Stop in for a cup of coffee

P.S.A. on conducting due diligence.

Found an online parts supplier and started a conversation with them. Started doing some poking around to see if they were legit.

They stated that they were located in Lafayette, LA. I asked for their physical address which took a few minutes for them to spit out. While I was waiting, I started looking at their Marketplace page... "Administered in Cameroon" Alarms going off at that point.

Got the address from them and looked through Goggle Earth (street view). Large warehouse building...OK... For Sale sign next to it, but the view was from 2023.

Found the name of the HVAC company next door and called them. Turns out I'm not the first to call them and ask the question. Apparently the scammers found a vacant industrial property to claim as an address.

Reported them. I'm not sure where that goes or when. I imagine the 1100 "Likes" of their page were bots and fake.

Mid Wave Automotive Salvage Inc.... "Lafayette, LA" (Actually Cameroon).

Be safe out there


EDIT TO ADD - There were some inconsistencies in grammar as well, like the AI was trying to force it to sound natural, but it went from very formal English to awkward slang that didn't quite fit.