FOR SALE Well, I got scammed

[Tacksman45]

This same guy has contacted me on the Sword Buyers Guide website with the same story others have told about a "friend in Texas" who has what you are looking for. This mess got so bad on SBG that they started requiring pictures with a timestamp when listing items for sale.

 

[Birddog1911]

Loyalist Dave is already working to help me, for what he can. I'm sure he's at least locked.

 

[jarentz]

Sorry to hear this! I hope somehow they get caught.

 

[Griz44Mag]

The postal inspectors need to be notified. They will find the person that cashed the money order and woe be unto them. Oh yeah!

B.S. The MO I got razzed over about was a fraud USPS money order issued by a USPS employee - at a USPS local office. All he got was a slap on the hand and put back on a delivery truck.
I never got my gun back and the buyer never got his money back. USPS is worse than the drug cartels when it comes to hiding their own.

 

[Griz44Mag]

This is a federal offense any transaction threw the United States Postal service falls under mail fraud if a theft accures.

No. As it was explained to me - the USPS money order is a product of a third party under contract and does not belong to the USPS.
They darn sure didn't give me any help - instead they tried to arrest me for depositing it in my bank.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I do not agree. What warning sign is there?

USPS Money Order has who it is addressed to for the sender and from who sent it for the receiver. It is as good as a Cashiers Check.
No one has to wait on a check to clear, the receiver gets his money immediately and the purchasers does not have to wait around on the seller to do his thing.

There is now electronic deposit you can do with most major banks.
Most name branded banks checks clear my bank in a matter of hours.
Take a picture of front and back - electronically deposited.
Money is normally in my account in less than an hour.

 

[Y2GREY]

Neil55 hit me up about a rifle I was looking for. “ his friend in Indiana with a Gmail account” luckily I had seen the sticky post about this type of scam. I also had someone hit me up on my Gmail. He provided me with pictures of a rifle however it was owned by another forum member.

 

[MCFred]

Neil55 contacted me about my want ad. I reported him and he was banned. I’m sorry He got someone else. I didn’t realize he was so prolific. In the future I’ll def post to the forum as well. These scammers are using photos and narrative of previously listed items from other forums. I did a reverse image search of the pics of the item he was offering me and the exact pics immediately popped up on a Texas gun talk post from 2018. Just for my entertainment I asked him to include a pic of his phone with the current date. He then photoshopped his phone in the pic from the 2018 post. Wasn’t a bad photoshop except he must of had no idea the size of the rifle as the phone would of been the size of a suitcase. Just google reverse image search the. You can attach the pic and it will search the internet. This has saved me 2 times.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

I have a couple of Items I would love to sell. But I simply will not do it. Not on here. I do not trust the process involved. Now if someone close by in my region were interested an in person meeting would be more proper. How about a current and legal copy of one,s Drivers License sent with mentioned money order to the Seller?

 

[MCFred]

Neil55 contacted me about my want ad. I reported him and he was banned. I’m sorry He got someone else. I didn’t realize he was so prolific. In the future I’ll def post to the forum as well. These scammers are using photos and narrative of previously listed items from other forums. I did a reverse image search of the pics of the item he was offering me and the exact pics immediately popped up on a Texas gun talk post from 2018. Just for my entertainment I asked him to include a pic of his phone with the current date. He then photoshopped his phone in the pic from the 2018 post. Wasn’t a bad photoshop except he must of had no idea the size of the rifle as the phone would of been the size of a suitcase. Just google reverse image search the. You can attach the pic and it will search the internet. This has saved me 2 times.

Also notice his cell provider is Airtel. It’s one of the largest providers in India…

 

[Michiganmuzzy]

One of their agents flat told me that no US Attorney is going to file over $650.



He's in Fountain, Michigan.

Fountain is one of the smallest towns here in Michigan. My sister, a retired deputy sheriff lived there for many years and still lives near there, probably knows who he is.. Wouldnt be too hard to find this scumbag.

 

[William Lincoln]

Many social media video forums check the phone and run a search on it.
I think you can sell things safely here. Just do not ship without cleared
and verified funds. This forum is very trustworthy. Also, talk by phone
with the party. Anything out of line--cancel the sale. Ask for a copy of
a DL to verify age. You cannot sell to an underage. Most places restrict
the age of buyers and possessors of ALL firearms. Sorry, if the buyer
will not prove being over 18--I will no sale it. Too much liability.

 

[William Lincoln]

The USPS is horrible.

 

[Birddog1911]

Yeah, I did those things. Still got burned.

 

[vintovka]

Couple boring points:

When i asked Mods about how calibers were earned I found they really aren't. I found you can add any caliber or saying you like anytime you want. Caliber, number of posts or even being a forum supporter is no guarantee.

Regular paypal with a cc backup works for me both buy and sell. F&F is irreversible and offers buyer no protection

USPS MO's have worked as well. One dirtbag tried to take me for $40, I got my money back. He got a federal rap like a felony.

I try to be doubly careful in any transaction especially when selling. In addition to having my own stuff to downsize I felt obligated to help 2 of my late friends families by liquidating their stuff as well.

Stepping off stump now.

 

[Birddog1911]

I belong to many gun forums. This is the only one that doesn't have any sort of feedback system. Probably would have bent me more to not trusting this deal.

 

[vintovka]

I belong to many gun forums. This is the only one that doesn't have any sort of feedback system. Probably would have bent me more to not trusting this deal.

Not your fault or that of the forum. Feedback can be faked as well. Some big net sites are rife with it. They even PAY some to leave good feedback when a product or service suck. Best you can do is take precautions. I see even gunbroker is offering their own CC - hopefully with all the protections like disputing purchases. I see a market for vetting both buyers and sellers on the horizon. Vetting posters may yet be a reality other than IP tracing.

 

[tnlonghunter]

@Birddog1911, I feel your pain. I fell for the exact same stupid thing 3 weeks ago. I sent $180 for a 1851 Navy. In my case, the guy actually insisted on Venmo. The address looked a little hinky, I thought there might be some protection there. However, they don't seem to terribly concerned.

What makes me feel even dumber is that I remember having read Zonie's warning sticky a couple weeks prior that, but I didn't put it together at the time. I'm pretty sure the same guy, or someone using the same scam, for me up on another forum where I had the same wanted ad up. This was the first time I got suckered. I hope you get some resolution.

 

[William Lincoln]

DO NOT SHIP UNTIL THE MONEY IS GOOD IN YOUR
ACCOUNT--FOR 5 DAYS. GET THE STATE DL AND A
GOOD PHONE NUMBER. YOU WILL DO FINE. IF THEY
WILL NOT TEXT THE PHOTO OF DL---PASS-A DENA-FELLA
A MONTH LATER DELETE THE DL TEXT

 

[BigSkyRambler]

My bank can't help, it was a USPS MO.

It is a criminal offense to cash a USPS money order and not deliver goods. Sic the postal inspectors on him.