Scam warnings when Selling or Buying Second Hand Guns and New Guns and Accessories
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They say they have a buyer -
There is a scam in place where people call you up and say that they have a few local
people wanting what you have advertised. For them to sell the item you have advertised
they will ask you for about £80 (this varies from company to company). You will
never hear anything back from them and will have lost your money. They are very
convincing and will often tell you that they will have it sold within a few days.
Some will also offer a full refund when they sell, explaining that they make their
money from the buyer taking out a credit agreement with them.
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Paying by Cheque - In an
older scam, a potential buyer will ask you if you will accept a cheque drawn on
a UK bank. The cheque will be for more than the item you are selling, so they will
ask you to wait until it clears, then transfer the balance into their account. About
3 days after the cheque has cleared, the bank will inform you that it is a fake
cheque and withdraw the money. You will then be out of pocket the amount you transferred
to them and if they arrange to collect the item then you will also have lost that.
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Paying by Moneygram - There
is a scam where the seller places something on the site at a very cheap price, then
asks you to pay by moneygram, they will tell you that they will have the goods sent
to you for a 5 day inspection.
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Paying by Paypal - If you are asked to pay by Paypal, and they ask you to make it a gift, then you are not covered by any Paypal guarantee. You need to check up with Paypal to see what guarantees they have for purchases, don`t just assume you are covered.
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Reduce your risk - There are some things you can do to reduce the risk of being scammed. A few of simple things are.
- Check that you have a landline number for a seller / buyer and that you can get through to them on the number they give.
- Ensure that everything is in writing so that they can`t say you agreed something when you didn`t.
- If you suspect that something may be wrong, then please let us know and we will try and look into it for you.
- If soemthing is too good to be true, then there is a good chance it is too good to be true (Except for the exceptional value of adverts on GunStar!!!, which is genuine, and I am sure that all our advertisers will confirm this).
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View the latest scam warnings from the police http://www.met.police.uk/
