Scammer that you may already be aware of.

[Lurker]

Hi all,

just a heads-up that a certain Mark Raidal from Brisbane, or so he says, has ripped me off for a pair of green tree snakes.

Long story short, Raidal contacted me through this site in response to a Wanted ad that I’d put up in here for tree snakes, and - foolishly of me - I paid him via a direct deposit into his account and then the excuses started on why he was unable to freight the snakes from Brisbane to Sydney. That was in June of this year, now he’s not answering calls or texts from me.

I’ve bought reptiles this way before and never had an issue but from now on it’s cash or PayPal for me. Just be aware that he’s (still) operating so my suggestion to everyone is to block the bastard the minute he contacts you.

 

[Rob]

Please PM me the user account details he used (if applicable).

https://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/threads/ripped-off.216960/

There was a lot more from memory, perhaps lost in the DB crash a few years back.

 

[Sdaji]

I'm not familiar with this character, but rather than just a blanket 'I'll never buy in this way again' approach, I'd suggest a 'I'll be selective about who I buy from' approach. I've been in the reptile game for over 25 years and have plenty of contact, so even if I don't know someone, I'll generally know someone who does, so I'll know whether or not they're worth dealing with. It's not so easy for someone new to the hobby, but if you go for someone who has been in the scene for a long time and is well known as a reliable seller you'll be safe from this sort of thing. If you're new to the scene it's a good idea to make friends with someone who has been around the block and knows the scene, and you'll be able to ask them to verify sellers.

Definitely, buying from random unknowns is a risky game. I sometimes see things which I would like but avoid buying them because I don't trust the seller (or I outright know they're probably going to rip buyers off or the snake will arrive with parasites or in some cases I'm sure they won't rip me off because of who I am, but they do routinely rip off newbies so I choose not to deal with them). It definitely is a little tricky for newbies because some of the bad sellers have been around for a long time and form syndicates of people who all say they are all good, which creates an illusion of trustworthiness. Simply paying with cash or Paypal isn't really good protection because it won't protect you from the worst outcomes - animals with heavy parasite loads or other health issues. Much worse than no animal at all.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Doing your homework in the form of due diligence is essential in these transactions. The hobby relies heavily on trust especially with interstate sales. Im not sure how you would go with a paypal purchase for livestock but Im not confident they would cover it.
Buying reptiles isnt much different from anything else really, if things seem like they are too good to be true they generally are. There are con merchants involved in every market, some are a little more obvious than others so care needs to be employed.

 

[Archer]

Close personal friend of someone who got scammed by a buyer in the form of a fake nsw keepers licence. Looked like a legit paper licence, only found out it wasnt when the yearly report was submitted, and there was a phone call from decc asking about the buyers number...
thats a bit hard for everyday sellers to be able to know if it is real or not. I can remember many years ago decc was asked at a meeting at hawkesbury, why we couldnt have plastic card licences. They spouted some bs about costing an extra $40 per licence to print the cards, dont know if its ever been thought of again.