Protecting yourself from scammers - "Bumped" as a reminder to all

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Some excellent buyer beware suggestions posted here. My question/suggestion is slightly different though.
Is there a trusted member nearby the seller that might physically inspect and report?
If a buyer is already scammed,what serious recourse is available to us ?? Law enforcement,Alphabet org.....? They all have much higher priorities it would seem. Not trying to be negative,just asking.
I have found if dealing with sketchy retailers of certain products,going to the manufacturer will sometimes yield results as they spend a lot of $$$ on their branding and image.
Due to the scum/scam level that started this thread, in extreme cases I have followed Joes' suggestions in one form or another. Without consequences for them,there is no incentive to stop their bad behavior.
 
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Regarding references, 
We do have a seller feed back section here, I have glanced at it and put one or two people on it, I always use REAL names.

I think it would be well worth making it a rule that at least one person ( buyer or seller , better if both ) must use a REAL NAME and/or phone/email/other.
A "reference" form BubbA-Z to marko booneBB does NOT mean a thing toi me.
A reference for say, "James Smith" from another person WITH contact info can indeed be very useful.

Just a thought.

John
 
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"spysir"Regarding references, 
We do have a seller feed back section here, I have glanced at it and put one or two people on it, I always use REAL names.
I think it would be well worth making it a rule that at least one person ( buyer or seller , better if both ) must use a REAL NAME and/or phone/email/other.
A "reference" form BubbA-Z to marko booneBB does NOT mean a thing toi me.
A reference for say, "James Smith" from another person WITH contact info can indeed be very useful.
Just a thought.
John
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John, I will politely disagree with you on real names, because they are ambiguous and cannot be tied back to concrete user of the forum. If you leave feedback that John Smith is fantastic seller, new user with different profile can take credit by pretending that they are John Smith and this is where many buyers fall victim to, they fail to validate identity of claimant of this positive feedback.

If you leave feedback for user name of this forum, then there is no question which user it is meant for.
 
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I think perhaps a combination of the two above suggestions might work well. eg:
Title (containing the 3 pertinent pieces of info, name, +/-, buyer/seler): Spysir A+ seller
Body: I had a great transaction with John... (etc.)
This ties the AGN name to the persons real name which helps with any possible phone calls or emails. 
I think putting the AGN name in the title makes it a little easier and more consistent for a member thats searching for feedback about another member. 
For WTB ads with phone or emails posted publicly... I would highly recommend requesting a post or PM on/through AGN. That way you know it's not someone from the outside that's just searching for info to steal or a scam to pull. Also, request a picture with a local newspaper or some other proof of date.
If you find that someone contacts you with what you are looking for, but has only just joined the forum, and their one post is a response to your WTB ad... Your warning bells should be going off. In this situation, you can contact a moderator and have us look for anything suspicious. 
We want to do what we can to protect our members as much as possible.
Mod2
 
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One thing that I have to say is that LEAVE FEEDBACK !!! And I'm not just talking about negative feed back, unfortunately many folks only take time to post when they don't like something if you buy something from a member help your fellow members out by posting feedback, 

I personally think the accuracy score should be used both good and bad, or add a way to add a Trusted score this allows a score that others members can see.

Keep in mind things do happen, I actually had a gun get broken when shipped to a fellow member, it took some work and extra money out of my pocket to get things right but I did it yet no feedback kind of irks me.

If a user isn't willing to use PayPal I don't want to deal with them., 
There are some FFL gunsmiths that can act as a middleman that is another option
 
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