SCAM ALERT. Username: rickfmdj

[onurbattal]

Hello everyone,


I recently attempted to purchase a drone from this listing:


DJI Mavic 3 Pro Fly More Drone (SOLD)


The seller appeared to be an active member with numerous messages, so I proceeded with the transaction. I sent the payment via PayPal Goods and Services on March 10, 2025, which included overnight shipping. After receiving the payment, the seller assured me that they would ship the drone immediately, ensuring that I would receive it by the morning of March 11, 2025.


However, since then, I have received no response. The seller was actively checking the forum and reading private messages until this afternoon. They saw my messages requesting an update but never replied. Later today, I sent another message, and shortly after, their last seen status disappeared—I suspect they may have blocked me.

He still got some active listings selling Mavic 3T.


If permitted, I can share all direct message exchanges as proof.


Has anyone here done business with this user before? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.


Here is the seller’s profile:
Rickfmdj’s Profile


Thank you for your help.

 

[mavic3usa]

Sorry to hear. My understanding is the seller must provide a tracking number which can be traced online so if you don't have one and you open a PayPal dispute, should be an easy refund. Not sure when you are allowed to initiate the dispute process or if it covers shipping which is why I don't like to deal with the overnight process for individual sellers (makes things complicated). No matter where you are located, delivery by any express service for early AM next time is very costly and to me personally, that's a red flag but ymmv I guess.

I don't have any experience with dealing with the seller but I hope things work out for you!

 

[Starz]

included overnight shipping

Trying to better understand this. Something I wasn’t aware was an option on such a simple transaction or that someone would even offer this type of shipping. Every drone that included a battery that I’ve ever shipped had to transport by ground.
Shipping from Illinois to ……………..
Trying to figure out the distance of travel on such a short timeframe.

 

[onurbattal]

Trying to better understand this. Something I wasn’t aware was an option on such a simple transaction or that someone would even offer this type of shipping. Every drone that included a battery that I’ve ever shipped had to transport by ground.
Shipping from Illinois to ……………..
Trying to figure out the distance of travel on such a short timeframe.

Sometimes overnight shipping is very affordable via pirateship. Also I paid extra for an overnight. I trusted the seller because he is an old member with active participation in the forum.

 

[mavic3usa]

Sometimes overnight shipping is very affordable via pirateship. Also I paid extra for an overnight. I trusted the seller because he is an old member with active participation in the forum.

Without knowing the full details, 2nd day for an ordinary package might be $25 and overnight is $50 and overnight AM is more like $80. Yes they are a tad bit less expensive in Pirateship but they're not cheap. The point with my comment is whomever offers this type of service, beware because not only do you need to get package to shipper before a cut off but also sometimes the package will get there before the payment settles and the honest sellers don't always like that. Scammers who don't intend to ship will readily and quickly agree to ship thru any carrier at any rate to any address. Personally I would never ship to a buyer overnight because it's a hassle and my thinking is anyone who needs a drone that quickly....anyway; I guess accounts can be hacked.

 

[mavic3usa]

Trying to better understand this. Something I wasn’t aware was an option on such a simple transaction or that someone would even offer this type of shipping. Every drone that included a battery that I’ve ever shipped had to transport by ground.
Shipping from Illinois to ……………..
Trying to figure out the distance of travel on such a short timeframe.

The shipping rules are complex but it can be done; for example:


Lithium Battery shipping overview

 

[onurbattal]

Without knowing the full details, 2nd day for an ordinary package might be $25 and overnight is $50 and overnight AM is more like $80. Yes they are a tad bit less expensive in Pirateship but they're not cheap. The point with my comment is whomever offers this type of service, beware because not only do you need to get package to shipper before a cut off but also sometimes the package will get there before the payment settles and the honest sellers don't always like that. Scammers who don't intend to ship will readily and quickly agree to ship thru any carrier at any rate to any address. Personally I would never ship to a buyer overnight because it's a hassle and my thinking is anyone who needs a drone that quickly....anyway; I guess accounts can be hacked.

Actually I have requested the overnight shipping. That was not seller's offer. The part I did not understand is he sent me a PayPal invoice. I paid the invoice. I already opened a dispute on PayPal. Mostly likely I'm gonna get back the money but why scammers use PayPal goods and service even if it's protected for buyer? Did they find a workaround on PayPal goods and services? Maybe. It's weird.

 

[clackey]

He has been banned. It appears this was originally a legit user who had his email/pwd leaked in a hack (from another site) and used to log in here to take over his profile.

 

[chadCO]

Actually I have requested the overnight shipping. That was not seller's offer. The part I did not understand is he sent me a PayPal invoice. I paid the invoice. I already opened a dispute on PayPal. Mostly likely I'm gonna get back the money but why scammers use PayPal goods and service even if it's protected for buyer? Did they find a workaround on PayPal goods and services? Maybe. It's weird.

Paypal doesn't have your back like they used to, they use AI now to solve disputes and it hallucinates all the time. I had an aliexpress seller bait and switch an order, and paypal utterly failed and wouldn't do the right thing... Don't trust paypal to do the right thing.... They won't. Even having been with them since they started meant nothing, they aren't to be trusted at all. They won't follow their own agreements. I'd be taking some actions to track the seller down physically and pay them an unexpected visit.

 

[AMann]

Paypal doesn't have your back like they used to, they use AI now to solve disputes and it hallucinates all the time. I had an aliexpress seller bait and switch an order, and paypal utterly failed and wouldn't do the right thing... Don't trust paypal to do the right thing.... They won't. Even having been with them since they started meant nothing, they aren't to be trusted at all. They won't follow their own agreements. I'd be taking some actions to track the seller down physically and pay them an unexpected visit.

Tracking down someone like that is a job for the GhostBusters. There is no legitimate address, there is no shipment, and there is no drone. They may have even been in a foreign country.

Sorry OP, hope PayPal comes through. If not, hopefully you used a credit card- they’ve backed me up before for a fraudulent online purchase.

 

[onurbattal]

Yes I used a credit card and PayPal goods and services as an insurance. I'll keep this post updated.

 

[mavic3usa]

Paypal doesn't have your back like they used to, they use AI now to solve disputes and it hallucinates all the time. I had an aliexpress seller bait and switch an order, and paypal utterly failed and wouldn't do the right thing... Don't trust paypal to do the right thing.... They won't. Even having been with them since they started meant nothing, they aren't to be trusted at all. They won't follow their own agreements. I'd be taking some actions to track the seller down physically and pay them an unexpected visit.

For sure, even Paypal can screw it up for you. Buyers needs to beware. However, I don't think I would try to track down the seller over a drone, it would take a bit more than that for me.

 

[mavic3usa]

Mostly likely I'm gonna get back the money but why scammers use PayPal goods and service even if it's protected for buyer? Did they find a workaround on PayPal goods and services? Maybe. It's weird.

Scammers don't care if you get your money back as long as they get (and keep) the money they stole. If you get your money back, it could be from PayPal or the credit card or victim but not necessarily from the thief; yes, they are smart these days and have figured out how to beat goods and services (it's actually not that hard if you break into the account). Buyer beware; two-factor + apple passwords + security keys + vigilence.

 

[Dogpilot]

Actually, it is not just data leaks. AI is a great criminal tool as well. A while back a hacker turned white hat hacker was explaining how you can hack accounts. Turn out, they simply went to Facebook or any social media site. Seems we post most of the information for them to determine what many people base their passwords on. You can use an AI now to scrape social media and get this information and flag easy marks. You do need to change passwords a lot, but data leaks defeat this, don't base it on your dog or cat's name uncle Matt's birthday and so on. Really the days of password security are gone. Even two factor is not that good, I had a group actually spoof the police department's main number on caller ID display. Biometrics are great, but it is essentially a string of numbers.

I currently fund a group adapting AI's for mining management. Now from my experience they tend to be very specialized and in many cases, "A Slack Jawed Moron." There is a lot of work to go, kind of like self driving cars, not quite there yet for quite some time. The system in my car works for example, I can take my hands off the wheel and it can drive. But it is kind of like having a drunk kangaroo driving as it bounces from side to side in the lane. AI are like that at the moment. They can do janitor tasks like scraping data from social media.

 

[KAOS Imagery]

I was interested in that listing too, looked at the user activity, he had been inactive for a while. Somehow I found his FB page, and that had been inactive long term too, so all that scared me away. Sorry to hear someone got caught up in it.