Sales scam on IceInSpace

[pwilly]

Hi all,

I recently placed a "Wanted ad" here in the Classifieds section for a Skywatcher MINI AZ-GTi MOUNT.

User Astronomykiwi offered me a good price and we agreed on a deal of $530. I transferred it to his bank account, he confirmed he received it and promised to sent me the tracking number.

I never heard back from him. It's now a month and my bank is unable to recover the funds.

So don't sent money to user Astronomykiwi.

[sharkbite]

Yeah - my alarm bells would have gone off after a quick cyber-stalk...

joined in 2021 with Zero posts....

:warning:

although you do have "his" bank acccount - maybe a quick trip down to the local Plod would help?

[JohnA (John)]

i hate reading storied like this, hope you are able to recover your funds, but yea, as mentioned, maybe go to the police with bank details and see if they can get an id for you.

[Pasko (Pascal)]

Yes this Astronomywiki is a def scammer. Very recently he wanted to scam me on a deal for a hyperstar. He sounded a bit dodgy in the messages but when I asked for his number to have a phone conversation never heard from him again. These scammers are the lowest. I recommend having an actual phone conversation and viewing - FaceTiming the item for sale to confirm that it's legit. When you have a conversation with other amateur astronomers you can usually tell if they are legit. Listen to your gut instinct also.

If things sound too good to be true they usually are.

[TrevorW]

I wont deal with anyone on this site unless they have been a contributor for some considerable time, in this case the moderators should step in and ban this user-

[Astrofire (Dale)]

So sorry to hear this. Makes life really difficult in a hobby/profession where significant money is often involved. :-(

[Saturn488]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

I wont deal with anyone on this site unless they have been a contributor for some considerable time, in this case the moderators should step in and ban this user-

I second this.

I always make sure the user has sold items previously and have a decent amount of posts on the forums.

[RB (Andrew)]

I have already banned him.

I’ll have more to say about this once I finish work.

RB

[Pierre_C]

Sorry to hear about your experience.

Thanks for letting us know.

[toc (Tim)]

the guy tried to scam me as well - I had a wanted ad for a hyperstar and he offered one for a very good price. I asked for pics and when I did a google reverse lookup on them they came from an ad in France. Asked him if he was in fact from France, but didnt get a reply.

I reported it here, and he got banned

I guess always check if the photos are legit!

[RB (Andrew)]

I would like to stress the point to everyone, please be vigilant when dealing with members who have zero or a low post count.

IIS requires a minimum of one month membership and at least five posts before a member can post an ad.
Personally, I think it should be more but it's out of my hands, I can't change that rule, nor can I take action on new members posting five replies in one day just to meet the minimum requirement for posting an ad.
I do take action if their replies are obvious and nonsensical but I'm limited by the TOS rule.

Even if they're a long-time member but with a low post count, don't blindly trust them.
We're also finding that dormant accounts have been hacked and fraudulent ads placed using images obtained from other sites to make it look like a legit ad.

Practice due diligence.
Ask for a current photo of the item with a hand written note with today's date.
Ask to speak to the person on the phone.
See how they respond.

Also, why wasn't this person reported to the moderators first???
He scammed at least two people but no one reported him.
The first I heard about this one was via this thread posted in General Chat !!!
A bit late closing this gate when the horse has bolted at least twice....

We can't track someone with zero posts or take action unless we are made aware.

I've banned many, and I mean many scammers and spammers instantly but that's when I can see them online.
If they're not online at the time, I can't investigate their activity.
I won't go into detail about that but trust me, they don't get past if I see them online.

I've even banned a dormant account with many posts but was hacked and the scammer was using fake images of the item.
I banned the account instantly before any damage was done and then a couple of months later the real user complained to Mike why I banned him.
I had to explain to Mike that my actions were based on the new IP address (toxic) and images of the item that were fake and copied from other sites.

Help us to stay on top of this.
Be vigilant and ask questions before handing over your money.

Report suspicious activity no matter how insignificant it seems.
We see every report and take appropriate action, even if you don't see what takes place behind the scenes.
We can't reply to every report but we do act on each one.

RB

[EpickCrom (Joe)]

What a low life scum! Great that he has been banned, to the OP, yeah go to your local police station with the bank details the scammer gave you. Hopefully something can happen that way.

Stay vigilant all!

[pwilly]

Thanks all! It helps that I am not alone here.

My trap was that he was an IIS member for for 3 years already. Will consider to go to the police next week.

Here are more details about the scammer, just in case he tries again:

• Email address: jizere8899@outlook.com
• Bank account name: Ian Mokoro

Andrew, I did send you a PM with another member who might be a scammer as well, but I have no hard evidence, that's why I don't post it here.

[TrevorW]

Thanks Andrew for your due diligence

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by pwilly

Andrew, I did send you a PM with another member who might be a scammer as well, but I have no hard evidence, that's why I don't post it here.

Thank you, got your pm.
I already busted that other member last week.
Probably the same guy.

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Thanks Andrew for your due diligence

Thank you so much Trevor.

[ChrisD (Chris)]

Originally Posted by pwilly

Thanks all! It helps that I am not alone here.

My trap was that he was an IIS member for for 3 years already. Will consider to go to the police next week.

Here are more details about the scammer, just in case he tries again:

• Email address: jizere8899@outlook.com
• Bank account name: Ian Mokoro

I did a quick check and AstronomyKiwi has posted once. [SOLD] Qhy268c-ph, this was in 2021 and he asked if the seller would ship to NZ. He has been active on CloudyNights since 2018. He looks legit.

Was the bank account in NZ? Check the BSB number HERE

Note also that the surname Mokoro is most likely to be from Kisii County in Kenya. So I think this is a stolen account and they chose an account that wasn't currently active, gained access, changed the contact details (email) and responded to your wanted ad.

The bank account likely belongs to a money mule. However, if you can convince their bank that this is a fraud they will close the account. I've successfully done this before.

The big question for me is: "How did they get access to the IIS account"?

Chris

[pwilly]

Thanks Chris.

I trade here in IIS for more than 10 years without any issues. I really didn't expect that scamming is a big thing here, even I was cautious and did reverse search the provided pictures of the mount.

The BSB is from Westpac in Victoria.

I have been at the police and reported the scam.

Let's hope the bank account will be closed.

[Leo.G (Leo)]

Or lets hope Australia follow The lead of the United Kingdom and make banks responsible for their part in these scams. Australian bank accounts aren't the easiest things to open, that or I'm an Idiot.
Westpac should refund you for this loss, but they won't......

[Steffen]

Originally Posted by Leo.G

Or lets hope Australia follow The lead of the United Kingdom and make banks responsible for their part in these scams.

What should the bank have done in this case, I wonder? Reject the deposit because the account holder is likely of African descent? Refuse to open accounts for immigrants from certain countries?

I think that Internet forums offering classifieds are the ones to take more responsibility. At the very least they should require multi-factor authentication for access to the classifieds section.

But seeing that this forum is withering on the vine, nothing is likely to change here.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by Steffen

What should the bank have done in this case, I wonder? Reject the deposit because the account holder is likely of African descent? Refuse to open accounts for immigrants from certain countries?

I think that Internet forums offering classifieds are the ones to take more responsibility. At the very least they should require multi-factor authentication for access to the classifieds section.

But seeing that this forum is withering on the vine, nothing is likely to change here.

why are you still here then?

there is a disclaimer to do your due diligence.
I have reported many scammers and potential scammers because I practise due diligence. It's not the forum's responsibility just as much as it's not Facebook's responsibility for people falling for scams.