Uncle Zeek Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 (edited) So I saw a transferable on gunbroker that looked like a bargain. Placed a bid, and lo and behold, I had the winning bid (just shy of $20k for a Colt AR-15 model 614). Listing says that it's on a form 3 in California. That got my attention, but I'm aware that there are still transferables held legally out there from years ago. Seller got in touch with me within an hour of the auction ending wanting to know when I'm going to send her the money. Turns out that she's not an FFL, but says her partner is the one with the license. I asked to see a copy of the form 3, the dealer's FFL (both suitably redacted as needed), and clear photos of the lower receiver markings so that I could verify that all three match up. Then I would have my local FFL send his license to her FFL, I would send payment, etc. So far, crickets. I suppose that my questions really are: a) are my information requests reasonable for such a purchase? and b) how long would you give such a seller before contacting gunbroker to cancel such a sale? Days? A week? longer? Edited March 2 by Uncle Zeek added detail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Reisenwitz Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 Was this a vendor with some history on Gunbroker? If no significant sales history, some other form of personal references would be appropriate. Otherwise what you asked for is certainly reasonable. If you wanted other "proof", you could always send a FOIA request to the BATFE on that serial number to see who really owns it, or if it even registered. That takes a lot of time though. I'd give the vendor a week to send the info electronically and if no action on their part is taken, contact Gunbroker to report this as a problem vendor. When I sell, I file e-forms and I don't even accept payment until the e-form is approved, but I don't ship until I receive full payment. The buyer can check e-form transfer approval on their e-form site independently so there's virtually no way to defraud on either side. Some owners don't know how to use the e-file system, aren't SOT holders, etc. Working deals with those vendor/owners is just riskier without bonafides of some sort. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Zeek Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 No significant history for seller, and doesn't have an 'FFL' logo on the site. We'll see. Maybe I scored a deal, maybe I ran into a ripoff artist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Side Arm Sams Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 What you asked for is reasonable and most dealers wouldn’t squawk at that request. I would give them a week to comply. Notify both the seller and GB that you’re canceling the sale, since they can’t provide the necessary documents to move forward. And move on and don’t sweat it. Good on you for doing you due diligence. Smells like a scam and there is plenty of that going around. Run away. My 2 cents. YMMV. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill in Bama Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 Yes, you didn't ask for anything out of the ordinary, perfectly appropriate to see those things. It really sounds like a scam to me simply due to the price, but who knows? Anyway, as has been stated, give it a week or so and them let GB know. I'm betting you never hear from her again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshNC Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 (edited) Can you please share a link to the completed auction? How is she asking to be paid? In addition to clear photos, ask for her name and the current date on a piece of paper in the photos. I agree with other posters, this sounds scammy. Proceed with caution. Edited March 2 by JoshNC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
United Surplus Arms Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 29 minutes ago, JoshNC said: Can you please share a link to the completed auction? How is she asking to be paid? In addition to clear photos, ask for her name and the current date on a piece of paper in the photos. I agree with other posters, this sounds scammy. Proceed with caution. This can EASILY be faked by photoshop. I posted an example of this on Sturm a year or so ago. The best way (IMO) is to do a video chat and see the gun "live" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Zeek Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 2 hours ago, JoshNC said: Can you please share a link to the completed auction? How is she asking to be paid? In addition to clear photos, ask for her name and the current date on a piece of paper in the photos. I agree with other posters, this sounds scammy. Proceed with caution. Here's the link: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1038219184 She's asking to be paid via personal check, certified check, or money order. The more I look at the listing, the more red flags that I see, but honestly wasn't expecting to have the winning bid in the first place when I bid lol We'll see. Worst that happens is that I cancel the order. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riflejunky Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 How much would it cost to fly out and look at the rifle in person and deliver the payment? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greasegunner Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 (edited) 1. Only send the money to the name of the person on the license and also the address on the license is where the money is sent to i would want closeup of serial number and match it to the form seller has one feedback-BIG RED FLAG- also joined in last 30 days i would want face time where you can see the gun and the serial also i would want driv license copy of seller and the "partner" Ask for a picture that they would not have unless they had the gun 1. driver license next to the serial number how about a picture looking into the magwell and have a dollar bill rolled up sticking out It better be on a form 3 since individuals cannot have NFA in CA Good luck Edited March 2 by Greasegunner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUNBUGS Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 Yep. She's only got one feedback ever on GB, and a fairly recent one at that. 10 not very good photos of a 20k+ machine gun. Poorly worded description,(ESL). I'm thinking "scammer". Keep your money in your bank account. The phrase "too good to be true" comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Zeek Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 2 hours ago, riflejunky said: How much would it cost to fly out and look at the rifle in person and deliver the payment? Hadn't even considered that. Round trip airfare to SoCal would only be about $400. Worth considering if she responds with the info I asked for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 There is a reason no one bid higher. It's a scam. No good deals on machine guns are found on GB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshNC Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 I agree with others. Seems like a scam. I’d want to speak by FaceTime. Be sure ti hide your face so your likeness can’t be used later for nefarious purposes. And I’d speak with the alleged SOT. Then offer to fly out with funds to inspect and deliver funds in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAKilo Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 2 hours ago, Uncle Zeek said: Hadn't even considered that. Round trip airfare to SoCal would only be about $400. Worth considering if she responds with the info I asked for. No, this is a scam listing. 1 feedback, misspellings in the listings and no flow. If the scammer even bothers to respond to you, they will likely not know the first thing about NFA. Report the scam and move on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWells Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 Seller with no feedback selling a 30k gun for 22k screams scammer to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylorwso Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 scam from the start, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Zeek Posted March 3 Author Report Share Posted March 3 15 hours ago, GAKilo said: No, this is a scam listing. 1 feedback, misspellings in the listings and no flow. If the scammer even bothers to respond to you, they will likely not know the first thing about NFA. Report the scam and move on. Yup, y'all are right on this. Got a text yesterday from her saying "my teammates will keep you posted next week". Will report to GB. Ah well, felt nice for a minute to think that I scored a great deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greasegunner Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 Ask her if it has the latest "colt self cleaning system" which is BS When she says yes, you know she is a SCAMMER Run Far away and run fast !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryo Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 Love the misspellings/punctuations and how they described that this was set up for a hog hunt. I definitely would have never bid on this. As for Greasegunner's suggestion about mailing the money to the address of the license.. I would up it one and do a EZ Check to see if the addresses matches what is on record. Nowadays it is easy to modify a photo with other information. Also asking for a non existent thing is a decent idea since they should be able to say I have no idea what your talking about, but they might just go with the I'll ask the FFL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
har1690 Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 "Ask her if it has the latest "colt self cleaning system" That's a great one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill in Bama Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 It's now marked "sold." I hope you aren't "Zake 1970" but This is so bad..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGT Fish Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 It's like they purposefully mispelled works in each sentence. As if they copied another listing and changed/deleted letters to avoid it being detected as a copy. I wonder if you could find a completed auction with the same description, but proper spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy H Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 same weapon and upper …… https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1024211231 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Zeek Posted March 4 Author Report Share Posted March 4 2 hours ago, Bill in Bama said: It's now marked "sold." I hope you aren't "Zake 1970" but This is so bad..... No harm done for me - haven't sent any money. Over the years I've had scammers try to get more out of me on rare coin & bullion deals on Ebay, so it's amusing more than anything else. Also appreciate Buddy H pulling that duplicate listing for comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 You would think for a $20k scam those Nigerians would get a spell check app or hire someone to write it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bwana Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 "1" completed sale. California Form 3 Deal too good to be true. You did the right thing by reaching out with a question here. There are WAY too many red flags that should've had you mashing the brakes. Too many scammers looking for easy money. This one has 10-day old dead fish smell of a classic scam all over it. Another thing you can try is capturing a picture off the ad and run it through Google image search. Many times it will pull up previous postings using the same image(s). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greasegunner Posted March 5 Report Share Posted March 5 Zeek Leave bad feedback !! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryo Posted March 5 Report Share Posted March 5 21 hours ago, Dean said: You would think for a $20k scam those Nigerians would get a spell check app or hire someone to write it. Shhh.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don. Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Send a fake payment…I would. Use their local PD for the return address. Maybe report it once you have an address. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Zeek Posted March 11 Author Report Share Posted March 11 On 3/5/2024 at 11:11 AM, Greasegunner said: Zeek Leave bad feedback !! Postscript. Left bad feedback, filed complaint. Seller account no longer active. The listing that Buddy provided is also gone interestingly enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_san Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 On 3/2/2024 at 1:09 PM, Uncle Zeek said: Here's the link: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1038219184 She's asking to be paid via personal check, certified check, or money order. The more I look at the listing, the more red flags that I see, but honestly wasn't expecting to have the winning bid in the first place when I bid lol We'll see. Worst that happens is that I cancel the order. Just an FYI but a Google search of the text in the ad description shows this gun sold on GB on Dec 10, 2023. The listing you posted is a scam, don't pay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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