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  Geebo 9:43 am on August 2, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Dallas ( 3 ), Duglas Ramirez-Mendez, murder ( 9 ), OfferUp   

  Dallas man killed during alleged OfferUp robbery 

  

  Once again, we are saddened to bring you the story of another tragic loss of life. This past Saturday, Duglas Ramirez-Mendez of Dallas, Texas, was shot and killed while trying to sell his car on the classifieds app OfferUp. Mr. Ramirez-Mendez was said to have been trading his Ford Mustang to someone with a Chevy Camaro and would also give the seller of the Camaro $9,000. Tragically, the Camaro never existed and was only used to lure Mr. Ramirez-Mendez into a robbery.

  Instead of meeting a car seller, a teen approached Mr. Ramirez-Mendez and shot him while the victim sat in his car. An accomplice of the alleged gunman claims he had a feeling that the gunman was going to rob Mr. Ramirez-Mendez since the gunman had no car of his own to trade. The gunman and his accomplice have both been charged with capital murder. Sadly, this comes just two months after the Dallas Police and OfferUp announced safe exchange zones at the Dallas Police Department.

  As we’ve said too many times in the past when a senseless loss of life such as Mr. Ramirez-Mendez’s murder occurs, meeting someone in a public place during the day just isn’t enough anymore when it comes to keeping yourself safe. As shown above, criminals have become much to brazen in their attempts to rob potential victims of their money. Always insist on meeting at your local police station especially when a high-dollar transaction like this is set to take place.

  Our condolences go out to Mr. Ramirez-Mendez’s friends and family.

   

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  Geebo 9:00 am on July 13, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: AIM Group ( 5 ), OfferUp, SafeTrade ( 5 )   

  OfferUp teams with AIM Group to bring SafeTradeSpots to users. Welcome to the club. 

  

  Yesterday, it was announced that marketplace app OfferUp is partnering with industry watchdog AIM Group to launch a new website. SafeTradeSpots.com shows a national database of police and sheriff’s departments that have authorized their locations as safe meeting places for online transactions. It’s good to see OfferUp taking this step into user safety considering when you look up OfferUp on YouTube, this is the first video that comes up in the search.

  While we’re glad to see OfferUp start to take its users’ safety more seriously, we here at Geebo can’t help but pat ourselves on the back a little. Back in 2015, Geebo CEO Greg Collier recognized the need for locations where classifieds transactions that require a face to face meeting can be conducted safely. That’s why every Geebo ad contains a link to AIM Group’s SafeTrade Stations that lists a multitude of safe transaction zones all across the country.

  While we’re not in any way trying to take credit for OfferUp’s new safety initiative, we do like to think that Geebo is an industry leader when it comes to user safety. Not only does Gebbo review every ad for potential safety hazards but we constantly strive to educate our users on new and developing risks that are constantly evolving on less concerned sites like craigslist. We take our motto of being the safe community classifieds very seriously and continue to set the bar for safer online classifieds.

   
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  Geebo 9:06 am on May 30, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: OfferUp, Oregon ( 4 ), prepaid VISA card ( 2 ), robbery ( 11 ), stun gun   

  Bizarre OfferUp robbery in Oregon 

  

  A man and a girl were violently robbed in Tualatin, Oregon, after responding to an OfferUp ad for two cell phones. The buyers were instructed to bring the money in the form of a $1200 prepaid VISA card. When the card wouldn’t work the buyers and sellers went to a grocery store to try and withdraw money from the card which also didn’t work for some reason. Usually, when it comes to transactions like this through marketplace apps, prepaid VISA cards are used more for over the phone type scams.

  Possibly out of frustration, the sellers allegedly used a stun gun on the man and held the girl at knifepoint robbing them of whatever possessions the buyers had on them. At the time of this post, the suspects have yet to be apprehended. There was obviously some malice of forethought here since the sellers ended up robbing the buyers, but there were some red flags that something was not right with this proposed transaction.

  First off, anytime someone gives some kind of prerequisite on how they want to receive payment in a face to face transaction, there’s probably a scam in play especially when it comes to any type of prepaid VISA or gift card. Secondly, you should never travel to a secondary location on anyone’s insistence. Thieves usually use this tactic to get their victims away from the public eye and have resulted in tragic consequences. Lastly, meeting in a public place just isn’t the safeguard it once was as scammers and thieves have become increasingly bolder in recent years when it comes to their crimes. You should always insist on meeting at a police station as more police departments are encouraging people to use their monitored parking lots and lobbies as meeting places for these kinds of transactions. If the person you’re dealing with doesn’t want to meet their then more than likely they’re up to some kind of scheme where you could lose your money, be hurt, or worse.

   
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  Geebo 9:29 am on May 7, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: florida ( 30 ), OfferUp, scam ( 22 ), used car ( 34 )   

  Elaborate used car scam hits OfferUp 

  

  The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) recently released a report detailing a used car scam that has unfolded in Florida. In Daytona Beach, a man found himself out of $20,000 after purchasing a vehicle through the marketplace app OfferUp. The lengths to which the scammer went to can almost be seen as ingenious if they weren’t so contemptible.

  After the man purchased the truck he took the title to the Florida DMV who told him the title was a fake. The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) came back to a truck of similar make and model that was being sold on a car dealer’s lot in California. After contacting police, investigators found there had been three different VIN plates glued to the car. To make matters even worse, police found a GPS tracking device inside the vehicle. Investigators suspect the scammer was tracking the vehicle to try to steal it and resell it.

  Any worthwhile classifieds app or website will have the VIN included in the ad for the car. For example, Geebo vehicle ads require a VIN to be placed with the ad. This way a consumer can check it with one of the many services that provide a car’s history. And as always, if a deal sounds too good to be true it probably is.

   
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  Geebo 9:35 am on May 4, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: eBay ( 16 ), OfferUp, shipping ( 5 )   

  OfferUp to take on eBay with new feature 

  

  Marketplace app OfferUp has found some success since they first launched. While their platform hasn’t been trouble-free due to a number of robberies and a handful of murders, they feel successful enough in their endeavors to take on a much bigger company in eBay. Recently, OfferUp announced a new feature where users can advertise their items nationally if they’re willing to ship it across the country.

  This is actually a pretty good idea as the new feature can expand a user’s customer base and since it appears to only accept payment through credit or debit cards it avoids the phony check scam that has plagued craigslist through the years. However, that’s not to say that OfferUp’s new business plan isn’t without its drawbacks.

  The first problem is that in a world where many users have Amazon Prime accounts will customers be willing to pay for shipping when they get it free through Amazon. The second problem is funding. OfferUp has been very tight-lipped when it comes to their financial status. While they have raised millions of dollars through angel investing, no one seems to know if OfferUp is turning a profit or not. While on the surface this feature seems designed to put some money in OfferUp’s coffers, will it be enough to sustain them in the long run, or will they become yet another story of a failed startup that relied to heavy on venture capitalists?

   
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  Geebo 10:09 am on January 17, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: check scam ( 79 ), Nebraska ( 4 ), OfferUp   

  The phony check scam revisited 

  

  A man from Grand Island, Nebraska, has found himself out of over $500 after falling for one of the oldest scams that has been taking place on sites like craigslist almost since the beginning. The victim was trying to sell a piece of furniture on OfferUp and received a cashier’s check for $2000 more than the asking price. That should have been the first red flag indicating that this may have been a scam.

  The buyer asked the man to deposit the check and wire the difference back to them. The man followed the instructions and thought he was in the clear. However, days after he deposited the check, it came back as fraudulent. His bank is now holding him responsible for the $2000 he withdrew from the bank on a phony check. Sadly, this is an all too common occurrence.

  Stories like this show that there needs to be constant reminders of this scam and its ilk. If a buyer sends you a cashier check, be suspicious, and if it’s over the agreed upon amount it’s definitely a scam. Also, wiring money to anyone that you don’t know personally is always a recipe for disaster as the scammers could be somewhere where apprehension and prosecution is almost impossible.

   
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  Geebo 10:31 am on January 5, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 129 ), OfferUp, stolen goods ( 3 )   

  What to do when your stolen stuff shows up online 

  

  For some reason, the media loves to glorify stories about ordinary citizens who get their stolen goods back when they show up on places like craigslist or OfferUp. A majority of the time the stories are about bicycles because its something that the original owner can just ride away on once they locate it and meet the thief. Here’s an example.

  The problem is with these kind of homemade stings is that they can easily go wrong. For instance, two people in the Dallas, Texas area are dead after a man found his stolen camera on OfferUp. He confronted the seller and was able to get his camera back, however, an argument ensued which resulted in gunfire being exchanged. Tragically, both the man and the alleged thief were killed.

  Both craigslist and OfferUp are notorious for thieves trying to sell stolen goods on their platforms. If something of yours is stolen in any kind of burglary it’s a great idea to look on these platforms for your items. However, under no circumstances should you approach these thieves on your own. Always notify your local law enforcement. They may not work at the speed you wish they would. They may not even be able to get your stuff back, but no gadget or bicycle or any other material good is worth putting your life in mortal danger.

   
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  Geebo 10:01 am on December 29, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: LetGo ( 10 ), merger, OfferUp, startup ( 4 )   

  What the Letgo/OfferUp merger story could really mean 

  

  The online classifieds industry has been abuzz lately with the story of a potential merger between classifieds apps LetGo and OfferUp as reported by Recode. While the talks never went past the approaching stage, Recode seems to think that a merger of the two or an acquisition of OfferUp by LetGo could be inevitable. However, if a merger were to take place, would the emerging business be a successful one?

  According to Recode, the financial situations of either company doesn’t appear to be too rosy. OfferUp has had trouble raising a new round of Funding while LetGo is still focused on building a userbase. If both companies were to merge at present, it seems like it would not benefit either company, leaving the merged company with razor-thin profit shares if any.

  The problem with companies like this are the same ones that many tech start-ups have. Instead of trying to succeed with their own vision, many tech start-ups are simply looking to be bought out by a much larger and successful brand. Since LetGo and OfferUp have had no offers by their bigger competitors they may be looking to consolidate in order to simply keep their heads above water.

   
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  Geebo 10:08 am on December 6, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: counterfeit goods ( 12 ), iPhone ( 15 ), OfferUp, scam ( 22 )   

  Beware the phony iPhone X 

  

  Since the iPhone X has been released it has been touted by some in the Apple ecosystem as the greatest cell phone ever invented, while others have said the iPhone 8 is an upgrade enough. However, if you find yourself in the market for an iPhone X, you should be on the lookout for phony knock off versions of the popular phone being sold online.

  One man in Chandler, Arizona, fell victim to one of these knock offs. He purchased the phone from someone on the OfferUp app. The seller had a good reputation on OfferUp which could possibly lead one to believe that seller reviews on OfferUp could be faked. The box was sealed, the package had a serial number and an IMEI number which was said to have been verified. The man paid under the list price of $1000 which should have been a tip-off. No one is selling an iPhone X at a loss. The scam became obvious when the man fired up the phone and an Android prompt greeted him. Android is the Google made operating system used by most phones that aren’t iPhones, while iPhones use Apple’s iOS. These knock off phones have been around even before the iPhone X was released.

  While OfferUp has removed the alleged seller from their app, what’s stopping them from creating a new account to start the scam all over again? As slick and glitzy as the OfferUp app might be it still seems to have the same old problems like the antiquated craigslist, rampant crime and scams galore. The more things change the more they stay the same.

   
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  Geebo 9:01 am on November 1, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 129 ), LetGo ( 10 ), murder ( 9 ), OfferUp, robbery ( 11 ), shooting ( 4 )   

  Particularly violent month for classifieds 

  

  The month of October was pretty brutal month for the users of classifieds websites and apps. A few of the stories that stood out were the murder of a former policeman and the shooting of a newlywed couple. All the victims believed they were meeting someone to buy or sell something through online classifieds, but instead lost either life or limb.

  It started with a robbery turned murder in Mesa, Arizona, when a man was shot and killed by someone posing as a person who was selling a high-end laptop on OfferUp. That was followed up by the murder of a former Tennessee policeman who thought he was meeting someone to buy his car from craigslist. Bizarrely, an armed robbery set up through LetGo took place at the same site where the officer was killed. Then the month ended up with a newlywed couple from Virgina, being shot and maimed during an OfferUp meeting.

  A number of these transactions took place in broad daylight in public places;. That doesn’t matter anymore as criminals have adapted to the old suggested safety precautions that used to go towards keeping people safe. The best way to keep yourself safe is to insist on making the transaction at a local police station. Many police stations now welcome these transactions so they can be completed in a safe environment.