**Beware** Please Read ** Scammer using Rolex Forum Feedback**

[OCROLEXGUY]

Hello Forum Users:

We would like to bring to your attention that there is a scammer attempting to impersonate well-known watch dealers on the Rolex Forums. The scammer is using the “Who’s Who” tab to reach out to forum users, impersonating the dealers the user referenced in their feedback. They use the email that users post in their past/current listings or from the public profile that the users have on the forum. The pattern is explained in detail below:

They use an email address that is very similar to the authentic address the dealers use in their listings.

Email Example:

The authentic email is : WATCHDEALER1224@gmail.com
The impersonator’s email: WATCHDEAIER1224@gmail.com
(The L is changed to an I )


Sample Scenario:
John Doe posts feedback for a dealer in the “Who’s Who” tab and references the model of the watch he purchased. The scammer will notate the dealer name, the model of the watch, and John Doe’s email address. He will then, reach out to John impersonating that dealer, reference the details listed in the feedback and offer a few watches at a very low price. John wires the imposter the money for the watch, but never receives the watch.

********PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU*************

We have reported this impersonator to the authorities and are taking all the necessary steps to shut him down. At this time, we ask ALL FORUM USERS to please conduct due diligence when opening emails, and always double check the exact email address of the sender.

A photo has been attached below, due to privacy we have blurred out the email address of the dealer and client.

[77T]

Originally Posted by OCROLEXGUY

Hello Forum Users:



We would like to bring to your attention that there is a scammer attempting to impersonate well-known watch dealers on the Rolex Forums. The scammer is using the “Who’s Who” tab to reach out to forum users, impersonating the dealers the user referenced in their feedback. They use the email that users post in their past/current listings or from the public profile that the users have on the forum. The pattern is explained in detail below:



They use an email address that is very similar to the authentic address the dealers use in their listings.



Email Example:



The authentic email is : WATCHDEALER1224@gmail.com

The impersonator’s email: WATCHDEAIER1224@gmail.com

(The L is changed to an I )





Sample Scenario:

John Doe posts feedback for a dealer in the “Who’s Who” tab and references the model of the watch he purchased. The scammer will notate the dealer name, the model of the watch, and John Doe’s email address. He will then, reach out to John impersonating that dealer, reference the details listed in the feedback and offer a few watches at a very low price. John wires the imposter the money for the watch, but never receives the watch.



********PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU*************



We have reported this impersonator to the authorities and are taking all the necessary steps to shut him down. At this time, we ask ALL FORUM USERS to please conduct due diligence when opening emails, and always double check the exact email address of the sender.



A photo has been attached below, due to privacy we have blurred out the email address of the dealer and client.

Scary tactics by scammers revealed - thanks Patrick.

One little niggle - changing an uppercase letter in an authentic email addy to a lower case letter for an impersonator wouldn’t do it. But we get your point.

Maybe a better example would be:

The authentic email is : WATCHDEALER1224@gmail.com

The impersonator’s email: WATCHDEALERl224@gmail.com

(In this example, the 1 is changed to a lower case “I” that looks like a sans serif 1 )

Another is to put a random dot between words in the addy.

Again, thanks for the warning.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by 77T

Scary tactics by scammers revealed - thanks Patrick.

One little niggle - changing an uppercase letter in an authentic email addy to a lower case letter for an impersonator wouldn’t do it. But we get your point.

Maybe a better example would be:

The authentic email is : WATCHDEALER1224@gmail.com

The impersonator’s email: WATCHDEALERl224@gmail.com

(In this example, the 1 is changed to a lower case “I” that looks like a sans serif 1 )

Another is to put a random dot between words in the addy.

Again, thanks for the warning.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

In his example, he changed uppercase L to uppercase I, not lower case L

[77T]

Thanks Adam - that would do it for sure.

I didn’t have the Unicode decoder ring with me on iPhone with Tapatalk I thought it was a LC l



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[mailman]

Taken everything into consideration, I made this a sticky for the time being. If it saves one member, it’s worth it.

[RyanO]

Thank you for sharing. I posted that I was interested in purchasing a rose gold Daytona and had two scumbags attempt the same scam on me. Thankfully I caught that the e-mail was one character different and ended up phoning the trusted seller directly, who confirmed that he had no knowledge of our transaction.

Watch out out there..

[CS-Watch-Services]

Thank you for this
In my opinion the best channel to communicate is through TRF messaging or any contact information given in the listings. Since listing can’t be deleted a good double check is to make sure contact info in recent listings is identical to info in older listings.
Can never be too safe.

Thanks again!

[vteclol]

This just happened to me.

Scammer got all my information from my posts.

Reached out to people I have made deals with on here through the who's who' thread.

He created an email missing 1 letter from my actual email.

MY ONLY EMAIL ON ROLEX FORUM IS

IAMVTECLOL@GMAIL.COM

He went even as far as providing my instagram to the people.

BEWARE!!!!

[EEpro]

Originally Posted by CSwatch3945

Thank you for this
In my opinion the best channel to communicate is through TRF messaging or any contact information given in the listings. Since listing can’t be deleted a good double check is to make sure contact info in recent listings is identical to info in older listings.
Can never be too safe.

Thanks again!

I got a PM with a private email attempting to impersonate CSWatch this week with his email. Just ignored it.

[southtexas]

Originally Posted by EEpro

I got a PM with a private email attempting to impersonate CSWatch this week with his email. Just ignored it.

I just got an email from cswatch3495@gmail.com asking to buy a watch I have for sale. I responded telling him to contact me through PM. Let’s see.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[daveswordfish]

Just had the same scenario happen following a great transaction Roth a Trusted Seller. SCARY!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ErikSzper]

Same scam- beware people posing as me- but email address is missing the S at end of Jewelers

Be careful all!

[casavova]

Hello Guys!

I received this email last night about Rolex forums. Any feedback if this is a legitimate email or another scammer?!?
Here is the picture I made from my inbox



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[77T]

Originally Posted by casavova

Hello Guys!

I received this email last night about Rolex forums. Any feedback if this is a legitimate email or another scammer?!?
Here is the picture I made from my inbox



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is a legitimate message from TRF. Notice that Steve doesn’t ask you to click a link. He directed you to log in and read the instructions he has written in that sticky.

This is a big step forward for TRF to clamp down on the hijackers who have been scamming some unwary members.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[casavova]

I’m glad it was from Steve and thank you so much for follow-up the email


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mhunt1014]

Originally Posted by OCROLEXGUY

Hello Forum Users:

We would like to bring to your attention that there is a scammer attempting to impersonate well-known watch dealers on the Rolex Forums. The scammer is using the “Who’s Who” tab to reach out to forum users, impersonating the dealers the user referenced in their feedback. They use the email that users post in their past/current listings or from the public profile that the users have on the forum. The pattern is explained in detail below:

They use an email address that is very similar to the authentic address the dealers use in their listings.

Email Example:

The authentic email is : WATCHDEALER1224@gmail.com
The impersonator’s email: WATCHDEAIER1224@gmail.com
(The L is changed to an I )


Sample Scenario:
John Doe posts feedback for a dealer in the “Who’s Who” tab and references the model of the watch he purchased. The scammer will notate the dealer name, the model of the watch, and John Doe’s email address. He will then, reach out to John impersonating that dealer, reference the details listed in the feedback and offer a few watches at a very low price. John wires the imposter the money for the watch, but never receives the watch.

********PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU*************

We have reported this impersonator to the authorities and are taking all the necessary steps to shut him down. At this time, we ask ALL FORUM USERS to please conduct due diligence when opening emails, and always double check the exact email address of the sender.

A photo has been attached below, due to privacy we have blurred out the email address of the dealer and client.

Thanks for bringing to our attention! Really appreciate you being onto of it!

[roq106.7]

Beware of folikon79 (solassa924 on watchuseek forum was banned today nigerian scammer) and Dokoga33 posted thread on this site about folikon79 being a great seller both scammers!!!

[fareplay]

Is there any moderator that can mediate a sale?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Killigrew3Boys]

Hi All,

I thought I was making a reasonable decision but it looks like I got scammed. I posted a message about a particular watch and was contacted by a bunch of private sellers. I reviewed all their posts, references and thought Xerxes77 was reliable.

I wired him the money on Wednesday and he made an excuse about not sending the watch. I got what seemed to be a bogus USPS overnight slip starting in 9405 which doesn't seem to even be a realistic USPS number. I called USPS and all they have is that the tracking slip was created but not "picked up."

I have now emailed Xerxes77 4 times with no response. I have an address in San Francisco but no phone number.

[jlee504]

I just got scammed by HForrest. How do I report this on the forums? He even had references on the forums but I guess they were all his also

[csk80]

I was just scammed by gregdolley on a Black Bay 54 purchase. All buyers beware!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[csk80]

I just got scammed by gregdolley on a Black Bay 54 purchase. I sent funds and got a bogus tracking number. No response since. All buyers beware!!

[uncleb]

All,

My old account, rlawall, has been hacked. Do not do business with this account, it is compromised.