Member malfeasance

[mykeal]

I really hate to bring this up, but I do believe I've been robbed by a Forum member. Back on Jan 21 I posted a WTB for an Old Army, and received a number of replies. I chose one and agreed to send a USPS money order. It was delivered on Jan 27 according to USPS tracking. At the end of the week I hadn't heard anything so I sent an email asking if it had been received; I got a response that it had been delivered but the member had been out of state, "...sorry for the delay." The money order was cashed the following Monday, Feb. On the 5th I sent an email asking for a ship date, got no response. I then sent another on the 8th asking for either a ship date and tracking number or a refund in 3 business days. No response since. Am I asking for too much or have I been robbed by a Forum member? Do I reveal his Forum name to prevent someone else being taken?

 

[Bullthrower338]

Absolutely, please save us from the same fate sir!

 

[ArizonaTea123]

Let me guess.....Muleye is the member. He's a gun site troll using VPN's. Where did you mail the MO to?

 

[protoolman]

Before you reveal the name my question would be does he have 9 posts or 1500. Has he been a forum member for 15 years or 2 weeks? We've had new scammers but when a long time member ghosts someone in the past it often turns out his wife died etc. and things get resolved. Contacting a mod for advice could also work.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

I'd reveal the forum member.....he didn't reach out to you openly did he? He's not in your WTB thread is he.....

 

[OMCHamlin]

I truly hate when a member's clearly getting ripped off by another forum member, but when asked, won't give them up. Always a litany of reasons why not, but they refuse to actually WARN other forum members of danger. I've seen that many times, always infuriating. Want all kinds of advice and sympathy, won't give a useful warning that could help. OP, not at all saying that's you, I'm SURE you'll do the right thing with courage and conviction.

 

[ArizonaTea123]

We need to know so we can find this scammer.

 

[eveled]

Let us know. If it gets resolved you can always update the thread.

 

[Dan in MI]

Before you reveal the name my question would be does he have 9 posts or 1500. Has he been a forum member for 15 years or 2 weeks? We've had new scammers but when a long time member ghosts someone in the past it often turns out his wife died etc. and things get resolved. Contacting a mod for advice could also work.

This^ on line purchase due diligence.

 

[contender]

First off,, maybe the Mods can offer assistance.

But if you can't get satisfaction via their assistance,, then I would contact the USPS postmaster General about mail fraud. And file a report with the BATFE.

And if that doesn't get a response,, then by all means,, share the member's name & info for all to see.

 

[thinckley]

I really hate to bring this up, but I do believe I've been robbed by a Forum member. Back on Jan 21 I posted a WTB for an Old Army, and received a number of replies. I chose one and agreed to send a USPS money order. It was delivered on Jan 27 according to USPS tracking.

At a bare minimum send the information to a Mod. I was almost scammed on this site myself, but I have also successfully completed purchases on this site. @contender has the right idea also.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

I'm willing to bet the forum member is no longer a member.......

 

[arfmel]

I’ve been the victim of a scammer here as well, a couple of years ago.

I believe there also are instances where an account has been hacked and used to commit fraud such as what happened to you. So maybe it wasn’t a “member”. At least I hope it wasn’t.

 

[thinckley]

Not that it helps now, but any time I am discussing a transaction with someone, I google every last piece of information they send me. Email, phone number, address, name. It has caught up a couple of different potential scammers, if anything pops as strange, then I start asking more questions. I have no issues reporting someone as a potential scammer.

 

[mykeal]

Let me guess.....Muleye is the member. He's a gun site troll using VPN's. Where did you mail the MO to?

Ada, OH. Forum name was not Muleye. Will reveal at the end of this week if no response.

 

[mykeal]

I will contact the Mods. His profile says member since May 2024. No purchases or sales in any of his threads. I'm open to the possibility of illness or family problems, but even in those cases one can send a quick note saying they need more time. If he doesn't refund the money or send the gun he's committed a federal crime (wire fraud across state lines) and I will contact both his local authorities and the federal attorney's office in his district. And I will reveal his Forum name.

 

[mykeal]

PS I am aware of maybe a member got hacked - had their account 'stolen'. I think maybe the mods can help with that. That's really the reason I haven't revealed the name yet.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

This is why crimes often go unresolved.....folks are reluctant to report details timely. This type of crime is hard enough to investigate and bring to resolution even when folks don't drag their feet with details.

 

[s4s4u]

I will contact the Mods. His profile says member since May 2024. No purchases or sales in any of his threads. I'm open to the possibility of illness or family problems, but even in those cases one can send a quick note saying they need more time. If he doesn't refund the money or send the gun he's committed a federal crime (wire fraud across state lines) and I will contact both his local authorities and the federal attorney's office in his district. And I will reveal his Forum name.

Does the perp have a post trail on this board other than WTS/B ads? Has he posted on conversations? Some perps will join boards so they can have a "history", but will not post on threads, until someone posts a WTB ad. Then they make their play and don't care if they ever return.

If someone contacts you via email, without posting on your ad, it is a tell.

If someone only will accept Zelle or similar, it may be a tell.

If you mailed a payment, you have a name and address. That may give you something to work with. Contact the police who have jurisdiction and sometimes you will get action.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Contact the police who have jurisdiction and sometimes you will get action.

Sometimes the jurisdiction isn't known or accurate....there can be many layers fencing in the true identity......but sometimes not which is why folks should act fast and not dilly dally about it.

 

[mykeal]

Does the perp have a post trail on this board other than WTS/B ads? Has he posted on conversations? Some perps will join boards so they can have a "history", but will not post on threads, until someone posts a WTB ad. Then they make their play and don't care if they ever return.

If someone contacts you via email, without posting on your ad, it is a tell.

If someone only will accept Zelle or similar, it may be a tell.

If you mailed a payment, you have a name and address. That may give you something to work with. Contact the police who have jurisdiction and sometimes you will get action.

Yes, thanks, Rod. He has 11 posts, all in May 2024, none regarding a purchase or sale. He did not reply to my ad on the Forum, but contacted me by email and provided his Forum name, and later his name and address. I proposed and he accepted a USPS money order, which was probably my first mistake, although I have proof of where and when it was delivered so that's better than Zelle or PayPal.

 

[Mobuck]

I'm not sure of the current regs but in the past, a purchase paid by USPS money order but unfulfilled can be construed as mail fraud. You can request confirmation of the MO being cashed which is positive proof of fraud in court. There's a fee for this but I don't know how much it currently costs.

 

[hittman]

How did he get your email address?

https://www.rugerforum.com/threads/rules-for-posting-classifieds.306208/

 

[OMCHamlin]

First off,, maybe the Mods can offer assistance.

But if you can't get satisfaction via their assistance,, then I would contact the USPS postmaster General about mail fraud. And file a report with the BATFE.

And if that doesn't get a response,, then by all means,, share the member's name & info for all to see.

Yeah, you should do that, OP, and please do tell us what USPS and BATFE tell you?

How is it we all lament that murders, rapes and robberies go unsolved every day in America (probably not even investigated at all anymore), yet we somehow think they’re rolling a SWAT team, NSA satellite reconnaissance and drone surveillance to solve an infinitesimally small crime of fraud or theft? Be careful up front y’all, in most cases, you’re not only your first line of defense, you’re your ONLY line of defense. Sadly, OP is about to learn this, and I’d wager prove me correct about my comment about folks not wanting to out a thief, even to save other forum members. Watch and see…

 

[Kevin]

I truly hate when a member's clearly getting ripped off by another forum member, but when asked, won't give them up. Always a litany of reasons why not, but they refuse to actually WARN other forum members of danger. I've seen that many times, always infuriating. Want all kinds of advice and sympathy, won't give a useful warning that could help. OP, not at all saying that's you, I'm SURE you'll do the right thing with courage and conviction.

it seems here in this situation the OP is trying to figure out if he’s given the seller enough time. And yeah, with long time members things do happen, but they are still trustworthy.

And here on this forum there are more cases of people stepping up and going above what they say/promise than the opposite.

 

[mykeal]

I'm not sure of the current regs but in the past, a purchase paid by USPS money order but unfulfilled can be construed as mail fraud. You can request confirmation of the MO being cashed which is positive proof of fraud in court. There's a fee for this but I don't know how much it currently costs.

Precisely. With the money order serial number you can get confirmation that the order was cashed on the USPS web site, which I have done. No fee.

 

[RC44Mag]

I think cashing a usps money order fraudulently makes it a fed crime but not sure. Sorry to hear that happened to you and hopefully it'll work out

 

[Dan in MI]

Yes, thanks, Rod. He has 11 posts, all in May 2024, none regarding a purchase or sale. He did not reply to my ad on the Forum, but contacted me by email and provided his Forum name, and later his name and address. I proposed and he accepted a USPS money order, which was probably my first mistake, although I have proof of where and when it was delivered so that's better than Zelle or PayPal.

Sad to say, but this info is pure red flags to me. The minimum number of posts in a short time frame. No other content for almost a year. Contact outside the normal channels based on the ad location.

I would have dug much deeper, or totally bailed (depending on my mood) on this buyer.

 

[mykeal]

How did he get your email address?

https://www.rugerforum.com/threads/rules-for-posting-classifieds.306208/[/U

He requested it via Forum conversa...QUOTE] Yep. I am too much of a trusting soul.

 

[OMCHamlin]

it seems here in this situation the OP is trying to figure out if he's given the seller enough time. And yeah, with long time members things do happen, but they are still trustworthy.

And here on this forum there are more cases of people stepping up and going above what they say/promise than the opposite.

Let's see...