Beware - BMW FAQ Scam by Steve Hillman for Parts

[RMBaiada]

 

 

 

SCAM - BEWARE of Steve Hillman (stevehillman02@gmail.com, 424-275-8654) selling BMW parts.

 

I posted a request on the BMW FAQ Parts Wanted site for a right front bumper bellows (passenger side). 

 

I received an email, and then texted someone who said he was from Nashville, said a friend of his saw my BMW FAQ request and that he had what I needed. After texting back and forth with pictures, I paid for the bellow I needed via Zella to a Julie Tequila (Ocampojaa@gmail.com). That should have been my first clue, but I just thought that this was his wife's nickname on Zelle. He also said he had a PayPal account.

 

He texted me 5 different pictures, and even after the payment was made, he offered to send the small metal bracket to attach the bellow to the bumper. It seems like this person went to a lot of trouble for a $40 payday. In other words, no amount is to small to steal from you.

 

Unfortunately, I never received the bellow and have not received any response from the supposed seller's text (424-275-8654) or email. I called, texted and emailed numerous times and never received a response.

 

Below is the email I received on Sep 1, which he also sent me via text. I received the same exact email on Sep 24 as well. Not realizing it was the same person who emailed me on Sep 1^st, I answered the Sep 24^th email saying I was scammed, see his response below.

 

From: Steve Hillman [mailto:stevehillman02@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 1, 2021 6:41 AM
Subject: Right Front Bumper Bellow

 

Hello Mate,

 

I got your contact from someone saying you are in need of a front right bumper bellow. If so I have it here in good condition let me know if you are still interested.  

 

Thanks,

Steve.

 

From: Steve Hillman [mailto:stevehillman02@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2021 2:17 PM
Subject: Re: Right Front Bumper Bellow

 

Hello Michael,

 

It's bad important messages end up unnoticed in spam sometimes.

 

I feel sorry you had a bad experience. A lot of Scumbags everywhere these days, I've been a victim a few times too. 

 

Asking Price for the Right Front Bumper Bellow: $45 shipped.

 

Thank you,

 

Steve.

.

[esty]

6 minutes ago, RMBaiada said:

A lot of Scumbags everywhere these days

 

 

remember ....you are the cause of everything that happens to you....be careful what you cause

[steve k.]

I do not see any users at the FAQ that have the email address stevehillman02@gmail.com 

Do you know how this user was able to get your email address and the phone number?  We do not expose it anywhere as we protect user's privacy. 

This is a common scam when a user messages another user telling them to contact someone off the board. The only thing i can do is remove the users when they get reported to us and ask people not to follow the breadcrumbs off of the site.

 

steev

[RMBaiada]

No, I don't know how he got my email.  My goal is to just make others aware.

 

I found it interesting that he immediately had the picture I wanted during our text exchange. As I said, a lot of effort for $40. 

 

I received another email with a similar format from someone who said they wanted to buy an MGA fender that I am selling, but I ignored it.

 

 

[tech71]

Never ever ever, pay with Zelle unless you know the person...personally?

Sorry

[tech71]

3 minutes ago, RMBaiada said:

As I said, a lot of effort for $40. 

Not really, scam 5 people a day your making $25 an hour for an 8 hour day.

Not huge money but a decent living, again, Sorry

[RMBaiada]

Thanks.

 

Lesson learned.

[steve k.]

BTW, here is where your personal info is posted. 

 

I highly recommend not posting this king of information anywhere on the internet. Please, remove this data from your post.

 

Steve K.

[esty]

what's i say above.....

 

 

19 minutes ago, steve k. said:

BTW, here is where your personal info is posted. 

 

 

 

 

[SydneyTii]

Same thing here except I smelt a rat early “big john” referring me to steve Hillman over Octavo wheels, he wouldn’t use PayPal so I declined to transact.

He used a crap excuse which made no sense for not using PayPal.

luckily for me being wheel obsessed I recognised the picture of the Octavos as not being his!

I will not transact unless both parties are protected, seems to work well. 
sorry you got caught. 

[popovm]

4 hours ago, esty said:

what's i say above.....

 

 

 

 

 

Victim blaming and then kicking a person while they're down? Yikes. Even if RM messed up, this is a crappy way to educate them. 

[Solarphil]

Sad reality is, there’s a small handful of folks across the globe that make their living scamming. Unfortunately, the internet leaves a really, really long trail, and automation is really good about parsing through a shit-tonne of wildcard searches to find the eventual gold amongst all the straw chaff - especially since most scammers are working in sweatshops where pinging through hundreds of thousands in contacts hoping for one ripe victim still pays off. WTB ads are the hardest, as the buyer is literally opening themselves up to the world, hoping to find that elusive part. “A friend saw your ad” is the textbook prelude to a scam, creating the first layer of separation from accountability. “Send money to my friend’s account“ is simply another layer insulating them from detection. 
 

In short, minimize your digital footprints. Don’t post your personal contact info, ever.  Tell your friends you were scammed and how, hopefully your lesson will be a warning. Thankfully you’re out an amount you can live with, minus the loss of trust. Only do business with trusted venues, within the ‘walls’ of that venue. I’ve done many, many transactions thru the classifieds on the FAQ, and all have gone well (ok, maybe it went a little sour with DenverTii once, but I don’t think I’m alone there).  There’s a lot of good folks here. You just need to confirm, before sending money, that you’re actually dealing with someone *from* here. 

Edited October 7, 2021 by Solarphil

[esty]

On 10/6/2021 at 8:58 PM, popovm said:

 

Victim blaming and then kicking a person while they're down? Yikes. Even if RM messed up, this is a crappy way to educate them. 

 

i'm not trying to educate anyone...i'm not his mamma...i just made a statement that could benefit us all