scammed.......

[DevilDog72]

Well, I guess the old adage .."a fool and his money are soon parted" applies to me.

I bought a S&W Mdl 28-2 off of Armslist from Joyce Haytt, Normal Ill. posted pics supplied by her as my new to me 28.

One week later and she no longer answers my e-mails and today I get a scam alert from Armslist about the add. the following is pics of the gun advertised.

I will file a police report and report it to the USPS. I hate to admit I have been had......but...... I H A V E B E E N H A D

 

[whataboutbob]

Crooked people suck

 

[DevilDog72]

I hope other members here look at these pics and beware... I do not want anyone else taken as I and 3 others on Armslist have.

 

[TTSH]

This is exactly why Armslist advises folks to buy local only.

 

[gdogs]

I've purchased exactly 1 firearm off Armslist. And though I did finally receive the firearm in question, for a little while I didn't think I was going to. If I was ever to do it again, I would only buy local off it.

 

[glowe]

There appears to be no way for that site to police their sellers. I do not buy from Armslist for that reason. Stick with the reputable gun auctioneers and big online gun sites like Gunbroker, GunsAmerica, GunsInternational, etc. There is never an absolute guarantee that there are not crooks on these websites, but they are few and quickly weeded out. Gun auction companies are probably the least likely to promote fraud, since their reputation is on the line with every sale. Juila, Watson, Rock Island, Poulin, etc. offer many auctions per year and lots of S&Ws.

It would be interesting to know how many buyers have had bad experiences dealing with Armslist?

 

[DCWilson]

Years ago I decided that even though many sellers on Armslist are undoubtedly legitimate, the opportunity for mischief was just too high. I determined never buy a gun from an Armslist offering and never have. I'm sorry for your experience, and I hope that some remedy will emerge for you.

 

[arjay]

My first three on armslist were attempted scams,the fourth was legitimate.All were advertised as local.

 

[DevilDog72]

Never fear I will not do Armslist again and further will recommend against them to all my friends and family.

 

[67whaler]

I have had multiple great experiences both buying and selling on armslist. Twice I have sold a second gun to a previous buyer- but local face to face ONLY!

 

[6string]

Thank you for posting your experience.

Where some people might have felt too embarrassed to admit what happened, you chose to take the high road and alert those of us out there that may have followed suit.

Gratefully,
Jim

 

[reddog81]

Buy local or I'm sure the many dealers on there would be legit.

Often times when I see something to good to be true I copy and paste the first sentence of the ad into google. Many times the same gun is listed on gunbroker, or on other sites. I've noticed the scams seem to be happening less fruequently lately but there still out there.

 

[Renegade19]

Thank you for posting your experience.

Where some people might have felt too embarrassed to admit what happened, you chose to take the high road and alert those of us out there that may have followed suit.

Gratefully,
Jim

I second this opinion!
Jim #2

 

[UNCLE PAULY]

Devildog72, sorry to hear this happened. I have successfully bought from the big 3 online auctions listed above many times, but would never trust Armslist as too many scams have been perpetrated on that site.

Hopefully you paid with USPS money order. If so, it will be investigated by their postal investors and prosecuted by them.

 

[SVT28]

I see scam postings on the Arizona backpage daily. The dead giveaways are

- deal too good to be true (ie. Mint prewar HD for $450)
- non local phone number
- sketchy email address
- google email address and more sketchy ads show up

It's unfortunate that the scammers are out there, but hopefully threads like these saves at least someone's bacon. I also stick to FTF transactions and GunsInternational/Gunbroker too.

SVT28

 

[DevilDog72]

I have also bought other guns on line with good experiences.
The so called seller and I exchanged many emails with me asking a lot of questions. It all sounded good and we made the deal. I sent an USPS MO and we exchanged more e-mails. She kept giving excuses why she could not send the gun right away... I was loosing my patience and began to get that sick feeling I had been taken......

She quit responding to my e-mails and today I got several scam alerts from Armslist about this seller.

I truly hope this thread can/will help someone else.

 

[fkienast]

Did you contact a Postal Inspector?

 

[Stopsign32v]

Armslist to me is ONLY for FTF deals

 

[gman51]

Anytime or from any gun sales site if the seller is not an FFL then I will only fork over the money when face to face and can see the gun.
Same thing when I sell a gun. No out of state sales.
Yep there are way to many scammers looking to find someone to swallow the hook, line and sinker. I have been stuck a few times but luckily I was able to get back in the boat.
People will take pictures off an ad and then post it for sale as theirs. It happens way to often.

 

[shouldazagged]

If I still had money to buy guns, or had surplus guns I wanted to sell (neither is true) I would only do it face to face with the other party, and sell only for cash.

I didn't get this old and nasty by being real trusting.