Legitimizing an ad ...............

There are various ways to scam people and there are various ways to determine the legitimacy of an ad. I saw an ad that I thought was too good to be true. The person allegedly had done a lot of business on AGN. "Have bought and sold many rifles/scopes on this forum. You can buy with confidence." That is a quote from his ad. He joined June 8 2022 so that is your first warning flag and he has done a lot in that time. ??????????? So I decided to Paypal some money to the email address provided in his ad. Any legit scammer has a Paypal account, right? And so he did. I sent 25 cents to that account. I expected some sort of reply such as "what is this?" "what do you want" etc you know, something. I got nothing at all. You know that Paypal told him that he had money. I am just going to conclude that it is a scam for my benefit. It may not be but I am not going to risk it.
 
Not everyone lives with their nose glued to a phone or tablet waiting for an email. Jobs, life, responsibilities and the like take precedence.

Try a PM conversation, followed by a chat on the phone to allay any concerns.

Assuming that it is the Chas that has been around various forums for quite some time, his rep is pretty solid.
 
200 regular emails I get each day.
:eek:
I get ( including spam ) 2 mails a day ( tops ) ( this on the hot / live mail address i created around the turn of the century )
In regard to Text's on the phone + actual calls i get / make 2 - 10 a week, which is very nice and just like i want it.
It have taken a few decades to "groom" the 10 people that have my number to respect me in this way.

1: you can call night or day if you need actual help, but at night my phone are turned off, if you need help i will be out the door and in my car in minutes.
2: when you call please deliver punchline fast, do not add irrelevant stuff that can wait to we meet again ( usually in a few days )
I do like to chit chat and can do that for hours on end, just not on the damn phone.

If you need a shoulder to cry on, well invite me urgent then, and i will be there for you, please,,, pretty please do not do that on the phone, if you have my number it pretty much mean i will go thru hell and high water for you, and a 30 - 40 min drive + the extreme cost of gasoline in Denmark i do not even consider relevant to helping a friend or relative, and my small family i have way more relatives than friend. ( no i did not leave out a s in the end of friend, it is sadly not a plural thing for me )
 
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Yes, as some have indicated, opps eh? Most serious know competitive airgun shooters would indeed ignore some likely scammer depositing .25 cents on a "deaL'. I would. From a sellers point of view you might seems one of those odd scammers that just enjoys wasting people's time. When on the phone did you ask ................... . Google any name and add "airgun" like this https://www.google.com/search?q=Cha...IBBzAuMi4xLjaYAQCgAQHIAQLAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz The nice thing about buying from airgun folks who competitor folks is they know many many airguners.

John
 
A phone call usually helps a whole lot to weed out the scammers, you can see if they have knowledge of what their item is and the sport. Then you can also ask for a picture with a unique message on a piece of paper, but those can be photoshopped. It helps to have them crumble up the paper then straighten it up a bit to help against this. Most scammers are not professional photoshop artist so the crumple lines are hard to replicate
 
A phone call usually helps a whole lot to weed out the scammers, you can see if they have knowledge of what their item is and the sport. Then you can also ask for a picture with a unique message on a piece of paper, but those can be photoshopped. It helps to have them crumble up the paper then straighten it up a bit to help against this. Most scammers are not professional photoshop artist so the crumple lines are hard to replicate
This is the method that I have used in the past to tamper any nerves that I have had.
 
Still kind of new to this forum but I am curious about the scammer issue. I do not recall seeing any classified post locked due to being a scam nor one that has been labeled a scam or any notification that someone is a scammer.
The amount of angst on this site over scammers is incredible.
Do the moderators just quietly remove the posts? Does the forum do a poor job of weeding out the scammers or is the actual incidence of scamming here pale in comparison to the attention given the issue? I think the rule about having to qualify to use the classifieds is a great way to prevent scamming.
Does anyone have a number of scammers who attempted to operate here in the last year?
Or is there just a lot of hyper cautious people here?
Not trying to be snarky or critical. Just seems a lot of attention is given to this and I want to know the environment I am in.
 
A phone call usually helps a whole lot to weed out the scammers, you can see if they have knowledge of what their item is and the sport. Then you can also ask for a picture with a unique message on a piece of paper, but those can be photoshopped. It helps to have them crumble up the paper then straighten it up a bit to help against this. Most scammers are not professional photoshop artist so the crumple lines are hard to replicate
I must disagree since phone scammers are a big problem theses days. Just saying a phone call alone won't prove much. Now confirming his/her home address or something along that would be better but, there's always a risk dealing with new/less known sellers. Some scammers are lazy while others do their homework.
 
I must disagree since phone scammers are a big problem theses days. Just saying a phone call alone won't prove much. Now confirming his/her home address or something along that would be better but, there's always a risk dealing with new/less known sellers. Some scammers are lazy while others do their homework.
Yeah that was kind of a given. I didn't imply just call and hang up without saying anything...

Actually talk to the person and ask questions then use your judgment
 
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Several years ago I bought a Steyr off the yellow.
I was nervous about getting scammed.
The seller gave me his address and I googled the address and it came up on one of the real estate sites.
In checking the real estate site there was pictures of inside the house and there was a room with the exact style of flooring and a unique base board that was in the background of the gun picture he sent. So at least I knew the address wasn't a scam.
Between talking on the phone with the seller and the picture verification my uneasiness was set aside and the purchase was made.
It all worked out good.
 
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