the first giveaway.
Just thought everyone should know, I assume they’ll be gone soon anyways.
|
|
|
|
Post by kevinkk on Nov 28, 2021 17:45:52 GMT -8
Update: I’ve caught another one. The ad for G. isabellae on the classifieds is from a scammer called “Clara blazer”. They refused to provide photographic evidence of livestock. “Clara blazer” does sound like a character from street fighter so I suppose that was the first giveaway. Just thought everyone should know, I assume they’ll be gone soon anyways. Well, I think it's "balzer" and clearly a twit. Anyone who knows anything about Graellsia, which they misspelled by the way, will at least "claim" the stock is Swiss in origin, to comply with the species protected status in Spain. Another moron listing shiny objects in hopes of a bite. |
|
|
|
Post by Crake on Nov 28, 2021 20:08:28 GMT -8
kevinkk I message quite a few suspicious looking ads per week to weed out such folks—a way of tugging at the strings to make there’s no hook.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post by wollastoni on Nov 29, 2021 0:09:00 GMT -8
Thank you Oliver, I have deleted this "Clara Balzer" account (a 2018 account).
I guess it is always the same scammer who created a lot of accounts when it was free. I have this feeling as all his ads are for livestock and written the same way.
With the precious help of our members, we will soon be able to identify and delete all of his accounts.
|
|
|
|
Post by wingedwishes on Nov 30, 2021 7:08:41 GMT -8
Update: I’ve caught another one. The ad for G. isabellae on the classifieds is from a scammer called “Clara blazer”. They refused to provide photographic evidence of livestock. “Clara blazer” does sound like a character from street fighter so I suppose that was the first giveaway. Just thought everyone should know, I assume they’ll be gone soon anyways. Well, I think it's "balzer" and clearly a twit. Anyone who knows anything about Graellsia, which they misspelled by the way, will at least "claim" the stock is Swiss in origin, to comply with the species protected status in Spain. Another moron listing shiny objects in hopes of a bite. Curious, I've seen some listed as bred in Korea listed on Insect-Sale. At least 8 Years ago though. I bought one. Tyson |
|
