A Public Service Announcement


The point of this blog post is a shameless plug for the industry that I've been a part of for just shy of fifteen years now. If you're new to this blog you may be unaware that I've worked in the insurance and financial services industry since 2008 all with the same company. In that time I've learned so much and have helped MANY folks with a wide variety of needs. That's great, and not why I'm writing this post.


A few weeks ago my trusty(ish) DJI Mavic Air 2 (drone) gimbal (the part that holds/adjusts the camera) started freaking out while I was flying near OMSI. As luck would have it there were still 4 days left on my DJI Care package so I got a replacement for a very reasonable cost. The replacement came in a few days and was without hiccup. Now, it's important to mention here that I'd been kicking around the idea of upgrading to a unit with a larger sensor for better performance in lower light conditions (as I tend to fly a lot near sunset). I tossed the new (refurbished) unit on to OfferUp and waited with anticipation. A few days, and a few insane lowball offers later I had a would be buyer contact me. Newer buyer, which isn't necessarily a red flag, contacted me saying he wanted the drone for a price very close to what I was asking. We agreed on a time and location to meet up.


Upon meeting the buyer informed me he'd previously owned a smaller drone and was excited to have a larger one and wanted to know if this one was easy to fly? Kind of an odd question as those remotely in the know are probably aware the interfaces are nearly identical on all of DJI's consumer line. While I'm aware that I'm a bit (okay a bunch) more obsessed with this kind of stuff than most that sort of registered as a red flag. He proceeds to produce a banking bag with a bunch of 20's and 50's to count out the agreed upon amount and hands it to me. It's Sunday evening and I find myself wondering about the banking bag. I'm finding myself increasingly nervous about this transaction as there are now a few vehicles in the area that weren't moments ago with young folks just hanging out- seemingly with no real reason to do so-are they connected? Who knows. I take the cash, give him the drone, and we part ways.


At this point I'll mention we'd met at a grocery store and I needed a few items so I walk in to the store feeling unsettled. I gather my items, go through self-checkout, and ready to pay for my groceries. After unsuccessfully attempting to insert various bills I become aware that I've been paid in COUNTERFEIT CASH!!!! I'm angry, hurt, and feel taken advantage of. It also occurs to me that while this really sucks I probably did the right thing in carrying through with the transaction as anyone who's willing to (totally calmly) scam someone with fake cash in public probably has no hesitation for other sketchy/dangerous behavior.


When I got home and told Tracy the news she was cool about the whole thing, I file a police report, and then she asked about our home insurance? You see, when I started getting in to photography I "scheduled" those items on our homeowners policy. That's an insurance industry way of saying that I pay extra to provide special protections for those items. At our company that means that those items are covered unless the policy specifically says it doesn't (called risk of direct physical loss). What's more our policy had $1,000 in counterfeit protection. Long story short, I had a check in my hands a few days later for the replacement cost of the drone. I also called the Secret Service in Seattle (closest branch) to report this and it turns out they don't bother under six figures. Guess that explains why dude's out there just spending "money".


The lessons I learned are:

  1. Insurance, while definitely not sexy, is incredibly useful
  2. When conducting larger transactions stick to credible online marketplaces like eBay where there's FAR less likelihood of this happening
  3. If your instincts are telling you something, bail
  4. If you can't bail just finish the deal as your life and safety are worth far more than an item
  5. Apparently the Secret Service doesn't care about counterfeit cash under 100k
  6. See #1


Be safe out there kiddos.