Consumer complaint received 2020-11-14
Company: Early Warning Services, LLC
State: AZ
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I was on XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, watching for updates on the release of the XXXX. On one thread, I saw a XXXX selling a XXXX XXXX edition for XXXX dollars. I have full. On XXXX  I said I was interested, and he said he wanted to talk on XXXX, " to be sure '', so I messaged him XXXX XXXX. He said he was a XXXX XXXX, had a long page on XXXX and XXXX for his supposed business, which neither had been updated since XX/XX/XXXX. We verified it was each other by messaging, he asked where I was at. I told him and that I would even pay for shipping. In retrospect should have asked why he wasn't charging me for that. Besides the point. He said he was in XXXX XXXX, NV, so shipping would be the optimal choice for a transaction. 
At this point, he sent proof of having the XXXX by sending pictures of the box and wrote his XXXX handle on a piece of paper and put it in front of the XXXX. I asked why he would have gotten one just to sell it, and he gave this story about how he got it for his son months ago but his son wanted a XXXX XXXX  instead, so he " was left with no choice than to sell ''. He asked for my name and address for shipping, which I gave to him. He said he would send the tracking number once he confirmed the payment and could process shipping. He wanted me to pay him on XXXX, to a XXXX XXXX. In the end we could not use XXXX because I was not set up on it so I had to be verified first. He followed up semi-frequently to check on how I was doing verifying, and I said we could use a different app. 
I said I have used XXXX and XXXX, both with buyer security, and he wanted to use XXXX, which I had with my bank but had never used before. 
He gave me contact info for a XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, to send the money to for XXXX. It was not set up with XXXX, so he changed it again and told me I could send the money to his friend on XXXX instead. He kept asking for screenshots as well, of the receipts of transfer when I was done. That was when he gave me the info for XXXX XXXX. I sent the money, unaware of the lack of assistance XXXX provides. He started texting a lot, and I was doubting and he said I could trust him. Some dad, running a small business, just trying to recoup money on a console. Seemed fine. 
Afterwards, he minimized his messages to me. I asked why a screenshot he sent me showed XXXX, when it was XXXX where I was and he claimed to be in XXXX XXXX. Said his phone was set to that time because he is from XXXX. I later learn that is because he is likely in the XXXX area, which matched with the time zone difference, unlike XXXX XXXX. But at this point the money had been sent, so all I could do was wait and inquire. 
Here I got bored, and so I started looking into his XXXX, when I discovered he was still XXXX  to people that he was selling a XXXX, so I started asking questions. He said he was posting for a friend, and because he has a business he could be trusted and had sources. None of these were ever provided. He said my questions were getting to be a little much and he would get that tracking number to me first thing in the morning. I thanked him and reminded him it was understandable to be anxious when moving that amount of money to a source online. All of these thoughts only came to me after the rush of obtaining what I was led to believe would be my own XXXX. 
I messaged in the morning, to which he delayed until 2. Understandable, but I was done waiting. I emailed XXXX XXXX asking for my money. I left it alone at first, because he said was just a vendor who passed the money. I later returned, but he never would give me any contact info, saying he just converted it to a bitcoin  currency. At this, I got a text on XXXX asking why I reached out to the XXXX contact. I started responding and he said he was driving so this would have to wait. Nothing back for hours. I eventually reached out again, annoyed at the lack of consideration for not sharing the tracking number at this point. I asked for him to return my money or give me a tracking number, either way he wouldn't have to hear from me again. He would see my messages, but never reply from then on. 
I then messaged him thanking him for blocking me on XXXX  so I could know his real intentions and for the life experience, and I was immediately blocked on XXXX. I could not find further evidence of this business, and did report it on XXXX for being fraudulent and a fake cover for these interactions. And then I ended up submitting it here at a friend 's suggestion. Please feel free to reach out if you need any further information. I unfortunately did all of this without ever even getting a name for this guy. I made a lot of mistakes here. I called XXXX early on for assistance and they said talk to the bank, the bank said the money is gone and you need to talk to XXXX, so I was left with no other alternative. Thank you for your consideration.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation