User thu298......Scam Artist

[Freudianfloyd]

I am ashamed to admit I fell for this guy's scam. I had an ad posted looking to buy a stock for my 870 Wingmaster. He said he had one I might be interested in. He was asking $120. He sent me pictures and was very responsive. I was a little nervous because he would not take Paypal because of their "anti2nd agenda", and would only take Zelle or money order.

Unfortunately, I took the bait. I didn't find anything negative about him on this site, so I thought he was genuine. After I sent confirmation of the payment, he said he would get it shipped. That was the last I heard from him.

I then found somebody else asking about purchasing from this user back in Oct. I reached out to him, and he did not receive his item either. He said that the pictures he got after he sent the money were photoshopped pics from a different forum.

So I went to google images and searched for a similar picture to the one I was offered, and I found the exact picture with a different background.

Pic I was sent


Original pic


Please ban this user!

He sent me two emails:

[email protected] and
[email protected]

I have a dispute with the bank currently hoping to get some of this money back.

 

[BreechFace]

Thanks for posting this. It seems he's trying to scam another member on a PRS stock as well.

Sorry, you got taken. He's good if he photoshopped that, ridiculous; probably some snot nosed ****** in their mothers basement.

 

[Freudianfloyd]

Thanks for posting this. It seems he's trying to scam another member on a PRS stock as well.

Sorry, you got taken. He's good if he photoshopped that, ridiculous; probably some snot nosed ****** in their mothers basement.

Yeah. I agree. He sent a few more pics. All from the same forum.

Seems like with those skills he coukd find a legitimate job making more than $120.

 

[1KPerDay]

This is very common unfortunately. Almost always in WTB ads. Ask for additional, specific pics of the item you're looking for with a specific feature, like a handwritten note or a piece of fruit or whatever. Man, now they're photoshopping other pics. Bastards. Check forum feedback if available. And use Zelle carefully; you can almost never get any money back.

 

[tws3b2]

A few years ago I was looking for hard to find parts for a Stevens 54, 410. I had posted photos of the gun on Numrich. A guy on armslist said he had the same gun and would sell me parts. I asked him to send me a photo of the gun. He sent me My Photo that I had posted on Numrich.

 

[theotherwaldo]

This is why I quit putting new pictures of my own items on the internet.
I'll only use preexisting images.
I got tired of seeing my guns, knives and other items on sales sites... .

 

[Riomouse911]

I almost got taken for $200 by someone pulling the same stunt. I was even sent a tracking number by the scam seller for something that was legitimately delivered by the post office to someone living nearby.

Fortunately I used PayPal, but the scam seller even tried to fight my dispute claiming the item I bought was delivered so it wasn’t their fault. Took me 30 days, and only after having the postmaster print out the package description on the delivered item did PP refund my money and shut down the scam seller. (Package delivered was 2.5 pounds… I had paid for an 85 pound rolling toolcart.)

Sorry about your loss, hopefully you get your money back. Sadly, these clowns are a never-ending plague.

Stay safe.

 

[kje54]

I never use Zelle, it's almost always a dead giveaway that it's a scam and when someone PMs me that they have a friend, or they themselves have one for sale I ignore & report them as it also is almost always a scam.
I've seen too many people get taken in by these thieves.

 

[kje54]

We had so many problems with scammers on another board claiming to have a firearm for sale that a new rule was instituted. At least one picture had to have a note with the seller's screen name and current date. Not 100% foolproof but it radically cut down on the scammers.

 

[TomJ]

I know this has been mentioned before but it bears repeating. I only purchase things online using a credit card as it gives me recourse in the event of a scam. If it costs me an additional 3% in credit card fees so be it. As far as I know every other payment option has little to no recourse.

 

[drband]

Zelle is a dead giveaway.

Those pics have the exact glare marks on the stock and forend. Definitely the same parts.

 

[old lady new shooter]

A few years ago I was looking for hard to find parts for a Stevens 54, 410. I had posted photos of the gun on Numrich. A guy on armslist said he had the same gun and would sell me parts. I asked him to send me a photo of the gun. He sent me My Photo that I had posted on Numrich.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Can anyone report whether offers on gunbroker might have such issues?

 

[kje54]

Can anyone report whether offers on gunbroker might have such issues?

Here's a quick Google search I did. I see what you do if you've been scammed or how to protect yourself but not how to report a suspected scammer though I didn't read through them all.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-lm&q=reporting+scams+on+gun+broker

 

[tarosean]

Yes they have been targeting gun forums for a while now. Esp. WTB ads.

I am also a member of a gun board where they were hacking well known users accounts and posted for sale items. That was very bad as they were trusted members, with selling/buying history.

 

[tarosean]

Can anyone report whether offers on gunbroker might have such issues?

Yes scams exist there too.

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

These are people who deep down just can't tolerate earning legitimate money, they somehow feel that they have to take advantage of people to make any sizable amount of cash. A deep psychological issue, and they are domineering personalities. The most disgusting thing in my opinion is when they get mad at you for fighting back against their scam.

That guy has valid skills in photoshop.... some jobs out there could use that. But no, he just lurks on gun forums, taking advantage of people.
Hell at this point it'd be easier to grasp he's just a anti-gun activist trying to get back at the 'evil gun owners', at least that's somewhat explainable.

 

[Freudianfloyd]

The worst part about this entire experience is that I really "needed" that stock!

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

How about this, look at their posts. They have one post that is really long and informative.. makes me wonder if they actually are 'one of us' so to speak, a gun owner, or if they copy and pasted that from another forum about shotguns?

 

[reddog81]

Can anyone report whether offers on gunbroker might have such issues?

Sure. They have highjacked legit accounts and post up a bunch of stuff for sale at a good price. People jump on it because it looks like a legit sellers account with 1,000's of reviews and then get taken to the bank.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Yes they have been targeting gun forums for a while now. Esp. WTB ads.

I am also a member of a gun board where they were hacking well known users accounts and posted for sale items. That was very bad as they were trusted members, with selling/buying history.

That's horrifying. Did the board follow up and prosecute them?

 

[reddog81]

How about this, look at their posts. They have one post that is really long and informative.. makes me wonder if they actually are 'one of us' so to speak, a gun owner, or if they copy and pasted that from another forum about shotguns?

Often times you can copy and paste the verbiage from the ad into google and see if it comes back with a match. 5 years ago when I used to watch local armslist page you could spot most fakes pretty easily but some of them looked legit. However, often times if you copied and pasted the first sentence of the ad into google it'd pull up a live gunbroker ad with the same pics and same description.

 

[Robert]

This is under review.

 

[Odd Job]

User has been banned.