Beware new scam - Adorable Xpress

[worrasf]

Apologies if this is the wrong area but I wanted to warn of a new scam I have just fallen foul of on another HiFi forum.



I posted a "WANTED" in the forum and got a reply within 24 hours offering the item for sale at a fair price. I suppose I should have twigged it was to good to be true as it was from a Newbie but then so am I on that forum.

Anyway I sent funds by PayPal F&F. I duly received tracking info so was reassured. The courier is Adorable Xpress - make a note of that name

The routing info initially showed the item in transit until this morning (which coincided with the funds leaving my account) when I received an email from Adorable Xpress demanding more money to release the goods as they were held up in customs!

Further digging showed that Adorable Xpress actually does not exist and there have been a few reports from other forums about this fake company (https://www.500eboard.co/forums/threads/scam-alert-member-drickysparks.17678/)

I have contacted PayPal but whether I get my money back remains to be seen.

I have contacted the seller but surprise surprise no response as yet. There is just the outside chance he to has been a victim which is why I have not published his forum name (yet) but I doubt it.

So here is another way scammers have found to get around forum safety - There is no requirement for photos if you post in "wanted" and this scam is a step away from the seller.

So I guess I should have asked for photos of the item but difficult to see how to avoid the Adorable Xpress scam unless you know they are a fake company - which you all do now.

[Barry]

Sorry to hear of your troubles Stephen, and thanks for the warning.

I don't know, but I think if you use Paypal F&F (where you don't pay transfer fees) you will have difficulty in getting your money back, but I hope I am wrong.

[worrasf]

Sorry to hear of your troubles Stephen, and thanks for the warning.

I don't know, but I think if you use Paypal F&F (where you don't pay transfer fees) you will have difficulty in getting your money back, but I hope I am wrong.

You are dead right Barry - I actually did not realise the F&F limitations until pointed out by a mod in the other forum so another lesson learned for me. :doh:

It's all a bit embarrassing TBH as I thought I was pretty web secure savvy. I guess the "hook" was that it was an item I had wanted for a while and was pleased to get one so my guard was down - bit of a honey trap :(

[hornucopia]

A possible answer is to tell the seller you have a friend in .....wherever.....and can you arrange a visit.Then if you get a dodgy response,you know its suspect.
It's so easy to press a few keys and ...bingo!....you've bought something. Take your time

[archiesdad]

As always Buyer beware, hope you get something sorted.

[Andy831]

Hope this works out for you Stephen.

I came to the conclusion a while ago, especially if it was a high value item, that if I really wanted it then I jump in the car and collect it, I know thats not always possible
but it is a rule I am trying to stick bye.

Good luck with the quest Stephen.

[AJSki2fly]

You are dead right Barry - I actually did not realise the F&F limitations until pointed out by a mod in the other forum so another lesson learned for me. :doh:

It's all a bit embarrassing TBH as I thought I was pretty web secure savvy. I guess the "hook" was that it was an item I had wanted for a while and was pleased to get one so my guard was down - bit of a honey trap :(

You have a possible chance of getting your money back, if the purchase via Paypal was done on a Credit Card then if you report to them as Goods not received transaction and possible e-commerce fraudulent trading, advise them of what you have found with respect to Adorable Xpress and that you only found out after the request for funds to release the said parcel. They card company should accept this and send you a claim form to complete for the card transaction. With any luck you will get the transaction refunded on your card account through the Credit Card protection.

Don't feel too bad, last week we had a similar issue with a handbag my wife purchased through Vinted, she asked me to look at it to check it out and help her purchase as she is not tech savvy and had not used Vinted before. It looked totally genuine, pictures of original receipts and so on, so she purchased with a credit card, £400 + postage and Buyer protection. Seller posted a 48 unsigned post office label to show as sent, all genuine as could see it in tracking but always showed awaiting collection, then seller sent message there was and issue and parcel had been returned to them. We chased the seller but never got a response, no parcel ever arrived, we initiated the Credit Card process, and contacted Vinted to claim, Vinted took a long time to come back, but now say they are refunding our card, we are waiting see if it arrives or not.

[worrasf]

Thanks chaps.
After an initial autoresponse from PayPal telling me to foxtrot oscar I raised a "complaint" and have now had the issue escalated to their fraud team.
I dont expect to get my money back although it would be nice but if I can get this b*****d blocked from PayPal and the scam website flagged as phishing some good may come out of it.

[Miller]

Sorry to hear and unless I have dealt with a seller previously never use 'friends' and 'family' as they neither... I work out the extra cost using a PayPal fee calculator and inform the seller I will pay the extra... It may cost a little more but this is my insurance fee I always figure... Anyway, good luck and thanks for the heads up.

[jasonC]

Happens on gumtree alot.

[Lawrence001]

To be fair I use it on the forums but I check they are a regular poster first, also that they sound like the usual poster as there are occasional hacked accounts and you can draw out a scammer pretty quickly (famous last words).

I've also used it occasionally on gumtree with low value items and have had a good experience (3 times so far). Have a good convo with them first and it's never been more than about £30.

[hornucopia]

Weekend reminder.
As they used to say on 'Hill Street Blues, 'Be careful out there'

[worrasf]

Indeed and I am still looking for a Grado PH-1 phono preamp :eyebrows:

[Pigmy Pony]

Weekend reminder.
As they used to say on 'Hill Street Blues, 'Be careful out there'

Well they also said 'Let's do it to them before they do it to us'. Which in this context has no value whatsoever.

[Lawrence001]

Well they also said 'Let's do it to them before they do it to us'. Which in this context has no value whatsoever.Not if you can find out who they are and scam them back. Well actually that's still after isn't it doh