TOPIC:

I'm wondering whether the VCOA Private Message function would kick out a text to my phone, or whether it only appears within the VCOA Personal Message area.

Background? I have a car listed in the VCOA Classifieds. I received a text with a subject line that was the year, make, model and price of the car - which makes me think it came from within the website. It came from a number that’s not a phone number, but I thought it might be the private message function. The text message also had a person's name, but I don’t find that name in the searchable list of user names. I replied to the text, but haven’t heard back.

Reasons for concern? First, I have no messages in my PM Inbox, and I’d expect one of that were the source. Second, the phone number in the text looks anonymized. Third, I don’t find the user in the VCOA user list. Fourth, and most telling, the name on the text I received has been associated with scamming activity on Viper, Jeep and Porsche sites.

So I’d like to know if our PM function is solely internal to the VCOA site or if it kicks out a separate text message. Right now, though, I’m about 90% thinking this is a scam attempt.

Was your message from jjlissa10?

George Dill

I just sent you a Private Message using the VCOA PM setup on this forum.

Does my message look different from your suspect sender's message?

Thanks.

George Dill

Thanks for doing that. The VCOA Private Message did NOT trigger a text message to my phone, and it DID show up and stay in my VCOA PM inbox - two key distinctions from the text message I received earlier.

And while as a text message it didn’t show an e-mail address, the name that appeared was the same name that’s been associated with that email address on the Viper, Jeep and Porsche boards (and on a Ford Trucks board also, I later learned.) I’m guessing you may have previously seen that here.

So I guess I don't have a buyer yet; I’ve only got a scammer.