[ErinWilson]

Our 501(c)(3) nonprofit org fell victim to a very convincing PayPal fraud, this weekend, involving our 645Z.

We listed the 645Z body on FB Marketplace. (We'd decided to sell it, to purchase a camera for film/video.)

They had hacked a woman's FB account. Then they triggered a series of fraudulent PayPal confirmations.

We overnighted our 645Z body to Miama (Doral) Florida, with "PayPal" confirming $2,980 was transferring.

We read FAQs along the way, re. eChecks, transfers, delays, etc. It had all checked out. It was all a scam.

Our small NPO (an award-winning artists collective) is effectively shut down re. all film-based project work.

If you happen to see this camera for sale anywhere, please p.m. me. It has distinctive marks (see below.)

*None of this occurred through PentaxForums, in fact I wish we had just listed the body here, from the start.

The 645Z body has distinctive braising on the lower left corner of the LCD screen (see attached images.)

Shutter count: nearly 20,000.
Manufactured: Oct. 21, 2014.
Body serial number: 6054525

We're trying to be realistic about the odds of recovering this amazing piece of gear.

Posting here, in case anyone sees some great deal on a 645Z body, anytime soon.

Best,
Erin (ArtPeers)

Attached Images

       

[UncleVanya]

Scammers make me sick. I'm so sorry this happened to your group. Good luck on the recovery.

[Madaboutpix]

Agree. Absolutely sickening. Sincerely hope they will get caught and you'll be able to recover the 645Z.

[ErinWilson]

Scammers make me sick. I'm so sorry this happened to your group. Good luck on the recovery.

Thank you. We're trying to be realistic about the chances (being low to nil) of recovery, but it's good to know there are databases (e.g. LensTag, etc.) and maybe someone will cross-check before purchasing.

The big mistake in our sale process was relying on emails apparently from PayPal (very convincing, btw) rather than originating the sale via Invoice in PayPal. It was all convincing, but we definitely fell for it.

So, if anyone happens to see a 645Z listing with the braising on LCD, or the 20,000 shutter count, kindly let me know. There's not a ton of these newly listed for sale each week, so we'll keep our eyes peeled.

---------- Post added 11-17-19 at 08:47 AM ----------

Doing a little more digging, I've found this is a known scam location - in the past couple weeks there've been a ton of BBB complaints.

Shop2Ship, LLC. | Reviews | Better Business Bureau® Profile
And there's another set of reports about this location on the REDUSER site... wish I would've typed in the address before shipping...

I wish I lived closer to Florida, so I could go there, today. (Mostly upset with myself tho, for falling for this, and not checking in advance.)

[reduno]

We're trying to be realistic about the chances (being low to nil) of recovery, but it's good to know there are databases (e.g. LensTag, etc.) and maybe someone will cross-check before purchasing.

Sorry to hear your organization has been scammed. I will certainly be looking closely at any new 645Z listings I see. Is there a way to update your serial number entry in the Pentax Forums data base to flag the camera as stolen?

[ErinWilson]

Sorry to hear your organization has been scammed. I will certainly be looking closely at any new 645Z listings I see. Is there a way to update your serial number entry in the Pentax Forums data base to flag the camera as stolen?

Thank you - I entered the SN in the PF database (6054525) but I may have done this incorrectly.

Here's where I entered the SN - and I indicated in the notes, there, it is stolen.

I also entered the SN in LensTag and we're awaiting that verification to come through, to indicate that it's stolen.

This morning I emailed and called the Doral PD detective unit, giving them all the information I could. Apparently this location is a known trafficker of electronics stolen by fraud. It seems they ship items to people who want them internationally. So, I think the next 24 hours are critical, after that it may be on the international market.

It's crazy to think this happens so much (turns out there's a ton of people who've had this happen to them, in the past few months.)

Still considering driving to Florida today. But it's not really practical, since I'm in Michigan. But I'm so upset about this. We loved that camera and used it almost every day. It was a really hard thing to conclude we needed to sell it, in order to get a camera that would be more appropriate for our NPO's emerging needs.

Appreciate the comments and well-wishes very much. Thank you all.

---------- Post added 11-17-19 at 09:49 AM ----------

Thank you - I entered the SN in the PF database (6054525) but I may have done this incorrectly.

Here's where I entered the SN - and I indicated in the notes, there, it is stolen.

I also entered the SN in LensTag and we're awaiting that verification to come through, to indicate that it's stolen.

This morning I emailed and called the Doral PD detective unit, giving them all the information I could. Apparently this location is a known trafficker of electronics stolen by fraud. It seems they ship items to people who want them internationally. So, I think the next 24 hours are critical, after that it may be on the international market.

It's crazy to think this happens so much (turns out there's a ton of people who've had this happen to them, in the past few months.)

Still considering driving to Florida today. But it's not really practical, since I'm in Michigan. But I'm so upset about this. We loved that camera and used it almost every day. It was a really hard thing to conclude we needed to sell it, in order to get a camera that would be more appropriate for our NPO's emerging needs.

Appreciate the comments and well-wishes very much. Thank you all.

(Forgot link)

Here's where I listed the SN on the PF database:
Pentax 645Z Serial Numbers - Pentax Serial Number Database - PentaxForums.com

[onlineflyer]

Really sad story, I'm sorry you were scammed. I don't understand how one human being could do this to another, especially from a non-profit. My question: If the police knew this is going on, why not shut them down, or at least surveillance to catch the culprits?

[ErinWilson]

Really sad story, I'm sorry you were scammed. I don't understand how one human being could do this to another, especially from a non-profit. My question: If the police knew this is going on, why not shut them down, or at least surveillance to catch the culprits?

That's what I'm hoping to learn more about, if/when the detective calls me back - will update.

I'm assuming (my dad was a 30+ year LEO) there's a lot of factors preventing the Doral PD from doing what I imagine they would like to, with regard to this location. Based on the number of October 2019 online reports of fraud, exactly like ours, I'm guess the Doral PD gets a lot of calls about this place.

Not an hour has gone by that I haven't wished I just posted the camera body here, on the PF. Because it appears that international buyers just used CL and FB Marketplace like an "online catalog" of stuff they want this location to acquire by fraud and ship to them, assumedly at a discount.

[Cerebum]

A lot of people fall victim to this kind of fraud. I work in a Post office in the UK where we try to head it off, where possible. They send an email saying the funds are there an will be released when they have a tracking number. You only get a tracking number when the item is sent at which point the funds disappear and your item is lost in the network. Have you tried contacting the postal service? If the item is tracked they may not have delivered it yet. If that is the case and you have a police incident number you may be able to talk them out of delivering it. Its a long shot but anything is worth a try. The people who do this should have their ******** cut off!

[texandrews]

Thanks for this sad alert----very collegial of you. I certainly hope you get your gear back.

Concerns about this and the hassle behind it have dissuaded me from selling online (have always used Used Photo Pro/Roberts Camera, and they have treated me well), even though I've never had a problem when buying.

[manishved]

Oh no - this really sucks. Honestly, we hear about all such scams - the least a person should do is validate the email header and ascertain the authenticity. Moreover, I would not ship until I had the funds in my account for at least a couple days in such cases where large amounts are involved. The scammers are likely to be caught in the meantime. I have had my items bought by scammer on eBay as well - luckily eBay does provide at least some level of "seller protection" as well.

[PDL]

Facebook -- I think I see your basic issue.

[tokyoscape]

Sorry to know that.
FB seems to be a tool of choice for scamer and fb itself is running like a scam business.
I just log in to my fb after almost a year, then I forget to log out, and they are again bombarding me with messages update. This morning I opened my phone with tons of fb messages and update, one of that is a new tool where they let people book and pay for the photo tour I host within my fb page.
NOWAY, I am not going to trust you (fb) to handle my transaction or ctake a cut of my $$$, that was my first reaction then I see this post here! Hope you can somehow get either Paypal or FB to compensate you lose.
or if you ship with a registered mail, could you get in touch with the carrier to terminate the shipping or use the acknowledgment of delivery's document from the carrier when contact police.

[swip]

Very sad news indeed. Hopefully, Paypal will compensate your loss.

[SGOMMO7]

I had my blue-and-white K– 01 stolen along with my silver 20–40 lens.
Having stuff stolen is just horrible.
Best of luck