Scam! Great price, too good to be true?

[ktgee]

Beware of scammers with fake websites. I know there are plenty of threads of scam websites and I feel sorry for those that had been scammed. I'm sharing my experience and I'm not going into details of what, who, or where.

Found a gun I was looking for on the internet that was discontinued and can only be found used if you can find it. I found a website that offered them new, good prices and available. Hmm, Looks legit. Too good to be true? So, I attempted to make the buy. At checkout, it does not have a section for FFL selection or anywhere to ship the gun except to my address. I asked the Ask a Question popup about it and they stated that I would give that info after checkout or they would ship to the nearest FFL. It only has the option to pay by Zelle. So I stopped and didn't complete my checkout.. On the following day, they would send a follow-up message for me to send my Zelle info to complete checkout. They stated that Zelle allows them to discount the guns at a great price and that's why they only accept Zelle. I never had to pay by Zelle before always by credit card. So, I asked Google: Is this company legit? Then the search would come up with numerous complaints with BBB and a bunch of discussions of people getting scammed by this fake company.

So, I did more research on the same gun and several other websites that offered it as new, cheap, and available. The same thing, pay by Zelle only. Again, googled them and found that all those websites are fake and scams. Many of the complaints date back several years and are still in operation to continue to scam people. Why are they not shut down after several years?

If you find a gun that is too good to be true, with a good price and availability on the internet, do your research first before you get scammed. Also, pay by credit card that way you have some kind of protection from scams.

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[RVTECH]

The same thing, pay by Zelle only.

This should be enough to support it being a scam site.

On another forum I read about a lot of people reporting scams - yet some did not realize it until they made the mistake of ordering something from one of them.

Unfortunately this particular forum has a lot of members who seem very naive to technology - along with online vendors as well, and some become victims of scam sites.

 

[po18guy]

www.stopgunscams.com/

You can report the site, if it is not already on the register.

 

[ktgee]

www.stopgunscams.com/

You can report the site, if it is not already on the register.

The site I dealt with and all those companies I researched are on their registry .

www.stopgunscams.com/

You can report the site, if it is not already on the register.

 

[Alexx1401]

It only has the option to pay by Zelle. So I stopped and didn't complete my checkout..

That they will not take plastic is the red flag all alone. An amazing number of people line up to get taken every week. I can't wrap my head around why and I guess it does not matter. I no longer can find it in me to feel bad for people who have the internet yet beg for people to rip them off. Then as soon as they get burned they of course cry. I don't get it.

 

[lucusloc]

Why are they not shut down after several years?

Because they are out of our jurisdiction and in a country that either does not care or actively encourages the scamming. This is true of most scams, gun related or not. The only thing you can do is educate yourself and others to sniff out the scam and not fall for it. They will keep doing it as long as they keep pulling in new victims.

 

[ilostmypswrd]

Beware of scammers with fake websites. I know there are plenty of threads of scam websites and I feel sorry for those that had been scammed. I'm sharing my experience and I'm not going into details of what, who, or where.

Found a gun I was looking for on the internet that was discontinued and can only be found used if you can find it. I found a website that offered them new, good prices and available. Hmm, Looks legit. Too good to be true? So, I attempted to make the buy. At checkout, it does not have a section for FFL selection or anywhere to ship the gun except to my address. I asked the Ask a Question popup about it and they stated that I would give that info after checkout or they would ship to the nearest FFL. It only has the option to pay by Zelle. So I stopped and didn't complete my checkout.. On the following day, they would send a follow-up message for me to send my Zelle info to complete checkout. They stated that Zelle allows them to discount the guns at a great price and that's why they only accept Zelle. I never had to pay by Zelle before always by credit card. So, I asked Google: Is this company legit? Then the search would come up with numerous complaints with BBB and a bunch of discussions of people getting scammed by this fake company.

So, I did more research on the same gun and several other websites that offered it as new, cheap, and available. The same thing, pay by Zelle only. Again, googled them and found that all those websites are fake and scams. Many of the complaints date back several years and are still in operation to continue to scam people. Why are they not shut down after several years?

If you find a gun that is too good to be true, with a good price and availability on the internet, do your research first before you get scammed. Also, pay by credit card that way you have some kind of protection from scams.

Yeah dude, during the crazy covid times there was hundred of these websites.

 

[gmerkt]

If you find a gun that is too good to be true, with a good price and availability on the internet, do your research first before you get scammed. Also, pay by credit card that way you have some kind of protection from scams.

Absolutely true, yet people get tempted by saving a bit of money, or their thrill of finding something hard to get sometimes overcomes common sense. Don't even be tempted to save 3 or 4 percent "credit card fee" from sellers on more or less legitimate third party sites such as Gunbroker. Because if a seller is tempted to screw you even in a small way, without the intervention of a credit card company, you've got practically no leverage.

Just from my observation, it's way easier to get screwed in a firearms related transaction by way of direct contact to the seller on the internet. There is no relative curtain of safety that a third party site like Gunbroker or similar provides.

Because they are out of our jurisdiction and in a country that either does not care or actively encourages the scamming.

Whether in a US jurisdiction or not, fraudulent websites are just too easy to perpetuate. One major factor is the MONEY that vendors of online presence are unwilling to give up. Including major players like Facebook. Or whatever new name they go by. I'll give you a for instance. All those little advertisements for discounted US postage stamps. Which are all fraudulent and fake. Because the US Postal Service NEVER discounts retail postage stamps. The only discounts they offer are for business mail that is subject to a raft of rules relating to rates and classifications, permit fees, minimum quantities, presorting, etc. Rolls of stamps as advertised on fake online ads at a discount are all fraudulent. The sites (including Google searches) where these ads pop up sell ad space for MONEY to the crooks. If they took these fraudulent ads down, they would be taking MONEY out of their own pockets. So the fraudulent ads persist. And presumably, a similar dynamic is why these fraudulent firearms and ammo websites persist. The only person or agency to truly protect yourself against this fraud is YOU.

 

[TTSX]

You should have stopped at the point where there was a new gun that's been out of production for a while if not years/decades and at a low price. If I were a vendor and I had some BNIB NOS products, I'd be charging a premium, NOT offering a discount. You don't need to be in the harbor to smell the fish on this one.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Send them a Zell request for that amount

 

[Mikej]

Unfortunately this particular forum has a lot of members who seem very naive to technology - along with online vendors as well, and some become victims of scam sites.

I'm about as dumb as it gets to a lot of new tech! I barely, I think, could answer the wife's phone if she weren't there to answer it herself. But I've never used the likes of Zelle, or any of the others. Pay Pal is it? WTH don't people use a credit card? Don't they give those to most anyone?

Because they are out of our jurisdiction and in a country that either does not care or actively encourages the scamming. This is true of most scams, gun related or not. The only thing you can do is educate yourself and others to sniff out the scam and not fall for it. They will keep doing it as long as they keep pulling in new victims.

Because halting climate change is the most important thing we face today! People scammed out of their money doesn't even register on the scale.
Got to consider too, that people seem to be getting dumber?

 

[The Heretic]

Besides all the other red flags, and there were many - Zelle does not give discounts to anybody

 

[The Heretic]

I'm about as dumb as it gets to a lot of new tech! I barely, I think, could answer the wife's phone if she weren't there to answer it herself. But I've never used the likes of Zelle, or any of the others. Pay Pal is it? WTH don't people use a credit card? Don't they give those to most anyone?

I use Zelle to pay/sell to/from private parties - and only those I know (here and there). But not a retailer.