SCAM Warning in the WTS/WTB ads

[Ernest T]

Badger the site administrator ask me to post this warning of a scam I encountered in the WTS/WTB forum:

First I responded to a seller (MAYAN) offering a M1 Garand Collector Grade rifle at a good price. I ask for photos to be emailed. The sellers listed location was Florida. When I received the photos I noticed they looked familiar, since I had been searching for this type of rifle for sale. After doing some research, I found the same rifle and photos posted on Gunbroker. When I confronted the seller with this finding, he said that he had also listed the gun for sale on Gunbroker, but that he would end that ad if I bought it. Only problem was that the Gunbroker listing was from a seller in California and was priced significantly higher.

During our conversations the same guy said he had noticed my WTB ad for a Japanese sniper, and he tried the same scam using photos from another ad on Gunbroker saying that he would sell me both rifles at a very good price. He claimed he was selling a large collection. Again the Gunbroker listing was from a seller in Virginia, and the scammer could not explain this discrepancy.

This scammer has been banned from this forum, but I'm sure he could establish another account under a different name. This is the second time I have encountered this type of scam on a gun related forum, and I have a couple of observations and recommendations.

Couple of recommendations:
1. Be very cautious buying from anyone with few forum posts and no feedback.
2. Watch out for guys responding to your WTB ads with seemingly really good deals. These scammers are really attracted to the WTB ads.
3. I recommend doing an internet search for images of the gun listed for sale to compare to images provided for the seller. These guys seem to look for images easily available on legitimate sites and simply copy them, so it is not hard to find the real images if you take time to look.
4. Be very suspicious of guns listed at "too-good-to-be-true" prices. In all these cases rifles were listed well below average pricing.
5. In all these cases seller wanted payment by USPS money order. I was surprised by this, since this would make this a federal crime, but I don't think theses guys care.
6. If still in doubt, verify sellers address. Require copy of driver's license, FFL, phone number, etc..
7. Just walk away from any thing that looks suspicious. FTF deals are always the best choice.

Hope this helps someone.

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[rcathey]

I actually sent him a PM when he had it listed at only $1k. I suggested he was massively underpriced.
I'm glad I didn't just swipe it for a quick profit!

Thanks for posting this. I think of this forum as a pretty safe place but one can never know for certain when dealing with internet folks.