Best transaction method

[codybrown]

This is a great opportunity to remind everyone they should be diligent about keeping their accounts secure.

Securing your account on LongRangeHunting

It’s never fun to think that your account here on the site may be compromised. However as our community grows in popularity, scammers continue to focus on our home. We work diligently to add new security techniques on the backend, but we need your help as well! Here are a few things you can do...

www.longrangehunting.com

I recommend the following.

• Never reuse a password.
• Use a password manager.
• Ensure your email is up to date.
• Use Two-Step authentication on the site (preferably with the password manager in case you change emails or phones)

I would be wary of using a USPS order for transactions, as there is no tracking method.

While the above are good recommendations for security, there is a way to track money orders. You can mail them a multitude of ways with tracking and requiring signature for delivery. You can also request a copy of the cashed money order. Committing fraud via US mail can result in a felony and 20 years in prison. USPS has their own investigative branch. It's far from perfect, but it does offer more protection than some other options.

At the end of the day, you need to do your own due diligence. Unfortunately there will always be those out there that have moral ineptitude and are constantly trying to take advantage of people.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

Great thread. It's been a long time since I've bought or sold anything on a forum. Tagging in with possible questions later.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

Video call with the person holding the 'for sale'item and take a screen shot of them and the item. Still no guarantee they'll ship it, but lessens the risk.

This seems like a solid plan. If the other party can't/won't video chat do you walk every time?

 

[wyosteve]

Yes, I walk if they won't do a video call. Not worth it to me to take the risk of losing money.

 

[flyguy1]

I guess if you've been here a while you just figure you can trust people who have been here and have good history. I usually just send a check and let them ship when it clears. Haven't been burned yet. Heck, one guy, back in the ammo crunch, when he found out the ammo was for AD Army sent an extra 2 boxes.

No PP for the reasons mentioned.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I'd be very careful about sending funds to anyone here who is NOT a long-time poster with good feedback. I've done a moderate amount of buying/selling here and have had many good experiences.

Just my two cents.

 

[171farm]

To me its all about their history. If they have been here for a long time and have positive history I dont even think twice and send via PP or Venmo. To me money order doesnt give you any advantage really, you have to go to the post office, send it and then you still wait and hope they send it. Maybe the only advantage is they now are hovering into the world of mail fraud? You also might have a legit address now too.

If the person doesnt have history here, I look at other forms to see if they have history and if they do I feel a little less worried by it but it could be someone else using the same username so there is still some caution.

So far, I havent made a deal with and individual over $700 that wasnt also a dealer/company. Not sure what the breaking point is where I just wouldnt do a deal but if I get gamed out of a $0-200 or 300, it hurts my pride but wouldnt alter my life. I think I trust people too much. Assuming most transactions are small amounts, who is really going to try to fight things in court. And if they do its mostly going to be out of principal than anything, most people do not have the time or money to throw more money at a bad transaction unless they want to just make grief for the other person

 

[FEENIX]

Check feedback and their time on LRH. It's not hard to see what type of person you are dealing with just by reading their posts or replies. Positive Trader Feedback is a must any more.

Except for me, I wouldn't believe anything this guy says

All joking aside from me.

I mail a personal check and I prefer a personal check, established members get immediate shipping. These electronic payment methods are great if you know exactly who you are dealing with. I don't use PayPal, but I do use Venmo. No cash app, no Zelle and I don't even like tapping my card at the pay kiosk anywhere.

These theives are getting sophisticated, this is happening everywhere, but the degenerates (term of endearment) on SH are great at sniffing out glowies and scammers. They are nothing short of ruthless when they find someone who is less than honest or trying to rip someone off. That place has a metric ton of information and some of the best members when you are looking for information about self defense, self defense weapons, CQB weapons, methods, proper procedures, training and as I call it head on a swivel (situational awareness) daily routines. It's also full of belly splitting hijinks when they out a scammer or glowie.

New Scam Appearing, Buyers Be Very Careful

A new scam has emerged in the PX. The scammers are copying the member names with a very slight variation of who are selling items in the PX. When someone posts, "I'll take it," or tries to interact with the ads, they use the fake account to complete the sale before the actual member can...

www.snipershide.com

Just one example given in one post was similar to this

Seller: Oregun

Scammer: 0regun

If you were looking at an post from the first and made a post inquiring about the item or post "I'll take it", the scammer sees this and creates a near clone account and contacts you wanting to make you a deal or gives you payment methods, you pay and the only deal is, you lost your funds. It's actually more intricate than that, but that is the cliff notes version.

There is also a list of online scamming websites that is into the 1000s of websites that are ripping people off daily.

I went looking for scam gun websites on purpose - I found 635 of them

I had heard some people saying that there were lots of scam websites with firearm brand names in the urls scamming people. I looked at some of the examples that were mentioned on other forums and started to see some patterns. I decided to use my e-Commerce, Domain and Internet skills to see if...

www.snipershide.com

It's hard to be 100% diligent all day every day, because we still have immoral members here who have no problem cheating a fellow member. We have to police our own, in Bill's case, the member was outed and I put them on ignore, no chance of them sucking me into a crappy deal vortex.

If you cheat me or an established member and it's proven you did, I will have no problem pointing my finger at you and calling you out. We have too many members here who have taken one in the keester because they trusted a member with a certain amount of time on board and a certain number of posts. For me, those days are over. We also have too many soft hearted members who chalk it up to lesson learned, that needs to stop as well.

The second issue is, we all have multiple memberships at just about every forum on the internet. If you do, you see the same item for sale at each of these places. I have whittled down my frequented forums by two this week alone and probably by 15-20 in the last year. One is ran and modded by a bunch of douchebags, no loss for me. The second one is filled with a ton of useful information, but you have to wade thru the quagmire that is the same post just phrased differently or instead of XX caliber, it's now about YY caliber. I don't post there, but I sure do wear out the search function, mainly on Google with search parameters strictly for that forum.

It's easy to see a trend or follow a trend set by an established member, their posts have a certain tone, their vernacular is steady and their post often have sage advice or truly offer to help resolve the OPs issue or quandary. Limit yourself to a couple of quality forums and it cuts the research time in half when a member posts an item or offers an item up for sale, because you are already keenly aware of how they phrase their interactions with the fellow forum members.

It's time for every forum to band together and take the fight to these scumbags and prevent them from taking a single cent of anyone's hard earned money on any forum.

I pay to support each of the forums I am a member of, whether it's monthly or yearly, because it's cheap access to information and in the case of SH, information and entertainment. Support your forums, yes they generate revenue from ads and manufacturers, but it still deserves your support for the access to issues and solutions you can use.

This! It takes both parties to have a successful transaction. I, too, only use personal checks. I do not have many transactions, but I have pretty good dealings with all of them, i.e., @Deputy819, and I became close friends due partly to USPS. The key for me is honest communication and mutual trust.

 

[Darryle]

I will tell you a story about getting even with scammers and how easy it is.

Armslist, Texas Gun Trader and other similar unvetted online classifieds are rampant with scams and scammers, but they are also full of good hard wiring honest people. I had a coworker get scammed on Armslist simply because he was too trusting. He was the seller and was mailed a stolen/washed corporate check in excess of his actual asking price. It was a very legitimate looking check. He deposited the check and shipped the item. After the item arrived he was ghosted and then his bank notified him he was SOL on the funds + a service charge.

So, I created an email account, bought a reloaded Visa gift card and created an account on Armslist. I purposefully stole pictures of firearms off the internet, way overpriced them and set the trap. I would get the occasional email asking if I was nuts overpricing something that could be readily bought every day, sometimes for half the price I was asking. It didn't take long, I'd get a nibble and then set the hook, I was slow to respond to emails or PMs until I got a second victim. Once I had two, I would respond like a five year old asking for candy. Once I had contact and shipping information for both, I would give the other "buyer" the second scammers information. I would string them along with having trouble getting to the bank or the post office, yada yada. They would mail each other the respective checks and then the fun would begin. I would tell them that was the left over after I cashed their check. Honestly, they probably never got caught, but it did waste their time and money, because in each case they would buy a priority mail envelope to send the funds. I did this 2 - 3 times a month for close to a year, it was cheap entertainment for me and it wasted their time and hopefully kept them from scamming a hard working individual in the meantime.

These scammers use very simple language and their vernacular is common, Kindly, Regards, etc, it's easy to spot.

We really need a subforum that has access to established members for outing these scammers and allow us to turn the tables on them.

When you find one, have fun with them. Get their information and tell them you are mailing a postal money order or personal check and then go online and use their name and address to sign up for every adult catalog or junk you can find online. Make it fun before outing them in the open forums. Takes just a few minutes.

 

[Deputy819]

i.e., @Deputy819, and I became close friends due partly to USPS. The key for me is honest communication and mutual trust.

Right on, @FEENIX ! The proverbial "lemonade" was made from USPS lemons on that one. Communication, trust (and a little humor) goes A LONG way in establishing SOLID relationships here…and everywhere else, for that matter.
Personally, I prefer electronic forms of payment…..only because I feel it makes the transactions go quicker. I LOVE being able to ship on the same day payment is made. However, I also gladly accept personal checks, cashiers checks, etc from ESTABLISHED (and esteemed) members. I've found that the increased wait time for this particular method provides more opportunities for increased communications between members…and that's a good thing.

 

[Darryle]

ESTABLISHED (and esteemed) members

Well dang, I hope @Deputy819 doesn't post up anything I might want to purchase, he's got an anti @Darryle clause

 

[Deputy819]

@Darryle Nah, you're right in there, brother! I'm familiar enough with you, your contributions and history here to feel 100% secure….no matter the method.