Question about the scammer sign-up warning...

I have a question about the "Scammer Sign-Up Warning".

Attention! There has been an influx of scammer signups!

The method of operation is to private message you and tell you that you should contact such 'n such person at a given email address.

Please report the private messages. Staff will ban the offender, and I will implement an IP ban. Unfortunately these scammers are using VPN/proxy services, which may mean your VPN/proxy may be blocked.

I am possibly naive but not certainly devious. I always follow the rules. Does this (above) mean that if a buyer/seller contacts me that we should not exchange information via our private emails?

I always am very careful in buying and selling with an internet contact from any source. Ultimately I require a FTF meeting, proper identification which generally included Drivers License and LTCF. I try to ask lots of questions and do some research before consenting to even meet with an individual. The price is set before meeting with the proviso that no deal is final until the buyer sees the gun and and all his/her questions are satisfied.

Thanks for clarifying this for me.

I just use common sense and will ditch a purchase or sale at the first thing I don't like. There is nothing I need to buy or sell that bad not to. I believe that the immediate threat/scam is when one posts a buy or sell ad and gets PM's from a new and unknown contact and is further exacerbated by a request to contact a third person for the transaction. All of those are red flags to be avoided. Interactions with known people from here have proven to be positive for me.

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Originally Posted by Walleye Hunter

Interactions with known people from here have proven to be positive for me.

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This. If someone has thousands of posts here you can feel confident they are legit. I would even consider a mail deal with some of them. From there it get riskier as the post count goes down. When it gets to under 100 or so I would have to meet in a public place / FFL for a cash deal. People with under 10 posts forget it. They may be legit but they are always trying to sell used for over MSRP.

If it's an account that was created before the beginning of this year, I'd say it's probably not part of the recent problem that prompted the warning. Or if you look and see that they've actually made some posts that appear to be relevant to the respective threads they're in.

That's not a guarantee, of course.

New members outta be quarantined into their own thread and we can stop by and query them for their intentions.

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Originally Posted by gnbrotz

If it's an account that was created before the beginning of this year, I'd say it's probably not part of the recent problem that prompted the warning. Or if you look and see that they've actually made some posts that appear to be relevant to the respective threads they're in.

That's not a guarantee, of course.

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Are there other problems we need to know about? :)

-Zach

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Originally Posted by zachomega

Are there other problems we need to know about? :)

-Zach

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Probably not, so long as you wash your hands regularly.

... and to add, keep your hands off your face.

The scammers are contacting sellers/buyers and REFERRING you to another party. ...like "Contact so 'n so in Indiana, or wherever. Here is their email address."

The referrer and 3rd party contact are likely the same, it is a setup for you to send your items or money. This scam has been going on for at least 15 years around the web, but has recently stepped again in the past 4 months.

Always do a google search on provided emails. You see these scammers have used that same email/method at other forums.

Face-to-face transactions really don't have this problem. ...this scam is aimed at mailed/shipped items and money.