[ithacaartist]

Well, folks, remember the old adage about what seems too good to be true probably is?

The listing, out of the duplicates, that is the "donor"-- by the actual owner-- from which the two phonies were composed, is the one that lists the pistol for $2700. In a phone call to my FFL dealer to see just what kind of FFL he received by email from the other end, he told me it was phony. He's conscientious enough to look up the numbers on the FFLs he receives, to cross-check the other info on the form. This one had been altered to list an address in Indianapolis--changed from the actual holder's address in Kentucky.

I've reported the cheap listings on the other two sites as scams after corresponding with the actual gun owner. And I also forwarded all correspondence between me and the "seller" to an agent in the Syracuse office of the BATFE, along with a copy of the altered license, and the email between me and the real owner.

The agent did not hold out much hope for finding out how this case works out. Once the complaint is accepted, it will start an investigation--checking URLs for the emails sent, etc. She said it may take a couple months for this to happen, then maybe a couple more YEARS to complete the investigation and go after the scumbags, if they decide to. Not very satisfying, but at least the agent said I'd been very thorough in what I'd submitted.

In the meantime, I'll spend any spare moments baiting these crooks. Right now they're waiting for tracking info for a money order which will never arrive. I'll be having all sorts of "trouble" getting to the bank, then the P.O., then I might "lose the receipt" to scan or "get the numbers on it wrong"!! I'll enjoy the creative challenge and am open suggestions as to what to do to give 'em a really hard time for as looooong as I can.

Thanks for all the pointers and suggestions as to how I can protect my money! I don't know if there's a sticky about the finer points of detecting and avoiding gun scams, but I'll try to compile one from the examples provided by this deal and submit it. The contribution by Skye's research was the last straw in sniffing this out; thanks a million!

David Parker