17/04/2022
The untold Down To Scratch DJs story about us getting scammed for $3,600 in our first year of trading. Best grab a snack, strap in and read along.
During May of 2017, less than 4 months after we officially launched, we decided to invest in some high-end equipment - a set of CDJ-2000s & a DJM-900 Mixed (the standard club DJ setup, for those less familiar). The intention would have been to have local DJs pop into our office and mix by the hour/hire the decks/get mixing lessons.
We quickly found a seller via Gumtree, who seemed genuine, reasonable and had a well thought out response for why the gear was being sold. It seemed like the perfect purchase, so we went ahead…
4 days later, $3,600 down and we hadn’t received tracking data, any contact since we sent the payment, or most importantly - the gear. In the forthcoming weeks we sent countless emails and texts, and funnily enough did receive the odd response however with the seller claiming to be a “FIFO Worker” who would be rectifying the situation as soon as he’s back in town. Being at that desperate point, as well as in denial of the high possibility of having just lost thousands of dollars, we held out hope. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, and Mr Cory of Gumtree seemingly disappeared into thin air.
Despite us eventually retrieving just under 70% of the stolen amount through our bank, this was a devastating blow for us. We were mere months into trading and very quickly went from having an exciting new service to offer, to trying to figure out how to make back thousands in lost funds. We considered calling it a day at this time, but as you would all know, we took it in stride and almost 5 years later are still pushing ahead.
Additionally, just over a year later we were in a position to have another go at purchasing the setup (through safer means of course) and wound up acquiring the gear and offering the intended services for a number of years, before selling the equipment during the 2020 lockdown.
Scammers are getting smarter, and we still see folks getting caught by them far too often on DJ gear sites and similar. Our top tips are:
-Always suggest pickup (not delivery)
-Never pay via bank account or “PayPal Friends & Family”
-If it seems too good to be true, it probably is
Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!
