Bawanna
10-24-2013, 04:08 PM
Thought I'd start something as a reminder for us all to remain ever vigilant in our dealings especially internet dealing.
Without a lot of details I just about got ripped for a grand.
Found a beautiful M1A with a scope, bipod, cheek rest, supposedly only shot a few times, very nice. 950 bucks. For those who don't know they go for double that easily with just a bare rifle and none of the goodies. It was on a forum that pretty much caters to face to face deals, they recommend that in fact.
I contacted seller straight away thinking maybe I'll get lucky and the guy just needs cash fast or don't know what he got. The ole too good to be true was screaming in the back of my head the whole time.
Got a response that was kind of lame, didn't really answer my questions and specifically said nothing about my concern that it was too cheap. On the other side of the state, he offered to ship it. Wanted a postal money order, express mail certified and he would ship. More alarm bells went off.
Had a lousy afternoon and night thinking about it, wondering where I was gonna get the loot, doggie in the doggie hospital, wife out of town with a phone that won't receive my text (still haven't figured that out).
So more and more I'm thinking too good to be true. So I share the info with a detective here and another member here who has saved me countless times, not so much from scams but from being myself, you might say he keeps me grounded. Actually the detective does pretty much the same too.
Well my ace member buddy here discovers the same identical pictures of my target purchase on another forum with nearly identical words and it's 1800 bucks, like it should be. Sellers two other items were the same, posted elsewhere.
Detective confirms the guys name and address so he does in fact exist and there is a viable address but other than that a dead end.
So long story short I sent seller an email this morning and told him to place the rifle in a corner muzzle down on a 8 x 10 piece of paper so I could see the buttstock and take a picture. I also told him I smelled fish and that I was backing out as it was indeed too good to be true.
Funny thing no response since. Imagine that.
Heads up boys and girls there are crooks out there, watch for them and stamp them out like cockroaches.
Without a lot of details I just about got ripped for a grand.
Found a beautiful M1A with a scope, bipod, cheek rest, supposedly only shot a few times, very nice. 950 bucks. For those who don't know they go for double that easily with just a bare rifle and none of the goodies. It was on a forum that pretty much caters to face to face deals, they recommend that in fact.
I contacted seller straight away thinking maybe I'll get lucky and the guy just needs cash fast or don't know what he got. The ole too good to be true was screaming in the back of my head the whole time.
Got a response that was kind of lame, didn't really answer my questions and specifically said nothing about my concern that it was too cheap. On the other side of the state, he offered to ship it. Wanted a postal money order, express mail certified and he would ship. More alarm bells went off.
Had a lousy afternoon and night thinking about it, wondering where I was gonna get the loot, doggie in the doggie hospital, wife out of town with a phone that won't receive my text (still haven't figured that out).
So more and more I'm thinking too good to be true. So I share the info with a detective here and another member here who has saved me countless times, not so much from scams but from being myself, you might say he keeps me grounded. Actually the detective does pretty much the same too.
Well my ace member buddy here discovers the same identical pictures of my target purchase on another forum with nearly identical words and it's 1800 bucks, like it should be. Sellers two other items were the same, posted elsewhere.
Detective confirms the guys name and address so he does in fact exist and there is a viable address but other than that a dead end.
So long story short I sent seller an email this morning and told him to place the rifle in a corner muzzle down on a 8 x 10 piece of paper so I could see the buttstock and take a picture. I also told him I smelled fish and that I was backing out as it was indeed too good to be true.
Funny thing no response since. Imagine that.
Heads up boys and girls there are crooks out there, watch for them and stamp them out like cockroaches.