[**BEWARE**] Stalex is a scammer

[AyeAyeAyden]

Below is the summary of the scam done by Stalex

tl;dr - First ever transaction via TRF. Stalex and I agreed on a price over an email. He went completely MIA after wire money transfer has been completed. Still no follow-up for 48+ hours.
Already filed FTC, IC3 complaints. Planning to follow-up w/ police report on Monday.

• Title of listing as title of thread (unless there are multiple items)
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthre...0#post10404876

• The sellers name or listing number (makes tracking easier)
Below information has been provided via email:
Name of Account: Litha Nick Macon
Account number: 3112461102
Routine number: 256074974
Bank name: Navy federal credit Union.
Bank Address: 1240 E. 9 street Cleveland, Ohio 44199
Home address: 12611 Franklin Blvd Lake wood Ohio 44107_4907

• Reasons for your concern of authenticity or issues with the item.
Nick (under the user name:Stalex) posted a post on rolexforums.com: https://www.rolexforums.com/showthre...ghlight=114270 to sell Rolex watch model Explorer 114270.

I contacted him via the email noted on the post (stalexontime@gmail.com) and we agreed over the email on $4300 for the watch.

He first reached out to make payment via cryptocurrenty which I rejected as I do not feel comfortable dealing with cryptocurrency.

He provided his information including his bank account number, routing number & home address, etc. for wire transfer.

I wired the money $4300 (+$25 for wiring fee) on 4/03 and got a confirmation that the fund has been transferred on 4/06 from my bank and transferred to Nick via email on 4/07.

He said he will ship out the watch on 4/08 but he didn't; stating that his neighbors were going through a COVID-19 crisis (emailed) and promised to ship out the watch on 4/09 through his son (emailed) but didn't follow through thereafter.

I tried reaching out to him via email multiple times for status update as he said he will provide tracking number once shipped, but has not gotten any response for 48+ hours despite me constantly reaching out to him. I have all the email communication captured.

• Item photo.
https://imgur.com/a/w6HwZlf

[jurob]

Stinks to read this! Hope it gets sorted out. A lot is going to depend on how much if any time your police department can put into this.

[VintageVagabound]

He has two active posts of watches for sale. One asks to use his email (the Explorer you bought) and the other has no email and presumably must go through PM. One also mentions FedEx shipping and the other doesn’t mention any shipping. Probably written by two different people and perhaps from a hacked account.

The biggest thing you should do that you haven’t mentioned is to contact Navy Federal Credit Union ASAP. Sometimes they can freeze the funds if they haven’t been withdrawn yet. The account could be hacked as well.

A google search shows that a 59 year old woman named Litha Macon lives at that address and has (216) 712-6196 tied to that name/address. Sounds like she may have been hacked

[AyeAyeAyden]

@VintageVagabound,
Thank you for the lead!
I will do that ASAP w/ same message & evidence I provided to my bank.

[epc2]

Did you contact a mod or report the ad?, if not do it ASAP., (exclamation mark next to online/offline status).

Sorry to hear.

[AyeAyeAyden]

@epc2
I just reported the thread for 114270 noted on my original post.
Thank you for the follow up.

[GGGMT]

$4300 for a $~5500 watch. Big red flag. Two rules always apply: Buy the seller. And there’s no free lunch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cloudchaser]

No need to wait until Monday for the police report, is there?

[AyeAyeAyden]

@Cloudchaser,
I called in on Friday ~ 7PM and was told that for non-emergency policy reporting is supported during weekday 12PM ~ 4PM.. maybe I will try again.

Reported to seller's bank just now to keep in recorded - my financial institution will officially reach out to seller's w/ the information I provided.

[vinlesposito]

Good luck man. I just went through a similar experience as you and am now doing the same things (filed a complaint with IC3 and my bank). Fingers crossed you get your money back.

[lx384]

Stolen pics found.

https://klocksnack.se/threads/tr%C3%...54335/page-160

look under post #4786.

Sucks to hear. Hope you get your money back.

[vinlesposito]

Did you ever resolve this??

[214270Explorer]

Another Wire Transfer horror story.

[Humble michael]

Sorry op hope you get this resolved . I am always amazed beyond belief that so many on this thread cry about losing their money to someone they don’t even know they sent a wire to. All the hyperbole about “ buy the seller” then is called the most important rule. If only you would have used AmX for payment or pay pal in one phone call you could have gotten your money back. I hope someone is saved from such a terrible mistake by seeing this.

[Knappo 1307]

Originally Posted by james272

Sorry op hope you get this resolved . I am always amazed beyond belief that so many on this thread cry about losing their money to someone they don’t even know they sent a wire to. All the hyperbole about “ buy the seller” then is called the most important rule. If only you would have used AmX for payment or pay pal in one phone call you could have gotten your money back. I hope someone is saved from such a terrible mistake by seeing this.

My man....

[nguyen.hung.levis]

I had this situation before when emailing to the seller (scammer) for a Rolex. I asked him to provide me a photo with his driving license + the watch with serial number + specific time ==> no response ==> walk away

[bezler]

Originally Posted by nguyen.hung.levis

I had this situation before when emailing to the seller (scammer) for a Rolex. I asked him to provide me a photo with his driving license + the watch with serial number + specific time ==> no response ==> walk away

I doubt that many legitimate sellers would be willing to send a picture of their drivers license. I sure wouldn't.

[michaelodonnell123]

AyeAyeAyden , let me understand this. Stalex commanded you to send him cash (a wire is cash) with no guarantee of ever receiving the product, and you mindlessly obeyed. Not sure what the problem is here, it was obvious from the start that you would not be getting anything. Case closed as far as I am concerned.

Oh, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale, let me know when you are ready to send a wire.

[twsti321]

Did you resolve it, because it sick to my stomach ?

[tvandevelde]

Originally Posted by bezler

I doubt that many legitimate sellers would be willing to send a picture of their drivers license. I sure wouldn't.

Off topic from OP message, but if a wire, PP F&F, cash, etc. is involved. I always provide a pic of the watch (time set to buyer's request) and my DL. If you're honest, why wouldn't you? 99% of people in this hobby are good people. I have no issues with proving my identity, sharing my social media profiles, etc.

Hell, I use my real name as my screen name here. Screw someone over once and see how long you get away with it, not to mention the karma aspect of life.

Plus, sellers take a lot more risks on most selling formats than buyers do. Selling on eBay is a PITA! I have to basically record the whole packaging and shipping process to prove a rock in a box wasn't shipped.

[Humble michael]

Ha, just curious, what good a drivers license does me , if I wire a seller money ?!! As a buyer I don’t care how good the deal is or how many pictures or references a seller gives I will NEVER send a box of cash to an individual seller - period. The buyer is in the
Drivers seat - there is no shortage of sellers. Sometimes a great seller can make innocent mistakes . I purchased a $60k piece and it was supposed to have an extra gold case back . When I notified the seller , he said to give him 3 weeks to get it from a place he had placed it on consignment. I told him fine , I would either send the piece back and dispute the charge on my AMX or keep the piece and dispute $5,000 , the value of the missing piece. An amazing thing happened! The gold piece was sent overnight to me. Had I sent him a box of cash ( wire) , I would have had
NO recourse. Do what you guys want but I will pay ONLY by AMX . Every scam on this thread by buyers would NEVER have happened if they had followed this simple rule. Just mo and experience in buying more than a few timepieces and yes of course I check out the seller as much as possible but no boxes of cash will be sent.

[RoscoPico]

never wire money is a big one, although i do seem to see a lot of sellers requesting that. so i guess then we are talking about "buy the seller".
either way, definitely sucks.

[tvandevelde]

Originally Posted by james272

Ha, just curious, what good a drivers license does me , if I wire a seller money ?!! As a buyer I don’t care how good the deal is or how many pictures or references a seller gives I will NEVER send a box of cash to an individual seller - period. The buyer is in the
Drivers seat - there is no shortage of sellers. Sometimes a great seller can make innocent mistakes . I purchased a $60k piece and it was supposed to have an extra gold case back . When I notified the seller , he said to give him 3 weeks to get it from a place he had placed it on consignment. I told him fine , I would either send the piece back and dispute the charge on my AMX or keep the piece and dispute $5,000 , the value of the missing piece. An amazing thing happened! The gold piece was sent overnight to me. Had I sent him a box of cash ( wire) , I would have had
NO recourse. Do what you guys want but I will pay ONLY by AMX . Every scam on this thread by buyers would NEVER have happened if they had followed this simple rule. Just mo and experience in buying more than a few timepieces and yes of course I check out the seller as much as possible but no boxes of cash will be sent.

There's a bill of sale or contract drawn up to go along with it. A driver's license legitimizes the seller is who they say they are. Google is your friend.

I've been burned by a wire once. Bought a boat lift from someone for our summer lake house. Wired a down payment to hold it and have him move and install in my slip. Sent the balance by personal check. He disappeared shortly after.

I had a contract, enough emails, texts, etc. Had zero problems having him arrested remotely. I was made whole. Maybe some crooks think you won't follow though? Put notes, serial numbers, etc. on the wire transfer. Get your deal in writing. It's not like you don't have recourse if the seller vanishes on you. Anything over $500 is felony theft in just about every state.

I'm happy to invoice you and let you pay with your AMEX, but you're going to be paying more than you would with cash. As a buyer, I prefer the largest discount I can get. Cash knocks 3-4% off.

[CMSgt Bo]

This scammer has also used the following email addresses on another watch community:

alcaricole@aol.com

oldin77@aol.com

Christhe40th@gmail.com

fernand4th@aol.com

melcoxx205@gmail.com

craigcrochet@yahoo.com

donaldkrama@aol.com

psifoxtm@gmail.com

Be careful out there folks!

[tvandevelde]

CMSgt Bo: Good info. Thanks for sharing and apologies for derailing the thread.

[Turb0wned]

Hope everything gets resolved. This is the reason I didn't do wire transfer 2 days ago when I bought a Hulk. I pretty much had to eliminate the sellers on here and had to pay a bit more but going through paypal and using an Amex gave me piece of mind.

[Humble michael]

[QUOTE=tvandevelde;10609101]There's a bill of sale or contract drawn up to go along with it. A driver's license legitimizes the seller is who they say they are. Google is your friend.

I've been burned by a wire once. Bought a boat lift from someone for our summer lake house. Wired a down payment to hold it and have him move and install in my slip. Sent the balance by personal check. He disappeared shortly after.

I had a contract, enough emails, texts, etc. Had zero problems having him arrested remotely. I was made whole. Maybe some crooks think you won't follow though? Put notes, serial numbers, etc. on the wire transfer. Get your deal in writing. It's not like you don't have recourse if the seller vanishes on you. Anything over $500 is felony theft in just about every state.

Thanks Tim, good points. For me I will pay the extra 3-4%. The seller knows he can’t cringle me b/c I have the right to dispute the charge. Also like in the example I gave , the seller made an innocent mistake but wanted to drag his feet resolving the issue. When I told him I would charge back 5 grand he decided to resolve it immediately. For me , I have no desire to pursue my money in the courts- Cc purchase makes it simple . When I am the buyer , I have to protect me. Thanks good comments , :-))

[tvandevelde]

You as well. I always use my AMEX when given the chance. When it comes to watches, nothing beats a F2F deal, in a safe place of course.