Does Anyone Know The User GEEKDAN?

Penfold06
Penfold06 Posts: 161
Hello all,

I know this isn't really the right section to be posting this but I'm trying to get it seen by as many people as possible.

viewtopic.php?f=40090&t=12935894

Basically I bought a bike off a user on this sight who goes by the name of GEEKDAN well over a month ago. I paid him £650 via bank transfer and the bike was to be sent by courier. After weeks of false promises and wasted time he now seems to have disappeared with my money! It's been over two weeks since I've had a response from him so as you can imagine I'm getting quite worried.

Anyway its my problem, I'm not looking for sympathy. However on the off chance, does anyone know him personally or has anyone dealt with him in the past? If anyone has any advice as well this would be appreciated!

Many thanks

Dean
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Comments

  • styxd
    styxd Posts: 3,234
    Don't know him, but did you not read any of this: viewforum.php?f=40109 ?

    Good luck getting your money back, you have his name and bank account anyway, perhaps get in touch with the police.

    remember - if it looks to good to be true, it usually is.
  • Can bike radar not help in this, chase the seller up. If they won't suggest you report to the police, how did you pay him.?
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Sorry to hear that, I assume you've contacted the site admin to see if they can help you?
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    arran77 wrote:
    Sorry to hear that, I assume you've contacted the site admin to see if they can help you?
    why what can we do? we have less info than you as a buyer should have.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • nicklouse wrote:
    arran77 wrote:
    Sorry to hear that, I assume you've contacted the site admin to see if they can help you?
    why what can we do? we have less info than you as a buyer should have.
    Maybe you can't do anything, but that's not the most helpful post. Perhaps the poster thought you may have an email address as a point of contact.
  • nicklouse wrote:
    why what can we do? we have less info than you as a buyer should have.


    Site admin should have access to his registration details, incase he used an ISP based E mail.

    His posts should also shown an IP address. That would be a start. :roll:

    Penfold, depending on where you live the Police might just refer you to here - http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/home

    But it would seem you have been scammed so I'd be collating as much info as you can get - google all this information to see if he has been using other forums then go to the Police* and see what they say.

    *assuming you can find a Police station that is open.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    Err just what the user registered with which I would have guessed the "buyer" would have also been using or maybe they used a phone. We dont know anyone from adam. which is why we have some guides that people should read.

    point 1 viewtopic.php?f=40046&t=12906418

    the topics have been place in an area where they will not be auto removed if required if charges are pressed.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • You may not have the information nick louse, but I think the tone of your reply was not what I would have expected from this forum.
  • Thanks for the help guys,

    Unfortunately, and stupidly, I never got his address or telephone number (please don't lecture me :oops: ). I've used bank transfer a lot in the past with no problems and do usually insist on at least speaking to the seller in person before proceeding but I guess this time I was just careless. You don't fully understand/believe the risks until you get stung.

    I've been in touch with the courier he claimed to have booked. Using the tracking number on their website the status still comes up as "Booked", it's been like that for about 3/4 weeks. The lady on the phone said she couldn't find any record that a courier had been booked and suggested that tracking number looks like a format they were using last year.

    I have been in touch with the bank, they said that because I willingly handed the money over they can't help and directed me to ActionFraud.

    I've now submitted a report to ActionFraud. I've let them know everything that has went on and given them all of the details. They will now assess this and if they think I have a case they'll pass the info onto the police for them to follow up.

    I've contacted the police who also directed me to ActionFraud. I told them I had already made a case and they said just to wait and let ActionFraud follow it up. The annoying thing is that ActionFraud said they wouldn't be in touch to let me know if I had a case or not. I asked if I could contact them and they said they don't keep a record of claims that have been made so would be unable to tell me anything.

    I guess the next step is to search places such as Facebook, Twitter etc to see if he has an account that I could use to get some info on his location etc I believe he is somewhere in Bristol. And if he is reading this, I'm going to get my money back one way or another!

    Thanks again for the help.
  • ermintrude wrote:
    You may not have the information nick louse, but I think the tone of your reply was not what I would have expected from this forum.
    Completely agree
  • peteone
    peteone Posts: 152
    Has the thread been removed I can't see it.
    Cervelo R3
    Giant TCR SL
    Ibis Tranny
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    ermintrude wrote:
    You may not have the information nick louse, but I think the tone of your reply was not what I would have expected from this forum.

    Spot on. I don't know what it is about this place sometimes.
  • I really feel for the OP. I know that if it was me I would be sick with worry.

    I belong to a Lotus forum. When any of their members get into trouble the directors step in and assist to the extent that scammers have been tracked down and details passed to the Police.

    As for the moderators / administrators on this site they have yet again made it known how they feel, which is, they couldn't give a flying fuck. Shame on the lot of you.

    Good luck Dean.
    Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    Plodder73 wrote:
    ermintrude wrote:
    You may not have the information nick louse, but I think the tone of your reply was not what I would have expected from this forum.
    Completely agree
    fine. but the number of people who just blindly give money to anonymous email address is getting beyond belief.

    you know what info you gave when you registered. many of you use mail accounts that are untraceable. yet so many times people expect us to have more info than you used to register with.

    as stated the topic has been moved to somewhere to keep it. if copies are needed then they can be provided.

    wise up and protect yourselves we cant.

    we we have posted guides and warnings in most places but we can not do much more.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • nicklouse wrote:
    Plodder73 wrote:
    you know what info you gave when you registered. many of you use mail accounts that are untraceable.

    And did GEEKDAN...?

    Yes he might be untraceable, but I think the issue is the complete lack of interest from a moderator.

    A bit of empathy and the offer to check first might have worked wonders. :roll:
  • nicklouse wrote:
    Plodder73 wrote:
    you know what info you gave when you registered. many of you use mail accounts that are untraceable.

    And did GEEKDAN...?

    Yes he might be untraceable, but I think the issue is the complete lack of interest from a moderator.

    A bit of empathy and the offer to check first might have worked wonders. :roll:


    Well said
    Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!
  • nicklouse wrote:
    Plodder73 wrote:
    you know what info you gave when you registered. many of you use mail accounts that are untraceable.

    And did GEEKDAN...?

    Yes he might be untraceable, but I think the issue is the complete lack of interest from a moderator.

    A bit of empathy and the offer to check first might have worked wonders. :roll:


    Well said

    +1 to that. Even if everything Nicklouse says is correct, there have got to be better ways of saying it, particularly as no one above has blamed the site or its representatives for the OP being ripped off. Very poor attitude.
  • Velonutter
    Velonutter Posts: 2,437
    Lads,

    I posted This 7 months ago, it has only been read 500 times, perhaps everyone should read it before replying to an advert and completing a deal.

    If you are buying an expensive item over say £50 then make sure you get proof of their address and if they won't then walk away.

    New members who have just joined to advertise something you should always take precautions, be careful!

    If the OP needs a pdf of the advert then he only needs to let me know and I'll create a copy and email it to them.

    I've been scammed but have been lucky and got my money back because I followed some, simple things like making sure I was covered either by Credit Card, eBay, or PayPal.

    Please the harder we make it for someone to cheat us then the quicker these scammers will find somewhere else to try and scam and move on.
  • Thats all well and good Velonutter. The issue here is the moderators appalling attitude and total lack of interest.

    We are aware of the risks in distance buying but it would be good to know that when things do go wrong there are forum officials prepared to step up to the mark and offer advice and assistance.
    Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Thats all well and good Velonutter. The issue here is the moderators appalling attitude and total lack of interest.

    We are aware of the risks in distance buying but it would be good to know that when things do go wrong there are forum officials prepared to step up to the mark and offer advice and assistance.

    Careful, the rules expressly state that you can not discuss the way the Mods choose to work :wink:

    Th OP admits he made some mistakes and was not looking to sympathy, just a little assistance in trying to resolve this, I don't think a little help is out of the question :roll:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • This maybe a repeat of information but I remembered this thread from a while back where 'geekdan' was selling some other parts - might be worth contacting the guys who replied to see if anyone bought them. One of the guys was looking at collecting so he may have an address!

    http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:v894YExR1HgJ:www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D40092%26t%3D12935808+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

    Its cached content from google as the original thread has been deleted.

    Hope this helps! Good luck with getting your money back!
  • Pinkbike mods can provide IPs to police, which as far as I'm aware has helped trace scammers in the past (?) Also allows you to do an IP ban to help prevent (to some extent) the scammer just making a new account with the same computer.

    And, straight from a DC's mouth: “Despite the use of shared internet access or open wireless networks, law enforcement continues to have great success in resolving an IP address back to a suspect."

    So I'm not sure it was completely unreasonable for a member to suggest contacting the mods, despite what the rules say.
  • Hi,

    I can't help with the original problem, but the timing of this thread is very apt. Just to put the other side of the argument, I was scammed on a purchase earlier this month. The thread disappeared and I wrote a post asking for help from the mods. All I can say is that Velonutter was very helpful and I was given copies of both threads that the scammer used.

    I'm not trying to preach or teach, but the best piece of advice from the Classified FAQ's was to use a Paypal payment for Goods and Services, rather than a Paypal Gift. I hadn't even thought about it before, but it's worth re-iterating that there is NO protection when using Paypal Gift payments. The reason I said that this thread was very apt, is that I logged on to the forums today to say thanks the mods for their help. Also, I wanted to say that yesterday, having followed their advice to make Paypal payments for Goods and Services, I GOT ALL MY MONEY BACK! All £83:02 of it was refunded by Paypal yesterday. The original payment to the scammer was made on 4th September. I was only able to have the money refunded due to making a Paypal payments for Goods and Services.

    A very useful tool that I use to calculate Paypal payments when paying for goods is the Online Paypal Fee Calculator. This enables the purchaser to calculate the gross payment, such that the seller receives the agreed payment.

    FWIW................

    Cheers,

    Mark
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    Seemed a reasonable response to me.. Perhaps loan of a hankie or a nice cup of tea would have helped?
  • Murvis1er wrote:
    Pinkbike mods can provide IPs to police


    Looks like he's been selling stuff there too,

    http://www.pinkbike.com/u/geekdan/
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Murvis1er wrote:
    Pinkbike mods can provide IPs to police, which as far as I'm aware has helped trace scammers in the past (?) Also allows you to do an IP ban to help prevent (to some extent) the scammer just making a new account with the same computer.

    And, straight from a DC's mouth: “Despite the use of shared internet access or open wireless networks, law enforcement continues to have great success in resolving an IP address back to a suspect."

    So I'm not sure it was completely unreasonable for a member to suggest contacting the mods, despite what the rules say.

    The rules don't say you are not allowed to contact Mods, they say you can't be critical of what they do :wink:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • Ah ;)

    From a quick search Pinkbike mod "isaacschmidt" seems to be the man to contact. He's got the unfortunate job of tracking down/helping with scammers. Colinthecop's link suggests they've had problems with geekdan too...

    I wouldn't get your hopes up too much but it's definately worth a shot.

    His account's here: http://www.pinkbike.com/u/isaacschmidt/
    Mikey23 wrote:
    Seemed a reasonable response to me.. Perhaps loan of a hankie or a nice cup of tea would have helped?

    Maybe. I recon I'd appreciate that if I'd just lost £650, whether it was my own fault or not.
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Mikey23 wrote:
    Seemed a reasonable response to me.. Perhaps loan of a hankie or a nice cup of tea would have helped?

    I can loan out a hankie but only if you send me a deposit of £1,000 by bank transfer, once you return the hankie I'll return the money :P :lol:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • Velonutter
    Velonutter Posts: 2,437
    Thanks Marktabs,

    Not been a mod on here too long but I can tell you that the information you give when signing up is all that is available, i.e. email address, user-name, Name and your last known IP address, all of which can be false especially if you use a mobile phone for Internet access as your IP address can change all the time.

    If the OP contacts any of the Admins or Mods, then I'm sure they will happily provide details of the IP address used to sign up, similarly I can as mentioned earlier doing a .pdf of the advert and as Nick said it's been moved so that it is not auto pruned (deleted after expiry of a fixed period in time)

    I've just done a sale today and I provided the buyer my address, copy of a cheque so he can see I'm genuine, it made him feel comfortable with the sale as well. Simple thing and made the sale all the easier. 8)
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,921
    Several weeks ago, there was a thread on Bottom Bracket discussing the training or qualifications required to be a mod. I am pretty sure that it was established that there were none.
    Here we are able to contrast the response of two mods to the same query.
    The first response was dismissive.
    Re: Does Anyone Know The User GEEKDAN?

    by nicklouse » Mon Sep 16, 2013 4:55 pm
    arran77 wrote:
    Sorry to hear that, I assume you've contacted the site admin to see if they can help you?

    why what can we do? we have less info than you as a buyer should have.

    Whilst being factually accurate, it was no help whatsoever, just re-iterating the OP.

    Contrast that to the response of the second mod, Velonutter.
    Whilst not extensive, he listed the information that he had available to him and offered assistance to the OP. It may prove to be of no value at all, but at least he offered what assistance he could.

    Lesson learned?