I recently bought a rifle from a gent that advertised on another web site.
It was expensive (for me)
Naturally after a detailed exchange about the rifle itself,
This is what I did to vet the seller before I sent the $$$
1, He had been a member of the site for MANY Years with many educated posts
2, I required his home address and business name and address
3, I did a Zillow search on the home address and public property search / address with ownership information
4, Tax Lien search
5, Business search, age address BBB etc.
6, Cashiers checks require government ID to cash or deposit.
7, NO PO Box