Calvin Ainsworth & Jared Ainsworth scammers

Just would like to say thanks really for all the effort you guys put in for keeping a AVF a happy and secure :smashin: I actually want to buy something from AVF Bay now :D
 
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
 
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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.
 
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.

How serious do they consider this?


A small stretch certainly would be effective.
 
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It seems like a number of people looking at the email addresses, but it's that easy to make an email address with a fake name.
 
The mad thing is for the amount of time and effort involved in creating and monitoring all those junk email accounts, keeping track of active sale threads, attemping to blag people via PM and not even considering the legal ramifications he'd have probably made more money getting an actual job:suicide:
 
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
 
Nice one Stuart :smashin: Some people :mad::thumbsdow
 
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, that’s 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.
 
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).
 
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, that’s 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.


How many of those scammed are following the rules or other suggested non rules?

phoning the person to talk to them
asking for pictures of ALL sides of the item
even asking for something to be put in the picture, (if its small or they have a laptop get a picture of the thread)

and the list goes on.



The 50 post rule.

Would I join a forum and post 50 messages and pay a fee just to buy one item I had tried searching out using google? No not a chance


Would I post 50 messages if I just liked reading the forums and sometimes posting maybe 1 message every 3 years? no not a chance

I could go on but its pointless and im sure you feel the same.
 
...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).

Actually two with one more possible (they went off to email and we don't know what happened subsequently).

Mike.
 
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).

well said and glad someone could bring reality back into this.
 
Actually two with one more possible (they went off to email and we don't know what happened subsequently).

Mike.

Noted. Although I think my comment still has relavence. We shouldn't necessarily always go for the lowest common denominator and tailor the forums to cater for the minority of bad apples when the majority of members here are law abiding and sensible.

And this is not meant to come across a 'holy'er than thou'.

I'd also like to add that the Mods and Stuart do a fantastic job at protecting the members here - through pragmatic rules, sensible moderation and the assistance of fellow members using the RTM function.

Many a scammer has been caught out here before fleecing anyone thank to the above.
 
An extra one or two incidents was never going to dent your argument :) Don't disagree with it either.

Mike.
 
Not sure if this would work, or if it would make too much work for the AV team, but; on first registration of any new name, a Bank Transfer of say £50 to AV, to get their Bank details, once this is done AV then BT it back. Would this work? It may put off these scammers in the first instance, having to part with 50 quid of their OWN money!
 
It could be a £5, just said £50 as an example, mainly just to get their bank details, if they don't have a fiver (which they would get back straight away) then they probably wouldn't be able to afford to buy many items from here.
 
Please remember that the mods give up hours of their time on a voluntary basis. Any scheme would have to be properly managed and that time would need to be paid for, and as soon as you mention charging the majority of people are not so keen
 
I dont want my bank details being held on an Avforums data base (that can be hacked or stolen) which is what would have to happen as it then becomes a business (transaction) with all the you must hold records for 6 years type of stuff. wouldnt it?
 
As I said originally… 'not sure if this would work, or would make to much work for the AV team'… I do appreciate ALL the work the AV team do. I am a fairly new member here and have traded and bought successfully. it was just an idea :)
 
I got stung big time on Ebay and got no help from them until it was too late.
Good to know about the efforts here. They did catch the fraudster by the video
at the Bank withdrawing the stolen money 20,000 a day could not believe at the time the bank staff did not act. I and others reported to police and ebay concerning the fraud while it was still going on! (active) But by the time action was taken the money had all but gone . (still not recovered and unknown) He and co will be sentenced on the 27.11.09 That's the good news. Reason I mention this is I remember being so frustrated at the slow and painful process. Take heart looks like he/she should be caught. (The fraud was mentioned here on the forum at the time) I would like to thank the efforts of staff regarding this fraudster so he/she can be caught well done.skr1 (referring to the on going investigation)
 
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Not surprised in the slightest that the fraudster has an account he's using at Natwest. :rotfl:

Their security when opening new accounts is laughable and their Fraud Team are a bunch of monkeys. You can open an online account with them using only a name and address and they'll give you a £50 overdraft you can use immediatly!

I've just spent 10 months getting two fraudulent accounts opened in my name closed and it took numerous letters and a couple of "the Banking Ombudsman is going to here about this" calls to get the matter sorted. :mad:
 
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...:smashin:


Things like this can never be fully stopped (apart from not trading) as dodgy folk will always find a way round things. It needs everyone to be diligent when dealing with anyone when trading. I think one thing that could help is only allowing folk to trade on here after they have been a member for a year and have regularly posted during that period.
 
Their security when opening new accounts is laughable and their Fraud Team are a bunch of monkeys.

I'm offended by that statement as I am sure are the people at the bank assisting the forum and the Police in this issue.

No mater how much time and effort the AVF team put into figihting fraud and scammers there is always going to be potential for honest members to get stung. This should be a strong reminder to all members to follow the simple procedures laid out in the forum trading rules and not to deal via PM!! We are all responsible for ensuring people like this current scammer don't get what they want.
 

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