U.S.A. — The old saying “buyer beware” has now been extended to the Internet age. There has been an epidemic of scams proliferating the World Wide Web, and the firearms community is not immune from criminals trying to separate people from their hard-earned dollars.
These scammers target their victims with incredible deals that are hard to pass up. When it comes to the firearms community, these deals are usually for ammunition. You might see deals that proclaim to save the buyer over 50%. These deals litter the pages of social media sites like Instagram with messages like “DM for orders.”
These scammers have also launched websites with names similar to legitimate ones, including AmmoLand News. We recently received reports of a website named Ammolandusa.com selling ammunition at massive discounts. Once a user places an order, they will receive an email asking the buyer to send money through Cash App, PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle.
If a purchaser sends money, the seller will disappear. The buyer will be out of their money and will never receive their purchase. PayPal has buyer protection, but most scammers insist that the money be sent via the “friends and family” option. The “friends and family” option removes all protections for the end user.
There are several signs to recognize a scam. If a deal looks “too good to be true,” it probably is an attempt to steal your money.
The markup on ammunition and firearms is less than in other industries. If real, the prices on these scam sites would mean the businesses would be selling products at a loss.
Beware of any online retailer that only sells through social media. If a company has no website and only sells through Instagram, it is most likely a scam. Since it violates Instagram’s terms of service to sell ammunition and firearms on their site, no business will put their livelihood in the hands of the social media giants.
Just because a seller has a website does not mean they are legit. Look at the site contact information for a phone number. Be very careful if a retail site doesn’t have a phone number. If a phone number is listed, call it. If the site is a scam, the number will likely not work or go to a voicemail system. Scammers tend to use services like Google Voice to appear legitimate. In the rare instances when a scammer answers the phone, they will most likely have a thick accent. Most fake companies are run out of Nigeria, India, or Eastern Europe.
If the seller does have a website, check out the privacy policy. Many scam sellers do not write a privacy policy and take the shortcut of copying the text from a reputable seller. These scammers know that most buyers will not look at these policies. Most do not take the time to remove the company names they copied from. If you are on a site that lists a legitimate site’s name in its policies, it is most likely a scam.
Ammunition Scam Sites Are Infesting The Internet by AmmoLand Shooting Sports News on Scribd
Finally, look at the payment methods. Never use PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle. These payment methods have policies against selling ammunition and firearms; legit businesses do not use these services. Scammers know it is almost impossible for buyers to recover money from these apps. Also, never give in requests for payment via Bitcoin. Once the Bitcoin leaves your wallet, it is impossible to recover.
There is no way to prevent these criminals from attempting to scam online buyers, but we can bring awareness to the gun community. Only when the scamming stops being profitable will these scammers stop.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
Good work, John.
I have 5 or 6 ammo dealers that I have been using for years. Never had an issue with any of them and see no reason to look elsewhere. Especially, considering the potential risk. For a penny or 2 per round.
There’s even a Remington Arms fake site. Like the writer says, the payment options are a dead give away.
i don’t know. it seems like everyone in the known universe knows that scammers are out there, they are not honest people and they want to steal your money. be diligent, do not respond to any emails, texts, dm’s that you did not initiate, even if they look legit. check the return email message header, go to the legitimate website, not the link provided and follow the info provided by john. that being said, if you fall for one of these scammers you probably shouldn’t be allowed to have access to the internet, should still write letters being sent my… Read more »
Powder scams too, beware.
Thanks John, sage advice. More tools you guys provide to be safe and a when added to the other tools Ammoland provides, this site is extremely valuable.
I’m not on Fakebook, Tweaker or Instagross either. Wastes more time than watching TV!!! The wife is on Fakebook but she doesn’t buy into junk, she’s computer fraud savvy after an employee 10 years ago clicked on a ransomware link and her business computer was rendered useless because she wouldn’t pay. Do you or you Oldvet, have a Safeway or Albertsons or any other store affinity cards? They make it costlier buying stuff in their stores if you don’t. The data those cards collect fetch the most $$$ from the businesses who buy and process the data. They not only… Read more »
Good article. Sad but true.
Well now – let me tell you about another sleazy gun company: Palmetto State Armory (PSA) in South Carolina. In January 2023, PSA falsely claimed it gave me a Mastercard credit card refund. It actually never did. After a few months, my credit card issuing bank, Citibank, contacted PSA a few times on my behalf, to inquire about and secure the refund. PSA continued to pretend that it had already provided the refund, until Citibank fully exposed that PSA was lying. PSA knew it could provide no proof of making the refund, and then both refused to give the refund… Read more »
Another part of this scam is if you post on a gun forum I want this gun, they contact you and say I know a guy who has what you want. They allways use the pay sites John showed in his article. They will send a stock pic from the internet and give you a really good price. This scam took a few people on a muzzleloader site I belong to. Now they make everyone put a paper with the name and date on pictures to show it’s not a fake. Don’t use the sites John listed to send more… Read more »