If It Seems Too Good To Be True; It Is Probably a Scam

Possible scam website. I was recently searching for a part for a magazine loader when I came across the Firearms Parts Shop website (https://www.firearmspartshop.com). I strongly suspect this is a scam website designed to capture credit card information for fraudulent purposes.

My entry into the website landed on a professional-looking page for the magazine loader and the price was very good. As I looked around the website, I noticed that all their prices seemed almost too good to be true. Having not been born yesterday, I began to suspect that it was a scam website. I decided to try a purchase using a virtual credit card number. When I tried to complete the purchase, the website checkout page returned an error stating that the daily limit had been reached for that card and to try Paypal or another credit card.

Since I knew the daily limit on the virtual card had not been reached, I became convinced that this website is likely a scam. To confirm that the error was not accurate, I used the virtual card to purchase the magazine loader part from another website and the charge went through with no issues.

The website shows a “Google Trusted Store” logo and on the surface looks to be a legitimate store; however, the customer service page states the following: “Our Staff Always Be There To Help You Out. Do Not Hesitate!” with a contact e-mail of “rahafakshayah6@gmail.com." The site lists contact hours but no contact phone number or address. As I explored the website further, I noticed that most if not all the merchandise photos of items offered for sale were taken from other websites—Midwest Gun Works in particular.

I suspect that if I had used my normal credit card number, I would now be dealing with fraudulent charges and getting the card replaced. Since I used a virtual card, I avoided this hassle.

So, what is a virtual card? A virtual credit card is a temporary digital version of a physical credit card. A virtual card is linked to your actual credit card; however, it masks your card’s sensitive information thereby protecting your actual credit card from compromise. This allows you to shop online with a separately generated card number, expiration date, and security code essentially allowing you to pay for every online transaction with a new credit card each time you complete an online transaction.

Not all banks offer virtual card and some who do make them rather tedious to use. As of this writing, American Express does provide virtual card numbers; however, you must use the Google Chrome browser, an Android mobile device, or Android apps for the transaction. From what I can tell, Chase does not offer virtual cards. Citi Bank does offer virtual cards and in my experience, they are very easy to use. However, you must log on to your Citi account to generate a new number and security code each time.

An alternative I have not personally tried is Privacy.com. Justin from Swift | Silent | Deadly has used this service and wrote an article discussing his experience. You can find his article here. 

I do a lot of on-line shopping and I cannot count the number of times I have had to replace credit cards due to fraud. For me at least, American Express cards seem to be the most vulnerable; however, I recently had to replace a Chase card as well. Not a huge deal, but a hassle none the less. Virtual cards will likely solve this problem for me.

And remember—if it seems too good to be true; it is probably a scam.

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