local deal , What can go wrong ?

Mitch.A wrote in post #14240871
Haven't really thought about that , now that i checked the only available info is in the comments and it says " Processed By eBay with ImageMagick, R1.0.1.M1" , That's suspicious , it doesn't make sense to get the pictures off ebay when you're supposed to have them on your hard drive (assuming he's already posted it there)

OK - wanted to give the seller the benefit of the doubt - but Big Red flag!!!

Check eBay for 5DMII's and see if you see any photos that look familiar - chances are you'll see your camera (and it won't be located in your city!).

You can also check TinEye for a fast search of the entire web - guessing that you'll come up with some interesting results.

Proceed with caution.

It's a scam , just discovered something , i checked his other postings on kijiji and he's selling a Mamiya ZD (that he posted at the same time) with the same shutter count he mentioned for the 5D2 (4065) , Coincidence ? i don't think so .

+ In one the low-res pictures he sent (attached) , if i zoom in i can see the serial number , typed it in stolencamerafinder and i got a match but it's a 50D not 5D2 even though the paper work says this number is for a 5D mark II , anyway i'm not taking the risk .

but i'll keep you posted if he answers back about the receipt , screenshot and his website .

Whew glad you discovered that Mitch... some great tips in here, would have never thought of doing the exchange in a bank!

Call the police and tell them to meet up with him?

Lucky you caught this before you actually met up.

Well, this deal has already gone south, but since I made it this far I was going to suggest to bring a lens so you could take a photo to make sure everything was working as it should.

kouman wrote in post #14241190
Call the police and tell them to meet up with him?

The real owner of the 5D and Mamiya -- probably from the same burglarized house or car, since they were posted at the same time -- will be your best friend forever.

kouman wrote in post #14241190
Call the police and tell them to meet up with him?

If they are anything like the STL police, they couldn't care less. Here's a story of a guy that tracked his stolen items to the thief and even then he couldn't get the police to move, so he took matters into his own hands.

http://www.stltoday.co​m …0a4f9a63e.html?​mode=story

Celtic Tiger wrote in post #14242823
If they are anything like the STL police, they couldn't care less. Here's a story of a guy that tracked his stolen items to the thief and even then he couldn't get the police to move, so he took matters into his own hands.

http://www.stltoday.co​m …0a4f9a63e.html?​mode=story

Remind me to stay the hell out of St Louis.

Yeah, 'scam' was written all over this from the beginning. It's hard not to want the deal to be legit and save big $, but if it's too good to be true.......

joeblack2022 wrote in post #14241022
Whew glad you discovered that Mitch... some great tips in here, would have never thought of doing the exchange in a bank!

yes , that's why i love POTN even though my wallet doesn't share the same feeling .

Thought about that but then decided not to , as i'm not 100% sure + anyone with a stolen gear will probably check Kijiji and craigslist .

and some DJ equipment too .

At first , i wasn't so sure but with the new info , it's pretty obvious .

Thanks again guys . appreciate your help

vilimo wrote in post #14240794
How do you know for certain???

There is always that 1% of uncertainty for these types of "deals" if you are the gambling type.

All good thinking and ideas to determine if this was scam or not. These precautions really need to be taken on all transactions whether it is a too good to be true price or not. There are just too many people being ripped off and scammed these days!

Too bad there wasn't a sticky section for the entire internet!

after all that detective work, you might as well complete the arrest. report this fraud! believe it or not someone else will get trick. do the right thing!