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Scam mail?

C

CrowCommand

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Dec 20, 2020
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Recently received an email in response to a WTB ad from a member, who cannot be looked up now. They recommended a friend who had an item for sale and offered me their email. I contacted the email, and agreed on a transaction for > $150 via paypal f&f.....I'm nervous now because the member who recommended them is no longer searchable.

Any advice? I'm poised to cancel transaction. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm not used to doing transactions through email vs. a forum where there are repercussions.
 
I got one as well. Definitely a scam. This has been happening a lot on another forum. Same technique as well. They see a WTB and send a message saying their friend has what you want, and then give you an email to contact. Sorry for your loss.

Funny thing for me, I never posted a WTB, yet still got contacted.
 
Never send PP Personal to somebody you don't know.

If you have not talked to them over the phone to confirm their ID, don't do it.

Confirm their name and address by searching them online.

If you can't confirm there address - if it's not online tell them to email you a bill with their name and address on it.

Do they have ANY feedback at all?

If you see they have 400 A+ transactions - but you don't know them - they are likely ok.

Here is the obvious 800 lb gorilla in the room...

When you call them - on a phone you can't match to a known database (burner) - and it sounds like a Nigerian - your are getting scammed.

GunBroker is getting hammered hard right now by Nigerians (or at least men with African accents).

They all have confirmed check marks next to their names. (No feedback)

This because they use ID theft.
The names of the ID theft victims are indeed victims so don't try to hunt them down - they are innocent.

These Nigerians all demand Paypal Gift - as they say "Geeeeft". They also pronounce GunBroker as "GumBoker".

If they had an actual legit ID, you could send them a USPS Money order which they could legitimately cash at the post office of bank.

No doubt you were scammed.

Next time do Facetime to make sure they are real.

This scum are bottom feeders - they are making bank right now because most people don't know the scam.

There are a bunch of other tell tail signs that you could figure out but I'm not saying because the Nigerians can counter my intel and improve the scam.

Also, if you are a seller- confirm the ID of your buyers for good measure...

I've had a couple dozen customers with no posts who have bought lots of stuff - so the lack of posts does not mean they are scammers if they are in fact buying.

There are tons of new gun owners who are new to forums and only join to buy stuff then disappear until they want to buy even more stuff.

Just check their LTC's for good measure.

I'd be super careful buying and selling ammo, too.

I think Marsha would be wise to run stings on ammo. She can get people in trouble and offer them a deal to rat out their friends for other things.
 
CrowCommand said:
Recently received an email in response to a WTB ad from a member, who cannot be looked up now. They recommended a friend who had an item for sale and offered me their email. I contacted the email, and agreed on a transaction for > $150 via paypal f&f.....I'm nervous now because the member who recommended them is no longer searchable.

Any advice? I'm poised to cancel transaction. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm not used to doing transactions through email vs. a forum where there are repercussions.
Click to expand...
Cancel the transaction, its a scam. If the seller gets pissed off tell them you'll meet them at a ffl
 
Drix said:
Cancel the transaction, its a scam. If the seller gets pissed off tell them you'll meet them at a ffl
Click to expand...

greencobra said:
i would
Click to expand...
If OP already sent the funds I don't think he can cancel the transaction.

If you mention to PP what it was for they will just cancel you account.

You can't use PP to purchase most gun related things or they will permanently cancel your account and you'll lose everything - per their terms of service.
 
To summarize. You used PayPal FF to purchase goods from someone you did not know. You purchased an item prohibited by PayPal. You doubly have no recourse with PayPal. Admit what you did and they close your account and still don’t get your money back.

Sorry this happened but sirens, bells, whistles, etc should have gone off...
 
Last edited:
Great. The thing that set my BS meter off was that his powder was "in great condition". They were quick to respond, so I figured I'd take the gamble....never again. I wonder if I dispute the transaction, saying I sent it to the wrong address, I could recoup the funds.
 
CrowCommand said:
Recently received an email in response to a WTB ad from a member, who cannot be looked up now. They recommended a friend who had an item for sale and offered me their email. I contacted the email, and agreed on a transaction for > $150 via paypal f&f.....I'm nervous now because the member who recommended them is no longer searchable.

Any advice? I'm poised to cancel transaction. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm not used to doing transactions through email vs. a forum where there are repercussions.
Click to expand...

same guy contacted me. Steve from Texas right?...I told him that mama told me not to trust strangers on the internet and reported him as spam.
 
Member here was "Brian brandon46". Unable to pull them up in the search now..."Friend's" email was different from their paypal email as well.

I just disputed the transaction. Hopefully I am not out the dough.
 
The user who contacted me was Dustinx. Seems like a bunch of scammers have migrated from Armslist to NES lately.
 
CrowCommand said:
Member here was "Brian brandon46". Unable to pull them up in the search now..."Friend's" email was different from their paypal email as well.

I just disputed the transaction. Hopefully I am not out the dough.
Click to expand...
Your out the money think of this as $150 lesson. PayPal dispute for FF for a firearms related purchase will not work out in your favor. Scammer already has the money.
 
I'm not giving up on the money yet. I disputed it with Paypal and said I sent it to the wrong person. There was no question regarding what was purchased.
 
Paying FF was your 1st mistake, zero protection no matter what.
Paying for merchandise you only need to say parts, toys, can, etc.
 
CrowCommand said:
Member here was "Brian brandon46". Unable to pull them up in the search now..."Friend's" email was different from their paypal email as well.

I just disputed the transaction. Hopefully I am not out the dough.
Click to expand...
Had the same "guy" contact me about a WTB ad I have. In fact, it's happened on both WTB ads that I have posted in the last couple weeks. Both have been "contact my friend at some random email address".
 
Scam had it happen to me on another forum “ ya my cousin has what you need, email the guy oh ya I have it send pp f/f” the person wouldn’t send me pics of what I was looking for, I even offered to pay the small fee they get for using regular pp to cover my ass and never heard anything back from the guy
 
Robin Proctor said:
The user who contacted me was Dustinx. Seems like a bunch of scammers have migrated from Armslist to NES lately.
Click to expand...
That. It is true for Glock forum and other ones, user who contacts you usually has no posts and just joined.
I did pay with PayPal FF many times on gunbroker, but, you gotta be 100% sure where and to whom you send your money.
 
I have had that scam tried on me a few times on here,as for paypal they have saved my ass a few times.
 
Had someone contact me with this same exact scam on here a few times. No posts, no feedback, on a 4 day old account giving a long and rather nonsensical email address for me to contact; smelled like a scam from a mile away.
 
I've posted listings in the classifieds in recent months, and every one of them has gotten a response from a new account. I bounced messages with several of them who stated they definitely wanted the items I had listed, but no deals ever materialized. I have a new disclaimer I started putting into my classified ads:

Note: If you have a new account and have not interacted with the NES community (0 messages, 0 likes, 0 feedback), I am not interested in trying to work out a deal with you. These accounts have done nothing but waste my time in the past three months, so I will no longer respond to them.
 
I had somebody respond to WTB a few weeks ago. He stated his friend could help me in Texas and gave me an email. I never responded because it was a new member account. I just went to find the message in my inbox but it's gone.
 

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