Have I Been Scammed? Facebook Marketplace Sold Item, Came to My House & PayID Was Done Whilst I Watched! UPDATED: 28 August

poczynek77 on 24/08/2023 - 08:52
Last edited 13/09/2023 - 07:12

Bit of a weird one and I am thinking i have been scammed but it seems different to all the ones that i have seen.

Details:

  • advertised on Facebook Marketplace on Sunday to sell my Apple Studio Display monitor
  • get a Facebook message from someone saying he would like to buy but asks for best price - i knock off $100 - and he agrees to the price
  • he says he will pick it up and asks best way to pay - i tell him direct bank deposit please - he says ok
  • he turns up on Tuesday this week and is a nice guy - we have a long chat about Teslas and him working for Star City Casino as a Supervisor there
  • tells me he lives in Homebush
  • well dressed etc (not sure that means anything but still)
  • he shows me his CBA app and him paying me by Payid and then he sends me the receipt right away by text where it shows his CBA bsb and account number. It is the EXACT receipt screen shot for a Payid payment - i literally saw him do it on his CBA app
  • the money doesn't go through straight away but the receipt does say it takes 24 hours to go through for accounts that are not known - i am ok with that
  • we chat more - he tells me about his brother and about his computers etc
  • he leaves with my Apple Studio Display
  • he texts me a few hours later asking if i can send him the receipt for when i bought the display - i say no problems and send it
  • i then contact him after 24 hours and tell him i haven't received the payment - he texts back saying it is 'pending' on his side
  • however since yesterday afternoon he is now uncontactable - if i ring his number it is always engaged and no text messages back since yesterday lunchtime and no money in my account
  • his Facebook profile i now cannot see - he may have blocked me maybe?

Is this a scam? It just seems different to the ones where it is me having to pay money etc. And it also seems strange he would come to my house and show me his CBA app and the receipt with his account details. What about if he got to my house and i didn't sell it because the money didn't get through straight away? There just seems so many ways this could have gone wrong for him if it is indeed a scam which seems like it probably is.

So i guess it is a scam?

EDIT:

This is the Payid CBA receipt i got:

https://ibb.co/jVhVD1Z

UPDATE 28 August:

Another poster was scammed the same way using the same type of receipt by the mysterious 'Deon Hong' on Saturday.

This guy … I wonder how many others he has scammed?

This is the Payid receipt that the other poster got:

https://ibb.co/cCcS6L8

These are the receipts side by side:

https://ibb.co/gZXxf7c

Mine is on the right

What we do know now:

-somehow he makes up the Payid on the spot which is pretty good for him to do that! Bravo Deon!!
-the other poster got his rego
-the other poster went to cops - I will go to cops tomorrow
-it could just be high end Mac goods?
-goes by Deon Hong on FB
-uses a photo of squid game actor

Questions now are:

-are even his account details correct as per those Payid screenshots? If he is creating the Payid receipts then why would you put your own account details?
-is his mobile number correct? REMOVED
-his rego number is possibly the only actual identifier of this person

UPDATE 30 AUGUST

We're closing in!

Third victim now who has video footage.

Deon - we are coming for you!

UPDATE 13 SEPT

We got him!

'Deon' was charged and arrested yesterday. Bail refused.

Thanks to all the victims who provided valuable identifying information to the police.

Podcast and Netflix doco to come…

General Discussion

Comments

  • stuffandthat on 08/09/2023 - 10:14
    +6

    Waiting (im)patiently for today's update!

    • [Deactivated] on 08/09/2023 - 14:32
      +1

      OP hasn't updated the post since 30.08 so you're gonna be waiting a while.

      • MS Paint on 08/09/2023 - 14:58
        +3

        Maybe cops have told OP to lay low while investigation is underway.

        • Moneyinthebank on 08/09/2023 - 15:27

          maybe cops eating donuts

          • [Deactivated] on 08/09/2023 - 15:42
            +2

            @Moneyinthebank: To be fair, there have been a few Krispy Kreme deals since the OP was published

  • capslock janitor on 08/09/2023 - 13:10
    +1

    Has the OZB cop commented yet?

    I forgot his username

  • djones145 on 08/09/2023 - 13:45
    +1

    who will be the latest new user to be scammed?
    stay tune for tonight's episode
    Deon Hong, why u scam

  • werdplaya58 on 08/09/2023 - 16:35
    +1

    He has updated his profile pic again, probably safe to assume it's not really a pic of him but some victims may be able to confirm?

    https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/187710/106393/screen_s…

    He also took down his post flaunting his new stolen Rolex.

    EDIT: Took down the car pic that gave his rego away as well

    • Moneyinthebank on 08/09/2023 - 17:52

      Whoever is the spy for him in this forum is not cool

    • MS Paint on 08/09/2023 - 17:53

      Google lens doesn't match anyone one with his new profile pic.

      • jlogic on 08/09/2023 - 18:11
        +3

        AI generated image…

        I get them alot from the Whatsapp scammers. They do photos of women hoping to catch prey… jokes on them… if someone like that comes over to talk to me…

        this is me… LOL

        http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3q0mhw

    • valdracool on 08/09/2023 - 18:33
      +1

      are we sure about the Rego number ?

      the picture doesn't look like him.

      he is I would say 1.78m , Asian looks sort of Korean but told me he is Chinese , doesn't accent but could be born here .
      A Tattoo behind the ears Chinese characters, his " wedding ring " since to be a gold and black ceramic from Bulgari Jewlery - he has tattoo.

  • valdracool on 08/09/2023 - 18:37
    +5

    https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/478813/106395/f3ecd284…

    this is the picture he sent with my watch on - telling me he is in Lidcombe and he will drive to give me cash but busy due to father's day !!!

    Definetly him in that Mercedes GTS

    This is a picture he sent me in an SMS when I was asking him if he was still coming to give the rest of the money !

    • cheapcheapazn on 08/09/2023 - 18:48

      There is a qr code on his windshield. Someone see if they can scan it

      • werdplaya58 on 08/09/2023 - 18:59

        Says Mercedes-Benz Gold Coast (not the QR code) the text above it

        • cocomelon on 08/09/2023 - 19:01
          -1

          Perhaps he stole and drive away from other state

          • werdplaya58 on 08/09/2023 - 19:12
            +1

            @cocomelon: I guess we wait and see if they post on here that they're missing a car 😂

            • poczynek77 on 08/09/2023 - 19:12

              @werdplaya58: $250,000 Payid receipt…

              • werdplaya58 on 08/09/2023 - 19:14
                +1

                @poczynek77: "My boss is gonna kill me…"

                • poczynek77 on 08/09/2023 - 19:16
                  +1

                  @werdplaya58: 'He was such a nice guy! Said he worked at the casino and sent me a photo of his wife and children. Although I should have been suspicious when the wife and child were Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus'.

                  • werdplaya58 on 08/09/2023 - 19:20
                    -1

                    @poczynek77: Side note, he updated his employment to now say he finished working at the casino last year. Guess he's evolving his backstory now..

    • bamzero on 09/09/2023 - 13:16
      +2

      Using a mobile while driving.. maybe police will actually go after him now :D

  • cocomelon on 08/09/2023 - 19:00
    -1

    Netflix show documentary like the tinder show they did it was an eye opener how the scammer can just walk away and live their life.

  • djones145 on 08/09/2023 - 19:01
    -2

    he's slowing down, havent hsd a new user post they had something stolen for a day.
    Deon hong we are on to u

    • valdracool on 08/09/2023 - 19:09

      We all need to keep an eye on facebook market place … it is his playground !

  • Moneyinthebank on 08/09/2023 - 19:37
    -3

    Do you know the muffin man

  • kryjam91 on 09/09/2023 - 12:09
    +4

    He got us on Aug 24th. We were scammed out of 2 x 1st gen HomePods. Same deal, faked PayID screenshot. Money never came, we tracked down phone number and spoke to him, said he come round with cash this week, never showed, and now number blocked as we get a 'line busy'. Hence only just finding this thread now….
    Happy to join in on any police action that is going on.

    • poczynek77 on 09/09/2023 - 12:16
      +1

      Can you pm me?

      • kryjam91 on 09/09/2023 - 12:17

        Not as yet - new account throttling.

        • poczynek77 on 09/09/2023 - 12:19
          +2

          Yes try my account, edit, messaging and checkbox on top.

          It will work after that.

  • stuffandthat on 09/09/2023 - 15:27
    +1

    Just tried messaging him and it comes up that he's not accepting new messages. He's scared.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2023 - 22:17
    +15

    Hey guys, I've just joined the club, got conned by our homeboy out of my imac on the 4th via facebook marketplace, same modus operandi as everyone else: thought he would be good for payment because of the Mercedes GTS and watch he was wearing, sent me the fake Commbank osko receipt, got the pending payment before he cancelled and told me he'd come back to pay me cash, haven't heard from him since.

    If this helps anyone out, I found the ebay page that he's fencing all the high end apple and samsung galaxy stuff he's stolen.

    https://www.ebay.com.au/str/ebcomm
    ebay seller name is hex369

    I know it's him because my imac has very peculiar specs and it's one of the most recently listed item (in fact, they're all listed in September this month, what a coincidence!), he's trying to sell it for $4666 when it resells for a quarter of that price lol. Looks like he's based in Smithfield NSW according to some of the older items from 2021 that he offers local pickup for.

    Filling out fraud form now and making a police statement tomorrow, I'd suggest everyone who's had a run in with this guy do the same so at least the cops get reports and statements they can consolidate and corroborate to do something about it.

    • Cave Fire on 09/09/2023 - 23:25
      -1

      he is rumoured to be on here or at least have a friend on the thread. Would probably screencap with listed date if that's your items. Would be a good result for some if their items are now found.

      • werdplaya58 on 09/09/2023 - 23:45
        +4

        What actual indication is there that he's aware of the thread?

        • Cave Fire on 10/09/2023 - 00:15
          -1

          Just a rumour, as noted. Moot now… this is the same as doxxing him in a way Probably going to get dumb ebay msgs but all that will do is alert him.

          • werdplaya58 on 10/09/2023 - 00:18

            @Cave Fire: I don't know, possibly it's him, but seems likelier it's a reseller who he has sold stuff too.

            • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2023 - 00:41
              +2

              @werdplaya58: When I sold my last mac to a proper reseller, they had very stringent background checks on the serial number to ensure that it wasn't stolen before they acquired it.

              If anyone here still has a record of your item's serial number and made some form of a police report to record it in a statement, this would at least be the next best thing to having any chance of getting the stolen things back.

              It would at the very least, reduce his fencing options to just marketplace, gumtree and ebay.

        • zonra on 10/09/2023 - 13:45
          -1

          I mean if people were able to find this thread bu googling the number it wouldn’t be hard for him to search himself just in case.

    • werdplaya58 on 10/09/2023 - 00:16
      +1

      Sorry to hear. A lot of victims on this thread now, so some of them may be able to spot their stuff on there. It may also be a reseller that the guy has onsold the stolen products to. The Deon Hong account has also been spotted selling items on FB before.

    • zonra on 10/09/2023 - 13:48
      +6

      While I don’t doubt you have strong beliefs that the ebay account belongs to the scammer. Just be extra cautious when naming and shaming because the OP of this thread posted the incorrect number to the scammer before.
      And people were using that incorrect number to ID a Linked In account of a poor rando, with the company they were working for and whatnot.
      So yeah, I would hate to have my life and career ruined over some typo or mis-identity.

      • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2023 - 15:12
        +1

        Totally agree with you, which is why I made the suggestion for others to make a police report, at this point, I cbf about the guy, I have a better chance of getting my item back because now I have confirmation that it's been stolen and I know where it is.

        The whole point of finding the stolen items being fenced and sharing it is to get others to identify and report these items as stolen, especially the apple products because I know apple take stolen serial numbers seriously, at least for their mac products. The more similar police reports made as well, the more attention they will have to give this issue regardless.

        In case the police are able to intervene at any point, say for example, a legit reseller flags one of these stolen products, at least these items stand a chance to be recovered and returned to their rightful owners… I highly doubt this guy is in it for the long game and would want a quick return for these stolen items instead of waiting months to move them at those ridiculous prices, if he could even lol. If he can't sell it on these social platforms, he will eventually resort to proper resellers who will do a check.

    • simplerick on 11/09/2023 - 10:01
      +3

      Hey @kingkongnutella

      You certain that your alleged ebay seller is the same guy?

      I noticed on ebay there is one other seller, similar layout of listings and same Mac with 96gb but for $4888.

      https://www.ebay.com.au/str/ebzyonlinestore

      • RobotWizard on 11/09/2023 - 11:40

        Both sellers have same layout for photos and description, could be the same guy? Most items listed are Apple and also has Apple Studio listed for sale too, can OP confirm that's his ? without stand and has some more details listed, eg: 1 year warranty left from Apple https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/325791911075?epid=14052768390&ha…

      • [Deactivated] on 11/09/2023 - 12:23
        +2

        Hey @simplerick, thanks for sharing that, I had a look through that account and the first thing that gives it away for me is that both shop names have EB at the start, EBCOMM and EB6, and both are based in Sydney.

        If you do a search for "2020 imac 96gb ram", these are the only first 2 sponsored posts that come up and like you've noticed both listing titles written in exactly the same copy. There aren't any other 2020 imacs matching this spec in Sydney or overseas on ebay because it's an incomplete set, which thankfully has made this imac easy to search for.

        Changing the sorting filter for that search to "newly listed", both items come up together at the same time with both of them shown to be listed on the 4th September around 9.00pm with a 10 minute difference between each other. He acquired the imac from me on the 4th September at 1.00pm.

        Of course, it could all be a coincidence, by a long stretch, but to err on the side of caution, I think I'll be better off sharing this with the cops and letting them handle it since this is all out of my hands. Hopefully more people do as well so it'll be harder for cops to brush this issue away as a one off thing.

        As for whoever is selling it, it could be him or an associate but whatever it is, he's caused a lot of attention these last few weeks. He'll get it coming either from the cops or the loan sharks that he seems to be raising so much money in a hurry for. He can cover up those sleeves but that large chinese calligraphy tattoo behind his left ear is going to be his downfall.

  • Cave Fire on 10/09/2023 - 16:14
    +1

    One thing here is the dates line up with what was stolen. Victims posted here and items are listed within days. You can sort the ebay items by "newly listed". Something like four items line up and fairly different to each other. One of my friends had his professional camera gear stolen from a share house. There was an "asian" share mate with long hair that would keep to himself and was only there for two weeks. My friend returned to the house one day and found all the doors forced in. Every room had high value items stolen. Rumoured that the share mate "went crazy", got all of the items and drove to Sydney (from Brisbane). My friend found some of the items in nearest Cash Converters (with his serial). Police still would not retrieve it. Unsure if he had enough proof of the items ownership. Hopefully more luck here.

  • Moneyinthebank on 10/09/2023 - 22:27
    -1

    Deon Hong FB deleted again
    It wasn't a good idea to report it
    Now we have no trace of him and harder to track

    • werdplaya58 on 11/09/2023 - 06:44
      -1

      If it's taken down it's because he chose to take it down himself. Maybe he finally found this thread? Which was kind of inevitable.

  • ohnohelpme on 11/09/2023 - 17:54
    +1

    I know who he is but me and him aren’t on good terms. Has it ever occurred to you guys that he knows the homes of where you guys live? He’s not some simple dude… just saying…

    • unfunkable on 11/09/2023 - 17:59
      +24

      is that you Deon?!

    • zonra on 11/09/2023 - 18:25
      +12

      I feel like showing up at the victims’ doors is literally the last thing he wants to do.
      Unless, contrary to what you said, he is, in fact, simple.

      • pinkybrain on 13/09/2023 - 07:39

        he likes trolling the victims.

        just look at the username @ohnohelpme

    • [Deactivated] on 11/09/2023 - 18:25
      +9

      LOL he's a bad boy house breaker now is he? Thanks for sharing that he's known by the police, this should make it a lot easier for them to get him again.

      Since you and him aren't sleeping together anymore, why don't you tell us more about your buddy?

      • ashdays on 11/09/2023 - 18:32
        +4

        Just when I thought this thread is getting slow, out comes another plot twist!
        An ex mate of the perp is on OzB with a brand new account!

    • werdplaya58 on 11/09/2023 - 19:35
      +6

      LOL agree this is probably "Deon".

      Any chance you/Deon will do a Q&A on here ?

      We'd love to hear more about all your exploits. Feel free to post more photos too. Spare no detail!!

      Preferably sooner though i.e. before you get that knock on your door.

    • Moneyinthebank on 11/09/2023 - 20:11

      Tell us more about this deon

    • Buckshot on 11/09/2023 - 20:31
      +1

      I bet Deon is sweating like a gypsy with a mortgage. If he's not, he should be.

    • Wayne7497 on 11/09/2023 - 20:41
      +5

      Gimme a break intimidation doesn't work, so bugger off.. better still hopefully youll join your not so friendly anymore mate behind bars soon enough.. But thanks for leaving you ip address on here so the Police can have a friendly chat with you too.

      PS lube ain't free in prison so sit gently

    • Moneyinthebank on 11/09/2023 - 21:03
      +3

      Deon you chose a funny username

  • Samsungnote10 on 11/09/2023 - 19:49
    +2

    Surely if ACA can do a whole report on 3 x eaten cheesburgers

    https://youtu.be/CbPGe8fS4QM?si=C8KKtZAAa3a7SDsP

    They can do a report on multiple stolen luxury goods

    • Moneyinthebank on 11/09/2023 - 20:10
      -1

      I would bring that girl cheese lol

  • poczynek77 on 13/09/2023 - 07:13
    +78

    UPDATE 13 SEPT

    We got him!

    'Deon' was charged and arrested yesterday. Bail refused.

    Thanks to all the victims who provided valuable identifying information to the police.

    Podcast and Netflix doco to come…

    • matt-ozb on 13/09/2023 - 07:14
      +4

      Nice work.

      More details for the story please! :)

      This has been great.

      Will anything actually happen to him?

      What happens next?

      • pinkybrain on 13/09/2023 - 07:35
        +3

        Will anything actually happen to him?

        Whether he pleads guilty or fights the charge in court

        Court will decide based on either outcome.

        What happens next?

        Court or he pleads guilty

    • pinkybrain on 13/09/2023 - 07:33
      +6

      got the link for the arrest news?

    • werdplaya58 on 13/09/2023 - 07:58
      +15

      Congrats on seeing it through OP!

      OzBargain's first crowd sourced arrest!

      It's hilarious that Deon likely even posted here as 'ohnohelpme' to threaten victims.

      And then has not been 'seen online' since because his bail was refused.

      • pinkybrain on 13/09/2023 - 08:10
        +2

        It's hilarious that Deon likely even posted here as 'ohnohelpme' to threaten victims.

        more like trolling the victims with that username.

        OzBargain's first crowd sourced arrest!

        can't wait for the netflix show
        "Making a facebook scammer"

        • werdplaya58 on 13/09/2023 - 08:17
          +2

          Was referring more to what he posted, about knowing where the victims lived.

          But yeah the username was definitely an attempt at trolling, it's a shame he was picked up before he could do a Q&A on here though.

    • ashdays on 13/09/2023 - 08:09
      +3

      It's a big shift going from police not being interested to him being nabbed.

      Who knew when this thread started that it'll end like this 😄

      How does this scum look like?

      • pinkybrain on 13/09/2023 - 08:13
        +2

        it's cos the thread was able to get all the victims to report to the police at similar time and show their are lots of victims
        and have evidence like CCTV and pics gathered that help.

        if it was not known how many victims he had
        some victim may not have come out to report it.

      • Wayne7497 on 13/09/2023 - 08:14
        +4

        I did, always knew he would be caught was only a matter of time

    • winz on 13/09/2023 - 08:36
      +1

      Amazing news! Congrats all on getting him arrested.
      Hope you all get your stolen stuffs back!

    • bamzero on 13/09/2023 - 08:36
      +7

      Good news everyone! (I hope you're reading that in your best Farnsworth voice)

      So were they able to track him down from the info provided or did they honeypot him and arrest him in the act?

      Hopefully they are able to recover a lot of the goods.

      Maybe we can also use this as an opportunity to encourage CBA, Westpac and any others that do it to get rid of the stupid 24 hour delay for "instant" transfers.

    • Wayne7497 on 13/09/2023 - 08:55
      +4

      What was his real name ?

    • zonra on 13/09/2023 - 10:05
      +4

      Good work!
      Would love to hear more about the process as well please.
      It’s not very often scammers get what they deserve.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2023 - 16:39
      +3

      Very satisfying! Thanks to everyone on here who played a part and if anyone who’s been taken for a ride hasn’t made a police report yet, please do so. Let’s stack up the charges on this fool!

    • cocomelon on 13/09/2023 - 23:44
      +3

      Finally we are seeing justice is being served!! Iam so thrilled great job!

    • Kranbone on 15/09/2023 - 12:06
      +1

      so glad you got him. if on bail, he'll either reoffend or flee.

  • Ntsh on 13/09/2023 - 07:31
    +3

    Well done all!
    And a win for the collective power of OzB!

  • jlogic on 13/09/2023 - 07:48
    +3

    You all get your stuff back?

  • SaberXLancer on 13/09/2023 - 09:27

    Amazing news! Congrats all on getting him arrested.
    Hope you all get your stolen stuffs back!

    • werdplaya58 on 13/09/2023 - 09:35
      +5

      If not, then auction off the Mercedes GT 63 and pay back the victims!

      • imtheonewhoknocks on 14/09/2023 - 18:18
        -1

        As mentioned earlier, the plates on the Merc don't match up to the car doing a rego check, so I'm going to go out on a whim and say the car is definitely stolen as well.

        • werdplaya58 on 14/09/2023 - 19:35

          Probably, one more thing to add to his rap sheet in any case.

  • slothhead on 13/09/2023 - 10:29
    +3

    The ozbargain community who came together to deliver justice to this crook are absolute legends. Bravo! I’m going to fly down to watch his trial should he plead not guilt 🤭

  • spackbace on 13/09/2023 - 12:00
    +5

    Wow what a rollercoaster! Well done

  • Moneyinthebank on 13/09/2023 - 13:33
    +12

    I would like to witness his trial any dates known?
    I might rock up wearing an ozbargain shirt

    • MaXcon on 13/09/2023 - 13:50
      +9

      ozbaggedhim shirt

  • stuffandthat on 13/09/2023 - 14:22
    +3

    Interesting that bail was refused. Possibly already known to police, or a flight risk?

    • Moneyinthebank on 13/09/2023 - 14:37
      -2

      Hopefully he doesn't be like butters when butters was in jail in the south park episode

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