SCAMMER ALERT

[Oregon Bill]

Scammers are stealing money from WTB ad posters on a number of outdoor or hunting-related forums right now.
Here's how it works:
You post a WTB ad for, say, bullets. You get a PM or "conversation" from someone saying something like, "Hey, I know a guy who has some of those to sell. Drop him an email at xxx@gmail.com or text him at 1-541 xxx-xxxx." You send a text or e-mail and yes, Ed Schimmelpetscher says he has what you are looking for. You Paypal him and he walks with your money. No bullets, no replies to your inquiries. Nothing. You have been had.
This just happened to me with a WTB Speer .458 300-grain JHP bullets in the hunting classifieds on my Oregon hunting/fishing forum.
A guy PMed me that a friend had some and I sent an email. We agreed on price, I Paypaled him $90, and he walked off with it, laughing at me. When I went back to ask the forum member what he knew about this crook, I realized that he had joined the forum just two days prior and had 0 posts. SIRENS SHOULD HAVE GONE OFF.
Since being cheated, I have had another shady offer to text a friend by another guy who joined the forum two days before.
Friends, just watch your topknots and ignore or report any of this stuff, especially involving brand-new posters you never heard of.

[Abilene]

Thanks for the reminder.   All I can say about those types is that Karma is a bitch.

[Marshall Matt Dillon]

When i use paypal, i always use a credit card. Call credit card company and tell them you did not receive item. They will give your money back. Do not go thru paypal to get it back. Paypal will send you an email after your credit card company takes the money back.

[John Barleycorn]

Here's another tip. Don't use PayPal for buying or selling items that they prohibit. You will jeopardize your account. They can freeze it for 90 days and you'll spend hours trying to get through to a person at PayPal

[ndnchf]

Grrrrrr, I hate those sumbitches    Sorry you got taken, its a scary world out there.

Maybe one way to at least reduce the chance of being scammed, is to ask for a close up photo of the item from a particular angle. A photo that they can't just pull off the internet. This would at least show that they actually have the item.  Also, ask specific questions that only someone who really knows the item or has the item in front of them could answer.  Usually when I buy or sell an item, I have an email conversation and can tell pretty quickly if the person knows what he's talking about. Beware of the people who say they are selling it for a friend and know nothing about it themselves. 

We like to think we can trust our fellow members here. I think that it true about 99% of the time.  But in any group, there is always a bad apple     

[Baltimore Ed]

GB too, always look at the sellers ratings. If it's too good of a deal it's probably a scam. I get gunshy when they say no returns too.

[Str8 Shooter]

Be careful, even when paying by credit card through PayPal. Some crooks send you a package with a non-related cheap item and submit the tracking as proof of delivery to the credit card company when you file. The only way to dispute is by calling the PO to get a printout of what the package weighed and only if it weighed significantly less than what you bought. Bank of America is particularly hard to deal with.

[Froogal]

I've not used PayPal for many, many years now, and I have no intention of ever using it again.

[Boone May]

A weasel with the handle of Jayy-sam is trying to do the bait and switch again.  Someone get a rope.  I did report it to the admin.

[Sedalia Dave]

That user sent me 3 PMs. Promptly reported him as well.

Always look at the number of posts a user has made. Single digits is a dead give away. As is referring you to email someone that is not a member of the forum.

[Major 2]

You might also be weary of how lucky you seem to be ! 

In the past week, I have received 5 emails saying I WON ! 

Target, Walmart were Christmas reward cash,
Cosco was an I-pad Pro Tablet,
Both Loews & Home Depot wanted me to "open to reveal my Christmas reward"

BE WARNED ...it's BS it is a scammer.   

I've also received, Ace Hardware, Sam's Club in the past, not to mention all the above before.