1903 Springfield Made 1911 Obvious Scam

[smokeeaterpilot]

Hey guys, kinda new to this forum. I posted this thread on a few other forums I belong to as something to beware. Hope you guys don't mind, just like to pass on some encounters I've had to avoid scams.



Now I know the rules about posting live auctions on the forum. But since the gunbroker auction has been up for several months and when an armslist listing expires you can no longer view it, I wanted to see if I could get a waiver from that rule to point something out.

I've bought one rifle on armslist. It was a great deal with 60 rounds of ammo, but I took several measures to try and protect myself from scamming. Since a FTF wasn't possible I used a brick and mortar gun shop local to the seller to handle the transfer, plus several e-mails of feeling the person out to see if he was acting shady. It turned out to be a great deal and I was thrilled. But I've had several inquiries that made me extremely timid where I backed off, never to know if it was a scam but just didn't feel right. I thought I'd post something I ran across here to maybe help some other people out.

I do routine searches of a lot of military firearms (mainly 1903s on various forums and online classifieds) here's on that turned up.

http://www.armslist.com/posts/352860...eld-dated-1911

Pay attention to the item location, price, pictures and description...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=453847016

Here pay attention to the starting bid, location, and particularly pictures 2, 5 and 7. Not to mention the description is spot on (minus the contact information)

Personally I will still look over armslist but I will continue to be very very careful. They require a waiver from liability as well as have no feedback system.


Again, I apologize for doing the taboo of posting live listings. But I wanted to do it as an example of obvious fraud. I've seen this several times I just wanted to throw it out there as an example.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir that many people have seen stuff like this before. But the obvious read flags I've seen are

1. Seller never signs a name to their e-mails.
2. Refuses to communicate via phone but will text.
3. Has non standard e-mails on yahoo, gmail, etc such as random letters my most recent one looked like [email protected] (I changed it a bit, just in case but it looked like that)
4. Usually request a wire transfer
5. E-mails are usually brief, non egaging
6. Usually use formal replies such as "Hello sir, how do you propose we proceed?" "Hello Sir, Do you want to buy my firearm?" Not many people talk or ever write like that...

I can understand refusal to do FTF for personal security so I omitted that one.

I'm obviously no expert. And I'm sure this is common knowledge I'm just hoping people look at these two and pay attention to detail and see how easily you can fall into a scam.

 

[dnepro-mike]

dude from armslist is using most likely legit post from GB as his source. armslist is a scammer's paradise. no feedback system as such. i follow armslist for local ads for certain firearms and i constantly see unreal deals on $1200 tavors other rare-ish items for great price. it sets off for me red flags the moment i see price that is too good to be true. i ususally flag them as scam and observer over the course of the day they usually get removed as fraud post. a lot of times they post guns that are in violation of MA AWB while poster claims to be in MA. that's another red flag there. often times they don't put an actual town, just say Massachusetts.

 

[martin08]

Some valuable tips, here.

Add Facebook to the scam-artist paradise list, as well. Twice I have been contacted by stand-up members of other forums to ask if I had sold/traded a certain gun which was being offered for sale in Facebook firearms groups. My pictures were obviously lifted from forums.

 

[smokeeaterpilot]

Fascinating I have not come across that yet (facebook fraud). I have come across ebay fraud. Not the fake listings. I've seen dealers list an item and schill bid an item to where they want to sell it so they can show a customer in their brick and mortar shop what something sells for. They lose money on selling fees but make it up in their scam by showing what something is worth through a fake listing.

As of right now the armslist post has been taken down. And the Gunbroker has been relisted.

I'm doing some research regarding USPS money orders and how aggressive they are with going after an individual that has scammed you. The USPO is EXTREMELY aggressive with fraud. I just found this out. I'll post that information later on. Hopefully help people out before they make their next purchased. Never send personal checks or bank certified checks because you don't have the "teeth" of counter-fraud protection. But that will come later.

Thanks for viewing hope this helped.

If I come across another obvious scam I'll post it as well. A lot of shaddy individuals that try and prey on eager collectors out there!

 

[the_shootist]

Great point> Apart from checking everything else on a seller before I pay, I ALWAYS use USPO money orders. The government is still good for something I guess!

Fascinating I have not come across that yet (facebook fraud). I have come across ebay fraud. Not the fake listings. I've seen dealers list an item and schill bid an item to where they want to sell it so they can show a customer in their brick and mortar shop what something sells for. They lose money on selling fees but make it up in their scam by showing what something is worth through a fake listing.

As of right now the armslist post has been taken down. And the Gunbroker has been relisted.

I'm doing some research regarding USPS money orders and how aggressive they are with going after an individual that has scammed you. The USPO is EXTREMELY aggressive with fraud. I just found this out. I'll post that information later on. Hopefully help people out before they make their next purchased. Never send personal checks or bank certified checks because you don't have the "teeth" of counter-fraud protection. But that will come later.

Thanks for viewing hope this helped.

If I come across another obvious scam I'll post it as well. A lot of shaddy individuals that try and prey on eager collectors out there!

 

[dnepro-mike]

so USPS MOs are actually sorta protected. I was under impression is same type of deal as cashier's check. how exactly do you go about getting your money back when you get scammed while using MOs?

 

[jpm]

so USPS MOs are actually sorta protected. I was under impression is same type of deal as cashier's check. how exactly do you go about getting your money back when you get scammed while using MOs?

Its not so much getting it back as getting the thief prosecuted by the feds for mail fraud rather than locals for fraud or theft.

Best protection is to use a credit card whenever possible.