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Old 25 February 2017, 10:45 PM   #1
Paul_I
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Does this look scammy to you?

This site has been advertised heavily in a Facebook group I'm in. Prices look decent, but I have doubts with the stock photos and the story (guy claims his dad died and left him the jewelry business, and he is selling them at these prices to clear stock . . .)

https://www.thefreedomrepublic.com
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Old 25 February 2017, 11:02 PM   #2
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Yes sounds very dodgy also there contact us page has no address that's a big red flag when shopping online
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Old 25 February 2017, 11:10 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul_I View Post
This site has been advertised heavily in a Facebook group I'm in. Prices look decent, but I have doubts with the stock photos and the story (guy claims his dad died and left him the jewelry business, and he is selling them at these prices to clear stock . . .)

https://www.thefreedomrepublic.com
Quoting from the site.........

'How DO I know This Isn't A Scam

To be honest, and this may sound harsh, but you don't. It is NOT - but I am reasonable and can understand wondering. Your option is to go elsewhere, pay more and take the exact same risk as you would be buying through me. If you THINK that a person selling on any bidding site is more reputable than me you are sadly mistaken. '

That in itself would make me look elsewhere......and as you say lots of stock photo's ......personally I wouldn't.......unless someone else here is able to shed more light.
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Old 25 February 2017, 11:25 PM   #4
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Yeah, I agree. If someone has had business with this jeweler I would be interested to know.
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Old 26 February 2017, 05:40 AM   #5
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Seems like a rather elaborate website just to sell a dozen watches. They invite you to visit in person, but don't have a physical street address anywhere.
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Old 26 February 2017, 07:24 AM   #6
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Freedom Republic Jewelers Scam

It's a total scam. A quick google image search on the Omega Seamaster points to this site in Japan:

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/z...tem/used-2592/

His Sub LV pics were stolen from here:

http://www.carrwatches.com/products/ROLEX/-/2734

And his black faced explorer II was sold out of Jakarta to a Mr Gab of Switzerland, website here:

http://www.preownedwatch-id.com/2013...i-42mm_25.html

That's just three watches chosen at random and searched, I'd bet all the others would turn up results too.
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Old 26 February 2017, 12:40 PM   #7
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Nice detective work cryten, there you go op pass


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Old 26 February 2017, 12:43 PM   #8
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Yep certainly looks scammy. I would not buy from here. All of his content is basically trying to justify all the reasons why you should trust him. I'm skeptical
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Old 27 February 2017, 05:30 AM   #9
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Weird thing is this guy was taking paypal originally and is now using credit card payments, not wire transfers. How does he expect to keep scamming using those payment methods?

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Old 27 February 2017, 07:07 AM   #10
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Oh oh. Scam. I found the pictures of the "sold" gold daytona on chrono24 from a seller in germany.

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Old 27 February 2017, 07:15 AM   #11
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Here's the link to the daytona with the same images as the freedomrepublic site. http://www.chrono24.com/rolex/dayton...-id3371828.htm

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Old 27 February 2017, 07:33 AM   #12
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I agree. A big thanks to everyone who put in actual research on this.
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Old 27 February 2017, 08:02 AM   #13
Cryten
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul_I View Post
I agree. A big thanks to everyone who put in actual research on this.
Make sure you call him out in the FB group and where ever else he's advertising, you might just save someone some hardship.

I also notice the web domain he's using is masked my Domains By Proxy LLC, another massive red flag.
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Old 24 October 2018, 02:48 AM   #14
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Here's the black faced explorer II was sold out of Jakarta to a Mr Gab of Switzerland, website here
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Old 24 October 2018, 03:41 AM   #15
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You guys are good.
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