cliffy Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I've never bought from Barnstormers but I peruse them occasionally, especially the avionics sections. Is it just me or are there many more scam alerts than there used to be? Are there that many scams being perpetrated there? If it has a scam warning why is it still posted on the board? Seems that the big red warnings would be bad for their reputation. Does Barnstormers take any control of the situation? I don't know enough to have an answer. Is it a mine field to find avionics there? Who does the scam warning labels? How do they know who is and who isn't a scammer? How do we know? Lots of questions with few answers - for me anyways. I guess I just don't know enough about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboy0681 Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I found my newest partner through Barnstormers. In all I had about 8 serious inquiries and all of them were legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsxrpilot Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I've bought several items through Barnstormers. It's really just a "classifieds" website so nothing is transacted through Barnstormers. Make contact, get on the phone, do all your due diligence, and make a deal. I've not had any problems buying from people advertising on Barnstormers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 We probably need to describe what a scammer is... Are they... buying stuff... tire kickers? Looking for a free ride? selling stuff... amateurs, selling their own stuff, over promising on the description? pros, repackaging stuff, making used stuff look new? Foreign companies fixing things with unknown parts sources? using various publications... ebay barnstormers anywhere else first Time poster on MS OK, that is just this week around here... Some sources have no ethics... some don’t know any better... neither will make a good experience... If you don’t know what you are buying, or don’t know who you are buying from, your risk level of a bad deal starts to elevate... rapidly. If something is priced too good to be true... it probably is. Expect the resources that cater to the experimentals have a plethora of people selling substandard stuff... the customers there are often capable of fixing things to match their needs.... Our expectations in the certified world are quite a bit higher than everything else... The opposite can also be true... just because the price is high, doesn’t mean the quality will match... Set your expectations low enough, you won’t be disappointed.... Also look at your ability to take the financial hit, If/when the wheels fall off what you bought... can it be repaired at what price? PP thoughts only, I have bought a few things through eBay, more things through MS, not been disappointed either way... all small dollar items in the event of disappointment... CB syndrome... have had it for decades... There are more good people in the world than there are bad... by a large ratio... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffy Posted May 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 My point was directed at all the BIG RED BANNERS saying "BUYER BEWARE-THIS AD WAS POSTED BY A SCAMMER!" Quotation marks intentional. I'm well aware of due diligence. There are lots of them in avionics. Who determines they are scammers? I would think that Barnstormers would not want that on their website as it DOES reflect on their integrity as a selling site. If there is a plethora of scammer ads who's going to want to take a chance on their site? On anything? Even with due diligence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 Going to the Barnstormer’s site... I quickly found that they are in the business of selling ads... Part of their business model is pretty well... uncontrolled... So... they have a whole section related to fraud. https://www.barnstormers.com/fraud/fraud.html Looks like the Ad Business is going to have lots of activity like this. The small dollars earned in advertising doesn’t pay for any investigation... Slap a banner on it, call it done...? Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsxrpilot Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 1 hour ago, cliffy said: My point was directed at all the BIG RED BANNERS saying "BUYER BEWARE-THIS AD WAS POSTED BY A SCAMMER!" Quotation marks intentional. I'm well aware of due diligence. There are lots of them in avionics. Who determines they are scammers? I would think that Barnstormers would not want that on their website as it DOES reflect on their integrity as a selling site. If there is a plethora of scammer ads who's going to want to take a chance on their site? On anything? Even with due diligence. Those are typically posted by other users who have attempted to purchase and either discovered it was a scam or fell for the scam. I've found that in aviation, there seems to be no such thing as a "great deal". For example, a GNS 430 WAAS has a value on the open market, of between $6K and $7K. A good way to verify this value is to see what Chase at AvionicsSource is offering for them. Right now he appears to be offering $5450. So when you see someone selling a 430W in "great condition" for $2K or $3K, you can be sure it's a scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboy0681 Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 Since I received my first message from a Nigerian prince back in 1998, I have always said that these scammers could instantly double their income if they sent their messages using perfect grammar and spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 7 hours ago, cliffy said: I've never bought from Barnstormers but I peruse them occasionally, especially the avionics sections. Is it just me or are there many more scam alerts than there used to be? Are there that many scams being perpetrated there? If it has a scam warning why is it still posted on the board? Seems that the big red warnings would be bad for their reputation. Does Barnstormers take any control of the situation? I don't know enough to have an answer. Is it a mine field to find avionics there? Who does the scam warning labels? How do they know who is and who isn't a scammer? How do we know? Lots of questions with few answers - for me anyways. I guess I just don't know enough about it. I once bought an audio panel from a poster on Barnstormers. He sent me pictures of the unit, a tag etc. the value was similar to others units. The unit arrived in a box which was undamaged, but the unit itself was damaged. The vendor blamed the shipper, but couldn’t explain how the unit I bought had switched from a King model to a Bendix King model. He refused to refund my money. I built my case of his fraud and sent it to Barnstormers, they then labeled all of his ads as a Scammer. He was pissed off at me and offered to come to my home to cause me harm, so far he’s been a no show. Ive also bought other items with no issues. Clarence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 36 minutes ago, flyboy0681 said: Since I received my first message from a Nigerian prince back in 1998, I have always said that these scammers could instantly double their income if they sent their messages using perfect grammar and spelling. I always wondered that, but have heard that sometimes it's actually a pre-screening strategy so that they don't have to waste time on or risk exposure to less gullible people. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigers2007 Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I found this video very interesting. He takes us into a scammer boiler room in India. One of probably tens of thousands. I get these damn calls all day how "I will be arrested by the IRS" or that my "social security number was stolen". I think the video author is a hacker himself that got into their computers (these revenge videos are common on YouTube; I love them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaylw314 Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 4 minutes ago, tigers2007 said: I found this video very interesting. He takes us into a scammer boiler room in India. One of probably tens of thousands. I get these damn calls all day how "I will be arrested by the IRS" or that my "social security number was stolen". I think the video author is a hacker himself that got into their computers (these revenge videos are common on YouTube; I love them). Hah! He's actually one of my favorite scam-baiters on YouTube. A lot of the others are just immature grand-standers, but he seems to have a higher calling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboy0681 Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I once had one of these IRS scammers on the line and played along with him for about 25 minutes. I started out asking him about the actual tax problem, whether there was a problem with the Schedule E or the 1099 matching, obviously he had no idea what I was talking about and he stuck to the script. In the end I really gave it to him which seemed to have struck a nerve. I told him that I was on to his little scheme and that he will suffer bad karma for trying to defraud innocent people. That shut him down instantly. As you may know, to Indian's, karma is everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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