Official Luthiers Forum!

I put a bid on ebay for an old martin custom shop guitar with brazilian back and sides. I got out bid but apparently a scammer went through the bidders list and contacted me through ebay saying:

"dear sir my name is Ionel and i have for sale the same model at a lower price.The unit is brand new in his sealed box.So if you are intrested and you have more questions just reply back at this email. I wait for your email soon"

Well, the guitar is a custom shop guitar and it hasn't been made in years yet its still in "his" sealed box? Someone orders a custom shop guitar from martin and never takes it out of the box? Like John and Hank, I am playing along here. I told him I want to see the guitar and asked where Ionel is located. He said Colorado. My reply was fantastic! I am in Colorado for work and just hit big at the Indian Casino so I have a lot of extra cash right now my girlfriend would never know about. he gave me a song and dance about why I couldn't come meet him and why do i need to meet.

I told him that I got ripped off once and was totally out of the money I spent. I said I got ripped off a second time except I met the guy selling. When I confronted him for my money back, he said all sales were final. So, I told this Ionel, I do not take kindly to being scammed so I went out to my car and when i got back, broke the guys legs with a pipe. When I came back a second time for my money back, can you believe he said no again! Well, 1 broken arm later he finally gave me half of my money back. I told him at some point I would be back for the other half.

I said meeting would be beneficial for both because if I buy from you and I get scammed, if you see me coming, you have a chance to run. Now, of course I trust you because you did contact me through ebay and I know you can't scam them.

He hasn't written back in days

[QUOTE=FrankC]He hasn't written back in days [/QUOTE]

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Next time just tell him you carry a .45 to resolve all scam issues!

When I see scams like these, I can't believe that there are actually people in this world who are stupid enough to try this. However, apparently there are also people in this same world just as stupid as to fall for said scams. Otherwise, they wouldn't waste what precious few brain cells they must have in order to concoct (emphasis on CON) such loony operations!

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DES - Shepherd, MI

I love the way you guys handle these scammers!
If I ever have someone try to pull some crap like that on me I’m going to have to think up something good.

I am in th eprocess of playing along with another based on teh same auction for the custom guitar. apparently, there are hundreds out there. This one is a lady who, even though the auction said PA, says she is in italy for a while and the guitar is with her. she said I could have the $18,000 guiatr for $250. Yes, $250. I told her I western unioned the money and its stuck at western union. I gave my mailing address as Crater Lake, Msrs, USA and she/he didn't even question it. Now I am stringing this "woman" along trying to get a picture because i told her since she is from PA and so am I, we can be "friends".

It is sad that people must really fall for these scams or else they wouldn't be doing it. hard to believe how stupid people are