If you were he victim of a scam who would you contact first? I sent uspsmo for a model 12 and haven't recieved any contact. Another gentleman from glock talk bought the same gun with the same expierence. So the local pd of the seller told me to contact the FBI. Does that seem right or should try Post Master and then local pd again?
postal money order but no gun????
- Thread starter 3pairs12
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Postal inspectors investigate mail and postal fraud; I've worked with them when they were investigating a team that used to break into rural post offices and steal the postal money order machines and blanks (pre-computer stuff). Same team used to break into rural pawn and gun shops, clean them out, and take the guns to CA and AZ to sell/trade to drug dealers. They worked closely with the FBI, so that agency would be my second call if the postal inspectors wouldn't / couldn't help. Consider also ATF - they might be interested in looking into a guy who may be operating like an FFL without a license and committing fraud as well. Sorry to hear you got scammed - keep us posted.
All three that you mentioned.
File incident report with local Police Department or Sheriff, or the local PD where he lives.
File complaint with US Postal Inspector.
Make appointment to open a file on the seller with FBI. If they already have a file on him, they need your input.
I do not believe BATFE (ATF) cares about a guy who took your money, since no firearm transaction actually took place. This is fraud, not arms trafficking.
File incident report with local Police Department or Sheriff, or the local PD where he lives.
File complaint with US Postal Inspector.
Make appointment to open a file on the seller with FBI. If they already have a file on him, they need your input.
I do not believe BATFE (ATF) cares about a guy who took your money, since no firearm transaction actually took place. This is fraud, not arms trafficking.
45crittergitter
Member
In my similar situation, which involved one Timothy B. Wheeler of Columbia, KY, the USPS was of no help whatsoever. However, the Columbia PD was invaluable.
Bailey Boat
Member
Road trip!!!!!!
I'll drive. By the way this guys name is Ryan P Newill of Independence, Mo. So far the local PD has been no help at all. They did give the website to contact the FBI, and I am going to meet with the Post Master today to file a complaint. I will keep you guys posted. I just feel like this isn't going to get persued a whole lot.
Schutzen
Member
The only conversation you need to have with your local Post Master is to ask the location and telephone number of the Postal Inspector covering your district. I had a problem (non-firearm related) with a seller and the Postal Inspector cleared it up with one visit to the seller.
The Postal Inspector is your best bet since the local police in Missouri won't help. I've had some professional contact with them in investigating scams and they are very good. The FBI is worthless for this sort of thing. The last I heard, they would not even look at a "normal" crime unless there was a minimum of $50,000 involved.
I also agree with Foghorn's statement about the IRS Criminal investigators being top notch.
I also agree with Foghorn's statement about the IRS Criminal investigators being top notch.
earlthegoat2
Member
Tell the FBI the guy is a terrorist and they will look into it.
ThrottleJockey72
member
And then you go to prison for the felony offense of falsifying a report.
StuntHeavy
Member
I can't say for USPS, but a few years back I got scammed on ebay for about 650$. At first the fellow's local PD had no interest in helping. After being the "squeaky wheel", they decided to look into it.
Turned out the guy had scammed people out of tens of thousands of dollars, and they brought him down bigtime. I got my money back in the long run.
Turned out the guy had scammed people out of tens of thousands of dollars, and they brought him down bigtime. I got my money back in the long run.
FIRERESCUEO2
Member
You most likely did this already - but make sure you also notify the Mods on each gun site your on ......... most of them will sticky the guys info and folks like to spread those user names around to other boards for the same reason. No one wants to be on the losing end of that!
Sorry to hear you got screwed ......... a few bad apples out there. I've been lucky so far (knocking on wood) but see the damage on almost every site.
One of these days my luck will run out .......... hopefully it won't hurt too much.
Sorry to hear you got screwed ......... a few bad apples out there. I've been lucky so far (knocking on wood) but see the damage on almost every site.
One of these days my luck will run out .......... hopefully it won't hurt too much.
cyclopsshooter
Member
seems to be a lot of this crap going on lately... sad
Be sure to file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General. They have vast resources at their disposal and their consumer fraud unit may well have other complaints. They also are an excellent place to ask who else you need to contact. Don't give up.
Filed a complaint online yesterday with the Postal Inspector for my area. Hoping to hear from him today. The other party that bought this gun also filed his complaint for the Inspector in his area. I have notified the mods on all of the sites I am a member of in hopes of this guy not being able to do this to more people. I am also going to send a letter, signature required, to his dads address letting him know of his kids dealings. It is amazing how much you can find out about somebody online.
LubeckTech
Member
How and where did you come to make this deal?
I had a similar experience on Gunbroker earlier this summer. I got scammed for about $98.00 in primers and the dude who did it scammed about 20 other people for various amounts (in small transactions) getting one guy for about $600.00 over 7 transactions. The guy had A+ feedback at the time I sent the money order but only 4 transactions - a few days later there were all kinds of complaints. Gunbroker has a fraud protection program but it has a $100.00 deductable.
I had a similar experience on Gunbroker earlier this summer. I got scammed for about $98.00 in primers and the dude who did it scammed about 20 other people for various amounts (in small transactions) getting one guy for about $600.00 over 7 transactions. The guy had A+ feedback at the time I sent the money order but only 4 transactions - a few days later there were all kinds of complaints. Gunbroker has a fraud protection program but it has a $100.00 deductable.
Bailey Boat
Member
As bad as I hate to say it, the guy will get away with it because of the "small" dollar amount and no agencies want to get involved. He'll change his user name and be back in business before the sun goes down. I guess as the economy continues it's downward trend this sort of thing will become more common.
If you want to really try and stop him post his "home address", that is harder to change than a user name but still not fool proof since crooks know other crooks that will let him use their address for the same BS but it will put that city in the spotlight for buyers to be aware.
The only way to stop a crook in a gun deal is to have him take it to a local FFL (I pay all related fees) have the FFL tell me about the condition and then the deal is done with a credit card through that dealer and have him ship to my FFL. That way the condition is fairly given by a third party and the gun stays in the possession of the shipping FFL. I've done it this way several times and it has worked perfectly every time.
Of course I still say.....ROAD TRIP!!!! Missouri is beautiful this time of year......
If you want to really try and stop him post his "home address", that is harder to change than a user name but still not fool proof since crooks know other crooks that will let him use their address for the same BS but it will put that city in the spotlight for buyers to be aware.
The only way to stop a crook in a gun deal is to have him take it to a local FFL (I pay all related fees) have the FFL tell me about the condition and then the deal is done with a credit card through that dealer and have him ship to my FFL. That way the condition is fairly given by a third party and the gun stays in the possession of the shipping FFL. I've done it this way several times and it has worked perfectly every time.
Of course I still say.....ROAD TRIP!!!! Missouri is beautiful this time of year......
Rwaters839
Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2010
- Messages
- 1
Reply to these post,Ryan P Newill, Terence P Newill
Anyone that was taken by these people please leave me a direct email, they work out of independence, Mo., 64050
Anyone that was taken by these people please leave me a direct email, they work out of independence, Mo., 64050
clem
Member
Rob62
Member
Any resolution, since this thread has been resurected ?
Here is some more info for those that think they may have been ripped off. Its a copy of what I have previously posted in another forum.
1. Have you let a reasonable amount of time expire since the last communication with the person you were dealing with – to me 7-10 days is more than reasonable IMO. If you have gotten no response to your messages by then there most likely is a problem.
2. Make hard copies of all of your correspondence (E mails/PM’s, etc). If you made phone calls check your phone log and see when they were made. Make a hard copy log of this information. Have copies made of your money order or proof of how you paid for an item. If it was a trade, copy the shipping receipt of the item and print out the tracking information. Basically make a hard copy of anything and everything related to this issue. (you will need it for step 3 below)
3. Contact the local Law Enforcement Agency of the person you dealt with. For example if the person you were dealing with is in Big Neck, Illinios, contact the Big Neck PD, or the county sheriff’s office. If you can not find out who the responsible LE agency is for that area contact that state police – they can help get you that information.
4. Once you find and contact that LE agency talk to one of their investigators. Big agencies/cities will probably have one or two guys that do this (Internet theft) almost full time. Internet theft is BIG. (Make sure you write down when you called their name and title, and keep a brief written log for yourself of that conversation) Explain the situation – you have to give specifics. Please, name-calling and wild accusations will not help you here – only give facts. Explain to him or her that you have all the correspondence about this issue already assembled and you can mail (use certified mail – but only send copies, unless asked to send originals, and then keep copies for yourself) or FAX it to them. Be sure that you explain you want to pursue criminal charges. Many times this will not be the first time that the person in question has done something like this and they will be known to the officer already. Sometimes this makes it easier to resolve your issue. If a small agency or town they may just drive over, talk to the individual involved and explain to them the need to make the deal right.
5. After talking to the officer ask specifically when would be a good time to call back and see what if anything is being done. Ask for a file, case, or report number. Everyone uses them, and if he does not want to give you this information they are not trying to help. Call back promptly and follow up on your initial phone contact. Keep in contact with the officer but don’t be a pest about it. I’d call weekly until there is some resolve.
6. If you get the feeling that the officer is giving you the run around, ask to speak to his supervisor. Everyone has a boss.
7. If you believe the LE agency is giving you the run around find out who the Prosecuting Attorney (District Attorney) is and call their office to get help. Again have all the facts of your situation to report to include the log you kept on telephone conversations with the LE officer you spoke to. If you haven’t figured it out by now keep notes on everything from here on. That way you will have all the facts, dates and times of conversations and hopefully less confusion about who said what when.
8. Yup, It can be a lot of work. But if someone were to rip me off they now become my pet project. I’ll do everything legally and morally ethical to hound them forever. Or until I get what is owed to me. I hate thiefs.
Regards and hope this matter has already been cleared up.
Rob
Here is some more info for those that think they may have been ripped off. Its a copy of what I have previously posted in another forum.
1. Have you let a reasonable amount of time expire since the last communication with the person you were dealing with – to me 7-10 days is more than reasonable IMO. If you have gotten no response to your messages by then there most likely is a problem.
2. Make hard copies of all of your correspondence (E mails/PM’s, etc). If you made phone calls check your phone log and see when they were made. Make a hard copy log of this information. Have copies made of your money order or proof of how you paid for an item. If it was a trade, copy the shipping receipt of the item and print out the tracking information. Basically make a hard copy of anything and everything related to this issue. (you will need it for step 3 below)
3. Contact the local Law Enforcement Agency of the person you dealt with. For example if the person you were dealing with is in Big Neck, Illinios, contact the Big Neck PD, or the county sheriff’s office. If you can not find out who the responsible LE agency is for that area contact that state police – they can help get you that information.
4. Once you find and contact that LE agency talk to one of their investigators. Big agencies/cities will probably have one or two guys that do this (Internet theft) almost full time. Internet theft is BIG. (Make sure you write down when you called their name and title, and keep a brief written log for yourself of that conversation) Explain the situation – you have to give specifics. Please, name-calling and wild accusations will not help you here – only give facts. Explain to him or her that you have all the correspondence about this issue already assembled and you can mail (use certified mail – but only send copies, unless asked to send originals, and then keep copies for yourself) or FAX it to them. Be sure that you explain you want to pursue criminal charges. Many times this will not be the first time that the person in question has done something like this and they will be known to the officer already. Sometimes this makes it easier to resolve your issue. If a small agency or town they may just drive over, talk to the individual involved and explain to them the need to make the deal right.
5. After talking to the officer ask specifically when would be a good time to call back and see what if anything is being done. Ask for a file, case, or report number. Everyone uses them, and if he does not want to give you this information they are not trying to help. Call back promptly and follow up on your initial phone contact. Keep in contact with the officer but don’t be a pest about it. I’d call weekly until there is some resolve.
6. If you get the feeling that the officer is giving you the run around, ask to speak to his supervisor. Everyone has a boss.
7. If you believe the LE agency is giving you the run around find out who the Prosecuting Attorney (District Attorney) is and call their office to get help. Again have all the facts of your situation to report to include the log you kept on telephone conversations with the LE officer you spoke to. If you haven’t figured it out by now keep notes on everything from here on. That way you will have all the facts, dates and times of conversations and hopefully less confusion about who said what when.
8. Yup, It can be a lot of work. But if someone were to rip me off they now become my pet project. I’ll do everything legally and morally ethical to hound them forever. Or until I get what is owed to me. I hate thiefs.
Regards and hope this matter has already been cleared up.
Rob
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