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Time to do something about it
Guys, this scamming thing is getting out of hand and shows no sign of diminishing. Moderators, this seems like a good time to propose - if it hasn't been proposed and shouted down previously - that we devise some mechanisms that can be built into IIS that might provide some discouragement to scammers or protection for buyers.
Surely, out of the lot of us, we can come up with some suggestions!
I don't want to make this a Nanny Site, nor to make it difficult for new members to get involved and become active in the Buy/Sell areas. Nor do I want to create any bureaucratic nightmares for the moderators/principals of IIS. BUT having said all that, it does seem to me that there are options that might be worth exploring. I don't pretend to have all the answers, just some suggestions.
Suggestion 1:
No access to the Buy/Sell areas until a member has a posting history on IIS of, say, 20 messages minimum in non-Buy/Sell fora.
Suggestion 2.
IIS allow members to register their equipment and receive a unique identifier - e.g. a Tak FSQ106 owned by Bill Smith might be registered by its serial number and be allocated a registered number XTZ106_1. A member considering the purchase of major items of equipment could then simply check the register to confirm ownership. When an item is sold, the new owner can register it anew if he/she chooses and the old registration can be cancelled.
Suggestion 3.
A Buy/Sell advert cannot be placed unless the seller includes (in a field not shown to the buyer but kept by the moderator) a verifiable address, telephone number and/or Drivers License number.
There must be a lot of good ideas out there. What about it? We can't just cry in our beer.
Peter
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