Read your post...you already know the answers to your questions.
-Mike

100% a scam and he never had the machine...

Here is proof.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive/52839

This image is lifted from a 2017 Pinside for sale ad. Do not give any money in any way. You are out $100. Sorry.

scam (resized).png

Well, his profile page definitely seems to "new" and lacking to be legitimate in today's day and age. Photos dont seem to match up and the oldest is from july.

Zero friends too which is weird, and the only person that liked his profile pic was himself lol.

I'd say where it says fishing as an interest on his profile is true....fishing for your money.

Yep, photoshopped. They are getting better and better.

Looks right it... I'm posting this up in the "don't get scammed thread" now. Read this.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/attention-don-t-get-scammed

The domain for the delta movers site was created in may 2020.

https://whois.domaintools.com/deltamoversworldwide.com

The website text is kind of broken and unfinished too.

It looks like a scam site to me.

Actually, if you know what you're doing, it's pretty easy to do all that. A few hours of work and $20. Even if just one person gets scammed, it's a pretty good return, which is why scammers do it.

How did you send the $100? It might be possible to reverse it.

You did well ClaytonsCorner you listened to your gut and saved yourself a lot of heartache and cash.

that sucks, sorry about the $100

U got scammed must be same guy who tried same thing with me and a taxi at least it was only hundred bucks

I would actually hold Facebook responsible call them and tell them u got scammed by one of their “legit” users and want ur money back . That weird ceo guy can afford To pay u back

That sucks but just be glad it was only $100. It could have been way worse. I’d take it as a lesson learned and move on. I’m sorry you had that experience.

$100 is dirt cheap for a life lesson.

The best move now is not obsess over it and block all contact with this person.

Buy your first machine locally. Every legit ad on Facebook and Craigslist has dozens of inquiries within an hour of its posting so nobody is going to hassle with shipping when they can sell local.

Scam Tucker.

Suck. I’m
Sorry that happened.

Thank your stars you lost nothing more.

On the positive side you have saved the rest of us from the Evil Sam Tucker.
Now we all know he is a crook.

First lesson learned, cash on the glass only for a buy.

Don't cut corners, buy from a reputable dealer in your area and pay retail price if needed for the first couple of pins, until you start to meet more people in the hobby that you can trust. Be glad you only lost $100, many in this hobby (myself included) have lost way more on scammers of some sort.

Most life lessons will cost you far more than $100 so think of it like you did well on this (it’s crap but that’s life sometimes). Tip: now that you’ve learned the lesson just move on quickly, very quickly - because life is short. Don’t spend countless hours researching, profiling, trying to get your money back (small chance). Some people spend months/years fighting a parking ticket and others just pay the fine immediately, learn to slow down by that camera and have a great day.

Every hour could be spent making more money or just having fun and in either case a better use of time

Things must work differently in Canada. Here in the US, if you drive past a camera too fast they don't give you a parking ticket.

Before, now, and in the future- cash on the glass

Another scammer wins thanks to internet pay sourcing. Venmo, Paypal. Wtf.

$100? Small change but dammit it’s the Principal.

$100 Sucks, but be glad it's only $100 and not half or even more....Could have been Worse.

Years ago I sent money like an idiot to a guy for a Nascar pool table light with one of those cards you get from walmart, then give seller the numbers on it....Never got Light, Scumbag kept saying delayed shipping as he attached Flourescent light bulbs on outside of box.

Once I heard that I knew I was scammed....$235 Mistake.

Sorry for your loss - These people should be put in Jail!!!!

Fucking scum. Just scum. Drug addled, dumbass, non motivated pieces of human garbage. No charm in stealing from others, regardless of the movies. Gawd I just wanna punch someone!

Sam tucker sounds pretty close to scammed fucker. Sorry about the 100.

I don't know if cash on the glass is necessary. You also need to be wary of showing up to meet a stranger somewhere with thousands of dollars in cash.

This hobby is small enough that you should be able to network with local people in your area. I bought a machine recently but my bank has a firm $5/day withdrawal limit (per person not per account).

However, the seller and I had some mutual people in the hobby that we had both dealt with. He accepted $5k cash and the rest via paypal. We were both confident that our local reputation in the hobby was worth more than potentially screwing someone over for a couple thousand bucks.

Unfortunately there are some truly garbage people in this world. Sorry for you losing out on both the money and the machine.

Very few people are selling machines for the first time and there are plenty of fb groups that can help vet sellers and buyers.

Wait a minute....you were dealing with a Sam Tucker but you were OK with sending money to a D'Angelo Martinez? That is a massive red flag.

Easy way to combat this is to demand a video of him taking a blank note, writing your name, showing an internet connected clock or device to confirm date and time, and sticking it on the machine. Start to finish as a single video with metadata in the file proving it was not edited and dumped directly from the phone.

Don't use Venmo at all. I've only used paypal. Looking up Venmo's security policies I see on their website:

"Keep yourself safe
Venmo is designed for payments between friends and people who trust each other. Avoid payments to people you don't know, especially if it involves a sale for goods and services (like event tickets and Craigslist items). These payments are potentially high risk, and you could lose your money without getting what you paid for. Venmo does not offer buyer or seller protection. Business usage of Venmo requires an application and explicit authorization. For more information, see our User Agreement."

They offer zero protection. Looks like a bad version of F&F from Paypal.

I would have refused or suggested a different service. Thankfully, it was only $100, but still, not fun to have to deal with. Like others have said, get started with a machine locally first. Cash on the glass.

Honestly, I don't think most sellers would jump through those hoops unless they were having a hard time selling a game.

Right. At some point you just have to ask yourself if it's worth the trouble/risk buying a game many states away from a complete stranger on Facebook. IF you get to the point where you are asking for multicamera inspections of "I'm real!" notes, it might be time to move on and let a local buyer have it.

$100 is the cheapest education you'll ever get. Lesson learned

I'm pretty sure it's the same guy I was talking to in Chicago that had an ad on Mr Pinball for a Road Show for $3500, he was going by Jason Hurrbet and he was going to check with Fasternal or a "Logistics" company and shipping would probably be around $200(merry Christmas), I said i thought Fasternal wasn't shipping pins during the pandemic and he said, "Oh ya, that's right" the picts he sent had flasher plastic covers and misc parts missing yet on some of the pictures those parts were there, I asked him about the missing parts and he said "no big deal" he had the ramps(they were not ramps that were missing), the next day he sent me a picture with a large post-it note stuck on the bottom right of the glass with my name and address on it and said shipping was arranged and the "Logistics" company was picking it up that day, WTF, I made no agreement for shipping and who was paying and how much it was, etc, etc. I told him I wasn't interested and he kept coming back with that he would lower the price. I've bought machines on Mr Pinball but unless they are on Pinside I'll never send a deposit to anyone on Mr Pinball, me picking it up is the only option.

Someone posted this same guy in a FB group. Same story, but for 200. Like others have said, call the person via FaceTime and let them show you the machine. If no FaceTime (Android) ask for odd photos that are not obtainable easily on the net ( lock down bar removed showing the locking mechanism).

Thats a ton of red flags

Auraria+Red+Flag+Installation+2018.jpeg (resized).jpg

Cash on the glass. Sorry that he nicked you.

I personally would never buy a pinball machine without seeing it in person. No way.

that $100 just saved you thousands! I’ve bought pins years ago sight on seen but wouldn’t do it now unless the seller was a well known Pinsider that others have bought from. You just got lucky.

i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller. i will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller...

Repeat after bigehrl

I will never send money for a high value item unless i see it in person or know the seller.

-Mike

Does this look familiar?

131507711_444740683190619_6491812493382405431_n (resized).png

Pinball spelled wrong, and the date written perhaps by a French speaker...

Posted here and one other pinball group.

Screenshot 2020-12-16 191815 (resized).jpg

Scam... post it note is photoshopped.... hard edge all the way around the post it note... light source on the note is different than the apron.... obviously a different language, as mentioned before (Calendar formatting)...

Ask him to pickup right now and watch how you get ghosted or hear some excuse as to why you can't pick up.

I flagged both posts with the FB group admins (unfortunately scamming isn't an option), plus I flagged his personal account as fake already. He legit sounded real though. Wanted to Venmo and was going to send me a bill. Waited about 20 minutes and then told me he couldn't get it to work. Then moved to Zelle. Eventually asked if I could just Venmo his wife [email protected] lol