cachecline
FNG
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
- Messages
- 27
Thanks for your insight… any other words of wisdom?
WTS/WTT Robertsonscoot SCAMMER
- Thread starter Sarinder
- Start date
cachecline
FNG
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
- Messages
- 27
Cocksucker got me for $750 bucks on some binos. Pretended to be a OKC police detective even sent me pics of his badge, police ID & DL.
I am putting this out there to be helpful not condescending.
In todays world with the amount of identity theft, why would anyone send a picture of their drivers license to a random person on the internet? Anyone that is willing to send you that information should be a red flag. I have been buying and selling online for 15 years. If anyone asked me to or offered to send me a picture of my/their drivers license, that would be the end of the conversation.
In todays world with the amount of identity theft, why would anyone send a picture of their drivers license to a random person on the internet? Anyone that is willing to send you that information should be a red flag. I have been buying and selling online for 15 years. If anyone asked me to or offered to send me a picture of my/their drivers license, that would be the end of the conversation.
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Sucks to hear that you got caught like this, it's sadly a common story with a lot of online community-based marketplaces. Our community is even more susceptible since we don't have the same protections that online payment platforms (PayPal, Venmo) provide to non-firearm purchases. Your best bet for avoiding scams from shady sellers is to require that transactions go through FFL's on both ends. It might wind up costing more to ship the item through an FFL on the seller's side, but it's usually a pretty good method of guaranteeing the legitimacy of the seller.
Have the seller identify an FFL they'll use to ship, verify that the FFL is valid, then get in touch and ask if they've done business with the seller before and if they can verify that the seller actually has the item in their possession. If they say they've never seen this guy before, or that the seller only showed them some pictures on their phone, back out.
It's more reliable than having the seller provide some sort of ID since you can look the FFL up on Gunbroker or some other FFL-finder service vs. having to trust that the picture of a driver's license that the seller sent you was legit (how do you know it isn't just a fake ID from the local college student counterfeiter or some image they grabbed off the internet?) and it's more protective for you since the FFL has a vested interest in not abetting a fraudulent transaction (the ATF generally frowns on that, go figure) vs. getting no protection whatsoever from PayPal or Venmo or a Postal Money Order.
If the FFL is cool, you may even be able to negotiate an escrow-like system: the seller gives the FFL the item, the FFL calls you to let you know that they have the item, you pay the seller, then the FFL ships the item (some FFL's get pissy and argue that it's the same selling on consignment so they should get a cut.. Fight that shit if you can, you and the seller did the leg work, the seller's FFL is just making a phone call, collecting their shipping fee, and holding the door open for the UPS guy).
Inconvenient, and some sellers won't want to go through an FFL, but if they're shady (new account, hard to find item at a suspiciously low price point, way too eager to provide "proof" of identity or some other identifier like the police badge mentioned previously) then it's your best bet to get protected.
Edit to add: A slightly less-secure method would be to insist on payment-upon-delivery through UPS. It's similar to the previous "FFL escrow" situation except you'd be providing the receiving FFL with the money to hold (since they're the ones who will pay the POD). The downside is that you have no way of verifying that what was actually sent was the item you wanted until after payment is provided (you could pay for a Christensen Arms and the seller could send you a Savage Axis or even just a couple lengths of lead pipe, but you wouldn't know that until after you'd paid since UPS won't let you open the package until you pay). If that happens though, you could go to the local ATF field office in your seller's city and inform them that someone is conducting fraudulent firearm transactions and they'll come down just as hard as if it were an FFL involved. They won't raise a finger if you just get scammed with no weapon being involved, but as soon as a firearm is present they'll take notice. I'll head off the "ATF BAD GRRRR" comments by saying OK sure, but scammers are worse.
Have the seller identify an FFL they'll use to ship, verify that the FFL is valid, then get in touch and ask if they've done business with the seller before and if they can verify that the seller actually has the item in their possession. If they say they've never seen this guy before, or that the seller only showed them some pictures on their phone, back out.
It's more reliable than having the seller provide some sort of ID since you can look the FFL up on Gunbroker or some other FFL-finder service vs. having to trust that the picture of a driver's license that the seller sent you was legit (how do you know it isn't just a fake ID from the local college student counterfeiter or some image they grabbed off the internet?) and it's more protective for you since the FFL has a vested interest in not abetting a fraudulent transaction (the ATF generally frowns on that, go figure) vs. getting no protection whatsoever from PayPal or Venmo or a Postal Money Order.
If the FFL is cool, you may even be able to negotiate an escrow-like system: the seller gives the FFL the item, the FFL calls you to let you know that they have the item, you pay the seller, then the FFL ships the item (some FFL's get pissy and argue that it's the same selling on consignment so they should get a cut.. Fight that shit if you can, you and the seller did the leg work, the seller's FFL is just making a phone call, collecting their shipping fee, and holding the door open for the UPS guy).
Inconvenient, and some sellers won't want to go through an FFL, but if they're shady (new account, hard to find item at a suspiciously low price point, way too eager to provide "proof" of identity or some other identifier like the police badge mentioned previously) then it's your best bet to get protected.
Edit to add: A slightly less-secure method would be to insist on payment-upon-delivery through UPS. It's similar to the previous "FFL escrow" situation except you'd be providing the receiving FFL with the money to hold (since they're the ones who will pay the POD). The downside is that you have no way of verifying that what was actually sent was the item you wanted until after payment is provided (you could pay for a Christensen Arms and the seller could send you a Savage Axis or even just a couple lengths of lead pipe, but you wouldn't know that until after you'd paid since UPS won't let you open the package until you pay). If that happens though, you could go to the local ATF field office in your seller's city and inform them that someone is conducting fraudulent firearm transactions and they'll come down just as hard as if it were an FFL involved. They won't raise a finger if you just get scammed with no weapon being involved, but as soon as a firearm is present they'll take notice. I'll head off the "ATF BAD GRRRR" comments by saying OK sure, but scammers are worse.
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Hey, he tried to scam me too. But even the drivers license he sent was expired in February 2022. And most of the images he used (at least for me) were from Google and showed up when I did an image search.
I’m not trying to pick a fight. It sucks what he did. But there’s an onus on buyers to do their due diligence.
Did you report him here on Rokslide?
Sheepeater
FNG
Before you send money, call and speak with them personally on the phone. Ask them specific questions about the item they are “selling”. This will reveal 95% of scammers. You are never 100% safe buying online, but you can turn the odds in your favor. Be extra vigilant if someone initiates the contact with you to say they, (or their “mate”) have the item you are looking to buy.
He got me for $500, unfortunately. I’m pretty vigilant but I guess I let my guard down. I am truly surprised someone has gone through so much effort in creating a legitimate looking account (they had normal forum interactions) to scam such a small amount.
You are very very likely not the only one here he scammed.
Oh, I’m sure. If anyone wants to at least feel like they’ve done all they can, feel free to file a complaint here: https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FileComplaint#
- Banned
- #56
William Sublette
WKR
Well so far it looks like he's made :
750
750
500
2500
That we know of.
Seems lucrative
For sure! I tried buying those 8.5x42 ELs that were in the classifieds and the guy refused to share his phone number. After I pressed him, he said they were sold and closed the thread. Who knows if he was legitimate, but I’m not paying big money if you’re not sharing your phone number.
Definition of lucrative depends on your lifestyle I guess. This is still a nominal sum relative to the work this person has put in over the last ~6+ months creating a legitimate looking account. This seems like a small or individual operation rather than some larger scheme targeting this forum.
Overall, small price to pay to be reminded greater diligence is needed in all dealings.
Was the Zelle account or email he used “[email protected]” for others? Be sure to report using the FBI link I shared in a previous post to report him (https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FileComplaint#)
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