Have I Been Scammed

[andrews1958]

I
-posted that I was looking for a 22 Benchrest Rifle
-did not give my email or telephone number in the post
-got a private response from a member who had one that I liked
The seller sent me his contact number which I called. We also exchanged numerous emails
We had.number of good conversations on the phone about the gun
I asked for special pictures which I received
- one picture of the gun with the sticker date on it
- one picture with his driver’s license and picture on it
- one picture of the seller
- I checked his physical address on Mapquest to see if it was legit
The seller asked if I could send the money by USPS which I did
My post office issued me three separate checks for $2100 as they only issued up to $1;000 increments
I sent them registered mail to the seller address which he said his daughter signed for.
First day after receiving the check The seller went to the post office and was only able to cash one as he said their system was down
Second day he got the 2nd checked cashed but not the 3rd
The 3rd day he was able to cash all of them
The seller contacted me and asked if I could help with postage. He was elderly and asked if I could send $100 to his daughter’s PayPal account to pay for the shipping.
The 4th day he promised to send it out but did not because of personal reasons
The 5th day he promised again. Said he had heart problems and was not able to send it
The 6th day he said he sent it out . He sent me a copy of the receipt which showed my FFL dealer’s address and $76.00 shipping cost. Since then I have asked for a tracking number but he is not answering my texts, phone calls or emails.
I wrote to his daughter who I had sent the PayPal money to. She said she did not know the seller
Right now I am in hopes that he did send it but not sure
The seller is a man in his 80s so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Please don’t rag on me if I have done something wrong as I feel bad enough all ready.
I have done 100s of sales and purchases on 6BR, 24 Hour Campfire, Rimfire Central and Long Range Hunting for years with no issues. I have always gone by the same steps again with new issues
Do you think it is a scam? What should I have done differently?



Sent from my iPad

 

[Ccrider]

@Forum Boss

 

[slm9s]

Doesn't sound good. Fingers crossed for ya.

 

[snert]

Maybe he sent you a wrong paypal on the 100 dollar request? Or did he confirm he got that? If he did, well...

 

[DShortt]

What was the trader history? I'd be leery of a $2100 first time purchase.
Tried calling since?

 

[hogpatrol]

"First day after receiving the check The seller went to the postoffice and was only able to cash one as he said their system was down
Second day he got the 2nd checked cashed but not the 3rd
The 3rd day he was able to cash all of them"

80 years old and doesn't have a bank account to deposit them?
I have yet to find a post office that would cash a USPS money order for more than $300. Possible the member/seller's account here was hacked. Hope it turns out ok but with AI, anything is possible, including a fake post office receipt.
Edit: Going to the post office to cash them instead of depositing to a bank where it could be traced is a red flag too.

 

[Presis Skytter]

If you got the phone number, have you looked it up on whitepages? That’s always what I do to confirm if someone is legit. Might even pay the couple bucks to see if the name matches what he says it is.

Hard to say if it’s a scam yet.

 

[kyotekiller25]

Doesn't sound too good for 2 reasons. No tracking # on a $2K purchase, and the "daughter" has no idea who the guy is.

Hope you get it figured out.

 

[Clancy]

What shipping service doesn’t have the tracking number on the receipt?

 

[TAJ45]

I do not know of any further cautionary procedures you could have done.
As l approach the 4x20s, with a Grandmother who had Alz. and Mom who died of dementia, l can see where the weak link could be.
Hope it gets straightened out for you.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Hoping you get a positive outcome!