Fraudulent Websites

[oldpilot]

I am seeing a number of websites pretending to be legitimate online stores. I wonder if we might have some way thru the forums to identify problem websites. I have been looking for Norma 217 powder and ran across three websites claiming to have it in stock. I thought just maybe my wishes were going to come true. When I started checking them out I started finding red flag issues. First they want to be paid thru Zelle Quick Pay, Bitcoin, Fascash, or PayPal Friends and Family, no credit cards. Two of the three I noticed had no phone number or contact other than email. Two of them had a small print not on the bottom hosted by Woo Commerce who also has no method of contact except thru same pay scheme. Two had telephone numbers that identified them to Idaho, and Colorado. When I tried to confirm phone numbers and addresses, they didn't match up. One had an address, but the residents didn't have any idea about the company using their address. The address in Florida was a vacant field. I called Boise Idaho and asked if there was a business license issued in the name of the Website/Company; there was none. So, is there a way to spread the info about these type sites that is legal....something where we could urge member not to patronize them???

 

[RockyMtnMT]

No ability to take a CC or meet in person for payment means not real.

 

[Old Rooster]

I run every site I go to through this :https://www.scam-detector.com/article/list-of-scamming-websites/
If it passes the test I shop there if not I post here that it's a spam web site.

 

[WapitiBob]

No ability to take a CC or meet in person for payment means not real.

yep, takes 10 seconds to spot the frauds

 

[3darcher2]

There are different levels of bad. A year ago guys would just blindly send money to any website any way in order to hope to get some ammo or components. As people have gotten smarter, so have the scammers, almost all of which are located in Cameroon or Nigeria. It's the same on FB pages, etc. They are getting a little more sophisticated. Some of them out of the gate had done things like copy Midway's terms of service and post them on their own site without even changing the name from Midway. Oldpilot hit the nail on the head with the addresses too. It's a warehouse or a field, never a storefront.

Many of the scammer sites look the same and have the same popups. Somehow, they all have every possible caliber and component in stock by the cases that Midway, Powder Valley, etc., can't get in stock at all and of course, don't take credit cards. I've seen some that look like scams that take PayPal, but most of these will likely go to a PP address that can't be traced and by the time you try to get a refund for ammo from PayPal (which will never happen), the money will be long gone.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[oldpilot]

Thank you Old Rooster, I have happened upon some other sites claiming to spot bad sites, but I think some of them are written by the scammers themselves. Two phone numbers I have called answered "wei" which is the common Chinese phone answer. When I say hello they immediately say "call you back quik ok?" Thanks for that website. I think we need to get congress to pass a law requiring any US Business to post a verifiable business License number in their website headers.

 

[Old Rooster]

I'm with you on that buddy!
They are so busy fighting among themselves that we get lost in the mix.

 

[Muddyboots]

Simple: Don't let your desperation over rule your common sense or "gut".

 

[Rick Richard]

First part of the litmus test is to see if contact information such as email, phone number and physical address is listed. If not? Don't go any further.