I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Just letting everyone know. If there are mods who can get involved to ban him and maybe figure out what other accounts he has so they can be banned.

Honestly I was very foolish trusting this person, there were red flags but I am a trusting person by nature and it usually serves me well. I see there are a few users on the boards who bought and sold this guy some things, my guess is those are fake users but I will be reaching out and if any of you did deal with him maybe you can help me track him down and get the police involved. I know I am new here but I can provide text and email screenshots as well as an interact transfer screenshot. I feel really foolish but I think it is my obligation to warn everyone else about this scammer.

Please let me know if there is any official protocol for this on the site. Thank you

EDIT:

I am adding the description to this post so people don't need to scroll down to read it.

I was just foolish. I had posted that I wanted the fanstoys dinos and he private messged me. We agreed on a price, I interact money transfered him the funds and with 2 days he stopped responding to phone, texts and emails. His phone is a a pay as you go. Because it was interact transfer I can not recover the funds.

There were a number of red flags I should have noticed but sadly I was not careful. He said his name was Mike Nguyen we communicated via <mn8402@yahoo.com> but the email address I ended up sending the funds to was stevendec27@hotmail.com. I feel really embarrassed for falling for this. It wasn't a super elaborate scam I was just foolish. We spoke on the phone, we also texted but clearly this is a burner phone as he has totally stopped responding.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Explain the scam?

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

if you could explain a bit more that be great!!

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

I was just foolish. I had posted that I wanted the fanstoys dinos and he private messged me. We agreed on a price, I interact money transfered him the funds and with 2 days he stopped responding to phone, texts and emails. His phone is a a pay as you go. Because it was interact transfer I can not recover the funds.

There were a number of red flags I should have noticed but sadly I was not careful. He said his name was Mike Nguyen we communicated via <mn8402@yahoo.com> but the email address I ended up sending the funds to was stevendec27@hotmail.com. I feel really embarrassed for falling for this. It wasn't a super elaborate scam I was just foolish. We spoke on the phone, we also texted but clearly this is a burner phone as he has totally stopped responding.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Looks I got legit scammed. It is this guy http://www.cybertron.ca/boards/showthread.php?p=721688

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

If I had only googled the email address I was sending money to before sending it I would not have fallen for this. I am gutted

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Sorry for what you had to go through. I don't know if there is anyway to stop this guy from coming back under multiple names but the more we can do as a community to keep ID'ing him to help each other out the better

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Sorry to hear about your trouble. I haven't dealt with guys myself, hope you can get some help on this. Anyone know what this guys looks like, there's a good chance he frequents local toy shows?

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

If it is the person identified as the MP Bandit he will never come in but sit in the parking lot and try to do pre-arranged deals from there

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

as Wervenom stated, he never comes into the show... always has an excuse as to why he can't come in, and "sends a friend" to do his deals. Primecron and I had a major issue with him a while ago, this guy... "Tony" likes to play games and has done so with multiple members. Hard to block him off completely but as a community we can help each other.... Really sorry to hear you got scammed sad to think that this guy is still pulling this crap... hes like a roach.. just won't go away.. and when he does he resurfaces later on.

All I can say is to be careful when buying stuff and always go with their feedback

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Call your bank it’s possible they can reverse the etransfer.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Maybe someone can get a photo of him by meeting him in the parking lot. I already spoke to the police who will be treating this as theft. I dont expect to get my money back but I would like to see this guy prosecuted. I'd be willing to work with anyone on this site to help bring him down. The main thing we have is his email address associated with his bank account. Has anyone here filed a police report against him yet? What information do we have on him?

I see above some calling him Tony. As for parking lot, anyone have his license plate number? Any information I can give the police is useful.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

I already spoke with the bank and they say the transfer can not be reversed. Fro what I've read this is true but I've seen people claim they got scammed by people who reversed the charges so I'm uncertain what the deal is with that.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

They posted a picture of "Tony" in the thread you linked.

Here's the post: http://www.cybertron.ca/boards/showp...4&postcount=34

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Wonderful. News that there is a photo. Are there other police reports files against "Tony"?

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

You would have to contact members from the MP Bandit thread would be my best guess

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Can you please link me to that thread?

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

It's the link above in RocketGTR's post

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

And the one you linked at 6:12am PST this morning

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

How do you know this guy is also Nostalgic?

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

He is, and he definitely is MPBandit as well

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

He is nostalgic because he when I questioned his reputation he told me he was. He then PMd me from that account.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Looks like a weaselly little turd. The face of a parent's disappointment. They would be utterly saddened by his actions if they weren't already dead from realizing how much of a lowlife turd they brought into this world.
Sorry it happened to you legotf. I hope you get justice.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Okay. For some reason I got him mixed up mentally with Nocturn, who is a much more frequent poster.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Tee hee

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Does anyone know what region he lives in, and what information the police in that region has on him already?

The police and bank should be in communication with each other on this, if there is an issue maybe they can block the funds from getting to him and trace him via the financial info. as well. I find you have to do alot of leg work in many cases with these types of crimes as sometimes the police are not overly eager to do much beyond put in a report. The banks seem to be more concerned as it costs them alot of money and its their facilities being used for these types of crimes. Does not mean you will have money returned, but it might put him in hot water.

I also recommend using protected payment methods if you dont know the seller...call your bank or CC company to find these options. Paypal also might help...both Visa and Paypal for online orders have card protection, so if he doesnt show tracking information or can prove you got the items, he cannot claim his money.

Also recommend dealing with those that have a good rep on this community..beware there have been quite a few sellers on ebay from china with good reps. that have had their accounts hacked it seems over the last few months..even some where forum members have bought from successfully in the past...just a heads up.

I also recommend mods and members of the thread about this criminal have all of the information sent to whoever at the bank does this investigation. The financial institutions have massive fraud departments, so they should take this issue seriously beyond just telling you the funds were taken. Visa's department is called Resolutions, I'd suggest contacting the financial company and asking to speak to someone from resolutions...once you speak with them they can maybe direct you to their fraud centre. Im surprised they just gave a response that they cannot help. Even in situation where you dont have a right to a claim, they will often do an investigation or take special consideration if a crime was committed. They should gladly escalate the matter.

Good luck!

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

He's was trying to do a deal with me.
Thanks for the info guys won t be dealing with now.
His feedback thread is confusing as he has dealt with some members that are known.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

That's me!

This is what I posted on Nostalgic's feedback thread. All through the deal he was courteous - I realized after receiving the figures that one was missing a part, he located it, sent a pic, and said he sent it in the mail - though it hasn't shown up yet.

I don't have any of the PM's anymore, however the guy asked I pay with Paypal, which I chose to send as a gift, and package received a few days later. Nothing was fishy, even the missing part I didn't realize until I took close scrutiny between the figure and a pic of it online. So I don't feel like he had any intention to scam me. He didn't charge or even suggest that he would for the part, but again, it hasn't shown. The original package, he even sent me a picture of the tracking number! Everything seemed very legitimate.

For what it's worth, Nostalgic contacted me via email, however the address used was
<nostalgic84@yahoo.com>

I'm not sure if anyone else has contacted that email, however the guy I dealt with, called himself "Tim Wong", and as you can see, it's different from the email's OP was in contact with. To me this says one of two things:

One: it was scummy Tony all along, making burner emails to keep people off his trail, using fake names, as he's prone to do. Doing a handful of legitimate deals to build up his reputation enough to land a "big fish" victim, IE high price, big ticket items.

Two: Legitimate users are now being hacked, and their accounts hijacked by scummy Tony.

For the purposes of enlightenment, I sent $140 Paypal gift to wongtim00@outlook.com. If this was Tony at the time, he could've easily taken that and run, though it's maybe lower than he had targeted?


For that, and more reasons above, I'm inclined to believe Nostalgic was in fact hacked by Tony - though I have no real proof. If someone could somehow check the IP's the account has been logged in from?

Anyway - I'm not trying to defend scamming in any capacity, but I have a feeling the original user wasn't behind this transaction.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Interesting. Nostalgic messaged me a few months ago, asking if I could help him out by picking up a toy being sold locally on Kijiji and ship it to him. Offered to pay for everything, didn't ask me to do anything weird like ship it to him first or something. I declined as I simply didn't have the time, but nothing seemed weird. Dude found a good deal but the kijiji seller wasn't willing to ship the product.

EDIT: It was December 1st. I was in the middle of my placement, zero extra time. The message was:

"Hi there
There’s a figure I’ve been desperately looking for
Fanstoys Hound
There’s a Kijiji seller located in Spruce Grove that’s selling one
But there’s a chance he may not ship
Would you be able to make the purchase for me and ship it to me?
I can send you the money for the figure plus shipping
Just let me know what would be a fair compensation for your services
Let me know how that sounds
Thanks"

I mean, that sounds fair enough. Just putting it out there.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Same here asking to pick up reissue g1 Megatron from a kijiji ad in Winnipeg same spiel he gave me
"Crooked person "

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Hah. I got a message like that too.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Just to update, both the Nostalgic and MindTricks accounts have been banned from Cybertron.ca.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Good to know but stupid question. What stops this person from opening a new account and coming back?

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

It is difficult. We can and do ban by IP address, but a motivated individual can find ways around these things.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

I'd like to go to the police. I have the photo of "Tony" and apparently his suspected name is Kevin Cheung. Do we have other details? What city is he in? The most incriminating piece of evidence is the email address associated to his bank account. The police should be able to track that to a legit account and go from there, but any and all details help.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

I'm sure, by now, he's figured out how. Appreciate the effort nonetheless!

Sorry to the OP. I never doubted your misfortune, but my deal with the user was all above board, so it's just befuddling that I didn't get ripped off, or that someone could be so two-faced. Regardless, I hope you find some way of reimbursement.

Re: I got scammed by user Mindtricks who also has username Nostalgic
 

Can the mods provide me with his IP address to give to the police? I know it is asking a lot.