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

[Director EDTF]

OP Has 12 posts and has been a member since 2012. Harkovchan banned and was phished. This is a load of

[Mystro]

Shouldn’t this topic/thread be on the “feedback” section of the forum?? Our Moderator already explained what happened.

[GB-man]

There’s a very big difference between someone who has had an account a long time and someone you can wire 10k++ to on trust.

Scammers often look for old accounts that aren’t active but may appear trustworthy to the casual buyer. You are only as good as your last deal and you absolutely must check for recent references or better yet suggest a middleman to work as escrow.

I’d also not work with any seller who isn’t using 2FA.

I hope the police can help but I’m guessing being in Nigeria will be a hurdle.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by 77T

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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Words of wisdom Paul

OP, I hope somehow you can recover your funds.

[swils8610]

Originally Posted by Director EDTF

OP Has 12 posts and has been a member since 2012. Harkovchan banned and was phished. This is a load of

Agreed


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[superdog]

yeah, this cannot be real.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by rydr

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

Seriously???

What does this "community" have to do with your situation.

The number one "motto" of this community in reference to buying and selling watches is "buy the seller" meaning know who you're dealing with in a transaction.

[330ci]

Originally Posted by superdog

yeah, this cannot be real.

Idk, I had some guy send me $5k PayPal friends and family within a day or 2 of making my account at the omega forums years ago and it still blows my mind. The guy didn't ask for any proof of who I was. That was back when you could cash out without identify verification as well.

I see people get taken for thousands on bullion forums and used to see people scammed on glass forums frequently as well.

Some people are really loose with their money. I regularly send people additional photos, and keep them updated every step of the way post sale to encourage them to ask questions in the future. I hate blaming victims, but a little due diligence goes along way. I research my buyers regularly, kinda surprises me people don't do the same when I sell them something.

Seems like the only people who vette me are people buying sub $100 items that aren't even worth my time really

[AlabamaLawyer1988]

Caveat Emptor.

I’m very sorry.

DM


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[fsprow]

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.

Hope I’m wrong, but it’s very likely the “seller” immediately closed the bank account to which your funds were wired and has disappeared.

[Guppydriver]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

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

Adam

Ugh.. I'm 50 and not too tech savvy, so I'm going to ask the dumb question that everyone else knows.

What I don't understand is how did "Harkovchan" list anything for sale if his account was banned in 2017? Even if this Nigerian fellow had his password, what good does it do if you are banned and can't even log on?

Can I get a "for dummies" explanation. If you don't have time, I understand. This just piques my interest.

I HATE learning from others misfortune, but the lesson I have learned is that if someone is willing to save for 10 years (or 10 months), they should hold on just a bit longer and wait 10 percent longer for the peace of mind of going through a TRF trusted seller if an AD isn't viable.

To the OP:

I'm so freaking sorry this happened to you. It seriously breaks my heart. You don't need anyone piling on you for making the mistake of trusting someone, it doesn't help and isn't productive. My wish for you is either you find a way to get your money back or you have an unexpected run of financial success that allows you to buy your dream watch.

[crazybuddy]

Originally Posted by thevtcguy

does anyone else get the feeling something is amiss?

+1

[huncho]

Originally Posted by Guppydriver

Adam

Ugh.. I'm 50 and not too tech savvy, so I'm going to ask the dumb question that everyone else knows.

What I don't understand is how did "Harkovchan" list anything for sale if his account was banned in 2017? Even if this Nigerian fellow had his password, what good does it do if you are banned and can't even log on?

Can I get a "for dummies" explanation. If you don't have time, I understand. This just piques my interest.

I HATE learning from others misfortune, but the lesson I have learned is that if someone is willing to save for 10 years (or 10 months), they should hold on just a bot longer and wait 10 percent longer for the peace of mind of going through a TRF trusted seller if an AD isn't viable.

To the OP:

I'm so freaking sorry this happened to you. It seriously breaks my heart. You don't need anyone piling on you for making the mistake of trusting someone, it doesn't help and isn't productive. My wish for you is either you find a way to get your money back or you have an unexpected run of financial success that allows you to buy your dream watch.

he wasn't banned in 2017. he wasn't active since 2017 and was recently hacked, reported and banned (in march)

[Guppydriver]

Originally Posted by huncho

he wasn't banned in 2017. he wasn't active since 2017 and was recently hacked, reported and banned (in march)

Thanks @huncho

Damn lack of oxford comma making itself known

There was an earlier post sating that he "hasn't posted since 2017 and was banned", I interpreted that as both happening then.

Thanks for the clarification.

[Bstewart]

Was his account a pledge account?

[ZOOK]

Originally Posted by Bstewart

Was his account a pledge account?

Only pledge members may post a watch for sale, so he 'Harkovchan' must have been a pledge member.

[Tools]

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.

Contact your bank immediately if you have not already, and let them know that the wire transfer was a scam.

Ensure that you contact the police and get a police report, then check with your insurance company to see if you are covered.

Yes, you have legal recourse, however, it is almost impossible to track down and prosecute Internet Fraud, which is why it is the most profitable crime these days.

Fraud is not committed by the TRF community but by professional criminals and cartels using every Internet venue they can get their hands into. We all need to be vigilant and let us know whenever a potential scam is noticed so we can shut it down.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by ZOOK

Only pledge members may post a watch for sale, so he 'Harkovchan' must have been a pledge member.

Yes they will find an account and gain access then pay for pledge membership once they have the login details and quickly post a for sale listing usually 10-20% below market price.

You can often spot these listings because they want you to email them to conduct the deal in case the account gets recovered.

[R0CKETMAN]

Originally Posted by Tools

Contact your bank immediately if you have not already, and let them know that the wire transfer was a scam.

Once wired it’s gone right?

[denmanproject]

Originally Posted by RogerOP

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

This is basically blaming Wal-Mart for getting Craigslist scammed in the parking lot

[V25V]

Originally Posted by denmanproject

This is basically blaming Wal-Mart for getting Craigslist scammed in the parking lot

Yup. Feel bad for OP if this is true. But “buy the seller” was something I learned early on in this hobby and preached here and other watch forums often.


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[Dr.Brian]

He hasn’t made any posts in 6 years. It’s probably not even them using the account. Some hacker probably broke the 123456 password and stole his/her account.
TRF can’t do anything for you.
Good luck.

[Colorado_kid]

Originally Posted by R0CKETMAN

Once wired it’s gone right?

I do quite a few wires for my business and you can reverse them but has to be within minutes/hours, not days.


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[Colorado_kid]

Originally Posted by rydr

I bought it from a private seller named Harkovchan

He listed it on TRF under that name? I’m confused.


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[THC]

OP says he has a signed sales agreement so wth does that mean anyway?

Why post and not come back?

[330ci]

Originally Posted by THC

OP says he has a signed sales agreement so wth does that mean anyway?

Why post and not come back?

Either hes sick over his loss or pulling wool over our eyes.

Definitely peculiar but stranger things have happened

[Rico_Brasole]

Dang saved for 10 years? You could’ve put yourself on a waitlist 5 years ago and bought from an AD this year…


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[R0CKETMAN]

Originally Posted by Colorado_kid

I do quite a few wires for my business and you can reverse them but has to be within minutes/hours, not days.


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Yeah I googled after posting. Once accepted by recipient’s bank, which can take as long as 30 minueted, it’s basically gone. I’m sure scammer would immediately transfer funds as well….crazy

[rydr]

I am glad to see the level of response this has generated. I am doubtful that this is a case of a hacked or spoofed account. This was a long time active account on here until recently. Here is more information on this incident:

1. I came across the below for sale listing in classifieds (note that this URL is no longer accessible since about a week ago):

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=890316

Seller username: Harkovchan

2. I researched seller's previous posts on the forum and felt confident that he had bought and sold watches on the forum before. I reached out to the seller via email with an offer. After some negotiation we agreed to a price.

Seller Email: harkovchan33@gmail.com
Seller Name: David Valdes Collazos
Seller Address: 3430 Sunset Ave, Rocky Mount, NC 27804
Seller Phone: 336 290 1856

3. Next I asked him to send a picture of the watch with some proof that he actually owns it and is a legitimate seller. So he sent me the below picture.



4. Next I asked him for references and he shared the following emails for references:

msuwatches97@gmail.com
cpzorro25@gmail.com

I reached out to them and the references checked out.

5. Next I wrote up a watch purchase agreement and sent it to David via DocuSign. He signed it and sent it back.

6. I wired the funds to him.

7. He stayed in touch with me via text messages until he received the funds, and then he went quiet.

Does filing a police report help in this case?

The address he provided seems to be for an apartment complex office. Is there a way to find out if he owns that property by any chance?

Thank you again for the support. I'm certainly shaken up by this.

[Moondoggy]

Mmmmm, just don't know with this one, either way I hope the truth surfaces.

The date paper looks a little "unnatural" if you know what I mean.