New Member Qdot0284 is a Scammer -- BEWARE!!

[Forum Boss]

New member Qdot0284, who registered two days ago, is sending out solicitations to WTB posting members.

He is using the same message for different products. This is clearly a scam and in direct violation of our rule against soliciting sales in the first 30 days.

Do NOT send ANY money to this person. We are now running background checks and will turn over all information to law enforcement.

To all members, please read this twice and register it:

NEVER EVER do a deal with a new member, ANY new member, who solicits a sale (with new member or his "friend" as the seller), via PM in the first 30 days.

NEVER EVER do a pricey deal without insisting on custom photos, and further verification of the seller's address and actual name.

And I urgently tell all of you, for the Nth time, NEVER EVER do a deal for more than $100 without talking on the telephone by VOICE!!!. I cannot help people who refuse to follow this instruction, which has been provided in a dozen threads.

REQUEST -- If you receive ANY Private Sales Pitch from a new member in first 30 days, report this IMMEDIATELY to Forum Boss using the notice feature.

 

[Dub]

thanks Boss.good reminder

 

[Forum Boss]

We were able to reach a partner of the scammer on the listed telephone number in the PMs:

346-306-3748

The person answering did state a price and they claimed to be in "yoostin teexas". It was clear that this was a foreigner who didn't know much about guns, but he had prices for the fake sales. The phone number was pushed through Google voice.

The point here is ALWAYS, ALWAYS call on the phone and verify the buyer.

And NEVER send money to a new sign-up who is soliciting sales in the first 30 days.

 

[joshb]

Thank you for your tireless diligence!!

 

[troupe]

I can say thanks personally, you save me. I never made contact with anyone and did not try. This Forum Boss is on the ball. Wish they could be caught.

THANKS for doing such a great job,

Tom

 

[ryanjay11]

If only scammers were as easy to spot as lowballers and tire kickers.

 

[Forum Boss]

Actually the scammers are pretty easy to spot, because they break the rules.

They solicit sales by PM in the first 30 days of membership -- Look for the sign-up date. It is on the member's profile.

Also, they typically try to re-direct people to third parties, and don't list their actual name.

We are seeing a pattern where if they do list an phone number it is some kind of bounced number that doesn't connect directly.

No scammer that I can remember actually purchased a Gold or Silver membership. So membership is a good sign, but we have had one Silver hacker and one Gold imposter this year because of hacked passwords. From what we can determine -- the passwords were hacked on a different Forum, but the users were vulnerable because they employed the same passwords on multiple sites.

Your number 1 weapon is your vision -- look at the seller's sign-up date.

You number 2 weapon is your voice -- Demand a phone number and CALL and talk. You can usually instantly discern if the seller is a scammer. Never spend more than $100 without a voice call.

 

[newbieshooter]

No scammer that I can remember actually purchased a Gold or Silver membership. So membership is a good sign, but we have had one Silver hacker and one Gold imposter this year because of hacked passwords. From what we can determine -- the passwords were hacked on a different Forum, but the users were vulnerable because they employed the same passwords on multiple sites.

Your number 1 weapon is your vision -- look at the seller's sign-up date.

You number 2 weapon is your voice -- Demand a phone number and CALL and talk. You can usually instantly discern if the seller is a scammer. Never spend more than $100 without a voice call.

Also helps to have 2-step verification (2 factor authentication) ?

 

[jackbrownii]

Do the two step verification. I’ll fess up to being the gold member with the hacked password. I thought I’d changed all my old re-used ones, but, I hadn’t. I went back and checked a bunch of forums and made sure all the passwords were updated with randomly generated ones and turned on two factor verification with as many as I could.

And don’t re-use passwords. It might have worked back in the younger days of the internet, but it’s just asking for trouble today.

I appreciate Forum Boss’ diligence and care in re-establishing me. I did *not* want to lose this forum.

 

[243Lapua]

Last scammer I dealt with was selling a S&W Model 41, at a price that was totally to cheap. I requested a telephone number to communicate as where it was listed was only a 2 hour drive. So I though, what the heck, let me request a conversation and he complied. I told him, that I wanted to purchase the gun and I would meet him personally at a certain place and location that he could have known for sure, he did say he lived in a so called town that I know by memory and what every store is there. First thing he said was, I don't have gas money, and if I could provide some for him. I was like WTF. And just hung up laughing my ass off. BTW he did have an accent that I recognized immediately as Nigerian.

 

[Fast14riot]

Do the two step verification. I’ll fess up to being the gold member with the hacked password. I thought I’d changed all my old re-used ones, but, I hadn’t. I went back and checked a bunch of forums and made sure all the passwords were updated with randomly generated ones and turned on two factor verification with as many as I could.

And don’t re-use passwords. It might have worked back in the younger days of the internet, but it’s just asking for trouble today.

I appreciate Forum Boss’ diligence and care in re-establishing me. I did *not* want to lose this forum.

I was the silver that was hacked. It really surprised me, I use two-step verification and only had one other forum I used the same password on, but left that site years ago.

Was strange to all of a sudden have PMs showing up for a sale, that I did not have anything listed. Boss was excellent in helping me keep my account and get things sorted.

 

[Retired Grunt]

There is a free Password Program called KeyPass, you can either use your own passwords or generate a different one for each site,

KeePass

Download KeePass for free. A lightweight and easy-to-use password manager. KeePass Password Safe is a free, open source, lightweight, and easy-to-use password manager for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, with ports for Android, iPhone/iPad and other mobile devices. With so many passwords to remember...

sourceforge.net

I use it at work and at home and on my phone.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Get a rope...................

 

[dave@aDave]

There is a free Password Program called KeyPass, you can either use your own passwords or generate a different one for each site,

KeePass

Download KeePass for free. A lightweight and easy-to-use password manager. KeePass Password Safe is a free, open source, lightweight, and easy-to-use password manager for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, with ports for Android, iPhone/iPad and other mobile devices. With so many passwords to remember...

sourceforge.net

I use it at work and at home and on my phone.

Norton Anti-Virus and Firefox also do this

 

[NorCalMikie]

SO, what's wrong with "send me the money FIRST" THEN, I'll send you what I'am selling?? Just asking for a friend. Play them like a Marlen.

 

[joshb]

SO, what's wrong with "send me the money FIRST" THEN, I'll send you what I'am selling?? Just asking for a friend. Play them like a Marlen.

That’s exactly how the scammers work. They offer an item for sale and try to get you to send the money. I don’t buy anything over $200 without a deep dive into a seller’s history and a phone call.

 

[pirate ammo]

SO, what's wrong with "send me the money FIRST" THEN, I'll send you what I'am selling?? Just asking for a friend. Play them like a Marlen.

People kind of do that all the time, I'll ship when the check clears the bank. Happens on HERE all the time.

 

[Forum Boss]

We blocked another attempt like this with new member Hold my beer, who was attempting a redirect to another email. He has been banned and his IPs have been blocked.

Interestingly, the connections were coming from California, but all PMs were from 12:30 - 1:30 am Pacific. This did NOT show as a proxy server, so it appears the attempted fraud was domestic.

Again, this member had ZERO posts, NO sales history, and was violating our rules by sending PMs in the first 30 days.

If you receive ANY solicitation from a new member like this, please notify Forum Boss immediately.

And in general, be WARY of any PM directing you to a third party.

NEVER EVER buy anything over $100 without making a VOICE Call on the telephone, and verifying the person's address and identity.

 

[Brians356]

Another good feature would be "Receive a notification when someone logs in as you".

I appreciate the fact that, on a particular device, I don't have to log into AS very often. In fact a few days ago was the first time in memory I found myself logged out and had to log in here. In the present context, it would be nice if I received an alert when someone logged in as myself.

For example whenever I log into one of the largest investment brokerage houses (a two-step verification process) I immediately receive an email w/ subject "Successful login for your review" with text:

You're receiving this message because of a successful login from a device that isn't yet registered.

Device type: Windows

If you're aware of this login, please disregard this notice. If you don't recognize this activity, please call us at ...

-

 

[Nvcnvc]

Yes…great work
! Thanks for looking out for us!