quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Notice how my concern at the time was spammers- people who register just to hawk their stuff. The way it's worked out the past two years, I catch better than 99% of those types at registration. The real problem has turned out to be stuff like this- registering merely to gain access to member profiles so they can contact members directly. Fortunately, most of you guys see this stuff coming from a mile away.

That was prescient, indeed. I think most members have been around the horn enough to suss out a bogus offer, at least I hope we have. This one was easy, the idiot wasn't even trying. Frankly, it was a pathetic effort....

Another problem is more and more ISPs aren’t offering email. My internet provider is Google Fiber. I’m stuck with a gmail address and I’m not paying someone for an email address.

Nice work catching the scumballs! I try to limit business here to members that have multiple posts.

I got one from him as well, time to mess with him.

I guess I'm dumb, but what is a "web-based e-mail address"? And what is the alternative? My e-mail is on yahoo.com--is that OK?

flashguy

Thanks Para. It must be a lot of work to keep ahead of these scammers.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
I guess I'm dumb, but what is a "web-based e-mail address"? And what is the alternative? My e-mail is on yahoo.com--is that OK?

flashguy

Google , yahoo, hotmail are all examples of web based addresses. Basically they are email accounts you can access via any device on standard web browser as long as you have internet access. In 2005 when I joined I had to use my internet providers email account it was x@triad.rr.com and it is long gone haha.

I may have just got another one today, not sure. Guy hasn't answered by email asking him his member name....

When I was still employed my e-mail address was one the employer provided and operated. I got the Yahoo address when I retired.

flashguy

Thank you Para!

And if this isn't the perfect illustration of a GB scammer....
I saw a P227 Elite come up a bit ago, looked nice. Had a BIN of a little less than $1300. But uh-oh... check out the number of received feedbacks and the join date.

Man, these guys might as well register a user name like "ImGonnaScrewYouOver" or something....

You have to pay attention, guys:

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935&m=4620081884

You must be skeptical in the extreme when someone you don't know and you can't identify as a legitimate member of this forum, contacts you.

Look, I cannot emphasize it enough- if you are not extremely careful, you will get ripped off. You have my guarantee on that. How many times do I have to say this?

You must assume that anyone who contacts you cold is a crook. You must do this. Then, ask questions. If they don't want to answer or if they give answers that don't sound right, forget about getting the magical whatever you're looking for. If they want to involve a third party, walk away. That's a huge red flag. Ask them their forum name. If they're not a member, that should be all you need to know.

Talk to them on the phone. Everyone has a phone in their pocket. If they don't want to talk to you, walk away. Ask for photos of the object they're "selling" and ask them to put a piece a paper in the pic, with some word or other that you provide them; not "sigforum". Make it something they cannot anticipate and cannot have prepared in advance. If they don't want to cooperate, fuck 'em. If they tell you they're going to complain to the forum admin, you tell them to be your guest and that I am eagerly awaiting their love letter. You will never get in hot water with me by doing these things that I have plainly stated you should do.

Before too long, I'll be saying all of this again. That's another guarantee I can make. Get with the program or just stop buying anything online.

Thank you for the update to this thread.

Took Ronin's advice and added the notification...

Can he get contacted about his extended car warrantees?

quote:

That would drop our registrations to near zero per week. Used to be, most people who registered here had an email address from an ISP. These days, most people guard those email addresses more closely and want to use web-based stuff like gmail and hotmail. Used to be, in the early days of this forum, members were posting from a PC or laptop. These days, tablets and smartphones are well into the mix. People like their gmail.

Not only that, but some folks can't use company email for personal stuff, and some work at not so friendly 2A companies.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
When I was still employed my e-mail address was one the employer provided and operated. I got the Yahoo address when I retired.

flashguy

Exactly the situation I'm in .

Thank you Boss

Basically the only gun forum I visit.

Would it also make sense to increase the number of posts or set a calendar time limit before being able to post For Sale items? Make em earn it more.

HK Ag

You are thinking like a decent person.

Scammers and users give less fucks than a Honey Badger.

They will span the board and wait out any time limit and still do the deed.

Members need to be wise.

Thank you Parabellum, deeply appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by HK Ag:
Would it also make sense to increase the number of posts or set a calendar time limit before being able to post For Sale items? Make em earn it more.

Marginal effectiveness. Other forums do that and still get scammers.

On one forum a scammer created an account, let it lay fallow for a year. Then started posting a bunch of throw-away comments to threads to get his post count up. We were just waiting for the "for sale" thread or "I'll take it" post when somebody brought the activity to the site's Admins and he was banned.

Latest scam here was a member posted a WTB. Scammer signed up so he could get access to the member's profile and email address. Emailed him directly and set him up (literally) with "somebody he knew who had one for sale."

Para and other sites can do a lot, but, in the end, the only thing that works is caveat emptor. Or caveat venditor in the case of sellers.