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It has come to our attention that some overseas scammers have been responding to posts in the Wanted forum on Leatherworker.net. This is a matter of concern because it involves financial loss by some of our members. Here's how the scam works. A member of the forum creates a post stating the are looking to buy a particular item that other members may be willing to part with. Sometime later, a new member responds stating that they or their friend has that very item for sale. They post an email address to contact them, or the friend who has the item. They may also use our private message system and invite you to send them a message if you are interested. This is how buying and selling usually works. So, what makes this a scam? It may or may not be a scam, but, there are telltale signs that it is. They include, but are not limited to the following things to look out for before you respond. The person replying is a new member with only one, or a few posts, and all are in response to posts for items wanted. They list an email address that contains the words "mask" and/or "luca." at gmail, or another freemail service. Example: maskluca9@gmail.com. They have the email address: lupodsblumqt2267@gmail.com They mention a friend you should contact that contains the name "cherry," or "padcherry," , or the email address: padcherry98@gmail.com They may post a photo of the item they claim to have. If you look closely it turns out to be a stock photo from a dealer's website, or even from a previous ad from another member who was selling it previously. If you ask for close-ups and different views, they can't provide them in a timely manner. This is because they don't actually possess the item. They ask for payment via Western Union, Bitcoin, or prepaid money cards (aka: gift cards). These types of payment cannot be traced to the person cashing them out. Your money is irreversibly gone if you pay with any service like these. The scammers sign up under various aliases, but will usually list a location in the same country you live in when they reply to your post. For instance, the last one I terminated listed his address in Texas, in the USA. But, his normally hidden IP address showed otherwise. This is not normal. Since only moderators can see the IP addresses of posters, I encourage you to notify a moderator is you receive a suspicious reply to a post for an item for sale or an item wanted. The sooner we learn about forum scammers, the sooner we can block them from posting here.