Another scammer alert - user: scratch705

[H. Bowman]

Uhh.
The guy sent me the upper first. And then I sent the money order. I guess you have been scammed via money order, but to a lot of older gunowners, their method of payments are money order.
Especially on Graybeards Outdoors.

I've sent the item first before. It's equally risky as sending money. But when folks put in a little time and intelligence to make a good faith effort to make sure they're not getting ripped off, as you seem to have done, it typically works out.

Graybeard is great, and I love their cannon subforum, but the name is fitting.

 

[H. Bowman]

^^ This right here... If they can't meet FTF, no matter how good it is, then it's not for me.

Hell, I've even worked out deals with completely unknown people to list it on gunbroker/ebay/whatever at a certain time and have them buy there immediately after listing, so that there are multiple layers of protection. There's plenty of ways to avoid being scammed. It just takes a little intelligent thought ahead of time, and impulse control to pass up too good to be true stuff.

 

[H. Bowman]

Assume every sale is a scam. Don't trust anyone you don't know right off the bat. Look with eyes wide open for signs that something isn't right.

If you don't look out for yourself, you may as well be gambling in Vegas and and taking the risk of losing your money.

Don't convince yourself it's a good deal and real. Try to convince yourself it's a scam. Self deception and confirmation bias are real.

 

[Shredla]

Ikeo has kicked the nanny idea around before, I absolutely oppose having another hoop to jump through in order to sell.

On a camera forum (fredmiranda) to be able to sell costs $20 a month. People are still getting scammed left and right because the scammers know for their $20 they can make $2,000

Nothing stops a scammer or scam happening OTHER THAN HAVING AND USING COMMON SENSE.

If the price is ridiculously low and the person wont meet in person or says they will and then makes excuses , you are about to lose money.
You're buying on a website forum where it's members are actively scalping each other for $1,700 for a stock gen 3 glock "Collectors Item, no lowballers i know what I got"
Do you really think you're going to get that Eotech Exps3-0 for $150 shipped?

Scary thing is I had never seen a really good fake Trijicon Acog until a couple days ago, someone posted it on this site's forum and was honest and said it was a clone.. he could have easily smoked you guys with it.

For the people saying no paypal no zelle.. outside of cash in person I ONLY pay and accept with zelle or paypal friends and family. Im
Not going to pay taxes on something i've already paid taxes on (when reporting at the end of the year)
I have been actively buying/selling/trading on multiple 2A websites for more than a decade and have yet to be scammed. Use your brain.

 

[Wolkenflieger]

Uhh.
The guy sent me the upper first. And then I sent the money order. I guess you have been scammed via money order, but to a lot of older gunowners, their method of payments are money order.
Especially on Graybeards Outdoors.

Thousands have been scammed with money orders but if you got the part first then it was no risk for you. I'm just saying that this is generally a red flag...like a seller wanting PayPal.

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

Thousands have been scammed with money orders but if you got the part first then it was no risk for you. I'm just saying that this is generally a red flag...like a seller wanting PayPal.

I’ve paid with money order before. Seller had like mid 200’s positive feedback, and sent me plenty of photos when I asked for it. For me, I would rather not do money order. But they were in Washington, I understood why. It was a hassle though, charged $5 at Wells Fargo, and then paid for envelope with tracking. I received the product. I still don’t prefer sending money order because of the extra costs.

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

Tire kickers should have the courtesy to let the other party know he/she is no longer interested in the item. Too many are showing interest or making an offer, only to ghost.

Agreed. That is just disrespectful. It burns bridges. It also shows they have no etiquette, no respect, not enough experience, and are the bad ones from the new generation that doesn’t know how to do business.

I had someone no show and ghost on me recently.

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

Right?! I've seen people on GAFS with 99+ positive flair turn scammer all of a sudden, so I don't trust anyone and would happily pay 3% G&S fee as insurance.

On GAFS it was at least customary to have buyer cover the fee so the seller can net $X

For G&S, doesn’t the seller have to pay taxes on that?

That’s funny. GAFS recommended G&S as a way to protect yourself from a new seller with “low” feedback.

You even offered to cover the fee.

There’s actually a guy I’m talking to right now and it’s giving me some bad vibes. I’m asking if we can meet (they’re about an hour away) and he’s recommending I meet someone else or ship to me. I’m going to hold on to my money…

What about sellers with decent amount of feedback dealing with a buyer with little to no feedback at all? Would it not be acceptable for the seller to not allow G&S to protect themselves as well?

 

[TheNotoriousKIM]

For G&S, doesn’t the seller have to pay taxes on that?


What about sellers with decent amount of feedback dealing with a buyer with little to no feedback at all? Would it not be acceptable for the seller to not allow G&S to protect themselves as well?

Seller has 3% of the item cost deducted from his proceeds which is why it's customary for the Buyer to add 3% to cover that fee. Either way, as long as the Seller nets what they want, it usually works out.

To your second point, a Buyer with no feedback never gave me a red flag if it was done via G&S because all you have to do is send the tracking number to Paypal and usually a dispute is cleared up and funds are released

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

Seller has 3% of the item cost deducted from his proceeds which is why it's customary for the Buyer to add 3% to cover that fee. Either way, as long as the Seller nets what they want, it usually works out.

Doesn’t PayPal send info to the IRS after a certain amount?

 

[ikeo1]

Doesn’t PayPal send info to the IRS after a certain amount?

$20,000 AND 200+ transactions per provider. Then you get a 1099-K maybe if they don’t send it out you don’t get it.

You could do Venmo plus coverage and PayPal they are separate

 

[p--and--p]

Sorry to see that. I help moderate and know all the signs on all the FB groups. First you can't get a screaming deal. Second, now that the IRS has gone back to 20K and 2000 transactions or whatever, theres no reason not to take someone with G&S and have them cover the fee. YES G&S can screw you because I can say the SRO was fake and keep it, then get my money back and ship you an empty box or a fake SRO. Most people do not use G&S for that reason and I rarely do, but I also dont ship typically from here only Facebook groups.
That being said you MIGHT be able to do something if you call your bank and say it was a scam. I have had something reversed once a decade ago paying as friends, worth a try my friend!

 

[p--and--p]

Doesn’t PayPal send info to the IRS after a certain amount?

YES! But it was threatened to be after $600, so I stopped selling stuff with G&S.. It never happened, went to $5000 then back to $20000 so as normal people we never hit that.

 

[p--and--p]

Good thing the policies here protect people so well.

There is nothing anyone can do. Nothing can be expected from anyone here. Even if they said no transactions, I can still PM you and do it through messages or texts.
People have to know the red flags and the BEST thing to do is make a facetime phone call. They can't fake it. I have never once seen in thousands of sales where someone has it and doesn't send it after getting $$, never! The scammer is always without the item with fake pictures.

 

[erick_c]

For G&S, doesn’t the seller have to pay taxes on that?


What about sellers with decent amount of feedback dealing with a buyer with little to no feedback at all? Would it not be acceptable for the seller to not allow G&S to protect themselves as well?

Buyers are typically the ones who benefit from the protections G&S provides. Sellers are protected from disputes but it’s still an uphill battle for sellers to prove they sent the item (in the descibed condition). Video or photos help. In the old GAFS, Sellers who have met the “minimum” number of transactions can opt to ask for “Friends and Family” payment which protects them from disputes but the buyer can still recommend G&S which usually means the buyer and seller need to agree on who pays the 3% fee (usually the buyer offers to pay it).

That said, there have been scammers in the past who built up their “reputation” by buying low cost items and then posted high-dollar value items for sale, get paid, and ghost.

At the end of the day, scammers are going to scam.

 

[Plenty_Pack_556]

For G&S, doesn’t the seller have to pay taxes on that?


What about sellers with decent amount of feedback dealing with a buyer with little to no feedback at all? Would it not be acceptable for the seller to not allow G&S to protect themselves as well?

If a buyer wants to pay with G&S, I'm just not selling to that buyer.

A buyer can also scam the seller after paying G&S.

A good way to check legitmacy of a seller is to check if the seller is on different markets, and with all positive feedbacks on those markets, but in this case.... lol nvm.

 

[compshell]

For the guys that got scammed, why not post the persons name and information. Let members help track down these people and file a report with your local station. Letting them get a way with it, will just perpetuate the scamming.

Honestly , it’s ballsy to be doing this on a gun forum. These scammers will scam the wrong guy one day.

 

[Shredla]

Yep!!! I do not accept or pay withG&S and im as legit as it comes . Friends and Family strictly

If a buyer wants to pay with G&S, I'm just not selling to that buyer.

A buyer can also scam the seller after paying G&S.

A good way to check legitmacy of a seller is to check if the seller is on different markets, and with all positive feedbacks on those markets, but in this case.... lol nvm.

 

[tradecraft]

The Calguns Verified badge is completely useless since the originating calguns accounts are compromised before they come here.

 

[ikeo1]

The Calguns Verified badge is completely useless since the originating calguns accounts are compromised before they come here.

This is not true. You’ve been credit card verified. You cannot get the badge without payment. I would suggest you change your password on there or at a minimum use a separate password and best practice is to change the password to something complex and use passkeys on your device AND 2FA on your email.

TBH, now saying you have a Calguns account is not enough but with the badge you’re saying we’ve verified it with an actual person.