Long time TRF member scammed me...what now?

[rydr]

Looking for some help from the TRF community. I saved up for 10 years to buy my first Rolex. I bought it from a private seller named Harkovchan and wired him the funds. But he never mailed the watch to me. He stopped responding to my inquiries and went quiet on me.

Do I have any legal recourse here? I have a signed sale agreement with him.

Looking for some help to restore my confidence in this community.

Thank you in advance.

[Green Hornet]

Originally Posted by rydr

Looking for some help from the TRF community. I saved up for 10 years to buy my first Rolex. I bought it from a private seller named Harkovchan and wired him the funds. But he never mailed the watch to me. He stopped responding to my inquiries and went quiet on me.

Do I have any legal recourse here? I have a signed sale agreement with him.

Looking for some help to restore my confidence in this community.

Thank you in advance.

I imagine it's a private transaction. Wiring funds is risky so you should contact your bank for a reversal FAST. Really fast. Also report to the police.

Do you have the alleged serial number of the watch or anything like that?

Hope it works out.

[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by rydr

Looking for some help from the TRF community. I saved up for 10 years to buy my first Rolex. I bought it from a private seller named Harkovchan and wired him the funds. But he never mailed the watch to me. He stopped responding to my inquiries and went quiet on me.

Do I have any legal recourse here? I have a signed sale agreement with him.

Looking for some help to restore my confidence in this community.

Thank you in advance.

Did you get a copy of his ID when you signed a sales agreement with him?

[ChugachEagle]

Originally Posted by rydr

Looking for some help from the TRF community. I saved up for 10 years to buy my first Rolex. I bought it from a private seller named Harkovchan and wired him the funds. But he never mailed the watch to me. He stopped responding to my inquiries and went quiet on me.

Do I have any legal recourse here? I have a signed sale agreement with him.

Looking for some help to restore my confidence in this community.

Thank you in advance.

You must be joking.

Quick search shows the user by that name hasn’t posted since 2017 and was banned?

[BLACKHORSE 6]

This is terrible.

I hope the situation gets fixed.

[steversaurus]

There's another post in the watchout section that said that his account was phished.

[Kostas]

sorry to hear that, good luck with getting your money back!

[steversaurus]

Also, is a signed sale agreement a thing? I don't think I've every done that with any of the transactions, high dollar or not.

[BLACKHORSE 6]

Have you filed a police report?

Can mods track IP addresses? Sorry if that’s a silly question; I’m not very tech savvy.

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by Kostas

sorry to hear that, good luck with getting your money back!

+1


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[Kevin of Larchmont]

Sincerely sorry for your loss. As for your confidence in the TRF community I’m confident that had you checked with the community first you would’ve been told repeatedly to buy the seller, not the watch.

I hope you get the resolution you seek.

[joli160]

That’s terrible, first step would be going to the police

[GGGMT]

Originally Posted by Kevin of Larchmont

Sincerely sorry for your loss. As for your confidence in the TRF community I’m confident that had you checked with the community first you would’ve been told repeatedly to buy the seller, not the watch.

I hope you get the resolution you seek.

This. Plus I think this thread is a scam or caught in a time warp. The seller was banned in 2017


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[taitun4life]

Originally Posted by kostas

sorry to hear that, good luck with getting your money back!

+1

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by GGGMT

This. Plus I think this thread is a scam or caught in a time warp. The seller was banned in 2017


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Neither.

Harkovchan last posted in 2017, lately had his account phished by a Nigerian scammer, whose sales listings were removed when account was recently banned.

More info here: https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=897020

[RogerOP]

The forum needs to do a lot more for fraudulent seller.

[Wahlberg]

Originally Posted by RogerOP

The forum needs to do a lot more for fraudulent seller.

Perhaps people need to start using common sense.

[rolexgs]

just call the police！

[rolexgs]

Originally Posted by RogerOP

The forum needs to do a lot more for fraudulent seller.

I just don't understand it, why risk all your hard earned money to buy watches online? it's just too risky and lack protections. the rolex CPO watches is the only way to go.

[Andad]

Originally Posted by RogerOP

The forum needs to do a lot more for fraudulent seller.

Some need to do a lot more for the Forum?

Do you understand exactly how this happened?

[Chuckwagon]

So sorry to hear… really feel for you. I suspect the chances of recovery are slim but involve the police and your bank to see if they can help in any way.

[Harry-57]

Originally Posted by RogerOP

The forum needs to do a lot more for fraudulent seller.

The Mods aren't the Police and TRF isn't C24 or Watchfinder. The scammer was shut down ASAP and the suspicious activity was posted in a thread. This is as much as can be done.

OP has my sympathy but this won't recover their money. I don't think anything will.

[minute_man]

Originally Posted by joli160

That’s terrible, first step would be going to the police

X2

Originally Posted by BLACKHORSE 6

Have you filed a police report?

Can mods track IP addresses? Sorry if that’s a silly question; I’m not very tech savvy.

ASAP. Before even starting a thread on the forum. I'm terribly sorry this happened to you, OP. Hope you somehow manage to get your hard earned back.

[rootbeer7]

OP has this just happened? Considering he was banned 6 years ago, it seem highly unlikely? How did he contact you?

[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by rootbeer7

OP has this just happened? Considering he was banned 6 years ago, it seem highly unlikely? How did he contact you?

Does anyone else get the feeling something is amiss?

[Gaijin]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Does anyone else get the feeling something is amiss?

Yes. To what end I’m not sure though.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by rootbeer7

OP has this just happened? Considering he was banned 6 years ago, it seem highly unlikely? How did he contact you?

See my post #15.

[huncho]

Originally Posted by rolexgs

I just don't understand it, why risk all your hard earned money to buy watches online? it's just too risky and lack protections. the rolex CPO watches is the only way to go.

or you know, buy from a trusted seller instead. people always want the absolute best deal possible and that comes with risk because it will usually involve private sales. comfort and safety come at a price and CPO prices will likely be high so people will still do the same thing

[amh]

Heartbreaking OP!

These 'hacked account' occurrences are not new here even on TRF. There's a reason why the Trusted Sellers can charge more.

[77T]

Originally Posted by rydr

Looking for some help from the TRF community. I saved up for 10 years to buy my first Rolex. I bought it from a private seller named Harkovchan and wired him the funds. But he never mailed the watch to me. He stopped responding to my inquiries and went quiet on me.

Do I have any legal recourse here? I have a signed sale agreement with him.

Looking for some help to restore my confidence in this community.

Thank you in advance.

I hope the bank and the police have some way to provide you Recovery or Justice.

Adam has explained what happened and the only steps TRF can undertake at this point. If your local police can trace the transaction via their own cyber fraud unit then the bank may be able to reverse the wire if it’s not already too late.

Since this thread is now a cautionary tale for others to read - we longtime members/collectors need to help each other. When we see listings by a very new or very dormant member, let the Mods know. They can demand a spot check - something that the scammer from Nigeria would not have been able to pass.

The other duty we have is to be cautious enough to do our own spot checks before wiring funds.

I noticed you joined 10 years ago and never posted until 2 weeks ago. The same behavior in a seller is very suspicious. Not that you are setting up anything bogus, it just raised some of the other members’ suspicions about the narrative.


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