# SCAM ALERT



## scalpel_ninja (Oct 21, 2022)

User @fordcappy has likely been hacked and/or is a scammer.

This their current for sale listing.

This is the original post and image sources.

Please be aware there are three more listings for a Surefire U2 Porcupine, McGizmo, and Aviator from the same user in rapid succession. The seller has contacted @experimentjon for payment, asking for Venmo FF. All threads have been locked by the seller and prices are rapidly dropping to likely try to catch a victim.


----------



## thermal guy (Oct 21, 2022)

No way that hds SS was 300 bucks. 😁


----------



## jonathannnc (Oct 21, 2022)

I felt I had seen those photos of that rotary before. And at such a low price! Thanks for attention to detail man!


----------



## Kid9P (Oct 21, 2022)

Damn, I had some serious thoughts about buying that McGizmo. Thank goodness I didn’t pull the trigger 😳


----------



## experimentjon (Oct 21, 2022)

Guys...I was so close to having a stainless rotary at a good price! Too bad the scammer had only 4 friends on Venmo, and payments in the last 2 hours for "North Central Kansas Teens for Christ", "Molly", "Half of Firewood", "Refund <3" (as a charge and not a payment)...

TBH, the red flags and catching it early was better than having to work through PayPal/Venmo's fund recovery over X number of days if I had actually sent as G&S and got scammed.

Stay vigilant out there!


----------



## scalpel_ninja (Oct 21, 2022)

Prove it before you send it. Write your username on a slip of paper with today’s date and take a new photo of the light with that piece of paper. Post the photo here.

Unlock your other three listings. If you have nothing to hide, there is no need to lock listings. Post the same timestamp photos with your username and date next to each of those items as well.


----------



## RPC (Oct 21, 2022)

I sent this person $315 for the SS HDS. 

Not the most expensive life lesson I’ve had but stings for a Friday afternoon.


----------



## jonathannnc (Oct 21, 2022)

RPC said:


> I sent this person $315 for the SS HDS.
> 
> Not the most expensive life lesson I’ve had but stings for a Friday afternoon.


Sorry to hear that man.


----------



## ilikeguns40 (Oct 21, 2022)

RPC said:


> I sent this person $315 for the SS HDS.
> 
> Not the most expensive life lesson I’ve had but stings for a Friday
> 
> ...


----------



## thermal guy (Oct 21, 2022)

Ya that’s a 600-700 dollar light got to think stuff through.


----------



## thermal guy (Oct 21, 2022)

RPC said:


> I sent this person $315 for the SS HDS.
> 
> Not the most expensive life lesson I’ve had but stings for a Friday afternoon.


That sucks man. Sorry.


----------



## RPC (Oct 21, 2022)

Eh, on the phone with my bank. Hopefully there’s recourse.

Again, at $315 it’s a rather inexpensive life lesson. Glad they didn’t list it for more because they’d have gotten a couple hundred more out of me. 

Honestly can't say I've ever been scammed like this and I have maybe a couple hundred similar B/S/T transactions…


----------



## ilikeguns40 (Oct 21, 2022)

Kid9P said:


> Damn, I had some serious thoughts about buying that McGizmo. Thank goodness I didn’t pull the trigger 😳


Here’s that same McGizmo listing on eBay.

From my research. Definitely a scammer. Looks to be saving images of other listings on eBay. Everything he has for sale was copied images from eBay listings

I could be wrong, who knows. Seems strange. Hopefully we get some clarification 

Listing


----------



## RPC (Oct 21, 2022)

@fordcappy (the poster in question) reacts to my story in this thread…

If this is you @fordcappy, please post a pic of the insert you told me through PM you had for the item, would love to clear this up:


----------



## fordcappy (Oct 21, 2022)

RPC said:


> @fordcappy (the poster in question) reacts to my story I’m this thread…
> 
> If this is you @fordcappy, please post a pic of the insert you told me through PM you had for the item, would love to clear this up:
> 
> View attachment 33827


I am not at home right now. Of course I will send it when I get home


----------



## RPC (Oct 21, 2022)

fordcappy said:


> I am not at home right now. Of course I will send it when I get home



If I actually receive this light, I will eat my hat.


----------



## fordcappy (Oct 21, 2022)

When you receive the shipment, I will expect eat hat video from you.


----------



## bigburly912 (Oct 21, 2022)

You aren’t getting your shipment. When I got scammed by Nindabews account the person had actually taken the time to learn a little bit and brought something up that we had talked about. They are clever, everyone needs to put on 2 way authentication. It’s aggravating but it helps.


----------



## scalpel_ninja (Oct 21, 2022)

LOL the seller is deleting posts. Right before my response in #6, they called me crazy and said they sent it already. Now their response to @RPC is they will send it when they get home. So which is it?

Just so nothing will be lost, here’s a screen cap of their most recent response.

I’ve seen @fordcappy ’s listings before, English seemed good/fluent. Somehow their grammar became terrible recently. 😂


----------



## RPC (Oct 21, 2022)

Not implying any responsibility whatsoever, but I’ve reported several messages plus the posting...

Where are the mods in all of this?


----------



## badtziscool (Oct 21, 2022)

I’ll call this one out as well. Fordcappy’s account probably was compromised. All sales posts uses pics that belong to someone else or some other site.









SUREFIRE U2 PORCUPINE made in the USA. • $465.00


SUREFIRE U2 PORCUPINE made in the USA. - $465.00. FOR SALE! [email protected]@k the Pictures before buy it! 265875070893




picclick.com










Sold/Expired - HDS rotary stainless * SOLD*


Hey all up for sale is one of those beast of metal Stainless HDS rotaries. Yes I’m letting mines go got some stuff to take care of so since it’s not getting carried as much as I like I’ll give you all the chance to own one. I did pocket carry it. Never has been dropped. Has some swirls on the...




www.candlepowerforums.com


----------



## badtziscool (Oct 21, 2022)

McGizmo McLux TK #346 circa 2003 Torch Flashlight EDC SUPER RARE | eBay


Up for sale is a used but in practically like new condition super rare McGizmo McLux TK serial #346 from back in 2003. Electroless nickel plated, mineral glass lens, Kroll switch, Luxeon Star LED, McFlood reflector.



www.ebay.com


----------



## teak (Oct 21, 2022)

Hasnt ford cappy been around awhile? Seems like I have seen his name for years?


----------



## Chauncey Gardiner (Oct 21, 2022)

teak said:


> Hasnt ford cappy been around awhile? Seems like I have seen his name for years?


 
I'd bet real money this isn't our fordcappy. There's no way he broke bad. 🧐


----------



## RPC (Oct 21, 2022)

Chauncey Gardiner said:


> I'd bet real money this isn't our fordcappy. There's no way he broke bad. 🧐


Great minds…







SMH


----------



## knucklegary (Oct 21, 2022)

Sneaky little ba$tard's.. I'd like a couple minutes alone with the rip-off!


----------



## scalpel_ninja (Oct 22, 2022)

What I find fascinating is why the scammer even tries to explain him/herself, even after being called out with concrete proof the photos were reused and the listing is bogus.

I hope @RPC gets the money back and the scammer gets whatever comes to those who act in sub-human ways.


----------



## RPC (Oct 22, 2022)

scalpel_ninja said:


> What I find fascinating is why the scammer even tries to explain him/herself, even after being called out with concrete proof the photos were reused and the listing is bogus.
> 
> I hope @RPC gets the money back and the scammer gets whatever comes to those who act in sub-human ways.



I am equally baffled. This person- whoever it is- has taken similar liberties in the PMs between us that led to my poor decision of the week.

I paid through the Zelle function within my banking app, which provides the only glimmer of hope here. That plus the .01% chance the real @fordcappy bumped his head real hard recently and is _actually_ offering these items with an explainable backstory to the photo cross posting.

Edit:
Credit to @scalpel_ninja for posting this Scam Alert in the first place. Otherwise I would likely be blissfully unaware of the tragedy I had already walked into.


----------



## kerneldrop (Oct 22, 2022)

RPC said:


> That plus the .01% chance the real @fordcappy bumped his head real hard recently and is _actually_ offering these items with an explainable backstory to the photo cross posting.



Someone would have to bump their head real hard to sell a $700 HDS SS for $300.


----------



## Mister Ed (Oct 22, 2022)

RPC said:


> Not implying any responsibility whatsoever, but I’ve reported several messages plus the posting...
> 
> Where are the mods in all of this?


We have suggested all users use 2 Step verification on their account.

On ever message via the PM System there is a box:


> Warning!
> *Never send money to someone you don't know. Only use buyer protected methods of payments.*
> Please use the report button for any unusual activity!


From that @RPC you have been the only person to report the messages. We have locked the account, and required the user to reset their password via the last known email address.


----------



## RPC (Oct 22, 2022)

Thank you, @Mister Ed.

For anyone interested, I’ll circle back here when I get a final ruling from my bank (the odds are not in my favor, yet they’re still odds). 

And let me serve as an example of the value of this advice:


----------



## Mister Ed (Oct 22, 2022)

Also posted this, as another reminder.


https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/general-guide-how-to-protect-yourself-from-scammers.481050/


----------



## Chauncey Gardiner (Oct 23, 2022)

The real fordcappy reached out to me on Flashlight Fanatics. I purchased a light from him a while back, so we already had a private message thread started. He's attempting to contact CPF management.


----------



## Rmb (Oct 24, 2022)

RPC said:


> I sent this person $315 for the SS HDS.
> 
> Not the most expensive life lesson I’ve had but stings for a Friday afternoon.


Sorry to hear about this. I usually do a reverse image search if im worried about a seller. I’ve caught one here doing it. Goodluck


----------



## RPC (Oct 24, 2022)

Rmb said:


> Sorry to hear about this. I usually do a reverse image search if im worried about a seller. I’ve caught one here doing it. Goodluck



This is a great idea. One of several things I’ll do differently in the future…


----------



## bigburly912 (Oct 24, 2022)

They do everything they can to convince you because when the post hasn’t been taken down yet and they may be able to sucker more people in to buying. Like what happened last time. 4 or 5 of us paid for the same light.


----------



## Kid9P (Oct 24, 2022)

Rmb said:


> Sorry to hear about this. I usually do a reverse image search if im worried about a seller. I’ve caught one here doing it. Goodluck


How does one go about doing that?


----------



## troutpool (Oct 24, 2022)

"Reverse image searching 101
On a desktop, computer reverse image search is simple. Just go to images.google.com and click on the little camera icon in the search bar. Now you can either paste in the URL for an image you've seen online, upload an image from your hard drive, or drag an image into the search box." From Mashable.


----------



## nbp (Oct 24, 2022)

This is happening like crazy on Bladeforums too; the exact same thing. Someone hacks an established user's account and sells stuff they don't have and disappears. It sucks. When a couple of us got scammed like this here a while back I hammered my Credit Card company with several calls and they eventually took it off my statement as a fraudulent charge.


----------



## Kid9P (Oct 24, 2022)

troutpool said:


> "Reverse image searching 101
> On a desktop, computer reverse image search is simple. Just go to images.google.com and click on the little camera icon in the search bar. Now you can either paste in the URL for an image you've seen online, upload an image from your hard drive, or drag an image into the search box." From Mashable.


Sweet! Thanks


----------



## fordcappy (Oct 27, 2022)

Hi everyone, This is Stef the real fordcappy. I have control of my account again, not sure how my account was taken over there then what I assume is the obvious guessing of the password. That has been fixed with a strong password. I do not have any other info on what was going on other then now reading this thread and private conversations (not really from me) with other members on selling lights. Breaks me heart to see this happened. Sorry to see all this.


----------



## RPC (Oct 27, 2022)

fordcappy said:


> Hi everyone, This is Stef the real fordcappy. I have control of my account again, not sure how my account was taken over there then what I assume is the obvious guessing of the password. That has been fixed with a strong password. I do not have any other info on what was going on other then now reading this thread and private conversations (not really from me) with other members on selling lights. Breaks me heart to see this happened. Sorry to see all this.


No apologies needed, @therealfordcappy.

Glad to hear you got your account straightened out!


----------



## Monocrom (Oct 27, 2022)

scalpel_ninja said:


> User @fordcappy has likely been hacked and/or is a scammer.
> 
> This their current for sale listing.
> 
> ...


Appreciate the heads-up. Thank you.


----------

