Anyone had any dealings with Michael Tyson on Armslist?

[Rick the Librarian]

(No, not THAT Mike Tyson!!!)

There is a guy on Armslist who has a M1911 and three other firearms. He has the email address of kfjhhdh@yahoo.com . He lives in Dover PA.

Anyone had dealings with him, now and in the past? Email or PM me if you have.

Details to follow later./

RtL

[cplnorton]

No but Armlist right now is getting really bad for scammers. I've had two friends this month alone that have been scammed. They keep on taking pics from gunbroker and listing them for sale.

With an email address of kfjhhdh@yahoo.com, it sounds like he is a scammer.

[1563621]

The only time I deal on armslist is a FTF! [armed]

[usmc69]

I take it you were burnt..........

[1563621]

I was burned on gunbroker for 1650. GB refunded their max. which is 400.00 Had to jump thru hoops for one year to collect that.

[stan4]

Does sending funds with USPS money orders through the USPS mail help?

Does sending funds with USPS money orders through the USPS mail help?

Anyone have experience with fraud protection with the USPS? MAIL FRAUD?

They tell me they will make a full refund while they investigate (or at the end of the investigation?)! Is this true???

Best Regards,

[Scott Gahimer]

No, that's not true when you willingly send USPS money orders to someone. That becomes a civil matter. Been there, done that. I ended up convincing my local Prosecutor to pursue it. But I don't think there are many Prosecutors who will take that stand for you.

[1563621]

USPS , you are on your own!

[Rick the Librarian]

Yes, I was "burned". Before I go on, I should say that dealing FTF and locally is probably the safest way to go, but in looking at my firearms collection, I would say that 2/3 to 3/4, if not more, of my firearms were purchased online.

I offered to buy a M1911 online through Armslist. The seller had me send funds and I did use a USPS money order (it was $600 shipped). The money arrived and then I started getting excuses as to why he couldn't ship the pistol over several days. He did keep in email contact. After a week, a good internet friend (whom I had been keeping up to date about this) sent the guy an email (this was done as a "test") asking to buy the pistol. To nobodys' surprise the guy said to send the money and he would send the pistol. This was a week after he had received money from me! Obviously trolling for another victim.

The one mistake the "seller" made was giving his name and address. In addition to filing a USPS fraud report (I've gotten various opinions on how effective that is), I contacted the local police department where the seller lived. Got ahold of a very helpful officer who paid the "perp" a visit. He wasn't there, but his sister was. She said the guy bounced around a bit and, to her knowledge, did not possess a firearm. The policeman said he had six outstanding warrants but didn't say for what. He also told me that, while he would be more than glad to bring the guy in, I would have to testify locally, which would mean going back to Pennsylvania (I live in WA State), which would hardly make sense.

I do have another Internet friend who is a state policeman back east, and he's checking with some contacts in the area for me. At this point, I doubt I'll see my $600 and also doubt the pistol even existed.

As a friend said, every time you send off money to a person selling through the Internet, you take a chance. From what I have been told, Armslist seems to be the worst sales/auction site of the bunch and I'll be avoiding them in the future.

[usmc69]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. You are right it would not make sense dollarwise to prosecute the dirtball. However, it may give immense satisfaction to be there to see him get some jail time for fraud. That is interstate fraud, isn't that a federal offense?

[ignats]

I would think it is mail fraud, but I do recall years ago a seller in the NC who was advertizing P38 pistols in American Rifleman I paid with a USPS money order and long story short, I filed with USPS. I also called American Rifleman and told them what happened. They cancelled his ad. I think he was eventually arrested. I don't know what happened after that. I was able to get a bunch of C96 Mauser parts from him as a consolation so it wasn't a total loss. You would think an ad in American Rifleman would be safe. All this happened before the internet really took over. I do recall buying and some selling via the Automag back then. Most of the time all you had was the seller's description of the gun and if you were interested and the seller knew of your reputation, you shipped the pistol and if he liked it, he paid you. If he didn't, he'd send it back on his dime and enclose some money to cover the shipping you paid to get it to him. Can you believe it? I'm sure people got stuck, but thankfully I never did.

[stan4]

So far, So good!

I (generally) stopped bidding/buying on line (or from other advertisements)---and paying up front---many years ago. If they do not want to ship to me (at their expense) after I send my FFL---I do not need to examine their FA. I need to examine what I am buying before I pay. (I always cordially invite a prospective seller to hand deliver their FA if they would like.) Yes, there have been exceptions, but I generally know the FA and the seller. There are a few problems with this approach, but, So far, So good!

Best Regards,

[Scott Gahimer]

...After a week, a good internet friend (whom I had been keeping up to date about this) sent the guy an email (this was done as a "test") asking to buy the pistol. To nobodys' surprise the guy said to send the money and he would send the pistol. This was a week after he had received money from me! Obviously trolling for another victim....

Hindsight is always 20/20. You should have done the "test" before sending the money.

[Rick the Librarian]

Hindsight is always 20/20. You should have done the "test" before sending the money.

Very true - I thought I was above rookie mistakes, but I guess I wasn't.

[Scott Gahimer]

Rookie mistake, or not, look on the bright side. The pistol wasn't $6000 and you didn't get your ear bitten off.

I think most of these scam artists target folks looking for a bargain, so their prices are low. They're never going to deliver the goods, so low price is their way to attract a lot of "buyers". You'll make more money faster with 10 guys sending you $600 than hoping to get 2-3 guys for $2000. When most people start to spend any real amount of money, they start weighing the odds a lot more closely.

Old lesson; a new day. If it sounds too good to be true, chances are, it's not true.