Scammed by user Phoonan

I have been a victim of a scam by this user. Interestingly enough, he appears to be an established member of this forum. Mostly active in the sales threads, maybe that is a red flag.

Basically I posted a WTB listing (which, I should know better to be more vigilant as those are easy to scam since it's a warm lead to a scammer) and I received a PM from Phoonan saying he has exactly what I'm looking for. Nothing else.

I wrote back, 2-3 times all with no reply back to me. I understand the forum notification system is semi-broken (I don't always get email notifications about new PM's) but you can clearly see the last time a user logged in. I digress...

In a bit of a rush, I searched his name on here and found a few older FS listings with a phone number in them. Seeing that he appeared to be established, I decided to try and call. Number disconnected. Bummer.

I then thought, maybe he's having a phone issue, let me text. Blue text - iMessage. Message delivered.

A little bit later, he replied and said my name and knew what I was looking for. Connecting the dots, that means he knew who I was based on my private message (I gave him my number). So, I figured "that's good, at least the guy w/ the number is the guy on the forum". Very friendly, and soon thereafter I asked him to call me so we could discuss...

He called - but using Facetime Audio, not a regular phone call. He explained he was having issues with his carrier (AT&T) but sounded fine, american? No accent, etc. We negotiated back and forth and landed on a price. So this passed the vibe check as usually a scammer doesn't bother to haggle, they will take what they can get. Nope, this felt more authentic.

So - my dumb a$$ sent a zelle to "fernan.damian@gmail.com". He even asked for my IG. We connected there (his profile was private) I can see a sorts of things about this private / personal life, mostly cars of course.

Then suddenly something felt off. I decided to google him of course AFTER all of this, and a post shows up on the FB marketplace for a Fernan Damian scamming her out of a few hundred bucks for some STI parts a year or two ago. I sent this to him, via text. No reply. In fact messages don't show delivered until a bit of a delay... which is another red flag. I call him to follow up (via FT Audio) and he answers and doesn't deny the FB post and mumbles a few words (undiscernable) but said something like "oh yeah my friend did that mess up and eventually she got refunded". That is what really started to cause concern. I said hey, based on that please get these shipped out ASAP. He agreed and said he'd get it out in the evening.

Evening rolls around, and he sends me a text with a FedEx receipt and then tracking number. Red flags everywhere - the receipt was obviously AI generated. Shows weight in KG vs LBS, shows "california" in the street address. And - my address is incorrect which is a completely invalid street number. This alone should / would have caused FedEx to not proceed with a label (it validates addresses, duh). Not to mention it says "FedEx Ground Priority" which isn't even a real service. To cap it all off, the tracking # does not work. No suprise there.

Strange thing about this is he's been responsive to text / calls but since i've called him out on the fake label, he's gone silent again. I think the grift is obvious now and he was just trying to buy time to move money around. I have called my bank and filed a report, same with the local police and FTC.

So guys, caveat emptor. Lay it on me if you want, but lesson learned and the feeling of shame. I've been quite lucky with the car community for a while and this one gives a black eye. Regardless, I'd be remiss if i didn't say "watch out for Fernan aka "Fern" Damian, 510-685-9939 fernan.damian@gmail.com www.instagram.com/phooonan (notice the extra O there). Just strange all around. No idea if this is the dude scamming me, or if it's being impostored or what. But he's an active user here still so if this guy did steal someones information, he stole it all (iCloud / Forum / IG).

Karmic retribution vs. a bat to the head

Your call.

I hear you, but I think we can handle this amicably. For reference, I sent him $2,150.00.

Fern has been in contact with me - and let me know his situation. It's not a good one, but I'm trying to work this out. He has sent me $150 so far, and now promised another two payments, $350 on the 5th and 'likely' $650 on the 19th. So effectively I've given a loan to a stranger, but if he's willing to pay me back and hold himself accountable, I will not charge him interest.

Ambrozie classy.

Another reason to hate WTB ads. They just are everywhere here and people just post them, waste of space. Makes reading classifieds hell.

Sometimes a guy even shows up to answer the ad with something good and he gets shut down or ignored. Just move the WTB albatross to their own section. Waste of time.

Most of the time with the little weird stuff, just wait or go buy it for retail. It's better than wasting your time trying to save a few bucks. Depending on a stranger is never a great plan.

Mrdeezy wrote

Another reason to hate WTB ads. They just are everywhere here and people just post them, waste of space. Makes reading classifieds hell.

Sometimes a guy even shows up to answer the ad with something good and he gets shut down or ignored. Just move the WTB albatross to their own section. Waste of time.

Most of the time with the little weird stuff, just wait or go buy it for retail. It's better than wasting your time trying to save a few bucks. Depending on a stranger is never a great plan.

The general landscape of online marketplaces is rocky.

Maybe it was more cordial and operable in the 2000’s and 2010’s, I can’t speak accurately to those times, but today is rough.

Forums are at an all-time low popularity, Craigslist is antiquated & undermarketed, eBay is wading through majority Chinese junk. FB Marketplace is the “best” of a bad bunch, but that has very bad underfunding in its UI on-top-of minimal scammer controls.

Yes, a WTB ad is basically a warm lead to a scammer. They have a target now ready to send money as they know what they are looking for. I get it.

I am trying to trust people these days, in the car world it's been quite nice. I have so many random friends I've made online and I don't know half their names, but they are ready at the helm with a text message any time I need something.

Update:

A second payment was promised on Friday, which didn't come. I did hear from him, stating that he was working on it. Saturday I was asked if I'd take Venmo, I said sure. Nothing came. I checked in, and finally Sunday evening I received a Zelle for $300, not the $350 as promised. He said he was working on the $50 and it would be delivered shortly. Nothing yet.

Total Paid Back so far :

$150
$300

narkotic wrote

Update:

A second payment was promised on Friday, which didn't come. I did hear from him, stating that he was working on it. Saturday I was asked if I'd take Venmo, I said sure. Nothing came. I checked in, and finally Sunday evening I received a Zelle for $300, not the $350 as promised. He said he was working on the $50 and it would be delivered shortly. Nothing yet.

Total Paid Back so far :

$150
$300

It's very unlikely you'll get your money back. It's also highly unlikely the local police will do anything at all since many of the CA departments have been defunded. Call the FBI.
To report fraud or a federal crime directly to the FBI Field Office, in California, call (415) 553-7400. For urgent assistance or if you are outside of the local area, you can also reach the main FBI hotline 24/7 at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Depending on the nature of the fraud, consider utilizing the following digital reporting resources: Internet Crimes: If the scam involved the internet or a digital transaction, file a report through the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ⁠IC3.gov. General Tips: To submit a tip about a federal crime or threat, you can do so securely online at ⁠tips.fbi.gov. Consumer Scams: For general consumer scams and identity theft, you can also file a report with the Federal Trade Commission via the ⁠FTC ReportFraud Page.

I've recovered some of the money but not all. Now he's gone silent again.

He is logging into this forum and watching this thread. In fact he has asked me to remove some of his personal information from this thread, which is funny because why would I do that. We need to protect eachother.

I have reached out to him today to discuss and go over the rest of the funds. I have alerted the FTC, FBI and local police. And my bank. Soon I will reach out to his employer, Marriot. The guy is scamming people out in the open and it's a strange one. He has a flicker of a conscience it seems and maybe he's backed into a corner.

Fern : if you are reading this, it's time to fix this. It will only get worse.

Spoke at length yesterday. Next payment of $700 promised on 6/19. Will update then.

narkotic wrote

Spoke at length yesterday. Next payment of $700 promised on 6/19. Will update then.

I suppose some of those funds will come from the $655 he scammed me out of.

I had posted a wanted ad looking for a V1 M Performance LED steering wheel, along with the associated wiring harness and control module. He contacted me saying he had the control module available. Since my forum account was still new and I couldn't send direct messages at the time, we continued the conversation on Instagram.

I was genuinely thrilled that someone had responded to my post, especially because he claimed to have a V1 control module, which is an incredibly difficult part to find. Everything seemed legitimate. He was active on social media, we'd viewed each other's Instagram stories, and there were no obvious red flags. I sent payment for the control module without much concern.

Later, he told me that a friend of his had the wiring harness I was looking for. To be fair, he never pressured me into buying it. In fact, he even helped negotiate a better price with his friend. By this point, I trusted him completely. I remember telling my fiancée how lucky I was to have found someone in America (I'm based in the UK) who happened to have the exact parts I'd been searching for.

Writing this now, I'm genuinely upset and disappointed, not only with him, but also with myself. I've always been the type of person who gives others the benefit of the doubt, and sometimes I'm simply too trusting for my own good.

I paid for the parts, shipping, and any associated taxes, thanked him for his help, and waited for the package to arrive.

It's now been nearly a month since the supposed shipment date of 17/05/2026, which was shown in a screenshot of a DHL portal that he sent me. When I asked for updates, he acted as though he was helping, claiming he had contacted DHL on my behalf.

What ultimately raised my suspicions was that he never provided a tracking number, booking reference, or even told me which DHL branch he had supposedly dropped the parcel off at. Over the last several days, I've spent hours contacting DHL UK and sending emails trying to locate the shipment, only to get nowhere because I have no actual shipment details to provide.

At this point, I no longer believe the package was ever sent. Unfortunately, it appears I've been scammed out of $655 by someone I trusted.

Fernan, If you read this, please understand that others aren't made of money. Yes, we all share the same passion and are into cars etc but remember that we are all real people with real lives, real jobs and real responsibilities.

I'll send him a message for a refund

Sorry to hear this happen to you though.

narkotic wrote

Spoke at length yesterday. Next payment of $700 promised on 6/19. Will update then.

Did he make this payment?

Leon96 wrote

Did he make this payment?

I was wondering this as well

Hi - Yes, a partial payment was made. He's struggling to catch up. We're at $750 paid out of $2,250 so a ways to go. He's making an effort. Will keep all apprised.

narkotic wrote

Hi - Yes, a partial payment was made. He's struggling to catch up. We're at $750 paid out of $2,250 so a ways to go. He's making an effort. Will keep all apprised.

I’m glad he’s continuing to pay, but this makes no sense to me. What’s his incentive to pay anything? Threat of police report?

Received $110 on 7/3. Was supposed to be higher.

Paid $860 out of $2,250 so far. Next expected payment 7/10

Received $190 on 7/13. Total paid so far $1,050 out of $2,250

pretty good progress, hope what ever he's going through he does better. all it takes is one person to help turn things around and you might be that person despite the set backs.

Who knows. There are others disenfranchised as well and i'm hoping this is a turnaround moment for him and everyone gets their comeuppance.

narkotic wrote

Who knows. There are others disenfranchised as well and i'm hoping this is a turnaround moment for him and everyone gets their comeuppance.

its okay, we can carpool together from OC and go do some fund recovery jobs

I have asked him via Instagram for a refund, I haven't had a response unfortunately. It really bugs me. Been thinking about it almost daily since it happened.