[brnwlms]

The admins and mods have been working on a list of red flags and common characteristics that we have noticed in the scammers (both successful and unsuccessful) that we have dealt with on this forum. This list is by no means comprehensive and as always, the classifieds are use at your own risk.


-A new member messaging you on a WTB, either a real WTB or a veiled one. Most likely someone was scanning, saw the post and found a target of opportunity.

-Check the internet for the same pictures posted. For example, someone is selling a #1 in .257 Roberts. Search Google photos, gunbroker, guns america, armslist (most common) for the same photo. If they have a photo, they had to get it from somewhere.

-Ask for proof. Good way is what you have seen us do with newer members. Please add another photo of the item for sale along with a piece of paper that has your user name and today’s date. At the very least it proves they have the item.

-Check the posts, not just the post count. We mods and admins do our best to weed out the members just trying to run up their posts.

-The member does not have the item, but it just so happens his dad/brother/uncle/friend has it so please contact them at this number or email address.

-Many seem to be using Paypal which restricts use for firearms making recovery unlikely or they want payment in a cryptocurrency. Payment in postal money order or check would require they use their real name or have adequate identification in their alias.

-With the requirement to have 25 posts to access the PM system they may have been here for awhile, probably congenial and even complementary to forum members in an attempt to establish credibility.

-Frequently use G-Mail for e-mail address.

We hope this list helps. Please feel free to add characteristics that you might have noticed that are not included on the list above. Duplicate characteristics and posts like “thanks” and “good info,” while appreciated, will also be deleted. As this is an informational thread, the mods and admins would like to keep it to the information related to the topic so that a member does not need to pick through posts to find the information he is looking for. But we know you have characteristics that we have missed, so please share those.

-the Mod and Admin Staff

 

[brnwlms]

One more thing I would like to add. You can’t always go by the joined date. Not all the scammers have recently joined. Sometimes they create a user, but have no activity sometimes for years. Also, a scammer knows they are going to get caught. It’s only a matter of time. So, sometimes they will create multiple users when they first come to the forum, and the multi-user tools don’t always catch it. Then, when one user gets caught and banned, they will lay low for a little bit them come back on one of the other users they created. So, you might see a user from like 2018 that just hit his 25th post responding. He might be a lurker who reads a lot but contributes little, or it could be a scammer who is using an older user he created to appear more legit.
Point is, don’t think all scammers just joined recently to run their scam.

 

[terry_p]

We are seeing some fraudulent accounts with user e-mails @yandex.com. Yandex is an Indonesian based e-mail provider. You would be well served to avoid doing business with anyone using that e-mail provider