Scammer Section

[RustyBarnacle]

Is there a place where we can list a scammer?  Myself and another person on here were doing some support for a user who has a couple forums.  Between the 2 of us we did about 7 hours of work.

At around the 3-4 hr mark I was almost done what he had asked for.  I asked for 3/4 payment as a sign of good faith since I had spent a fair amount of time at it.  Thats when he banned me and I got a chat from the other support guy saying he had done work for this individual as well and also hadn't been paid.

We swapped stories and found we were in similar situations between with this guy.

Now, I dont want to start a flame war or be a troll or any of that so if there is no section and you just plain don't want this, I'll let it drop and know better myself next time.  If you do want these things reported, I'll happily share his forum sites and email and MSN addresses.

[Tick]

Well I could add a lot to this list myself.  But I think you will find that these kind of things are preferred by the people who run these forums to be kept in private.  I can understand this being this is a place for people to get help not have wars over who did what.  As I was advised some time back  you just have to be careful who ya do work for.  If you are not comfortable with them dont do it or at least get the money up front.

[Rumbaar]

That's a real shame to hear RustyBarnacle, it's situations like this that can turn a person very willing to help into someone that is jaded and doesn't help anyone anymore.

[karlbenson]

Indeed. I don't do paid work for people, but if I did, I would insist on min 25% upfront. (This would discourage people who would try to rip me off).

[Neorics]

i was the other one who helped the scammer as well as RustyBarnacle said, i can provide much much more info on this,

also Tick, he's the same user i warned you about, and he uses another account here in SMF as well, so he has 2 accounts or maybe even three...

if you guys wants his site info or names here in SMF then just pm me or RustyBarnacle for the infos

[shadow82x]

Very sad to hear. Once again I don't do paid work either but kind of in an posting manner. I feel your pain and it would be great if you asked for a litle money maybe after 45 minutes or so.

[Tick]

Yeah I knon who you are talking about.  But you have to remember that for every one of these kinds of people there are a few hundred that are not like this.  I dont let these people stop me.  I do work before I get paid.  If I dont trust them then I dont do it.  I feel more comfortable making sure the user is completely happy before I collect any money.   They will get theres one day.  Dont sweat it.    Tick

[metallica48423]

i'm pretty sure i know who you guys are referencing..

But either way, as the nature of private contacts... theres not much of anything i can do.  Now, if its chronically a thing here and he is consistently scamming people knowingly, then at best, i could report it to the admins, but even then..

Ultimately, I can only suggest requiring some upfront payment.

[RustyBarnacle]

Thanks guys.  Its a live and learn I guess.  I dont mind posting on here just because but when a person gets you to login to their site and do it all for them, its a little different.

Oh well, sounds like most here got the idea of who it is anyways.

[metallica48423]

if you want to report it, send an email to info [at] simplemachines [dot] org

[Neorics]

I do work before I get paid.  If I dont trust them then I dont do it.  I feel more comfortable making sure the user is completely happy before I collect any money.   They will get theres one day.  Dont sweat it.    Tick

yah that's basically what i did and that is how i got scammed... but i learned my lesson and i developed ways to avoid it from happening again.

anyways i'm not really that concerned about the cash that he didnt pay, i'm just thinking that i wouldnt let him get someone else but apparently he does it constantly so beware when someone just pms you offering you a paid work out of the blues...

besides... i have my credits on his site muwhahahahaha oh yah about that... if anyone hires you to tinker with their credits at the bottom and you see my name in it then please dont delete it cause it's only the scammer's forum and my forum that has my name in the credits

thanks

[metallica48423]

both of you please PM me with the membername and i will address it with the team

[Mr-Designer]

I Also got scammed the work was for $70 did not get a penny i have done a thew forums and like to help people the best way i can , but it is a shame people do this i will do that in future and get a 25% of payment first , could you pm me the details then i will tell you if it is the same person

[Neorics]

pm me yours...

[metallica48423]

i need to see if we're all discussing the same person -- it'd be a breach of confidentiality if I told any of you what others have said to me.

Again, please PM the usernames of this person.

[Neorics]

no i confirmed it, Mr-Designer is talking about someone else, you can ask him who he's talking about

[Rumbaar]

Well anyone with half a clue and looking at the Help Wanted section can see who is being talked about, at least RustyBarnacle and Neorics

It's interesting to see how quickly you can form opinions about people and are less likely to help them in the future.

[青山 素子]

As in any business venture, always get partial payment up front unless you really don't care if you are paid or not. It is a fairly standard practice in the coding and consulting area.

Even if the person is completely trustworthy and very established, get partial payment before any work is to be done. If there is a disagreement at the end over your work, or in the middle, you at least have some compensation.

[Windy]

Another idea could be to get an independent party involved to hold on to the money until the job is done.

[metallica48423]

I can't see that being efficient nor realistic... a lot of overhead in that