For Sale: Used BLP Scam Attempt

[Shankz]

I just wanted to pass along a scam that someone tried to pull on SideLineSwap for a Bushnell Launch Pro. He listed it for sale for 2000.00 and the location of Georgia with the user name being Basiladze9910. The unit was listed as barely used with a gold membership lasting till 10/24. I asked him several questions, one of them being does the unit have club data activated to which he answered yes. Something seemed a little too good to be true but seeing as how the deal was on SidelineSwap which I have used before I made an offer of 1750.00 which he accepted. 2 days later I received a tracking notice stating the package would arrive between 9am and 11am 5/13. Needless to say I was looking forward to getting the unit.

The morning of 5/13 arrived and things started going south. I checked the tracking number while doing some work in the yard and it showed that the package had been delivered but that the package was left at the front desk and signed for by Mike but no address was shown as to where it was delivered. I immediately messaged the seller via SidelineSwap about something being wrong and then got on the phone to UPS. I was informed that the package was to delivered to an address in the same town as me but I was not listed on the package as being the recipient. I also was told the address where the package originated from, which I googled and came up with the Amtrak Station in Atlanta Georgia. So I emailed SidelineSwap about what was going on, I also messaged the seller via SidelineSwap chat. The seller responded that the tracking number was incorrect and gave me a second tracking number which now showed the package to arrive on 5/17 before noon the twist now being the package was coming from California. The issue became that the 72 hours clock on SidelineSwap to release the money to the seller started ticking since the package was now listed as being delivered. If I did nothing and waited the money would have been released 5/16 because the seller did not have the listed changed to reflect that the package was still in transit. So I went to the SLS page and selected the option to dispute the transaction.

So now the seller starts messaging me and accusing me of trying to scam him and that he wants his money and he needs his money and why am I doing this? Please don’t scam him. The whole time I have been emailing SidelineSwap anytime I received any more information from the seller or from UPS. SidelineSwap emailed me and said that I had three options. The first was wait till the package arrived and see if it contained the launch monitor and accept it and release the funds. The second was to open the package and if it was not a launch monitor or if there was a problem with it, then I could request a refund. the third and final option was to refuse the package and have it sent back to the seller I had made up my mind to refuse the package. I called UPS to see if I could refuse the package while it was in transit. I gave the agent the tracking number and was told by UPS that the package associated with that number was not coming to my address and also that I was not the recipient listed on the package. I immediately emailed this information to SidelineSwap and I also messaged the seller about what UPS had told me. The seller proceeded to message me back saying that the first tracking number was correct and that the unit was delivered to my address and he wanted his money.

I was emailing SidelineSwap the entire time and I informed SidelineSwap that I was going to dispute the charge with PayPal and my credit card company. I started the claim with PayPal, giving them a description of what occurred and screenshots of the entire message session with the seller and emails from SidelineSwap. About an hour later I was notified by SidelineSwap that the transaction was canceled and also received verification from PayPal that the charge was refunded.

Like I said, in the beginning, this seemed a little too good to be true, and as it turns out that was the case. The only reason I attempted to purchase this BLP was because it was on SidelineSwap and I know there is buyer protection. If this had been some sort of private sale there is no way that I would have gone through with it because there was no way I could have protected my interests. After it was over, I tried to figure out how this person thought they could get away with this. I could not come up with anything other than the fact that the person is stupid or was hoping that I was even stupider than he was. What I did find to be very curious though is how this seller was able to get 2 tracking numbers for 2 different packages coming to my town. I am sorry that this is so long and confusing, but I wanted to get the message out there of this type of a scam. Right after all this was over I went on a simulator message board and someone had made a post about purchasing a BLP from Facebook marketplace for the same amount of money coming from the same initial location as the one I tried to buy. I related my some of my experience in this case to that person because I do not want to see anybody get taken advantage of and get ripped off.

[Hannaford]

I just wanted to pass along a scam that someone tried to pull on SideLineSwap for a Bushnell Launch Pro. He listed it for sale for 2000.00 and the location of Georgia with the user name being Basiladze9910. The unit was listed as barely used with a gold membership lasting till 10/24. I asked him several questions, one of them being does the unit have club data activated to which he answered yes. Something seemed a little too good to be true but seeing as how the deal was on SidelineSwap which I have used before I made an offer of 1750.00 which he accepted. 2 days later I received a tracking notice stating the package would arrive between 9am and 11am 5/13. Needless to say I was looking forward to getting the unit.

The morning of 5/13 arrived and things started going south. I checked the tracking number while doing some work in the yard and it showed that the package had been delivered but that the package was left at the front desk and signed for by Mike but no address was shown as to where it was delivered. I immediately messaged the seller via SidelineSwap about something being wrong and then got on the phone to UPS. I was informed that the package was to delivered to an address in the same town as me but I was not listed on the package as being the recipient. I also was told the address where the package originated from, which I googled and came up with the Amtrak Station in Atlanta Georgia. So I emailed SidelineSwap about what was going on, I also messaged the seller via SidelineSwap chat. The seller responded that the tracking number was incorrect and gave me a second tracking number which now showed the package to arrive on 5/17 before noon the twist now being the package was coming from California. The issue became that the 72 hours clock on SidelineSwap to release the money to the seller started ticking since the package was now listed as being delivered. If I did nothing and waited the money would have been released 5/16 because the seller did not have the listed changed to reflect that the package was still in transit. So I went to the SLS page and selected the option to dispute the transaction.

So now the seller starts messaging me and accusing me of trying to scam him and that he wants his money and he needs his money and why am I doing this? Please don’t scam him. The whole time I have been emailing SidelineSwap anytime I received any more information from the seller or from UPS. SidelineSwap emailed me and said that I had three options. The first was wait till the package arrived and see if it contained the launch monitor and accept it and release the funds. The second was to open the package and if it was not a launch monitor or if there was a problem with it, then I could request a refund. the third and final option was to refuse the package and have it sent back to the seller I had made up my mind to refuse the package. I called UPS to see if I could refuse the package while it was in transit. I gave the agent the tracking number and was told by UPS that the package associated with that number was not coming to my address and also that I was not the recipient listed on the package. I immediately emailed this information to SidelineSwap and I also messaged the seller about what UPS had told me. The seller proceeded to message me back saying that the first tracking number was correct and that the unit was delivered to my address and he wanted his money.

I was emailing SidelineSwap the entire time and I informed SidelineSwap that I was going to dispute the charge with PayPal and my credit card company. I started the claim with PayPal, giving them a description of what occurred and screenshots of the entire message session with the seller and emails from SidelineSwap. About an hour later I was notified by SidelineSwap that the transaction was canceled and also received verification from PayPal that the charge was refunded.

Like I said, in the beginning, this seemed a little too good to be true, and as it turns out that was the case. The only reason I attempted to purchase this BLP was because it was on SidelineSwap and I know there is buyer protection. If this had been some sort of private sale there is no way that I would have gone through with it because there was no way I could have protected my interests. After it was over, I tried to figure out how this person thought they could get away with this. I could not come up with anything other than the fact that the person is stupid or was hoping that I was even stupider than he was. What I did find to be very curious though is how this seller was able to get 2 tracking numbers for 2 different packages coming to my town. I am sorry that this is so long and confusing, but I wanted to get the message out there of this type of a scam. Right after all this was over I went on a simulator message board and someone had made a post about purchasing a BLP from Facebook marketplace for the same amount of money coming from the same initial location as the one I tried to buy. I related my some of my experience in this case to that person because I do not want to see anybody get taken advantage of and get ripped off.

Unfortunately, this is a known scam. The electronic bay uses the same adjudication for delivery: any tracking number with delivery to the same city as your home address is sufficient for confirmation and YOU end up having to prove to them that it's a scam. They may ask for letterhead from UPS stating it was not delivered to the correct address, but UPS will not provide said written documentation. Scammers exploit this loophole for high dollar items.

[UnderPar]

Shankz Thanks for sharing your story. The world is full of people looking to take advantage of others hard work. I hope that this helps prevent someone else from being scammed. So glad you were able to cancel the transaction.