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I got scammed last year in a much smaller scam and had debated talking about it publicly, but why not? People should know this stuff happens. In my case, there was no real harm done, but might as well share the story.

Got a phone call from "Chase Security," caller ID showed Chase's phone number. So I took the call. After being told my account had been hacked and I needed to move my money out of my account, I decided instead to walk across the street to my branch and do it in person. They said, nope, that's not us

In my case, it was in a small, private forum in which books are sold. The forum is generally (though not entirely) for out of print books that are hard to find, and I've bought and sold books via that forum for years without any problem.

Over the last few months, there had been multiple posts on the forum warning about a scammer who had a pattern: not willing to share pictures of the books. Asking if the buyer will pay via "friends & family" (not protected) on Paypal instead of "goods and services." Also, being based in Portugal

The person who operates the forum... is not necessarily great, and frequently deletes those threads with those warnings. But, so many people who buy/sell those books use the forum, it's hard to avoid. But, anyway... I was at least somewhat forewarned of a scammer.