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Despite numerous threads on the subject and the above average intelligence of our wonderful members, I'm still seeing far too many reports of people falling for scams in our classified section. You need to be cautious each and every time, regardless of who you're dealing with, period. Most of the victims I talk with have one thing in common: they didn't think it'd happen to them. Truth is, it can and will happen to you if you conduct transactions through the mail without taking proper precautions as mentioned in the How do I avoid getting scammed? help entry. I recommend those not willing to put in the time and effort to protect themselves stick with face to face transactions.
Even if you've done multiple transactions with someone in the past, how do you know it's really them this time? Though we've repeatedly encouraged all members to use strong, unique passwords and enable 2FA, account compromises do still happen, especially with old accounts which haven't logged in for a long time. Those of you with tons of positive feedback and the same weak password you use on every account? You're a prime target! Their goal is to gain access to your account and then use it to scam others. You're hearing about this here, but please don't make the mistake of assuming this is a problem unique to Northwest Firearms. In fact, it's far better here than other sites. I only say this to remind you to take what you're learning here and put it in practice whenever you conduct business online.
If you suspect someone of being a scammer, don't assume we already know about them. Please report them ASAP so we can investigate and remove them if need be. You wouldn't believe how many things don't get reported.
I apologize if the tone here seems a bit harsh, but it ruins my day every single time I hear about it. Most of you will be reading this thread due to the notice or the alert I'll be sending to all of our members after I post this. It's unfortunate that it has come to this, but people just don't seem to be taking it seriously. Myself and our staff have been doing all we can to detect and remove potential scammers, increase security, and spread the word about this stuff. Unfortunately, all the technology in the world can't replace a bit of good old fashioned common sense.
Even if you've done multiple transactions with someone in the past, how do you know it's really them this time? Though we've repeatedly encouraged all members to use strong, unique passwords and enable 2FA, account compromises do still happen, especially with old accounts which haven't logged in for a long time. Those of you with tons of positive feedback and the same weak password you use on every account? You're a prime target! Their goal is to gain access to your account and then use it to scam others. You're hearing about this here, but please don't make the mistake of assuming this is a problem unique to Northwest Firearms. In fact, it's far better here than other sites. I only say this to remind you to take what you're learning here and put it in practice whenever you conduct business online.
If you suspect someone of being a scammer, don't assume we already know about them. Please report them ASAP so we can investigate and remove them if need be. You wouldn't believe how many things don't get reported.
I apologize if the tone here seems a bit harsh, but it ruins my day every single time I hear about it. Most of you will be reading this thread due to the notice or the alert I'll be sending to all of our members after I post this. It's unfortunate that it has come to this, but people just don't seem to be taking it seriously. Myself and our staff have been doing all we can to detect and remove potential scammers, increase security, and spread the word about this stuff. Unfortunately, all the technology in the world can't replace a bit of good old fashioned common sense.
