I have a rifle listed for sale here on OSA and on Armslist - one of the two times I have tried to use Armslist - and received the following e-mail contact a couple of days ago:
- Buyer wrote that he was interested in the rifle, my price looked good and he wanted to proceed. He said that he would pay via certified check and after I had received payment he would make arrangements for "pick up" of the rifle. He asked me to immediately delete the Armslist ad as a sign to him that we had a firm deal and he also mentioned that he is from NY State. He also "signed" with a peculiar remark that "Am First Name Last Name" (He put in names which I am omitting)
- I replied that I would prefer a USPS money order, unless the certified check was from a bank with a Lawton branch, that I would need a copy of his FFL. I also mentioned that this rifle met NY State's definition of a so-called assault weapon and would need to be modified for him to possess it in NY legally.
- He replied the FFL was attached - and sure enough there was an FFL attached but I hadn't noticed it on the phone and only saw it when I used a real computer. This e-mail was signed with just a single name (one of the two used previously).
- The FFL listed a dealer whose names were the same as buyer's signature but in reverse order (as if first and last were transposed). I looked up the ATF listing to confirm the dealer's FFL status and then called the gun shop to talk with the dealer who I assumed was ordering my gun. After speaking with the dealer for a minute it became clear that he had no idea what I was talking about, had not responded to any Armslist ad and no one had contacted him about receiving a shipment or modifying a gun to NY legal. He said it was not necessarily suspicious that someone sent me his FFL without talking to him first, as it could be an old customer, and that the gun would still have to go to him. He could not explain why anyone would use his names to identify themselves - especially in reverse order.
- I sent another e-mail to the buyer (whose e-mail account name did not match the "signed" name) and told him that in order to proceed I would need clear contact info for him - name, address and phone number, that the only shipping arrangements acceptable would be direct shipping to the FFL listed address, and that even when sent to the FFL it would either have to be modified before it could be released or he would have to show NYS LEO or Corrections Dept credentials. Over 24 hours now and no response to that last e-mail so I have nullified any agreement we may have had. I also plan to send a record of the affair to a NYS ATF branch office.
Am I too suspicious? It appears this "buyer" was trying to pass himself off as the actual FFL holder and was, IMO, probably planning to arrange for a pick-up locally or a pre-arranged shipping label that would have been to someplace other than the listed FFL address. In any event, I thought the whole affair was peculiar from the get go - really the first time I have ever had one of those "bad feelings" about proceeding with a deal.
I am looking to have you folks critique my approach - was I too much of a hard-ass; was there a better way to start the whole thing off; is it worthy of being reported to ATF, etc?
- Buyer wrote that he was interested in the rifle, my price looked good and he wanted to proceed. He said that he would pay via certified check and after I had received payment he would make arrangements for "pick up" of the rifle. He asked me to immediately delete the Armslist ad as a sign to him that we had a firm deal and he also mentioned that he is from NY State. He also "signed" with a peculiar remark that "Am First Name Last Name" (He put in names which I am omitting)
- I replied that I would prefer a USPS money order, unless the certified check was from a bank with a Lawton branch, that I would need a copy of his FFL. I also mentioned that this rifle met NY State's definition of a so-called assault weapon and would need to be modified for him to possess it in NY legally.
- He replied the FFL was attached - and sure enough there was an FFL attached but I hadn't noticed it on the phone and only saw it when I used a real computer. This e-mail was signed with just a single name (one of the two used previously).
- The FFL listed a dealer whose names were the same as buyer's signature but in reverse order (as if first and last were transposed). I looked up the ATF listing to confirm the dealer's FFL status and then called the gun shop to talk with the dealer who I assumed was ordering my gun. After speaking with the dealer for a minute it became clear that he had no idea what I was talking about, had not responded to any Armslist ad and no one had contacted him about receiving a shipment or modifying a gun to NY legal. He said it was not necessarily suspicious that someone sent me his FFL without talking to him first, as it could be an old customer, and that the gun would still have to go to him. He could not explain why anyone would use his names to identify themselves - especially in reverse order.
- I sent another e-mail to the buyer (whose e-mail account name did not match the "signed" name) and told him that in order to proceed I would need clear contact info for him - name, address and phone number, that the only shipping arrangements acceptable would be direct shipping to the FFL listed address, and that even when sent to the FFL it would either have to be modified before it could be released or he would have to show NYS LEO or Corrections Dept credentials. Over 24 hours now and no response to that last e-mail so I have nullified any agreement we may have had. I also plan to send a record of the affair to a NYS ATF branch office.
Am I too suspicious? It appears this "buyer" was trying to pass himself off as the actual FFL holder and was, IMO, probably planning to arrange for a pick-up locally or a pre-arranged shipping label that would have been to someplace other than the listed FFL address. In any event, I thought the whole affair was peculiar from the get go - really the first time I have ever had one of those "bad feelings" about proceeding with a deal.
I am looking to have you folks critique my approach - was I too much of a hard-ass; was there a better way to start the whole thing off; is it worthy of being reported to ATF, etc?
