Pipe Tobacco Scammers

[kelopiippu]

No fun, but if the seller has stopped selling then problem solved. One lesson I suppose is not to gamble one’s total savings on one order of tobacco. Stick with established sellers, learn what blends you can easily buy from them that you like. Don’t use payment methods destined to fail or put you at more risk than necessary.

I'm always a bit surprised when a grown man says something like "My trust for fellow man is gone". I mean, everything in the world was A-OK up until a total stranger from a far away country scammed you with a deal that was way too good to be true? Maybe it's a translation issue, I don't know.

Sisu, dude.

Yeah you are right. I can only blame My self, though still crime is a crime. Also it's not that i payed for The tobbaco that much. I got scammed and robbed by same people on The proses of getting My package. Though i know now that there never was any package or shipping. My main point is to spread a word about this scammer.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Yeah you are right. I can only blame My self, though still crime is a crime. Also it's not that i payed for The tobbaco that much. I got scammed and robbed by same people on The proses of getting My package. Though i know now that there never was any package or shipping. My main point is to spread a word about this scammer.

Well, lesson learned & thanks for sharing. Sometimes these are hard. Hopefully, your account wasn’t completely depleted….probably more of a pride hit…but that’ll pass. And, much appreciation for you passing the word of this reprobate along. Like previously stated…many good sellers attached to Pipesmagazine.
Be well & many pleasant smokes. ️

 

[K.E. Powell]

I appreciate you being open about this. It is hard to admit to being scammed, even though it happens to the best of us. But scammers rely on people being prideful and embarrassed so that they can keep up their grift. Being open allows others to avoid victimization. Thank you!

 

[sablebrush52]

Hi, and sorry If there is allready topic about this. Im new so my apologies If this is doubl thread.

But yeah, i got scammed, hard. And i feel so stupid cause IT was obvious.

If anyone knows any active scammers, especially from Instagram, please share. Im really shamed and this scam made my trust and opinnion about The Pipe community crumple a little. But, thats life.

PS. Sorry for my crappy english.

There are legitimate retailers that sell internationally, and whose shipping costs are easy to find, like SmokingpIpes or Esterval's in Germany. There are people on this forum who buy, sell, and trade, but they have to meet requirements cut down the risks of scamming.

It's unfortunate that social media is such a cesspool, but in a largely unregulated space, risky and criminal behavior tend to flourish. It's where the predators go, 'cause it's easier to scam and there are few to no consequences. And, scammers can't scam, unless people put themselves in harm's way by buying into the scam's appeal.

I don't go in much for social media, so I don't know what the current "standard" is for setting up a scam, but this page wouldn't get a nickel out of me. The images are clearly just snatched from different listings, likely Tinbids or a site like it. There's no continuity of style or set up between any of them. It's amateur night.

In any event, thank you for making us aware of this POS and let's hope that others avoid being defrauded by him and that he falls into a wood chipper, so in the end, his life will have some meaning.

 

[kelopiippu]

Thank you all. I feel a little better now.

 

[greeneyes]

He just deleted The page. But he Will Be working someplace else

No, he didn't delete the page. He just blocked you. I can see it just fine.

This ought to be a public service announcement somewhere, but the single biggest red flag for this type of scam is the low-quality photographs that have been copied and reposted countless times.

An original photo will have good resolution and you can zoom into it and see it clearly. Most of this person's photos are awful pixellated reposts.

Second, it's always a good idea to ask to see the product you're requesting IN HAND with a timestamp of some sort. A piece of paper with the date is fine, or a newspaper even.

A tobacconist that I'm friends with was texting me because one of his customers had a large stash of rare tobacco he wanted to sell. I had him forward me the photos. Terrible quality, obviously not originals. Killed the deal then and there.

 

[litup]

Social media apps are full of scammers trying to profit off of fake tobacco sales. They like to steal photos of other people's tobacco tins and pass them off as their own. If someone doesn't include something like a handwritten note showing today's date in the photograph with the tobacco, I immediately suspect them as a scammer.

Another dead giveaway is when they have joined a Facebook group within the last couple of days and their fist post is to offer tins.
Edited to add: Greeneyes beat me to the punch. Some kind of timestamp is crucial.

 

[kelopiippu]

No, he didn't delete the page. He just blocked you. I can see it just fine.

This ought to be a public service announcement somewhere, but the single biggest red flag for this type of scam is the low-quality photographs that have been copied and reposted countless times.

An original photo will have good resolution and you can zoom into it and see it clearly. Most of this person's photos are awful pixellated reposts.

Second, it's always a good idea to ask to see the product you're requesting IN HAND with a timestamp of some sort. A piece of paper with the date is fine, or a newspaper even.

A tobacconist that I'm friends with was texting me because one of his customers had a large stash of rare tobacco he wanted to sell. I had him forward me the photos. Terrible quality, obviously not originals. Killed the deal then and there.

Yeah. He Even send me a message about something to fix things. I Said that just pay me my money back. Then he send me some random email addres to ask his brother. I told him i don't need or want that. Just pay The money. After that i got message from The scammers other site, The shipping company saying they are sorry and going to pay me back, that they would first send me 500€.... Well i did not get 500. They send me a request to give them 500... If i wasn't so angry this could Be great comedy. After that i have had really hilarious emails from random people from The "company" Well maybe police will have fun.

 

[kcghost]

You will have to develop your own familiarity with the various pipe tobacco seller on each site you visit. The simplest advice is to only deal with people who have a good reputation. If you don't know them don't deal with them.

 

[woodsroad]

Yeah you are right. I can only blame My self, though still crime is a crime. Also it's not that i payed for The tobbaco that much. I got scammed and robbed by same people on The proses of getting My package. Though i know now that there never was any package or shipping. My main point is to spread a word about this scammer.

Getting taken advantage of is demeaning and angering. I appreciate you spreading the word. I reported the fake XPO site to the company.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Well maybe police will have fun.

Unfortunately, the police won't do anything about this. They don't even look for stolen cars or even look for criminals outside of murderers. They won't even investigate something outside of murder unless a police officer himself has seen a crime with his own eyes.

 

[woodsroad]

Unfortunately, the police won't do anything about this. They don't even look for stolen cars or even look for criminals outside of murderers. They won't even investigate something outside of a murder unless a police officer themself has seen a crime with their own eyes was the victim.

I fixed that for you.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

They do tend to take murder seriously, some murders. They also tend to take crimes against the very wealthy very serious.

 

[warren]

"Always expect the worst out of people. In that way you will never be disappointed and ... sometimes ... pleasantly surprised."

Another favorite of mine, "Do the work!" Meaning, before you part with your hard earned moneys ... do your "due diligence."

Scammers are around because of the healthy population of "marks."

Gees guys ... there are a million aphorisms regarding the subject.

Victims have my empathy but, hardly ever my sympathy. It is easy to avoid such occurrences. the OP's efforts and candidness are a breath of fresh air. Most victims prefer to be unnoticed, allowing the scammers to blithely continue their scams.

Aside: A quiet, non-participating employer, the voter/resident, get what they settle for. If they don't demand great service from their employees, the police, road workers, other first responders, etc. they'll get what ... Well, what they get.

 

[AroEnglish]

Also there is company named xpologisticexpress.com – Tracking Your Shipment Has Never Been Easier - https://xpologisticexpress.com/ WHO are Part of this

Yeah this seems to be a spoof/fake site. XPO Logistics is a real company but it seems like XPO Logistic (no S) Express is fake. It might be like if there was a site like fedexpress.com or upsexpress.com. Sad that these guys go to such great lengths to deceive people.

 

[woodsroad]

.I don't go in much for social media, so I don't know what the current "standard" is for setting up a scam, but this page wouldn't get a nickel out of me. The images are clearly just snatched from different listings, likely Tinbids or a site like it. There's no continuity of style or set up between any of them. It's amateur night.

Sharp eye that man has.

 

[woodsroad]

Yeah this seems to be a spoof/fake site. XPO Logistics is a real company but it seems like XPO Logistic (no S) Express is fake. It might be like if there was a site like fedexpress.com or upsexpress.com. Sad that these guys go to such great lengths to deceive people.

Up Sex Press.
Oh, yeah.