I have run into a few buyers who were clearly not who they said they were. But today I ran into a seller who seemed to be a scammer. I was looking at a P320 X Carry, listed at $425. I emailed the seller, asked some questions about round count, accessories and where he was located - none of it listed in the ad. He replied asking me how serious I was about buying today and for my phone #, then texted me that he was in another state, but willing to cover shipping and FFL transfer for $400 total. WTF? I dropped it there. But what kind of scam is this? The only way I might be able to get the money to him today would be via PayPal or bank wire. If he flaked, that'd be a pretty simple case of fraud, assuming I had his real contact info. $400 to include shipping and FFL fee sounds way too good to be true. What's the scam?

There are many forms of instant payment these days that do not have any kind of purchase protection. Facebook Pay, Cash app, etc. They can be set up with fake profiles and information, so once the money is gone good luck getting it back. If he had continued he probably would have wanted you to do something like that.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
The only way I might be able to get the money to him today would be via PayPal or bank wire.

Buying a gun with PayPal is a clear violation of their user agreement and you'd have no recourse when the deal falls through. You'd probably get your PayPal account closed too.

quote:

If he flaked, that'd be a pretty simple case of fraud, assuming I had his real contact info.

What are you going to do to recover the $400 from a guy in another state? This happens all the time and there's No Recourse because the amount is so small.

General rule of thumb is, for ScamList, always buy FTF and never shipped. Me, I avoid it like the plague.

quote:

General rule of thumb is, for ScamList, always buy FTF and never shipped. Me, I avoid it like the plague.

^
What is FTF? thanks

FTF. Face to Face.

Trying to avoid paying to haul off old fridge listed on Craigslist for $50. First two responses were obviously scams. Received texts with codes in them and was asked to text it back. Said nope it's a used working fridge, come and get it if you want it, I'm not sending any verification codes back for this. Later in the day I found out they were trying to reset and steal my Google voice number in order to use it to scam other people and 'launder' their phone number. If I had given them the code, they would have been able to reset my account password.

I hate scammers.

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff:
FTF. Face to Face.

^^^This. I've used Armslist successfully as a buyer a couple times but always in a local FTF transaction.

ARMSLIST (at least in AZ) seems to have become a selling place for vendors only lately. I miss the listings from individuals on backpage.com

Armslist is scam city.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
General rule of thumb is, for ScamList, always buy FTF and never shipped.

Yep. Face to face, cash only. That goes for both buying and selling.

That rules out the vast majority of the scams.

Armslist (like Craigslist) can works well, if you're smart in how you go about it, you have sufficient knowledge about what you're buying, and you do your due diligence. I've done a fair of amount of buying and selling through Armslist, and I do so carefully, so I haven't been burned and have gotten some great deals.

Yes, Armslist is 98% FTF. I have done 1 sale & 1 purchase to private individuals. If doing so I proceed with extreme caution, look in other areas for history or feedback. Some may have verifiable accounts on Gunbroker, ebay, other forums, wherever.

Buying from a business or Pawn shop on Armslist is easier. I even told my one buyer to be more careful on Armslist, he was in NY.

Yea, FTF is the only way. I had someone want me to ship a handgun, and sent me a fake FFL a while back. Good thing I checked it.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Armslist is scam city.

It really is. Gunborker is much, much safer. I like to call it Gunborker.

A while back I found a great deal on an NFA item on Armslist.

Problem was I knew the photo belonged to an attorney appointed to sell a few NFA items for the ATF.
I had a laugh and e-mailed the attorney.

In regards to stealing a photo to use in a scam, that was probably a poor choice.

I avoid Armslist, having seen several other questionable listings as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee: What's the scam?

The seller takes your money and never sends you the item.

A co-worker fell for this scam last year and lost around $900 for a too good to be true priced scope (for an M1 IIRC.) The seller was supposedly in Iowa and my co worker got a copy of his license, talked to the guy on the phone, local gun shop, ect and felt comfortable enough to send him a payment. The seller then never responded.

After my co worker started investigating, he found out the dude has pulled this scam many other times. How he pulls it off is the scammer hires a person to work at the place of the payment address as almost a secretary. The worker receives all the payments and then deposits in the bank for the scammer. My co worker also checked with the gun shop he was provided and they knew nothing of the scammer.

Co worker even spoke to the Attorney General of Iowa and was told there was basically nothing they could do because the scammer didn't actually live in Iowa. Co worker would have to fly to Iowa to file a small claims case but it would be cost prohibitive to do so.

As others have said, Armslist for me = only FTF and cash only. I've bought/sold many times with Armslist and have not had a problem with FTF and cash.

quote:

way too good to be true

Typically a scam.

And a guy emailed me yesterday about my P239 for sale on Armslist, said he'd pay my asking price, but then asked how much to ship to his FFL in FL. I said $25 and I'd need a bank wire or postal money order, nothing else. He asked about a check and I said no deal. Didn't hear back.

I was interested in a BHP and the guy selling it was so sketchy and his email responses to my questions so vague it was hilarious. Kept it going for a time for amusement. And that was my first and only time looking at Armslist.

I've had a few successful Armslist deals and the other parties were very nice to meet and chat with. My best trade was my old HK USPC Stainless for a 1995 P228 in NP3 two tone. I love that gun!