Collectible Figures collectible_figs Reports & Reviews (1)
Collectible Figures collectible_figs Contacts
If you know any contact information for Collectible Figures collectible_figs, help other victims by adding it!
Add new contacts
SCAMPULSE
Scammer's email [email protected]
Country United States
Victim Location MD 21216, USA
Total money lost $200
Type of a scam Online Purchase
My account is private, so I approved the follow, figuring they randomly requested a follow from scrolling through either the Hot Toys or Sideshow Instagram account, because at that point I hadn't posted anything regarding any figures or statues I purchased and they wouldn't be able to see it prior anyway.
Late December (22nd), they sent me a message: "Hello there. I got pretty good Star Wars, Marvel and DC figures for sale. Are you looking to purchase any?"
My paranoia kicked in and I told them I was broke, and would get back to them later. I had no real intention of doing so because I'd been being bugged by other Instagram shop accounts to buy discounted items through message requests.
On March 4, 2023, I was going through the stories of the accounts that I followed and one story post from collectible_figs was asking what kind of discount users would want. Out of sheer boredom, I clicked 30% off on the poll they made.
The following morning, they sent me this message: "Hello there. Congratulations! ??You’ll get a 30% discount on any purchase you make this month."
And I was like, cool, do you have an eBay page? And they told me, "No sorry unfortunately I don’t sell on eBay. They charge [a] very high amount for commission fee lol ??". As an eBay seller, I understood the sentiment and assumed they had a website that they were operating from despite seeing no link in the description.
So, after picking the Endgame Cap figure that they were claiming to sell for $250 (with a 30% cut), I asked them to send me their payment method. If they had a website, that meant they had to be using Paypal business checkout.
They avoided explaining that and asked, "[...]is there any way you could make a deposit (like 100 bucks) so that I keep them separately from the other figures and know that you already bought them?"
I told them, no, I was broke until my next payday. Already the alarms were going off in my head telling me, "This person is a scammer, for sure."
Nine days later, they asked, "Hello mate. Was just making sure you’ll snag the end game cap tomorrow. I can ship out first thing tomorrow morning."
I told them I was still committed, and again, wanted to know how they intended to let me purchase this figure (which was, all things considered, incredibly 'affordable' on Sideshow Collectibles still).
They told me, "Ok. I’ll send you my Zelle now so that you make payment. Cool?" Again the alarms went off in my head, and I was reminded of the constant messages I got from my bank about Person-2-Person (P2P) money scams. This was shaping up to be just that. Still, out of some morbid curiosity, I kept moving forward.
After I sent $200 to collectible_figs, they kept asking me for a screenshot of my bank account to officiate the zelle transfer. They told me, "[...]My cashier in charge of my business transactions so I really need a proper screenshot so that my cashier can confirm payment came from your end. Can you use your computer to take a photo of payment? Or log in your Instagram in your computer then use your phone to take a photo of payment."
I sent them a copy of the Zelle receipt through their business email and their supposed personal email as well, and they confirmed they had it.
A day or two later, they told me, "Hello mate. Something came up. I’m about to register your package at the shipping agency so that they can ship out and send me tracking number, they asked for a total of $150 for shipping fees cuz I’m shipping out multiple figures, but I realized that my Zelle has been limited all of a sudden."
They wanted me to send $150 bucks to them. I was fairly convinced that this person was indeed not on the up-and-up and ready to wash my hands of the situation and block them. I told them I didn't have that money, and that they could use the $200 (because I was confident I wasn't getting that back) for any future shipping costs.
I searched on Instagram, Reddit, DuckDuckGo, and Google for any information on collectible_figs, to try and figure out what their rep was like on the secondhand market. They had Instagram stories with glowing reviews, but, I was suspicious, and figured they could be fake.
I couldn't find a blessed thing on them. So, either they were on the up-and-up, or they know how not to attract attention (maybe counting on the embarrassment of marks?). Either way, I was concerned about whether or not anyone else had had experiences with this user.
They told me they would still send me Endgame Cap, but would have to get the 150 elsewhere. I wished them luck and didn't expect to hear from them again.
Ten days later, they messaged me against on Instagram and said, " Hello. I already got $150 so I can ship out tomorrow morning ????."
Surprised to hear from them again, I told them, okay, and was looking forward to seeing the box at my doorstep. They followed up again, asking, "What’s your phone number? And email? The agency will message you the tracking information."
I asked them what shipping service they were using and they told me USPS Priority Mail. I told them to use the business email I that sent them, and to check their inbox for any trace of it when they told me, "Sorry it disappeared."
A couple of hours later they got back to me with a screenshot of the email I used to communicate with them. They asked me for my phone number again because they couldn't find it.
I told them I got plenty of notifications from Sideshow and eBay without my phone number. I told them I didn't use my phone for my orders, and that I got plenty of email updates from UPS without my phone (at the time I mistook USPS for UPS).
They kept asking for my phone number: "Reason I asked you phone it’s cuz at times USPS send the tracking via normal text while sometime they just email. You can’t predict so just send your phone. I’ll forward it to them immediately."
I politely declined to give by way of evasion and reassurance that e-mail updates were fine. That was on March 27th, 2023. They responded with a heart emoji reaction on my message.
There was no communication for most of April.
Last night (April 14, 2023), I decided to send another Instagram message to ask them what I already figured wasn't happening. Where was Endcap Cap that I supposedly paid for? To my surprise the account was listed as "Instagram User", and for a moment I thought they had gotten suspended. Instead, I discover they're no longer following me and I've been blocked by said collectible_figs.
I showed them the same kindness and reported the account for scams or fraud. I also blocked and unfollowed another collectible figure seller that was using a similar selling point, photograph setup up, and bio description, and provided no information on how their orders were made.
I went into this situation knowing that this was likely a scam, and recent actions have only confirmed this for me. Not sure if I can contact my bank about it, but I'm also making my peace with this.