Bit of a stupid question, but has anyone contacted staffs council? hide.staffordshire.gov.uk seems suspiciously like a proxy server....
It is most likely Lichfield library and yes, I have been speaking with the security team in the council. They are awaiting a form from the police to release the information they have. But they will be able to match the IP address with the dates and times of the fraudster's activity and hopefully get them via their library membership.
That is, of course, if it is needed since we have his/her bank details and mobile phone number.
A simple trading ban for new members would help, as in a 50 post limit or there about before you can sell/buy on here. Not going to solve the problem but will stop some of the impatient fraudsters. (Example would be that trading forums are non viewable)As I have mentioned before, on a motorcycle forum I am a member of, we have a subscription system where you have to subscribe for a year for a small fee, it means paying with PayPal via credit card/bank card - this way AVF will have some details of the member/trader in the event of fraud.A number of people were not happy about this subscription system in the beginning including myself. Infact I was one of the most audible objectors after being a member since 2003 but in the end I gave in, and am quite happy that my contributions help the site, and I am also more confident at trading with newer members without any trader rating. I can't remember when the last time there was any fraudulent activity after the subscription system was introduced. The Largest Message Forum for the TL1000R and TL1000S
why would I or anyone else want to post 50 messages and pay a subsciption to sell a £50 dvd player or buy one for £50? when a google search shows avforums and they then find stuff like that it will drive people to ebay
I just made a suggestion.Obviously it looks like you don't want to post 50 messages before you can buy and sell, and it also is apparent that you do not want to subscribe. If an item lands on eBay and not here because of trading restrictions then what difference does that make as I would guess the majority here have eBay accounts too? At least with eBay (although you have little protection) you have more than you have here, (no offence staff)Go to the Trading disputes forum and look at the countless threads where people have lost there money/goods. Of course, in many cases those members could have taken better precaution as per the trading rules but did not, though the rest have just been robbed out right. On TLzone.net we do not have a trading disputes forum, thats because nobody gets scammed. (and there is a huge market place)I like AVF, and like the fact that that the staff leave it up to the members to look out for themselves but it appears to me that there are too many scammers joining up and selling stuff and too many people loosing out. I can see that the staff put in allot of work to oversee the market place and also are always there to try and resolve disputes. Personally I do not know how the staff feels but it will come a time when restrictions will put in place.We are all responsible for our actions, and that includes being cautious when buying/selling on this board, problem is despite this there will always be naive/trusting members that will loose there money and also very careful members that will also fall victim to scammers.As an example, the said scammer with the multiple accounts could never have done what he did if there were a 50 post limit in place to see the trading forums.
...Please bear in mind that only one member has been defrauded and that was because they chose not to follow the trading rules (i.e trading via PM and not in the thread).
Perhaps we need to put this in context. This is one individual performing a fraud who has already been discovered and is being pursued by both the forum owner and the Police. I'm not sure a major overhaul of the forum rules are required to inconvenience the majority due to the actions of one individual. Please bear in mind that only one member has been defrauded and that was because they chose not to fiollow the trading rules (i.e trading via PM and not in the thread).
Actually two with one more possible (they went off to email and we don't know what happened subsequently).
Mike.
My thanks also to all the AVForums staff working in the background to make this a sfer place to trade - and to get this person his just deserves...however, is there any way that something can be put into place on the forums software to stop this happening again...ie - somebody registering with a very similar username to an already registered member?
Once bitten twice shy and all that...
Their security when opening new accounts is laughable and their Fraud Team are a bunch of monkeys.