This was forwarded to me by a friend in upper New York State. It's from a gun shop owner in Missouri:

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"Because I've got a lot of friends that shoot and hunt, here's my public service announcement for the day. I saw quite an excellent deal on a Leupold 4.5x14x50 illuminated reticle, Mark 4 scope, last night on the trader. This is about a $1400-$1500 rifle scope. I may be the last one to know this, but if not, here you go. There's evidently a load of counterfeit Leupolds out and about. I sold Leupolds for several years in the gunshop, and kinda know what the hell I'm looking at. For a novice though... they might have got a skinnin' though.

It was "new in the box", The box was nice, said Leupold in the correct script, but no product code or bar code on the ends. Took it outta the box, no laser engraved serial number on the bottom of the turret. In place of the Leupold medalion on the side of the turret was a Leupold "sticker". Leupold don't do stickers, pal. On the objective ring, it said the power of the scope, but didn't say Leupold and the writing was in silver instead of black or gold. It said Leupold on the side of the turret along with the power, but that was 'bout it. The power knob turned kinda hinky and looking through it, it looked like a cheap
Korean or Russian scope.

I told the gal that it was counterfeit, and she didn't know it, she corrected her ad with the info I gave her, she'd got a LOT of response on the ad. lol I came home, looked up "counterfeit Leupold" on Google and kabam... Leupold has even addressed the problem on their website. They're coming in from Hong Kong by the gobs.

So, watch what you're throwing down your hard earned money for boys and girls."

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Now I don't buy Leupolds very often, but when I do, I want to be sure they really ARE Leupolds. Keep your eyes open for this scam, folks.

John

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PALADIN-Thank you for bringing this up. I was not aware of this scam yet and I just bought 2 Leupold scopes off of GB. They were both from shops and were real Leupold scopes. I looked closely at the pictures before I bid also. I will be looking really close at any future Leupold purchases especially from a private individual. Thanks for the heads up!

Great information and thanks for sharing.

Here's the link: Counterfeit Warning | Leupold

The fakes have been out there for several years. As it says in the warning, phone 1-800-LEUPOLD with the serial number if you have any concerns. They're easy to spot if you're familiar with Leupold scopes.

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