So, I got scammed out of $150 here yesterday. Fault is mine, of course, but I thought I’d share some thoughts and lessons I take from this.
Quick facts: I posted a “Want to Buy” message for a Lyman Deerstalker in the classifieds. I got a PM from a member who claimed to have one. He included pics of the lock, the whole gun etc. Made references to bore pitting, corrosion etc...stuff that sounds "Muzzleloadery". Claimed that it was just lying around and it deserved to be used… In other words, said all the right things. The member did have nearly 20 posts…some were generic, a couple were engaged with ML. We negotiated over price, over the split between now and delivery. I asked for an got a full name and address. I sent the money via Zelle.
As I reflected on the transaction, some things began to feel wrong. When I searched the address he sent, it turned out to be a vacant lot…a little more digging and it turned out that the gun had been sold with the same pics nearly two years ago.
OK, so lessons:
1.Posting an “I want to buy” is an invitation for a scam.
2.If you ARE going to use that, maybe best to limit the transactions to those than can be local pick up drop off?
3. Before sending a dime, ask for pictures of the item with the current date handwritten on a note next to them with the sellers own name written as well.
4.Check the posting history of the member carefully. A long standing member with a thousand posts and deep into muzzleloading…probably less like to scam.
5. If ANYTHING feels off about the transaction, call it off.
Anybody have other suggestions? Local pickup etc only is really limiting for the kinds of things we are looking to trade in.
I really do blame myself, and the administrators responded very promptly to my reporting.
I will exercise far greater caution in the future…this is a wonderful community and it is so unfortunate that people take advantage.