I had heard some people saying that there were lots of scam websites with firearm brand names in the urls scamming people. I looked at some of the examples that were mentioned on other forums and started to see some patterns.
I decided to use my e-Commerce, Domain and Internet skills to see if I could find more, identify them, help others avoid getting taken and maybe getting these jokers pushed off the internet and maybe convince them to get a real job.
I was expecting to find about 50 to 100 of them.
Long Story Short: I found 635 scam sites that I am 99% certain are scams and online now or recently!
Here is the first page of the list not linked and not in plaintext.
I suggest not giving them free links and even placing their url in plain text might alert them to this post.
Here are some patterns I see in them you should avoid any website or person that:
Payment Patterns They don’t want:
Credit Card - Not always true. I think some sites take it then email you saying it failed for an alternate. There are also now offshore credit card processors that resist chargebacks!
In Person Local Pickup (Using COVID as excuse of course)
Mailing a Check/Money Order to the Location they say they are
They want to be Paid Only by:
Zelle - this is supposed to be for friends and has NO Refunds. Not supposed to pay for firearms or parts
Apple Pay - Not sure about refunds here. Not supposed to Pay for Firearms or Parts
Paypal Friends and Family - No Refunds and can get your account banned buying firearms or Parts
Crypto of any Form - No Refund
Venmo - No Refund and Not supposed to be used for firearms or ammo
Prepaid Debit Cards - No Refund
Bank Transfer to a strange name or country - Hard to get Refund
Gift Cards of Any Kind - No Refund
The site Has:
New Domain Registration Check whois start date Free Whois Check Any Website
Anonymous domain registration
Spelling or Grammar Mistakes
Not Complete or shows “Lorem Ipsum” copy.
Hosted in a country that is not where they are located supposedly.
Strange Domain Name Server
Probably Wordpress with Nice Theme
Does not link their real social media accounts.
Does not have many (or any) blog posts
The blog posts and pics are a little too good. Stolen from real sites
Does not have much in the footer
Not that companies main website that is probably decades old at this point.
They are not a authorized dealer listed on the main manufacturer site.
The address might be a real business, it might be fake or it might be just missing.
The phone number may be missing, in another state or even in the correct state.
Bad Reviews on BBB, Reseller Ratings, Google Reviews, or gun forums.
The Prices:
Are a little too good to be true Create Urgency
But might now be realistic - Updated 4/1/2022
Are lower than current market pricing.
You get discounts if you use Crypto. How can they do that?
Their Inventory:
Everything seems to be in stock
You can put 1, 100 or even 1000 of the same thing in your cart
Even rare models that you never see at shops and are only in high-end collections.
Their Shipping:
Often they do not ask about shipping to a FFL
They seem to ship ANYTHING to Cali, Mass, Chicago, and New York
Might offer free or really cheap shipping for rifles and heavy items.
Seems to not have anything to do with size or weight but is a standard cost like $20.
You might think other people are like you and honest. They are not. If you see even some of the above is true DO NOT buy from them. DO NOT let them give you an excuse for anything. They have answers for everything. They are all lies. If you want to mess with them, offer them lower offers, ask for their email contacts for Google Pay, Paypal etc and report them. Mess with them on chat etc. Report them as a scam to their webhosting company. Have fun. A lot of them have chat on their sites and they will answer all hours of the day or night. What real company answers chat at 3am US time?
Here are some important links that I used to create this list:
If scammed most Gratifying is Taking Their Site Down
If you have been scammed or just want something taken down the best way to do that is to report them to their abuse department of the webhost. Usually abuse@webhostingcompany.com
Most forums have advertisers that are trusted or even participate in the forum. Frequent them.
You can also go to your local gun store and hold or even try things before you buy. Pay Cash or Credit Card if you want. Things are coming back in stock, do not be desperate and get scammed.
While researching this story I found fake scams sites listing pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, primers, antiques, airsoft stuff and accessories. With real FFL and manufacturer names in the url. There really is no limit and they know how to research models and that there is limited supply in USA over past 2 years. They can use Wordpress.org code and standardized themes and plugins to have a working site done in a short amount of time. They are using standardized tools to make sites quickly and can just copy a database and move it to a new domain, host or folder on a server as needed. If one site gets bad reviews they move on.
Some of these sites are the names of real companies or FFL holders who are being impersonated. If you know of any sites impersonating real people or using their FFL # on websites please let me know and I will put them at the top of my list to get them taken down.
I have removed about 15 sites doing so while researching this story in the past 2 months. They are in the list still as are some other sites that have been taken down by others.
Just because they are not listed here does not mean they are safe. Also I did not list real companies that just ship slow or don’t have real-time inventory on their site.
Caveat Emptor!
Here are the last 4 pages of scammers alphabetized:
