Restrict NEW members from sending private messages?

[TGO David]

All of the recent scammer activity on TGO and other big gun forums uses the same tactic:  A new "member" registers for an account and immediately sends a private message to legitimate members of the community with an alleged off-site, out of state contact, who either has the item they want to buy or is wanting to buy the item they have to sale.  To date 100% of this activity has been fraudulent.

In order to make it harder for these scum to operate in the shadows, I am considering the following changes to TGO:  

• Placing all new members into a category that forbids them from being able to send a private message until X-Number of days have passed since registering, or X-Number of posts have been made in other areas, or some combination of the two.
   
• If a person wants to bypass that restriction, they can buy a Benefactor subscription, at which point we have a way to track them down if they do something illegal.
   
• Otherwise they participate by providing meaningful content for a brief period of time, after which they can send private messages.

 

What do you all say about this plan?

 

[KahrMan]

That’s the way coltforum handles it and it works great. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by KahrMan

[Erik88]

Seems reasonable to me.

[TripleGGG]

I'm 100% in agreement doing this! 

[Raoul]

They should have to vetted by at least having a certain number of posts. That or pay to play.

[xsubsailor]

I'm also in agreement with this. I also think the minimum number of posts in other areas exclude the welcoming new members sub forum. 

[krunchnik]

Also sounds very reasonable.

[Randall53]

I’m for it. this happened to me a few months back. I posted a wanted add in the gun sale forum and got 2 PM’s from brand new members telling me “such and such guy can get this for you from New York City....etc....” I deleted and didn’t even reply.  

[RED333]

I believe all of us are smart enough to see a scam when it happens. The idea of minimum number of posts before sending a PM is OK.

[Chucktshoes]

[TennesseeCamper]

I think it is a reasonable thing to do. 
 

 

[RodMyers]

Sounds like a solid plan

[FUJIMO]

A change for the times we are in.

[DHF]

Seems very reasonable. Places some hurdles in the way for scammers but a legitimate individual can easily navigate past them.

[Whisper]

I concur.  Do it.

 

[Aloha8]

100% agree...with the combination of elapsed time and certain number of posts.

[broox]

I'm sorry. Lone voice of dissent here.

If you can't smell these scams from a mile away, then I have some ocean front property in Arizona....

These PMs are a slight nuisance, but I have always thought haggling and bartering was best done in PMs, not in the thread. Without the ability to PM, you get people offering trades that could just as easily be viewed as bypassing Purchasing benefactor status.  

Either way is fine. The fact that you ask for input is another monument to the real community of this site. 

Thanks!

[leroy]

11 hours ago, TGO David said:

All of the recent scammer activity on TGO and other big gun forums uses the same tactic:  A new "member" registers for an account and immediately sends a private message to legitimate members of the community with an alleged off-site, out of state contact, who either has the item they want to buy or is wanting to buy the item they have to sale.  To date 100% of this activity has been fraudulent.

In order to make it harder for these scum to operate in the shadows, I am considering the following changes to TGO:  

• Placing all new members into a category that forbids them from being able to send a private message until X-Number of days have passed since registering, or X-Number of posts have been made in other areas, or some combination of the two.
   
• If a person wants to bypass that restriction, they can buy a Benefactor subscription, at which point we have a way to track them down if they do something illegal.
   
• Otherwise they participate by providing meaningful content for a brief period of time, after which they can send private messages.

 

What do you all say about this plan?

 

I like it..!!!

leroy...

[gregintenn]

It seems to work well in other forums I frequent.

[E4 No More]

I think that it should be number of posts rather than number of days.

[btq96r]

I think the benefits well outweigh any negatives.  Protecting the integrity of the site is always a worthwhile goal.

[Grayfox54]

Your house, your rules. 

[papa61]

I agree. my vote would be for benefactors only. and yes, I'm one of the guys who complained about armslist changing. but I believe they did it for financial reasons and didn't grandfather in existing members. yes, I can spot the scammers and believe in freedoms but this is a private forum. I joined not for the classifieds but for the information and camaraderie. I thought long and hard about it because of big brother and my lack pf privacy so it isn't something I did on a whim. Glad I made the choice I did.

[DHF]

Membership is $35 a year.  Everyone should be paying this to support this site and all the efforts that are put into it, anyway.  The way the world is working against us, putting some things behind a paywall may not be such a bad idea, especially such a reasonably priced one that supports a great cause/site.

[10-Ring]

Very reasonable.  Although I bought my lifetime benefactor membership a while back, it wasn't all that long ago that I just couldn't afford a yearly membership.  Consequently, I also wasnt buying many guns in those days.  Even though the state of my finances left much to be desired, I'd at least like to think I contributed to the forum through my posts, probably not so than I currently do.