some months back I posted WTB a gen 1 Trooper transmission in our classifieds. I followed it up a week later how some scumbag reached out stating he had one. I had never had my issues with buying or selling things on PI and was ready to zell $ and asked for a photo….long story already told, but i noticed he had only been a PI member for a short time and when I Googled photo of trooper transmission, found the same photo on line.Realizing it’s a scam I went back and forth asking annoying and moronic questions and string him along until I guess insulting him and he stopped responding.

I recently posted a WTB ad on another small site for boat owners for a certain engine control module. I soon was PM’d by a guy stating he knew a shop that has a couple and gave me his email. Same type of scam, as I got response he had 2 and would accept zell paymemt…..sure enough, the PM was also from a new member of the forum so I insisted the seller call me. He did and it became immediately obvious he was a scammer, so I lead him on as well for a while until he finally realized it.

point here is…. It seems these weasel scams are prevalent ..they sign up for and prowl even small sites like PI for WTB ads and leverage any trust fellow members may have to send $. Beware, and don’t assume you are dealing with a legitimate member. There’s also a website you can download a photo and see if it exist online somewhere, which helps.