Ok. So I have a few posts in the “WTB:” section.  About a week ago, a guy texts me saying he’s got a foxpro x24 (exactly what I was looking for).  We talk through text for a while. I ask my normal EE questions.  Why you’re selling, when you bought it, any damage?”  He shows me pictures of a plaque, hanging on the wall. With about 40 fire fighter awards and patches.  Claims these are his credentials.  Said his daughter was sick.  Only accepted Google pay or Zelle. I don’t have those. And told him I didn’t feel comfortable jumping through the hoops that google out wants (ss card scanned, drivers license scanned). I told him I didn’t want to send my info to china just yet.  This should have been my first sign, he didn’t laugh or acknowledge that’s statement.  He texts me, says his son set up a PayPal. I sent over the money.

Couple days later, I get a text replying to another one of my “WTB” ads.  I immediately felt sick to my stomach because I now know, the e caller is probably a scammer.  So I go along with it. This mother ******** says “my credentials: and shares the same picture of the same fire fighter badges.  So I called him out, he says “oh seems you must be texting me on my other line”

The other item was a 22lr conversion kit. The one he had for sale, It came with extra parts from borebuddy. I actually already bought a conversion kit, and some products from bore buddy to improve my kit. This individual was very knowledgeable on the extra parts from bore buddy and never put off a scammer vibe.

Where I missed up: sent the $400 for the caller per PAYPAL FRIEND AND FAMILY.

He has lowered the price of the kit to $150.

(TLDR)

My question for the legal section gurus.  If I send the $150 over through PayPal goods and services, pay the fees, and then have a slight chance in hell of catching these dudes!!!  

Or am I just out $400.  And don’t even mess with the $150?

Thanks.

PayPal is anti anything gun so you’re screwed. Chalk it up to a lesson learn and stop posting WTB adds.

Your money is gone, and is likely in the pocket of some guy in Cameroon.   There’s a slight chance you can get his PayPal shut down if you report, and an additional minuscule chance you’ll get the money back if you sent in the last 24 hours, but you’ll risk losing your account as well.  Don’t send any more money.

In the future, don’t use your phone number on a public forum and advertise that you want to spend money.  Send it after an established user sends you an IM where you can verify feedback or at least tenure as a member here.

How long ago was the first deal? How do you know you even got scammed yet? Has enough time passed that you know for sure you won't be receiving the item? Any follow up conversation after the first order?

Was this guy a user here? What's his ee score?

ETA: if you're sure enough this is a scam being perpetrated on users here, at least post up the picture of his "credentials."

Any monies sent via Friends and Family is gone and there is zero chance of getting it back.

Your screwed. Youy first clue should have been when he sent you firefighter bullshit as proof he was honest.

Report his username please.

New to the internet huh ?
Phone conversations, pics with items and something dated.
No automatic free money.
WTB ads are magnets for scammers.

Name?

Make a thread in the feedback section so others will be aware as well.

I understand that.

But, if I can get him to make another deal. And I pay using the goods and services. Will I have a chance at shutting his account down?  Or is that not how goods and services works?

If you think that a scammer will give up his scamming just because a paypal account was locked, you may be the type of person that gets scammed in the first place.

stop throwing good money after bad.

cut your losses.

i had a soldier that got caught in the same trap and by the time i found out about it, he had sent double the amount he initially lost because he kept thinking there might be an "in".

But there isn't. It's gone. Walk away and count it as an expensive lesson.

You must not be able to read. It’s ok.

Thanks for the advice. And answering my question. The point of my post.

Sounds like a good plan!

Are you going to tell us this guys username?

Never has to provide Google pay my ID or SS card ..

Lol. My bad I just never used goods and services so I didn’t know how it worked.

I’m just pissed that I fucked up.  Trying to save $50-100 and lost $400.

There is none.  OP put his cell # in the ad which is visible to scammers.

Never pay F&F, Zelle, Venmo, Google Pay, or any other method that does not provide buyer protection.

Never send money to a seller if you've posted a WTB ad unless you are contacted using the web site's IM system.

Now, if you truly want to mess with the dude and you don't care if you lock up your own PP account, send him $1 with trigger words in the description (e.g. 9mm pistol ammunition) so that PP auto-clobbers both accounts.  Just de-link your own bank account first.

This is actually a good idea. PayPal will permaban him asap. BTDT, they even permabanned my wife when they discovered we live in the same household. All bc I sold some ammo on gunbroker and some dimwit put the auction number in the comments for his paypal.

If you do it quickly he will lose the money in his account as well; sometimes they confiscate the money in the account when they shut them down for violations.

I would setup a burner PayPal for this.

You also need to report the theft to paypal even though you did F&F. There is a chance PayPal could distribute any confiscated funds to those that were scammed. Be on that list before you do the dirty deed to shut him down. It's a very, very slim chance but it's about the only chance of getting any money back.

I reported him.

Tempting to make a burner PayPal and fuxk with him.

I screwed up plain and simple. But the strangest thing was how much he knew about foxpros warranty. The other ad was the conversion kit and he knew a lot about it. Maybe a crook that is just good at googling Shit I guess…..:pisses me off. Lol.

Look at the bright side, you didn't agree to meet up in a Walmart parking lot at 2 AM.
Seriously, red flags galore there -
Picture of awards a credentials
Sick (fill in the blank) so needs money
Payment using non refundable methods
Price low enough to encourage excitement but not low enough to scream SCAM

Look at as the equivalent of you backing into something and doing $400 worth of damage, mistake made and lesson learned.

Alittle late, but it would depend on your funding source from paypal.

If you used a card to fund the transaction, you can still do a chargeback.

If you used a bank account, you could have emptied the bank account or went to your bank and told them not to approve the transaction.

Paypal would then open a case over it and they would remove the funds from their account.