**SCAMMED for $45,500 by HASSAN IMTIAZ CHOHAN ***

[Air Rescue 5]

Originally Posted by Travelair007

+1

We just had a recent story with a happy ending where a local detective stepped in and helped a TRF member recover $10k. Different circumstances but still, the LEOs stepped in and helped!!

State and local are your best bet. FBI is useless, completely useless. But best wishes and hopefully this guy gets his.

[donas]

Originally Posted by Air Rescue 5

State and local are your best bet. FBI is useless, completely useless. But best wishes and hopefully this guy gets his.

LOL, there is much truth to this statement as well. If they set their sights on someone, they're in trouble; the difficulty rests in getting them to do that. They could be a great asset in this type of situation though since the victim and suspect are in different states.

[vipereaper30]

So bummed to hear this news Chad. You are one of the best that makes this community great and to see another get taken advantage of is always tough. Thank you for sharing to help the rest and hope that there's a way this can be resolved in your favor!

[psv]

So sorry to hear, Chad. I hope you get your money back and this guy gets what he deserves.

[WatchTheTime7]

disgusting. Hope they find him and hope you can recoup something back. sorry to hear.

[05carbondrz]

Originally Posted by donas

LOL, there is much truth to this statement as well. If they set their sights on someone, they're in trouble; the difficulty rests in getting them to do that. They could be a great asset in this type of situation though since the victim and suspect are in different states.

Exactly they COULD be,But they won’t.Unless You have contacts in Law Enforcement who can pull strings Your Just Another “Rich” Victim.I’ve seen these Threads pan out this way more times than not. I’m not saying it’s right,Frankly it’s incredibly sad.It’s the same 2019 excuse....”We don’t have the Staff for that”

[rumjungl]

Certainly hope you can get some action on this. Please keep us posted.

[theflywrist]

Originally Posted by michaelodonnell123

If are willing to blindly send 45K to a person that you do not know, then you simply do not care much about your money. And if you do not care about your money then why should the F.B.I. or anybody else care?
By the way I have a bridge in Brooklyn up for sale, wire me 25K and I will sign it over to you. You can even put up your own toll booth and get rich.

Shouldn't there be a rule to ban retards like this one?
Your comment is pathetic, it is insensitive, it is not even remotely close to funny.
I believe in karma, and the same way the OP will hopefully get his money back one way or another, while the crook will get what he deserves, you too will be faced in a very unfortunate situation someday, and someone will act just as insensitive and throw remarks like you did. I would like you to remember this comment when that day comes.

To the OP, thank you for making sure the community is updated and for caring to share even though we can imagine how gutted you must be.
I truly hope that the man gets caught and you get your rightful money back.

[ct.matt]

Hope they catch the guy! Looks like you're good at trying to stay positive. Will keep my fingers crossed for you

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[Blicky41]

Originally Posted by michaelodonnell123

If are willing to blindly send 45K to a person that you do not know, then you simply do not care much about your money. And if you do not care about your money then why should the F.B.I. or anybody else care?
By the way I have a bridge in Brooklyn up for sale, wire me 25K and I will sign it over to you. You can even put up your own toll booth and get rich.

How is your comment helpful in anyway? Please care to explain why you posted it..


I find you very rude and inconsiderate of others. Grow up.

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[bravetony]

Thank you for sharing this information. I really hope they catch this scum.

[jfigs82]

Originally Posted by michaelodonnell123

If are willing to blindly send 45K to a person that you do not know, then you simply do not care much about your money. And if you do not care about your money then why should the F.B.I. or anybody else care?
By the way I have a bridge in Brooklyn up for sale, wire me 25K and I will sign it over to you. You can even put up your own toll booth and get rich.

I bet your broke, lonely, and your parents never loved you. You should go jump off that bridge.


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[crazycarlitos]

Man.. sorry to hear

I bet they will catch the guy sooner or later, if he was using his deceased father’s address.

Hope they can recover ur fund, too... but chances are the scammer already spent it.

But I will wish for u the best result.

Keep us posted

[cht]

Originally Posted by michaelodonnell123

If are willing to blindly send 45K to a person that you do not know, then you simply do not care much about your money. ....

Kinda have to agree with this part of his post though...


But to everyone's retort saying that the OP's post is trying help members, who exactly? We can't stop or prevent members from being careless with their $$$...which the OP admits that he was.

If I see a watch for sale I am interested in, the NEXT thing I look at is the SELLER, not the price, not the condition, THE SELLER. If it's not an established/reputable seller, I move on, NOT that hard.

We can repeat it all we want till we are blue in the fingertips from typing, but for the love of gawd....BUY YOUR DAMN SELLER AND QUIT SENDING YOUR FRIGGIN' MONEY TO ABSOLUTE STRANGERS WHO CAN AND WILL SCAM YOU!!!


Can the mods just put a sticky at the top of the subforum?

[Dana1]

Thats a big one man. i hope you get it back

[VonSlingshot]

@chf some slip through the cracks of “buy the seller” philosophy

OP accepts 100% responsibility multiple times.
I feel awful for him, regardless if the 45k hurts his wallet/pride or not.

Plenty of guys on here piss 45k away in an afternoon - on their own free will.

[DoDe]

Originally Posted by jfigs82

I bet your broke, lonely, and your parents never loved you. You should go jump off that bridge.


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[jfigs82]

Originally Posted by DoDe

Yeah, I know that was a bit harsh but put yourself in the shoes of the victim. Imagine how he felt reading that garbage after being scammed, regardless of the dollar amount that is unacceptable. You don’t ridicule a man for being trusting, then make a condescending remark essentially kicking him while he’s down. I thought this was a place where like minded people stuck together and help each other out. Smh. Sorry if my knee jerk reaction to that a-holes comments offended you.


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[DoDe]

Originally Posted by jfigs82

Yeah, I know that was a bit harsh but put yourself in the shoes of the victim. Imagine how he felt reading that garbage after being scammed, regardless of the dollar amount that is unacceptable. You don’t ridicule a man for being trusting, then make a condescending remark essentially kicking him while he’s down. I thought this was a place where like minded people stuck together and help each other out. Smh. Sorry if my knee jerk reaction to that a-holes comments offended you.


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I agree that the comment about the bridge in Brooklyn was condescending. And I feel really sorry for what happened to OP. He admit he did something stupid, and he deserves a lot of credit for telling his story and warning others on this forum. However, these kind of stories apperantly does not keep others from doing the same. I wonder if the only thing that really works is pointing out that if you do in fact wire a lot of money to a total strenger its like getting a random jeweler to polish your watch, buy a Rolex that someone got from his grandfather, or buy a bridge.

[MiDoon]

Originally Posted by CorradoBrit

If there are more victims as OP suggests and the sums involved are not insignificant, there is a better chance the authorities will take it more seriously. Unfortunately if the scammers house is in foreclosure there may not be much in the way of financial assets to go after. Might be worth hiring a local investigator to try and uncover other assets that could be brought into play. Maybe pool resources with the other victims.

As an investigator I once took an email complaint from a kid in Japan who was scammed out of $1000 by someone in my jurisdiction for a pair of collector Nike hi tops.

Now I don't get the idea of sending someone $1000 for shoes, but I had an apartment address so what the hell, lets see what I can do for the kid.

Knocked on the door and a young dude let me in. I talked to him about the case and he denied any involvement. I already established how long he lived there and that he lived alone. I showed him a few pictures of the shoes and again he denied it. So I started pointing out all the things in the room that were in the background of the pictures. I told him to go get the shoes. He went and got them.

I sent them to the kid in Japan on the city's dime. Kid got them about ten days later. Man was he happy.

So yes, the OP can get results.

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by MiDoon

As an investigator I once took an email complaint from a kid in Japan who was scammed out of $1000 by someone in my jurisdiction for a pair of collector Nike hi tops.

Now I don't get the idea of sending someone $1000 for shoes, but I had an apartment address so what the hell, lets see what I can do for the kid.

Knocked on the door and a young dude let me in. I talked to him about the case and he denied any involvement. I already established how long he lived there and that he lived alone. I showed him a few pictures of the shoes and again he denied it. So I started pointing out all the things in the room that were in the background of the pictures. I told him to go get the shoes. He went and got them.

I sent them to the kid in Japan on the city's dime. Kid got them about ten days later. Man was he happy.

So yes, the OP can get results.

Holy crap, does it feel good to hear a story like this!!

[Gaijin]

Originally Posted by MiDoon

As an investigator I once took an email complaint from a kid in Japan who was scammed out of $1000 by someone in my jurisdiction for a pair of collector Nike hi tops.

Now I don't get the idea of sending someone $1000 for shoes, but I had an apartment address so what the hell, lets see what I can do for the kid.

Knocked on the door and a young dude let me in. I talked to him about the case and he denied any involvement. I already established how long he lived there and that he lived alone. I showed him a few pictures of the shoes and again he denied it. So I started pointing out all the things in the room that were in the background of the pictures. I told him to go get the shoes. He went and got them.

I sent them to the kid in Japan on the city's dime. Kid got them about ten days later. Man was he happy.

So yes, the OP can get results.

Good work Sir!

[donas]

Originally Posted by MiDoon

As an investigator I once took an email complaint from a kid in Japan who was scammed out of $1000 by someone in my jurisdiction for a pair of collector Nike hi tops.

Now I don't get the idea of sending someone $1000 for shoes, but I had an apartment address so what the hell, lets see what I can do for the kid.

Knocked on the door and a young dude let me in. I talked to him about the case and he denied any involvement. I already established how long he lived there and that he lived alone. I showed him a few pictures of the shoes and again he denied it. So I started pointing out all the things in the room that were in the background of the pictures. I told him to go get the shoes. He went and got them.

I sent them to the kid in Japan on the city's dime. Kid got them about ten days later. Man was he happy.

So yes, the OP can get results.

Nice follow through! It is unfortunate that most form their opinions of law enforcement from rumors or one case that couldn't be solved. If only everything was like they see on CSI then we could have it wrapped up in 60 minutes after collecting DNA from a blade of grass.

[Gtecko]

that is a nice story @MiDoon !

[visualplane]

Sorry to hear.

I was wondering about these sellers offering a id photo. Really, anyone can sell a few cheap watches to build up a reputation in the watch forums, and then later take someone for a ride on a more expensive watch.

I was talking with someone on WUS, and he didn't have any paperwork. I see him listing watches here and there, I won't give his username out as i'm not really sure if it's a scam or not. I asked him to email me from his work, but he said he wasn't able to due to the nature of his work. He offered to send me a photo id, but I thought anyone can photoshop something fake. He claims to have sold over 50 rolexes.

[CorradoBrit]

Originally Posted by visualplane

Sorry to hear.

I was wondering about these sellers offering a id photo. Really, anyone can sell a few cheap watches to build up a reputation in the watch forums, and then later take someone for a ride on a more expensive watch.

I was talking with someone on WUS, and he didn't have any paperwork. I see him listing watches here and there, I won't give his username out as i'm not really sure if it's a scam or not. I asked him to email me from his work, but he said he wasn't able to due to the nature of his work. He offered to send me a photo id, but I thought anyone can photoshop something fake. He claims to have sold over 50 rolexes.

You should inform the mods if you suspect a scammer is operating on TRF. Better safe than sorry. What you describe definitely sounds suspicious

[Chiboy]

Chad, I seldom come to this section, but happened upon this thread. Really, really sorry to hear it. I hope they catch the dude and you get your money back.

When you have a chance, it might be helpful to others here if you could explain where you connected with seller/scammer, how it happened, how you got taken (fake ID, facetime seemed legit, etc.) and how you think going forward would be the best way to protect yourself (oneself) from this kind of scammer.

[angelicboris]

Originally Posted by chad362wiley

no ones fault but my own. Accept full blame.

I prefer to blame the scammer!

[oldman2005]

Fawk! Sorry what happened and hope you will recover your money.

Can you share how did you buy this watch??? Will help us later. Thx

[socalwatchcollector]

Originally Posted by ThatExplorer

I have a few close friends that work with state law enforcement, and after speaking to one of them they said the local state authorities should have an “interstate crime division” that would head this up, as well as Federal law enforcement due to crossing state lines, Mail Fraud, Grand Theft, etc...


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Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner folks! Mail fraud.. Federal offense.. They will absolutely get involved and I am not quite sure how other posters believe they wouldn't. Recovering his money is very unlikely though and it pains me to say that. Don't let this slide Chad...