The cybercriminal approach to separating gun enthusiasts from their hard-earned money changed in early December, targeting what is—on average—more modest-sized purchases of ammunition online. The shift to smaller profit margins saw several fake websites established, each featuring graphics stolen from the URLs of major manufacturers. They resembled legitimate ecommerce outlets of some of the industry’s finest, illegally using logos and packaging we’ve come to trust.
Facebook advertisements were placed to attract victims, each proclaiming a warehouse sale was underway with tidy savings. Most scams and illegitimate websites are readily recognized by typo riddled text and broken English. These, however, looked moderately legitimate. In most cases prices were decent, but not disturbingly low.
Federal Premium was the first to warn its fans. “We have been made aware of a scam where a number of sponsored ads here on Facebook are driving folks to a fake website that looks just like ours,” it posted on the social media outlet on Dec. 3. “Please note this is not legitimate. Our only official website is federalpremium.com. We are actively working to get the website taken down. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
On Dec. 21, Hornady also warned its Facebook followers. “There are numerous fraudulent websites claiming to be Hornady by offering ammunition, bullets, brass, etc. on their website,” it wrote in the post. “We do not sell those products direct to consumer and the only legitimate Hornady websites are www.hornady.com and store.hornady.com.”
“Example of a NON Hornady website: hornady-us.shop. THIS IS A SCAM. Please be mindful this holiday season and do not fall victim to these criminals.”
“We have reported all of the websites that we are aware of.”
On Dec. 30 the company reissued the warning, adding, “We will be releasing a statement soon that you can send to your bank or payment processor if you have fallen victim to any of these scams.”
The Sierra Bullets website also has a warning on its legitimate website that, “There is a scam website called ‘sierrabullets.shop’ that is impersonating us. Please stay clear of that website. Thank you.” A Facebook ad also claimed it was holding a warehouse sale.
There is no shortage of gun and related-gear scams on the Internet. The incidents are a painful reminder readers should ensure they are purchasing from the legitimate company when shopping online. The FBI has posted a variety of tips on its website to help consumers avoid these and other scams.
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