Scam Alert

[timcantwell]

I thought it would be good to share this story with the Ford GT Community of Friends. My friend, Gus Cho from Chicago, IL sent me an e-mail to let me know that he was recently scammed by a couple of deadbeats who troll the exotic car forums looking for "marks" or "rubes" that they can scam. Gus is a very generous, trusting guy who has recently built a very respectable collection of cars. He is enthusiastic about his hobby as most of we are on this forum (he also owns a FGT). Given today's economic hardships, and the plethora of information available to anyone through the web, there will be more and more of these type of scams going on. It's a shame that as we share our passion via web-based forums, others are taking notes to see "who's who" to target another scam. We need to police our own forums to avoid getting into the mess Gus found himself in. You can check out the thread on this subject at: http://www.livelambo.com/showthread.php?p=13629
If any of the FGT Forum members has information on these two, please PM me, so I can share the information with Gus and the authorities.

Hello friends;

I got scammed by two con artists by the name of Alex Etchinson (AKA KYNAN ALEX ETCHINSON) and Dwight Etchinson. These two belong to dozens of Internet Forums and are a father and son team. They duped me into wiring them $20K for consultation work and have my personal and business information. The information they have is being trickled to the public via credit cards, and other loans they are applying for. They go by multiple aliases and attached are photos of them as well as the usernames they go by. Please be careful of these two con artists. I spoke to both of them in person and they are really good. They have duped my attorneys, accountants, as well as investigators. I have a list of other victims. If you are a victim or attempted victim, please email me or contact me. I hope the days of these guys preying on people are over. Law enforcement is currently actively investigating this case and need all the help there is to get these scammers out of business. If this does not apply to you, please disregard and my apologies.

Kind Regards,

Gustan Cho

 

[B O N Y]

Thanks Tim, I honestly feel that since we restrict membership to car owners, team members and a few selected spectators we are at much less risk than the typical forum is. The mere fact that we have events and meet each other also reduces our exposure.

I am only aware of one car owner that attempted to use the forum for gaining contacts.

However, I appreciate all warnings, and in any transaction due diligence should be exercised.

 

[dbk]

I never mentioned it but now all new accounts are moderated by me. You can't post without explaining why you're here first. Hopefully that will help keep scumbags like the above (not Bony and Tim :lol ) out.

 

[timcantwell]

I never mentioned it but now all new accounts are moderated by me. You can't post without explaining why you're here first. Hopefully that will help keep scumbags like the above (not Bony and Tim :lol ) out.

Good work Dave! We need to remain vigilant!

 

[shelbyelite]

For some reason that name is ringing a bell in my head, but I can not put my finger on it.....

Maybe it just sounds like another name I have heard. Not sure.

 

[shelbyelite]

I know where I heard that name now. I will let the person I heard it from chime in here....

 

[HHGT]

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1516600

Google their names, their is a list leading back to the lambo forum...

 

[Heffner Performance]

I had an encounter with Alex a few years back. Fortunately he did not get any money from me, just wasted TONS of my time. I also havea few other friends that had lots of their time wasted by him with promises of selling them exotic cars at unrealistically low prices. I have one friend that actually went to a house that Alex and his father were renting and had dinner with him. If I can come up with any helpful information I will certainly forward ot to the appropriate persons. I'm very sorry to hear of Mr. Cho's misfortune.

 

[598]

Wasn't there some kind of funny dealings about a father- son team with a heritage car on ebay not too long ago? Stories didn't match up as I recall. Best of luck.

Steve

 

[shelbyelite]

Wasn't there some kind of funny dealings about a father- son team with a heritage car on ebay not too long ago? Stories didn't match up as I recall. Best of luck.

Steve

I dont think the two are in anyway related. They guys selling the heritage on ebay seemed to just be very rude, but I believe they were legit.

 

[ROCMAN]

I never mentioned it but now all new accounts are moderated by me. You can't post without explaining why you're here first. Hopefully that will help keep scumbags like the above (not Bony and Tim :lol ) out.

Maybe we can payban them if they join. :wink :lol :rofl

 

[MAD IN NC]

Tim, I posted the lambolive story and what you posted here on the 69stang.com forum.

If any of us are members of other forums - why don't we forward this guy's info and pics around. The more that know of him, the easier it is to stop and even catch him

 

[timcantwell]

Tim, I posted the lambolive story and what you posted here on the 69stang.com forum.

If any of us are members of other forums - why don't we forward this guy's info and pics around. The more that know of him, the easier it is to stop and even catch him

Thanks Mike! As an update, Gus told me yesterday that more, and more people are coming forward who have been scammed by these guys, one poor, older gentleman was driven to bancruptcy as a result. The file is getting thick, but the more people who can present evidence, the more likely they will be caught and put away for a long time.