moderators! i've been around for quite some time here & i see that u guys are quite helpful with disputes and CONMEN esp!

i'm here to ask for some help. see, i'm about to purchase a 2nd hand cellphone from a user*can i put his nick here?* here in this forum. i requested for a postage to my area, which is in Kuching, Sarawak (far, far away from KL...). so, i would like to request for some tips or perhaps guidelines for BUYERS who cannot COD and have to bank in cash into SELLER's account.

is there any way for me to ensure that my goods arrive in conditions that are expected? i'm afraid to get conned. i read quite a lot of con cases and its really, really scary.. i was thinking that mayb there will be people to ensure that the goods are really sent and also the to verify that the money is sent. even with the safetrader chop and tradelists, people cant judge or predict what is going on in the seller's mind.

imagine, if u were conned. possibilities are that:
1. item(s)/good(s) never arrive after certain period of time.

2. item(s)/good(s) arrive but are different from what they are supposed to be.

3. item(s)/good(s) arrive but there is nothing in the box/ parcel.

4. seller give lots of excuses or refusing to take any responsibility.. (most of them state in their topics that they wont b responsible. who is?)

5. seller state in their post that postage is at BUYERS own risk. there is definitely a risk. if it is like that, who can explain why postage is still used in delivery of items? honestly, i bought goods thru post and they arrive just on time. consider myself lucky to be able to get honest deals. there should also be an assurance that goods will still arrive no matter rain or shine.

i'm speaking on behalf of those who are conned/cheated of their money. now, i would just want to ask about the steps i can take if i have been conned.

1. is it possible to track their address?will POSLAJU allow to disclose senders personal details?

2. is there a high chance that these conmen get caught by the POLICE? (after making a report)

3.AFTER BEING CONNED or REALIZING THAT WE ARE BEING CONNED, what is the first thing that we should do? call the cops? tell ur mummy & daddy? call moderators? is there a place where we can get immediate help?

4. is there a sample document of a police report which forummers who are conned can download and edit then send to the police? (maybe the moderators can type it out and leave certain areas of the report blank so that forummers can fill it in on their own..or maybe those who have done a report can upload it here so that we can use it as example to follow AFTER BEING CONNED.)

5. based on what i read in this Trade Zone Helpdesk & Dispute Resolution Corner, i realise that conmen ALWAYS disappear after a con. which means that there is no way the victim to get back his money? from how i see it, status and blacklists mean nothing to the conmen. what they see is the money involved. what forummers need now is security.

i know that some things cannot be guaranteed and assured by the mods.. but is there a way to at least prevent or avoid such cons from happening? i have read the guidelines (plz mods don link me to the guidelines.. ) and i think that reality is much bigger than what we think it is.

anything u guys can advice on? i really like this forum.. A LOT!! i'm just hoping to get good & honest deals and pray that this forum will have less con cases. plz help ya! thanks!

yours faithfully,

-adrianj-
xoxoxox

This post has been edited by adrianj: Mar 28 2007, 07:29 PM

Actually, if you are so worried on online trading, I suggest you buy from the physical shops in your area.
However if you want to do an online trading here, choose those with lots of feedbacks and good successful tradelist sellers for better security.

Those are my advices.

This post has been edited by fruitie: Mar 28 2007, 08:45 PM

Its perfectly normal for ur imagination to go haywire as this is the real world

before doing any postage deal, 1st thing to check its the seller credibility, that is to ask any buyer who done deal before

2nd, if seller is a newbie who just registered recently and selling goods at extremely price, dun proceed



so ask before u make the deal, u have the priority here, not the seller, just ask



yeah, there is a risk, so opt for better postal services and pay more for it, at least the risk is at minimal



normally in con cases, the con man will not even bother to send out the parcel, then how are u going to check with poslaju? hmm, btw, isnt the sender`s address and name is on the parcel sticker?



usually no.. see the sharilwan case



make a thread in the Trade Zone Helpdesk & Dispute Resolution Corner, find out more about the con man, i know some forummer has some "ties" with bank or the police and may help u get more infomation regarding the conman



err, why dont u go the police dept urself, i am sure the officer in charge there will be willingly helping u out

wow..thanks for hearing me out..i'm glad u did.. i have made a deal with this guy.. WHM1130.. i did ask a hell load of questions to him and i think he got a little pissed off.. but i just said i'll go thru POSLAJU and he says its done. just a bit nervous because it's my first time cashing in a huge sum of money into another person's account. yikes! i just want ppl to back me up in case of emergency.. kinda freaked out at the moment.. paranoid too.. but i guess i'll be confident in this trade for now.. haha.. thanks! cheers to everyone!

any additional info? kindly add on guys!

This post has been edited by adrianj: Mar 28 2007, 10:52 PM

If you are afraid that item are not handled carefully, go and use a private courier services and add invest in some money insurance fees towards that item. Item that are received damaged which is done by the courier can be claimed.

you don't like their term and condition, don't buy. That's it.No point of arguing this and that. In trade, everyone wants a win-win or profit-profit situation.

1. You have their banking details. Make police report and you can get their information. However, this information might not been updated. Seller might have probability living elsewhere.

2.Just look at Sharilwan Sidek case @ PE. So, is it clearer to you?

3.You got conned, search and become investigator yourself. With internet application widely used, there is possibility you would find their information no matter how low is the chance.

4. Those report are usually type by the police officer. Each report are different from each forummer. No use of having a standard form.


For previous #5 and this post

5. If you do realise, the administrator of LYN have implement few things which are not visible to normal user. I do not want to disclose whatever they implement, but at least, their works starting to be fruitful now. A lot of this people are actually being trap under their own nose. The rule of the game is simple. You want to buy, buy at own risk. You have also been reminded not to bank in into someone else account that you did not know. Just look for his previous tradesales and from there, ask his previous buyer for some feedback or information if you feel insecure.

This post has been edited by stevanistelrooy: Mar 28 2007, 11:21 PM

One more thing, make sure he provides u a valid tracking number, this tracking number u can check either at poslaju website or through poslaju branch itself

good luck

Best way to track a poslaju parcel is dial 1300-300-300


This post has been edited by vikingw2k: Mar 29 2007, 01:14 AM

err.. last time I called them, they said my package is not listed on their listed while the seller insisted that the package already sent. (Which I eventually received a few days later)..

I just want to give my opinion, story a bit... and my idea on this[i think this will take maybe 1, 2 ,3 years or maybe not happenning at lowyat.net...]
i used to get conned once but after a few months of paranoid and petrified i started to get well once again and opened myself to the online trading again...and till today, thank god the deals that i have made seems to be good and no cons (thankfully and hope that i will be always lucky).
i think if there is a real trade inforcer of lowyat.net{ i mean the real community of people who helps secure deal) and helps to check the deal if its running smooothly... that should be great... people who helps other people deal for example doing a favour to send the item for let say from perak to kl or penang to johor and so on .The community on which people trust on them and they have the discpilines and trust that they should comply... other than that we can donate to this people even a ringgit or two for their willingness to help us and use their free time just for the sake of security...and maybe we can set up lowyat trade enforcer for every state...(hehe like a police branch pulak)

Then again this is just a mere opinion of mine...but if this can be done that will be great....

just my 2cents.....

theres something call safe trade in lelong, but i doubt lyn will do such service as lyn is not entirely based on trading

just my opinion try get it from near by u sabah or sarawak our forum also having sabah and sarawak seller and somemore if u wan deal with kl seller...u try deal with which are safety seller...such as having safe trader tag and if u scare bout postage will hurt ur item....try use safety postage such as skynet or DHL but the fee of DHL i think almost RM50-80.

I think for save the item, i suggest use the parcel service. have two choice air mail or by sea. i think by air mail is save...

I think this shouldn't be here. Should be pinned at the garage sales under hp section

finally feel better after buying a phone online.. thanks for advice everyone.. all a business needs is honest people!

One rule that i have always followed is that if the deal sounds too good to be true, don't buy it. An example is a brand new hand at 50% of the price. Too good to be true.

One more thing is if something doesn't feel right, then think again. Don't be afraid to ask the seller for more information. You are a customer. It's your right. Make sure you understand the seller's terms and condition and don't accept unless you agree with all of it.

Basically, if you're careful, there shouldn't be a problem. Happy trading!

wow! this thread is getting somewhere! anyway, thanks for all the suggestions and advice from the SIFUs here! lets make LYN a better place to trade!