MakeMineA10mm
03-07-2012, 01:56 PM
Just an FYI.
I recently bid on an item at GB and lost the auction by a few dollars. About two days later I get an e-mail from someone who purports to be the seller of the item. He tells me the winning bidder backed out, and he wants to know if I'm still interested. He asks for a reply with an offer of what I'll pay. I sent it.
A day later, I get another e-mail, but this time from a different e-mail address. He says he'll accept my offer, and he wants to invoice me through GunBroker, therefore, he needs my real name, home address, and postal code.
Now, my spidey-sense is tingling. Different e-mail address (different name as well) and postal code... I go back to the (now-closed) auction and verify that it's being sold from a gunshop in Alabama. My wife's from Alabama, and she's never said the words "postal code" together to describe a zip code in her life! Of course, since I wasn't the winning bidder, I can't send an e-mail to the seller to try and verify through their end if this is legit.
So, I check their other auctions and find one that is open. I send them a message to ask them a question about that gun, and explain why I had to circumvent the system GB set up, and why. Asked if they had a Mr Harison or robert johnson. The seller is johnny-on-the-spot and e-mails me right back and explains they've never heard of those names, most certainly do not have employees by those names, that the original winning bidder did not back out and they've sold the pistol to the winning bidder successfully...
So, I've lodged a complaint with GB and hope they can try to track down what registered users these e-mails belong to, but there's very little else I expect will come of this. BUT, I wanted to let all of you know out there -- Never trust unsolicited e-mails, trust your spidey sense, and always find a way to check back with the original poster/seller before sending any personal information or money, most of all if you are not the winning bidder and get an unsolicited e-mail like this. The original e-mail had plenty of wording that sounded fishy, but also plenty of wording that sounded legit. Don't let your enthusiasm for getting a gun you want over-ride your common sense.
Any suggestions on how to get at these characters who are probably over-seas? (I don't think they ever expected me to send them a check -- they wanted my personal info in order to do an identity theft on me, I'm sure. First thing I might try is telling them I don't want to go through GunBroker to avoid paying the fees, and see if there's a street address I can send them the check to directly...)
I recently bid on an item at GB and lost the auction by a few dollars. About two days later I get an e-mail from someone who purports to be the seller of the item. He tells me the winning bidder backed out, and he wants to know if I'm still interested. He asks for a reply with an offer of what I'll pay. I sent it.
A day later, I get another e-mail, but this time from a different e-mail address. He says he'll accept my offer, and he wants to invoice me through GunBroker, therefore, he needs my real name, home address, and postal code.
Now, my spidey-sense is tingling. Different e-mail address (different name as well) and postal code... I go back to the (now-closed) auction and verify that it's being sold from a gunshop in Alabama. My wife's from Alabama, and she's never said the words "postal code" together to describe a zip code in her life! Of course, since I wasn't the winning bidder, I can't send an e-mail to the seller to try and verify through their end if this is legit.
So, I check their other auctions and find one that is open. I send them a message to ask them a question about that gun, and explain why I had to circumvent the system GB set up, and why. Asked if they had a Mr Harison or robert johnson. The seller is johnny-on-the-spot and e-mails me right back and explains they've never heard of those names, most certainly do not have employees by those names, that the original winning bidder did not back out and they've sold the pistol to the winning bidder successfully...
So, I've lodged a complaint with GB and hope they can try to track down what registered users these e-mails belong to, but there's very little else I expect will come of this. BUT, I wanted to let all of you know out there -- Never trust unsolicited e-mails, trust your spidey sense, and always find a way to check back with the original poster/seller before sending any personal information or money, most of all if you are not the winning bidder and get an unsolicited e-mail like this. The original e-mail had plenty of wording that sounded fishy, but also plenty of wording that sounded legit. Don't let your enthusiasm for getting a gun you want over-ride your common sense.
Any suggestions on how to get at these characters who are probably over-seas? (I don't think they ever expected me to send them a check -- they wanted my personal info in order to do an identity theft on me, I'm sure. First thing I might try is telling them I don't want to go through GunBroker to avoid paying the fees, and see if there's a street address I can send them the check to directly...)