Internet Scams with Simon's Trucks or R. Simon

[CountryFit]

wow the con man is quite revealing... thank you for the link.

[Wayne M]

Radar,
You have done well in your reporting. No one entity can investigate a single case, but if there are many cases they will look into it. You may never get your money back, but you may have peace of mind that the perpetrators are behind bars.

Good luck.

[George Lewis]

These have been great posts by all of you. I have picked up a little more info on scams. I live north of San Antonio and, as everywhere, autos and motorcycles are used often. Another dangerous area is a TV or iPad for sale on Craigslist and they want you to meet them in a shopping mall to exchange funds. If you get away with your life you are lucky.

If I don't get at least one offer to help some poor lady from Nigeria get her dead husband's money out of Africa and make $250,000 or so, I feel neglected. ha ha

[JohnT]

Had a fellow who was working as a bio engineer stationed on a boat at sea that wanted to buy my 5th wheeler for his dad in WA. He would pay my paypal account. He would schedule the transportation to be there when the payment was recieved. I checked with paypal and they could not verify his address.

I sent him a picture of my hand with 3 fingers extended. Ask if he could read between the lines. Funny, I never heard back from him.

Info posted on here forewarned of something not right.

[georgetown350]

If anyone is considering paying ahead of time ....... Don't!!!!!!!

[MartinP]

I have seen this before when a friend tried to purchase a Honda Goldwing with a price to good to be true over the internet on e-bay. I warned him to do his home work prior to sending the money. I did turn out to be a scam. There are some very nasty people out there. I hope all works out for you.

Martin.

[georgetown350]

Sorry if I seem repetitive. If you are buying privately there is never ever a need to even send a small amount of money. ( not even if its a dealer) Go see the RV first. They don't sell quickly so it will be there. You may think a 100 dollars isn't much of a risk but it is simply throwing money down the drain because these criminals will take a small deposit off as many people as they can sucker in. And on the flip side if you are selling your RV, never ever ever send money back to the buyer under any circumstances. Alot of crooks will send a very good counterfeit money order or certified cheque and ask you to deposit it in your bank account and then ask you to send some cash back for shipping. The cheque will bounce but not until after you have sent the crook his cash.

[Route 66]

I agree. Never send money.

Originally Posted by georgetown350

Sorry if I seem repetitive. If you are buying privately there is never ever a need to even send a small amount of money. ( not even if its a dealer) Go see the RV first. They don't sell quickly so it will be there. You may think a 100 dollars isn't much of a risk but it is simply throwing money down the drain because these criminals will take a small deposit off as many people as they can sucker in. And on the flip side if you are selling your RV, never ever ever send money back to the buyer under any circumstances. Alot of crooks will send a very good counterfeit money order or certified cheque and ask you to deposit it in your bank account and then ask you to send some cash back for shipping. The cheque will bounce but not until after you have sent the crook his cash.

[Lincolnboy2]

Originally Posted by radar4simons

I wish my bank would have alerted me to this potential fraud, but nobody said a thing. Thanks for all the posts. I sure wish I would have known about this website earlier. I have actually filed FBI reports in three states; filed a report with my local police and the police department in Victoria, TX; filed a report with Texas Atty General, and the FTC. My local police dept did the best they could, but they don't have jurisdiction in TX. Trying to get Texas PD to pick up their feet and investigate has been a waste of time. FBI says there's not enough $$ to warrant the resources....at this point, there's not much more I can do.

Wow. Radar, I'm so sorry this happened. Yet I can see how it could happen. I looked at that Amazon website and at first glance it looks legit. But I've been getting emails allegedly from big banks, Citibank, B of A, even Amex that are scams but they look legit when you first see them about updating personal information. There's a scammer/thief around every corner.


Thanks for sharing your story and I would sure like to hear you got all your money back. What a swindle! So much cash gone!

I'm feeling for you, and thanking you for sharing this story. I'd call 60 minutes or 20/20 and let them get hold of this story for sure.

[radar4simons]

Unfortunately we will probably not be trying to buy another RV until springtime. My husband and I were pretty shaken up about it. The real bummer is that we were pre-qualified for a $50,000 RV loan thru Essex credit and because of a refi on a rental property, we didn't want the loan to impact our credit and the refi, so I decided to pull money out of a 401(k) fully planning on returning the money in a month or so. Ouch!!! It's been a hell of a year so far, definitely looking to ringing in a New Year in a couple months. Thanks for your kind words, and obviously I'm not alone. In fact Lincolnboy2, I have already contacted ABC, NBC about perhaps doing a small bit on this scam. I may not be able to find him or get my money back, but the thought of this happening to someone else just fries me up inside. I already made a Facebook page. If you search for Simon's Trucks/Robert Simon Scam, you will see it. Again, spread the word to anyone who will listen about these scammers!!!!

[Lincolnboy2]

I will do and you know, those investigative news agencies can be pretty tenacious, especially if they can bring the Law on board and catch someboy, it makes for great ratings, AND might help get you as well. Lets hope (fingers crossed)

I WILL pass along this info to everyone I know.....

It is so hard to get to the point where you have a little money saved then for it to be stolen like that makes it all the worse. I sure feel for you.

Please keep us posted on the status of this.

[radar4simons]

Thank you and thanks to all for your wonderful thoughts. I will let you all know if I hear anything from any of the networks!!!

[Bumper]

The latest on Craigslist is by paying through Paypal. They send you a phony paypal email showing their payment is deposited and when you try and transfer the money it doesnt exist. I had my Goldwing motorcycle on Craigslist and all I received were these paypal scam responses.

[RustyJC]

Is THIS the dealership you dealt with?

Rusty