NEW WARNING !!

[petershell]

We have new mutation of cheaters :-)
Now they are trying to be from Ivory Coast.. They use of course yahoo.fr mails.. Some of them a quite well prepared and sending to you well prepared offer. I had pleasure (ha,ha) to examine such a example.. for few days he was trying to prepare me the all information I needed.. But when I saw pictures made by my friends - and the "Ivory" guy told me that these are exactly shells I will receive and he made pictures by himself -  I had enough. Just beware !!
By the way his name was Edgar Marius something like that.
His mail : <!-- e --><a href="mailto:marvynns@yahoo.fr">marvynns@yahoo.fr</a><!-- e -->  <span class="petit">--Last edited by PeterShell on 2009-05-11 22:04:20 --</span>

[pilsbryi]

I got an e-mail from this gentlemen. I asked for a list and it sound too much suspicious. It seems that he took out an old list somewhere . Since i have been cheated once , and i have put at large the smart guy name, every proposal with this nature seemed immediately bad buisiness.

Unfortunately we are always being "bombed" with smart guys. Just like i say : "do not buy from dubious sellers even if they show pictures of impossible shells at incredible prices " .

Thanks for confirming my suspects.

Kind regards

J. BENTO

[Guest]

It is sad that these exceptions spoil a very special market. Since boyhood I am writing/emailing with shellcollectors all over the world (40+ years already). Most of the shellcollectors are true nature-lovers and really honest but beware of the exceptions!!!
How can we exclude these people? Any suggestions?
Perhaps by sharing our experiences?

[pichest]

I agree with pilsbryi, do not buy from dubious sellers... and I like to add some more as follows.

- If you are really need to buy from a dealer you have never known before, don't pay with wire transfer (Western Union) or bank transfer (Swift).

- Consider to pay with PayPal, Google checkout, and buy with a little amount for the first time.

- In case of PayPal, check the seller profile before making the payment. Beware the new opened PayPal account.

- Ask the seller some information about the shells offered or another angle of view photo of the shells, I believe that most of cheaters do not know much about shells.

- It is more reliable if the seller also sell their shells through other third party venue like eBay, Shellauction. And you may make the first buy through those venue because there are some protections provided by the third party.

- The real dealers will always try to protect their reputation, so if the seller has tried hard to convinced you to buy, he may be a scammer.

- Do not click on any link in the email message from the suspects, it may lead you to a fake web page and try to steal your personal information (phishing).

Well, that are some suggestions poped up in my mind in a few minutes. I have the last thing for you to consider: "in the internet world, we are living among a vast and various species, so many predators out there, we have to know how to protect ourselves."

Regards,
Pichest