mlponygems a scammer?

[Rainbowrific Renia]

I really hate to do this, but I have no idea how else to go about this on the forums. Last week, mlponygems sent me a PM saying that she had a glitter Spitfire for sale for a really good price. I knew this was too good to be true, but glitter Spitfire is the absolute LAST Funko I need to complete my set so I'll admit that I let my excitement cloud my judgement. I sent her payment (using my fiance's Paypal account since I was low on funds at the time) and then mlponygems sent me a message saying that she had my package ready to go.

This was two days ago.

Now you may be wondering why I'm accusing her of being a scammer after just a few days, right? Well, I tried sending her a PM to ask if she had sent Spitfire out yet and I got an error stating that she was no longer able to receive PMs. That's a little odd. She never gave me a tracking number or anything, plus I have further proof that this is most likely a scam.

When I asked for a picture of Spitfire, she sent me this:
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Yesterday, I was on eBay and see if you spot anything familiar in this listing:
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Looks like that Spitfire was just cropped out.
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Her picture vs the eBay listing picture.

So, naturally, I feel like an idiot. I've had nothing but positive experiences with trading and buying here on the forums, so I'm very disappointed that this has happened. Mostly, I'm mad at myself and embarrassed for getting excited over nothing. It doesn't seem like a huge deal, but it makes me want to cry to think that I was so close to finishing a set, getting a hard to find item for such a seemingly decent price, just to realize that I'll never be receiving this item.

I'm still not sure what the deal is with her no longer being able to receive private messages, but I figured everyone needed to be warned. To me that's a sign that she never intends on responding to me again and is off enjoying the money I sent her. I would open up a claim on Paypal, but I sent the payment as a gift (complete accident on my part, adding to how stupid I feel). I also feel like I owe my fiance more than the amount that he let me send over from his account.

[SourdoughStomper]

Hi there. I can't really address the part about purchasing/selling/etc, but I can address the PM thing. She cannot exchange PMs any longer because she has been banned.

http://www.mlptp.net/index.php?threads/are-you-dealing-with-member-mlpgems.106343/

She was not only scamming people at the TP, but it was starting to trickle in from our own members that she was doing the same here. Looks like you've provided more evidence of the same.

Could you contact Paypal and see if they could help you out in spite of using the gift option? I'm really sorry this has happened to you.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

That explains it! Oh boy, I wonder why people think it's okay to trick other people like that. She really had my hopes up!

I'm going to contact Paypal and see what I can do. In a message to her on there, I added that I was paying for an item from her. I never should've gone through with it when she told me to send the money as a gift, since I haven't done that with any other transactions on here, but... as I said, I was too excited and not exactly thinking straight.

[CupidStrikes]

Paypal might be able to help you out - I think they've seen many cases where sellers have insisted buyers pay via gift so they can scam them/not pay the fees. If your payment said something like "Payment for Spitfire funko" then it's even more likely that they'll help you out Good luck!

[Rainbowrific Renia]

Paypal might be able to help you out - I think they've seen many cases where sellers have insisted buyers pay via gift so they can scam them/not pay the fees. If your payment said something like "Payment for Spitfire funko" then it's even more likely that they'll help you out Good luck!

Thank you! My payment note said "This is Renia (MoonbeamStar) from the MLP Arena. I'm using my fiance's Paypal account since I'm low on funds, but I'm sending over the payment for the Funko Spitfire figure. Thanks." Then I added my address.

The hardest part of this was telling my fiance about this. I thought he'd be mad at me, but I had already told him that when I get paid this Thursday, I'd be giving him the money I owe for letting me make this payment on Spitfire last week. He was fine with me using his account to pay, I just thought he may be upset about the scam. He's just glad I'm doing what needs to be done to hopefully get a refund.

[SourdoughStomper]

If this happened with any other Arena members, I would encourage them to do the same. Looks like her MO was to ask people to send payment via "gift."

[Twilight Pink]

Yes she is a scammer :/ she almost got money outta me for Mimic (its a good thing I researched on this member before actually proceeding to do any transactions with her) and discovered the ugly truth about her on the TP.

BTW, she never sent me a pm about Mimic, but rather an email.

[Corona]

At least for me asking to send payment as a gift when it's for goods is a red flag for me. It's against Paypal's ToS to ask a buyer to pay fees or pay for a good as a gift and you can't dispute a gift. The only reason I managed to get my money back after accidentally sending payment to a Funko scammer as a gift is that I put in the note that it was payment for a pony figure and I called Paypal.

Call Paypal. The fact your note says specifically it's for a physical good may help you out and they can force a dispute.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

At least for me asking to send payment as a gift when it's for goods is a red flag for me. It's against Paypal's ToS to ask a buyer to pay fees or pay for a good as a gift and you can't dispute a gift. The only reason I managed to get my money back after accidentally sending payment to a Funko scammer as a gift is that I put in the note that it was payment for a pony figure and I called Paypal.

Call Paypal. The fact your note says specifically it's for a physical good may help you out and they can force a dispute.

As I said, my excitement clouded my judgement. I've been dying to get my hands on that Spitfire because it's the only one I need to complete the current set and I've gone through a lot trying to get the other glitter variants are decent prices compared to eBay. So there wasn't really a second thought when she popped up with such a great offer. Of course, now I'll be much more careful about these things. My trust in Arena users is still there, but I'll never send anything as a gift payment again.

I just wish people weren't so terrible. I hope anyone else who dealt with her has been able to get their money back.

[Truly]

I also had her offer me a chrysalis and holly dash, but good thing I'm not online much hehe! I was wondering if the reason for no response was this, and sadly it is I'm so sorry to those that have had to put up with this! I hope you guys get your money back!

[Navi]

It seems like the glitter funkos have been used by a couple of other scammers recently if I remember correctly. I wonder if it's just because they're so popular right now? It really is a shame that people can be such jerks. I hope you get your payment back from Paypal!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Hope that all is resolved for you soon!  Thanks for coming to share the experience so others aren't hurt as well.

[Ringlets]

I'm so sorry that you got scammed by this person   I would definitely contact Paypal about the situation - at least your note proves what the money was for, and if there are plenty of others opening cases on this scammer then you stand a much better chance of getting your money back ASAP.
Everyone - please don't send payments  as gifts anymore unless you know the person and can trust them 100% - we like to be trusting here at the Arena and there are many more good sellers than bad ones but really its the seller's responsibility to pay the fees and more concerningly  occasionally a scammer will use trusting members of the community to try and rob them by getting them to lose protection by using the gift option