Anyone think this is odd?

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  • doddg

    Grandmaster
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    135   0   1
    May 15, 2017
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    Indianapolis
    1. Anyone think this is odd?
    2. A gun I sold l4 days ago marked, "SOLD" (my Ruger LC9) on Armslist had the following response :

    Hello,


    I would like to proceed with the instant purchase immediately, Am ok
    with the condition and the price, I just got deployed from your area
    thats the reason i wont be able to meet to see it but i can contact my
    FFL holder and can you give me the contact info of you as the person i
    am about to purchase the firearm from? I can email msg a copy of my
    FFL for verification if you want. So let me know if you are ready to
    proceed in receiving the payment right away, it will be in form of a
    certified cashier check which will be mailed to you via USPS 2-3
    working days delivery, So you ll have to ship to my FFL once the check
    is cleared. So please kindly get back to me with your details as
    requested below.


    Name to be on check
    Full address to receive the check
    Mobile number
    Final asking price of the fire arm.

    3. I just responded that is had sold 4 days ago as stated in the ad.
     

    223 Gunner

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    199   0   0
    Jan 7, 2009
    4,410
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    Red Sector A
    Yes it is a scam. Deactivate your ad. In the editing portion you can deactivate your ad, once deactivated it will state that you will no longer be able to contact the seller.
     

    DRob

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    20   0   0
    Aug 2, 2008
    5,869
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    Southside of Indy
    Scam? Absolutely! Odd? Not at all. This is a scam that has been around for some time. It goes along with advertising stuff online. Had a similar response, although by phone, when I was selling a truck a couple of years ago. Guy calling from California (according to caller ID) wanted to have "his agent" deliver a cashier's check and pick up the truck. I told him to have his agent bring cash and he immediately hung up.
     

    Hopper

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    31   0   0
    Nov 6, 2013
    2,291
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    Hamilton County
    Anyone think this is odd?
    A gun I sold l4 days ago marked, "SOLD" (my Ruger LC9) on Armslist had the following response...
    Yep, this sure looks like the classic Nigerian Scammer. As others have already said, kill that ad, mate. Deactivate the listing in your personal settings, don't just mark it "Sold". Otherwise, IIRC, the ad will linger for 90 days.

    All that somewhat broken English is comical, like the scammer was using a translation tool that didn't quite get it right. I think you can also report this person's email address directly to Armslist... I recall doing that once with a very similar situation you just had.
     

    doddg

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    135   0   1
    May 15, 2017
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    I thought I had read somewhere about this.
    Anyone asking for details info about you would raise a red flag.
    My policy: bring cash, meet me and it will be over in minutes. :dunno:
    I had put "SOLD" on it instead of deactivating it: I'll go change that now.
     

    doddg

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    135   0   1
    May 15, 2017
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    I had something like this on a car I wanted to buy once: very strange.
    After the car was delivered, if everything was OK, then I paid.

    Right.
    I simply wrote back saying I only buy local cars and not out-of-state cars.
    It was a Honda del sol, from the 90s (I have owned 2 of them).
     

    pute62

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    23   0   0
    Jan 29, 2009
    2,178
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    Lawrence
    I'm still waiting on the 3 million my long lost Nigerian uncle left me to be deposited into my bank account. I sent all my info over 3 weeks ago and ain't heard nothin yet.
     

    Hkindiana

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    8   0   0
    Sep 19, 2010
    3,175
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    Southern Hills
    I had this happen with a car I was selling. The "agent" drove down from Michigan with a cashiers check. I called the bank to verify the check & they said it was good to go. So, I signed over the title & helped him load up the car. Surprisingly, it was NOT a scam.
     

    derrickgoins

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    34   0   0
    Oct 23, 2009
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    Westfield
    I'm still waiting on the 3 million my long lost Nigerian uncle left me to be deposited into my bank account. I sent all my info over 3 weeks ago and ain't heard nothin yet.

    Right there with ya. I get about 10-20 of those spam emails a week. They usually get caught by the spam folder but every now and then one slips through.
     

    russc2542

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    24   0   0
    Oct 24, 2015
    2,111
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    Columbus
    Yep, in this day and age it's just part of the price of being on the internet. Broken grammer, overly patronizing (please kindly, many thanks, etc), vague references (deployed from "your area", no mention of the item being purchased), asking for your full info without giving any, not following the legal process (give you FFL info up front to verify), asking for info given in the ad and referenced earlier ("am ok with price and condition" then asks the price at the end), method of payment, etc.

    I don't even respond to those, all that does is verify someone reads that email address.

    I had this happen with a car I was selling. The "agent" drove down from Michigan with a cashiers check. I called the bank to verify the check & they said it was good to go. So, I signed over the title & helped him load up the car. Surprisingly, it was NOT a scam.

    Sometimes it's legit, the above are all yellow flags but too many yellow flags turn into a red flag.



    And to anyone that thinks substituting words for numbers in a phone number will hide it, (I used to do it too) it wouldn't take an hour to write something to pick them out and I'm a pretty amateur programmer of only MS VBA.
     
    Last edited:

    JettaKnight

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    6   0   0
    Oct 13, 2010
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    Fort Wayne
    Yep, in this day and age it's just part of the price of being on the internet. Broken grammer,
    ...
    And spelling. :):
    And to anyone that thinks substituting words for numbers in a phone number will hide it, (I used to do it too) it wouldn't take an hour to write something to pick them out and I'm a pretty amateur programmer of only MS VBA.
    "Hookerizing" your phone number is a tired and useless thing to do in adds.
     
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