Is this a TRAP?

[Meanoldfart]

A lot of you know that I do trigger tune-ups on SKS's,I am now selling new completed T.G. on Ebay.
I got this email today and I can't figure out if this guy is this stupid or if he's a Fed. that thinks I am. I xxx'd out his email address, but if someone knows how to trace it, I'll p.m. it to you.

Hi listen I like the SKS too I am about to get anothe rone and that one
will be the play gun ( If you know whaty I mean ) but listen I know its
ileagle to make then a full auto but i have seen where you could buy
the plans to do it yourself, my question is this, I know enough to know
that to make it full auto it would have to be in the trigger group mabe
file something down or something , but could you do this? i would
gladly pay for a group like this ( somehting i could swap in and out too
) but i dont see any legal thing on your part because im the one
installing it and using it ( if i did ) if you cant that cool but could you
tell me how or point me in the direction i need to go to do this my
self? also you got any GOOD 30rd clips? the one i have for mine is a crappy
spring one, do they make any good quality ones? if you got some i would
be interested, also email me back at xxxxxxxxx.net becauseI
forgot what email I used for this ebay account. thanks guy

Sam

 

[Greg L]

Sting or stupid, I'm leaning towards sting. I can't believe that anyone would send this to a stranger (of course we read about the dumb ones daily).

Greg

 

[BerettaNut92]

Being as the guy/girl's command of the English language is elementary-school level, even if you did do business with him/her and he was honest, (s)he'd probably bungle the check or MO.

Just tell him/her that the trigger group is illegal without jumping thru all the legal paperwork, and SKS clips only have 10 rounds.

Try to find shareware program called Neotrace. I think it's commercial , but there may be a trial version, but it'll probably be neutered. Open the source of the e-mail and you can find the IP there. Plug that IP in and it'll tell you which ISP it ends up at. tracert does something like that, but I don't know too much about it.

 

[cheygriz]

TRAP!!!

TRAP!!!!

DON'T TOUCH THIS ONE WITH A TEN FOOT POLE!!!!!

This sounds like a typical BATF operation. The same type of crap that got two members of Randy Weavers' family murdered!

 

[GregoryTech]

I'm thinking "stupid" since he's asked for specific illegal actions, thus "entrapping" you, rather than being vague and letting you offer up. But what do I know...

Anyway, dowload the program Sam Spade:

http://samspade.org/ssw/dl.html

It's useful for tracking down spam email so maybe it can help you find the source (at least the ISP/Company server) of the message.

 

[Autolite]

Trap or not ...

I don't see the upside of dealing with the guy. If it's not a sting, then the guy sounds too stupid to trust. Leave it alone ...

 

[10-Ring]

If there was a "red flag" smilie, they'd be plastered all over this reply.
Trap, sting, stupid mo fo, whatever he is....You know enough to just tell him NO & to go away!

 

[Mike Irwin]

Don't even answer it!


I'd say the chances are VERY good that it's a pathetic attempt at a sting.

 

[KMKeller]

Skunk - Just open up a command window in windows and type "tracert 192.26.124.243" of course substituting the captured IP address. It'll track the IP back through the net and list the hops it made on the way. There are a thousand better utilities, but tracert will do the job just fine.

 

[Marshall]

If you really want action on it and want to be on record also, call the FBI or ATF and give it to them. If it was them, it would be hilarious if you do call them and give them the info and, not a bad idea either. You may possibly save a life, never know?

 

[GregoryTech]

Skunk - Just open up a command window in windows and type "tracert 192.26.124.243" of course substituting the captured IP address. It'll track the IP back through the net and list the hops it made on the way. There are a thousand better utilities, but tracert will do the job just fine.

That only tells you one route (the current one, subject to change) from YOUR computer to theirs (if it's a real IP address). Useful in it's own right, but not quite what you described.

 

[rock jock]

My vote is for stupid, not sting.

 

[Okiecruffler]

I'm not a lawyer, or even play one on TV, but

If this were a sting, wouldn't it be awfully close to entrapment? Of course, with today's climate I don't know how much leeway THEY have. I probably don't want to know.

 

[Wildalaska]

Send it to the ATF...

WildtoomanyjerksouthereAlaska

 

[KMKeller]

GregoryTech - Yep, you're right about that. Hopefully it'll send back the IP and name for the border router and whatnot. I've used it before to track a hacker on a private shooting range club website and it gave me the path right back to his computer... through the UNC network, into the school of public health. A quick call to their admins lit him up pretty nicely.

 

[Sindawe]

I'd not touch that one w/ a 20 foot pole axe.

As far as IDing the IP of the sender, the site http://www.network-tools.com will do an express trace like tracert, lookup who owns the block that the IP is pulled from and all kinds of other stuff, and its FREE!!!!

 

[jmbg29]

If this were a sting, wouldn't it be awfully close to entrapment?

Two words...Randy Weaver.

 

[Ryder]

Hahha

They are still using the Sam signature? That shows an enourmous lack of imagination. Gov't stings have used the Sam sig before.

That is UNCLE SAM.

 

[suvdrvr]

I would vote for notifing the boys and girls at booze, butts, and bullets!

 

[thumbtack]

I vote for just plain stupid.

I just wonder how many people here have been in an ATF trap before, several folks said it sounded like a trap. How do you know what a traps sounds like?

 

[Standing Wolf]

I'd say it's a trap being laid by a complete moron.

 

[Meanoldfart]

I decided what to do.

The guy had emailed me from his Ebay account, I decided that I wanted something on the record that I turned him down and that I didn't want to hear from him again.
I emailed him that I thought that what HE did was already a violation of the law and that I didn't want to hear from him again and I blocked him as an ebay bidder on my account. If I hear from him again, I'll report him to the Feds myself.
MOF

 

[falconer]

That would most definately be a case of entrapment. If they contacted you out of the blue and asked you to provide an illegal service it is entrapment. If they placed an add selling full-auto trigger groups and you call them, its enticement and fair game.

 

[Beren]

Bah. You should have turned it around and entrapped him, just for fun. The idea of one ATF agent attempting to arrest another makes me giggle.

 

[PATH]

I guess it takes all kinds. Sounds like a bozo to me but you never know. Always assume the FEDS. Although it is not like you would do something stupid like that anyway!