doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com can you believe it!

I had an Ithaca 4E listed on gunbroker the past two weeks, the night before the bidding closed i was looking at guns on the internet and saw my exact gun and description on auction arms, there was no question that they were my pics and the gun that I own. I was outraged - I contacted Auction Arms Via email and phone but got no response. People began bidding on the scam so i took it upon myself to click "buy it now" to end it then tried to contact the con without success. in the meantime i'm getting emails letting me know that someone else had posted the same gun on another site- thanks to them. My gun did not meet it's reserve and i'm sure that some of the interested folks saw this listed on Auction Arms as well and were reluctant. Is there anything i can do to find this gun and press charges of some type?

thanks for listening,

Scott

Scott,

Sorry but the truth is there is nothing you can do. The person most likely lives in a county where fleecing folks out of money is a cottage industry. This was (is) a common practice of trying to sell stuff using other peoples pictures and description.

Before most started using a proxy server I could trace their emails and none of them liven in the country they claimed. ANY seller that ask for a wire transfer such as Western Union RUN. They use a name and addresses of real people that you can check and no matter who or were you sent the money there is NOT where it ends up.

When I had more time I would spend it trying to trace these people, I don't have the time now and there are so many of them.
Seems like every day there is a new scam, best you can do is educate yourself a be carefull.

If you buying on the net ask for more and different pictures and ask for phone number, then call and ask questions.

Most of these people are not very firearm knowledgeable so they copy the description word for word. Copy a sentence or two and Google the whole thing, it will take you right to the original ad.

http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/internetschemes.htm

Did you post it here? If not why not?

thank you, i will be posting it on this site, i'm leaving for vacation for a week this friday and will be posting after i get back.

If you did a "Buy it now" and the guy won't correspond with you for payment, how does he make money on this scam? I would assume he would want you to send payment in order for him to keep his head above water. Maybe I missed something in your post.

I've caught two people doing this with guns that belonged to others. In both cases, Auction Arms closed the guy down post haste.

Ask if you can have a friend that lives nearby wherever they live to look at the gun for you and possibly deliver payment directly. Even if you have no such friend, the seller will start backpedalling.

Brent

Limited market, slim results. Auction site just the opposite.

I do not suggest to list here exclusively but in addition to other outlets. In sales one should exploit the largest audience one can get. More exposure equals more demand equals higher price. This board is a target audience that should not be overlooked. Personally, I don't seriously shop on the auction sites as there are too many crooks misrepresenting junk. I buy from someone I know, a reputable dealer, or from someone whereupon I can personsally inspect the firearm.

Those are valid points.