Scammed by stevenyoo

[Atone]

Perhaps the guy doesn’t need a lecture. I’m sure he bummed enough and has every intention of more caution moving forward. There are absolutely ways to get scammed with many of the “always” and “never” suggestions here too. PayPal being one of the biggest ones. OP I hope get some resolution with this.

[Humble michael]

Originally Posted by Atone

Perhaps the guy doesn’t need a lecture. I’m sure he bummed enough and has every intention of more caution moving forward. There are absolutely ways to get scammed with many of the “always” and “never” suggestions here too. PayPal being one of the biggest ones. OP I hope get some resolution with this.

Uh Ok , that was written to protect other buyers . I was speaking of protection for buyers. Sooo you don’t like my never & always - show me one buyer rip off that couldn’t have been prevented by NOT using a wire?? Again not trying to be smart or obstinate only desire is to save others a whole bunch of heartache . Thanks

[brandrea]

I hope you somehow get your money back OP. Sad to see others taking advantage of people in this way.

My mother got scammed a couple of weeks back by a telemarketer. These kind of people make me sick.

[JakeK]

Bram i'm really sorry to read about what happened to you. I messaged the seller too but never heard anything back. Very scary. I hope there is some way to find resolution on this. I did more digging and it looks like he may have bought the snowflake from a seller on WUS. See picture.

[scottlech]

I found that WUS listing too. One of the red flags that I encountered when I contacted Stevenyoo was when I brought up this listing. I asked if this is where he got the watch from. He said yes. And then I asked why, if he got the watch from this transaction in March 2018, did he state that he got the watch in July 2018 on his listing.

He said it was a typo and said it was “weird” that I was able to find that listing. Definitely had me on the defensive at that point.

[JakeK]

Originally Posted by scottlech

I found that WUS listing too. One of the red flags that I encountered when I contacted Stevenyoo was when I brought up this listing. I asked if this is where he got the watch from. He said yes. And then I asked why, if he got the watch from this transaction in March 2018, did he state that he got the watch in July 2018 on his listing.

He said it was a typo and said it was “weird” that I was able to find that listing. Definitely had me on the defensive at that point.

Maybe the original seller has some info. Worth a shot at this point.

[Atone]

Originally Posted by james272

Uh Ok , that was written to protect other buyers . I was speaking of protection for buyers. Sooo you don’t like my never & always - show me one buyer rip off that couldn’t have been prevented by NOT using a wire?? Again not trying to be smart or obstinate only desire is to save others a whole bunch of heartache . Thanks

All the scams by PayPal. Next question?

[Atone]

Originally Posted by james272

Sorry this happened- no 1 rule as a buyer- NO WIRES !! If the seller won’t accept AMX or pay pal - goodbye!! Once again show me just ONE scam or mis-understanding on this forum that couldn’t have been nipped in the bud following this simple rule. Oh yeah I know you will hear sellers say they won’t sell that way and that’s fine I won’t buy from them- I am not so stupid that I would send any seller except maybe an authorized AD w brick & mortar ( maybe!)a box of cash w NO recourse if piece doesn’t arrive or isn’t what was claimed or maybe he made an innocent mistake. As a buyer you MUST protect yourself, sadly “ buying the seller “ is good but offers no SURE protection.Go ahead , get seller’s references, Call him on the phone , get a copy of his drivers license and birth certificate and send him a wire for thousands of dollars - when you get skinned be sure to post it on this forum so that others can see how that worked.Most important rule - No WIRES! Not trying to be a smarty pants but sincerely want to save folks on the forum a whole bunch of grief . There is no shortage of sellers who will agree to this condition. Thanks for reading , james in San Antonio Tx

You are clearly unaware that PayPal is one of the biggest opportunities for scammers. OP, take this advice with a LARGE grain of salt

[Humble michael]

This was addressed to BUYERS !! PP is protective of buyers , I am not recommending it for sellers. Once again , show me a single case where a buyer got cheated using PP and AMX???
Buyers , if you don’t protect yourself you have NO recourse when a seller lies , doesn’t perform as promised or makes an innocent mistake. How simple is it to understand that a CC or PayPal or maybe f to f ( questionable) is my only SURE protection?? Let’s look at every single scam on this forum including op’s ,there isn’t one that this rule wouldn’t have prevented disaster for the BUYER ! Learn from the mistakes of others , not sure why some folks are soo obstinate about a simple fact. I just hate to see people sending a box of money as buyers hoping for the best! I have purchased several hundred thousand dollars in time pieces over the last few years and know where of I speak. Two of those purchases were with would be scammers on EBay - guess what?? Thanks to using pay pal although sellers wanted a wire - I called pay pal - didn’t lose a dime! Another time As I mentioned before I bought a $60,000
Timepiece from a well know great company and they inadvertently didn’t send me a solid white gold case back that was supposed to be with it. When I called them , the sellers said “ give us a couple weeks, we will TRY to get it from the person we bought the piece from” I told the them I would either send the piece back and dispute the charge w AMX or ask AMX to hold out the 6,000 value of the missing piece. Guess what , the piece magically appeared and was sent to me the next day. What if I hadn’t used AMX does anyone honestly think that there would’ve been the same outcome ?? And let’s say I stupidly sent seller a box of cash - wire, what one earth would I do if seller just forgot to take care of this ?? Hey , do whatever you want but for me, when I am a BUYER, I will never send cash to someone I have never met. I f you don’t agree just “buy the seller” ( of course I always do that as well ) alone -then be sure to post on “Watch Out” to warn us how you got took. Only takes once to learn a bitter very expensive lesson- I won’t be part of encouraging others to take such a chance. JMO and experience, james in San Antonio Tx
.

Ecwil

[CorradoBrit]

Originally Posted by Atone

You are clearly unaware that PayPal is one of the biggest opportunities for scammers. OP, take this advice with a LARGE grain of salt

Agreed. I would never sell a high value watch to a buyer who insisted on PP G&S. Little to no protection for the seller if a victim of a scamming buyer.

[DrYookulele]

Hey folks,

Steven Yoo here. This is the replacement account for "stevenyoo" which was hacked, and is now perma-banned.

Sorry for the headache this caused.

Hope to regain the community's trust going forward

[Rebel]

OP, I hope you can get some satisfaction in time.

[zhangster]

OMG. I almost fell for the same scam, too.

I have always bought watches with checks. I have a few ways to show the seller I'm legit. If the seller insists on wire transfer, I move on. No hard feelings.

This scammer was not willing to take my check. LOL I guess he was afraid of being scammed.

To OP, I know how sh***y you must feel right now. But thank you for sharing your experience for the benefit of everyone. I hope you get your hands on a snowflake soon.

[bram]

Hi everyone, thanks for your advice and support. I really appreciate your genuine concern and input.

Just a quick update: Both banks and the authorities have been notified about the scam but there isn’t much else that can be done. I’ve written this entire situation off as a lesson learned and I am grateful for the important things in life which includes a supportive wife.

I hope to add a Grand Seiko Snowflake to my collection in the future but for now the pic below will have to do:)




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vetracer]

OP, glad you’ve still got a sense of humour despite going through this. No more wire transfers please.

[GGGMT]

Great wrist snow shot!


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[EEpro]

Great attitude. It says a lot about your character and money can't buy that.

[turpe]

Originally Posted by bram

There’s a joke about ‘icing out ya wrist’ here somewhere.

I’m sorry that you were a victim here, but glad that you’re taking a philosophical approach to the aftermath. When you do, eventually, get that Snowflake on your wrist, it’ll be a victory to savor.

[Rolextellstime]

OP, sorry to hear about your negative experience and hope you get your GS soon.

The vast majority of sellers are genuine people which can cause one to let the guard down, but it is important to always ask lot of questions until you are comfortable with dealing with the seller.

I recently purchased a Polar 16570 and the seller left me a positive feedback but also stated in the feedback that I asked a lot of questions. I laughed when I read that,.. Daawww, of course I will ask a lot of questions as I did pay by wire.

I am surprised that so many people said that they would never pay by wire but I find that it is actually a very common, if not the most common, way of payment for high end timepieces. I have received wires on most of my sales and have mostly paid by wire for the watches I bought on this forum.



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[ragsk]

Originally Posted by bram

Hi everyone, thanks for your advice and support. I really appreciate your genuine concern and input.

Just a quick update: Both banks and the authorities have been notified about the scam but there isn’t much else that can be done. I’ve written this entire situation off as a lesson learned and I am grateful for the important things in life which includes a supportive wife.

I hope to add a Grand Seiko Snowflake to my collection in the future but for now the pic below will have to do:)




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I feel really pissed off looking at the pic. Feel for you man. What goes around comes around. Have a great 2021.

[Burlington]

Originally Posted by bram

Hi everyone, thanks for your advice and support. I really appreciate your genuine concern and input.

Just a quick update: Both banks and the authorities have been notified about the scam but there isn’t much else that can be done. I’ve written this entire situation off as a lesson learned and I am grateful for the important things in life which includes a supportive wife.

I hope to add a Grand Seiko Snowflake to my collection in the future but for now the pic below will have to do:)




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As said above - kudos to you keeping this in perspective and sharing your story.

Hacked accounts seem so common now.

Maybe the first question to ask for verification of is 2FA being active for a sellers account.