I got scammed :(

[Bigterp]

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.

It sucks!!!!!!! I try to use PayPal goods & services with the payment attached to a credit card so I have 2 avenues of recourse. In the end there’s no 100 % safe way to buy from folks on the internet……. Sorry if I had one I’d help ya out

 

[dwm]

Postal money orders are probably a good choice, I think.

I had a money order lost for a month, post office was less than helpful, I sent the guy via PayPal and he sent me my money back after the money order finally showed up. thankfully he was a great guy

 

[Bushfire]

I'm definitely going to sound rude but I can't work a way around it.

In my view to get scammed you have to be a bit of a chump when there are so many easy ways around it. I've bought lots of guns online and although I've been contacted multiple times by scammers I've never come close to getting caught.

Easiest thing to do is a) get details and speak on the phone. It's a no brainer and requires nothing that shouldn't be done anyway. Doesn't matter how correspondence starts make sure there is a call involved. If they won't or "cant" that's a flag.

Secondly, I will not let a cent of my money leave my fingers before the gun has been taken to a registered gun dealer that I can call to confirm that it is a) there and b) in the condition described. I won't accept them giving me a number to call, I need a legitimate business name that i can find online.

I had one guy who I spoke to on the phone and to this day that I believe was legit but he wouldn't take the gun to a dealer without a deposit so I wished him best of luck. Make no exceptions and you stay safe.

The only way I pay is either cash face to face or via a bank transfer once I've confirmed the details as legitimate.

Follow basic common sense steps and it's hard to go wrong.

 

[Okie Hog]

i'm sorry you got ripped off.

Bought a lot of stuff off the web using Paypal and a credit card. Had several problems when the bore condition was not as advertised: Those were resolved.

The ripoff artists are out there, be careful. Don't ever send money by Zelle or Venmo.

 

[Boonechaser]

I’m all for doing do diligence but half this I’m reading, I’d never sell anything to anyone online. Obviously what I’m selling is cheaper than you can find locally or you can’t find locally, or you would have bought it there.
No way I would ad cost or time to any sale to pacify someone. Some of this **** is just ridiculous!
Talk to someone on the phone, make sure they’re a known member of any board that your buying from, the price is not just too good to be true, run names, phone numbers and addresses (physical and email) through a search, run an image search to verify it’s not a reused photo, run a user name search (most people use the same name on multiple forums) and pay with a CC or bank account that leaves you a way to dispute. It’s simple and doesn’t need to be as hard as some of you are making it…

I buy and sale using Venmo and other electronic services, all the time. Still haven’t been scammed, nor scammed anyone.

 

[GM54-120]

Goody also had another alias. Wembley, i removed him the same day we found out about Goody. Googled the email and got a hit on the S&W forum. They outed his emails and user names. I ran the emails against our user list. They post every scammer with emails and phone#s they find.

 

[Mountain Tabbed Charlie]

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.

I always tell people when they buy anything from me that they can call my cell and we can talk, I can take a video of the gun or we can FaceTime. There’s too many scams and I’d say if anyone is uncomfortable with any of that I’d say they may be trying to scam you.

 

[AfricaDouble]

I want a Photo of ID sent to me, and I can then cross reference the address and research information provided. A photo of said firearm with the Date and name of person… Then a phone call to talk about a few things. I’ll ask certain questions, subtle yet inquiring-
From there a Certified Post office money order , becouse they must use that ID to retrieve it at post office. Most Scammers want fast Cash- not possibly a Felony.

 

[Retiredusn]

I always tell people when they buy anything from me that they can call my cell and we can talk, I can take a video of the gun or we can FaceTime. There’s too many scams and I’d say if anyone is uncomfortable with any of that I’d say they may be trying to scam you.

???

 

[AfricaDouble]

Retiredusn…. Funny , Glance at other site

 

[deermanok]

Retiredusn…. Funny , Glance at other site

I saw that too. OMG

 

[moose23]

I saw as well.
???

 

[vintovka]

Uh best take a look at this:

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/beware-mountain-tabbed-charlie.143118/
If true makes you very leery.

 

[Countryboy]

Sorry to hear that, it definitely sucks. They almost got me about a month ago. I put a post up for a Thompson center cougar and received the same response. I had a bad feeling and never went through with it thank god. Now I only look at well known members to buy from. Again sorry to hear this and good luck on your next purchase.

 

[toytruck]

I will never send a personal check to anyone again. There is too much info on there, bank number, address, account number, etc.
Lesson learned!!

 

[deermanok]

I'm on the other muzzleloader site as well as this one.
When I see a name attached to a for sale ad that I never see posting anything else, I automatically am suspicious.
I know that simply posting messages isn't all there is to it but at least you sorta gauge someone by what they have to say.
Don't know if I'm making sense or not but that's how I feel.

 

[vintovka]

WTB ads seem an open invitation for trouble nowadays. It really hurts the hobby -- almost worse than inflation!! I should add that Gun Broker may be feeling the pain as well from scammers. One sign is that they are now providing automatic negative feedback and suspending scammers and non paying bidders (or other jerks) on very first offense.

 

[vintovka]

I’m all for doing do diligence but half this I’m reading, I’d never sell anything to anyone online. Obviously what I’m selling is cheaper than you can find locally or you can’t find locally, or you would have bought it there.
No way I would ad cost or time to any sale to pacify someone. Some of this **** is just ridiculous!
Talk to someone on the phone, make sure they’re a known member of any board that your buying from, the price is not just too good to be true, run names, phone numbers and addresses (physical and email) through a search, run an image search to verify it’s not a reused photo, run a user name search (most people use the same name on multiple forums) and pay with a CC or bank account that leaves you a way to dispute. It’s simple and doesn’t need to be as hard as some of you are making it…

I buy and sale using Venmo and other electronic services, all the time. Still haven’t been scammed, nor scammed anyone.

Current word from my tax guy is all incoming transaction exceeding $600 may trigger a 1099K in Jan 2023.

 

[ourway77]

I thought 1099's were for private money earned etc.

 

[vintovka]

Guess more than $600 and your a business? Ebay is warning that over $600 they will have to have your SS# for reporting.