New Joiner, wanting to expose 'Strava' scams

[Lord Crustington]

Hi, I am a keen if not brilliant runner, who regularly takes part in organised race events - half marathons, marathons etc. Like many others, I am a member of the athlete social media platform called Strava. Over the past few months there has been a marked increase in the number of fake accounts, posting messages offering to transfer a race entry (or 'bib') in exchange for money. The unsuspecting runner agrees contact - usually via WhatsApp, but sometimes email or some other electronic channel - then transfers the agreed sum. When no bib is forthcoming, the victim is blocked from any further contact. I would like to try and shed more light on what is happening there - e.g. scammer usernames and the phone numbers / email addresses they supply for the purpose of contact, but I am not sure where best to do so.on here, if at all.
I'd appreciate some guidance on the subject, please, even if it amounts to 'not on Scamwarners'.
Thanks

[AlanJones]

Hi Lord Crustington, welcome to Scamwarners.

Strava is not a platform I'm familiar with, but like most social media sites, I'm sure that it will be rife with scammers looking to steal from unwitting victims.

Is the transfer of 'bibs' for money something that legitimately happens on the platform and scammers are just taking advantage of it with their fake offers (could make it difficult to prove they are scammers) or is it something that is banned by the platform?

The bottom line for me is that if you have evidence that they are scammers (i.e. you or someone else actually paid money and received no bib or some other proof) then I see no problem in you posting details here such as the usernames/Whatsapp details/email addresses they use, examples of the messages they send and any bank accounts or other payment details they give.

My only concern is that if there is a legitimate market on the platform, legitimate sellers don't end up getting posted because they mistakenly did something slightly different from the norm that made them look like a scammer.