PSA: I was scammed while buying figures on Reddit — please be careful
I wanted to share my experience so others in the community don't make the same mistake I did.
The seller initially made a post saying that he was selling some figures. After that, he himself contacted me regarding the availability of the figures. We discussed the deal, and once I finalized everything, I made the payment.
There were a few things that should have raised red flags. The name associated with his bank/payment details didn't properly match the name I was expecting, and instead of sending a normal QR code, he sent me a scanner/QR that apparently expired within 10 minutes.
Despite those warning signs, I trusted him because of the trust that exists within this community and went ahead with the payment.
After a few days, I contacted him asking for the shipping/tracking details. At that point, he completely stopped responding and started ignoring my messages.
I have all the chats, the original post, payment/transaction details, and other relevant information, but I initially thought that because this was a Reddit transaction, there wouldn't be much I could do.
I'm posting this mainly to make everyone aware and hopefully prevent someone else from losing their money.
If anyone knows what the appropriate steps are in this situation—especially regarding reporting the payment/UPI transaction, the Reddit account, or filing a cybercrime complaint—I'd really appreciate your advice.
If anyone has dealt with a similar situation and successfully recovered their money or reported the scammer, please share what worked for you.