Another Fishing Expedition?

Last week I placed an order with AMMOMAN.COM for a couple of cases of ammunition.

Later, I received a "confirmation email" from someone who purported to be a representative of AMMOGARAND informing me (in an embedded link internal to the email) that my order had been cancelled.

 (NOTE: Some of the order was for .30-06 ammunition appropriate for use in an M1 Garand; which made the bogus 'follow-up' seem reasonable.)

Here's the text of the 'error message':

***HOLD*** Status means we don't have your documents***
Tracking information is provided below once order has shipped.
If you have any questions about your order, please Contact Us

*** ID Copy (ie. a Driv Lic, FFL, Carry Permit etc) MUST be on file or sent to process orders! Previous Buyers do NOT have to resend documents unless info has changed. 

(The underlined link has been deleted and replaced with a 'dummy' text; the link went to a yahoo.com address ..... which seemed suspicious unprofessional to me.)

Rather than to click on the "CONTACT US" link, I forwarded the email to my original supplier ... Eric at Ammoman ... informing him that I was loath to provide either my Drivers License or Carry Permit information to someone I never heard of, and with whom I had never knowingly done business.  

(Eric has has exchanged emails AND ammunition samples to me, and he is a Trusted Contact; I know he would never attempt to do business with me through a 'dubious contact', such as the one I received through the never-to-be-sufficiently-damned media known as EMAIL!)

I told him I still wanted my ammunition order, and that I didn't wanted to deal with them.
"You Deal With It" I told him

Eric responded quickly.   He didn't know them either, and strongly suggested that I not respond directly to that link.   He confirmed that my order and payment information had been processed, and the full order had already been shipped.

Well, I am old and I'm not that bright, but I had already figured that much out for myself.  Kudus for Eric and Ammoman for their concern about my computer security.

Moral: don't be "That Guy".    Don't take emails for granted.  Only place online orders with people that you trust.   If there's a LINK in an email, check it out ... if it doesn't obviously point to a reputable (or at least confirmable) online business address, don't trust it.

PS:



Several weeks ago, Eric sent me several boxes of .45 ACP ammunition as a sample of the product they sell.  He asked me only too shoot it.  ("If you use it at a match, that's even better; I just want you to evaluate the product and let me know your honest opinion" ... paraphrased.)

I'm still working my way through the 300 rounds, and so far I have not found anything which would suggest that the product they sell is less than what the label on the boxes says it is.

Quality ammunition from several reputable ammunition suppliers.  If it's reloads, I can't tell; there are no "cast SWC bullets" in the batch which would suggest they are amateurish reloads.  Most are ball, there are some HP loads and the boxes say that they are what we would usually consider "Defense" loads.

I think I need to put some time in on the range with my Beloved Kimber and a chronograph.  It would be interesting to check the velocity through an ageing kimber and calculate the power factors on the "Factory Ammunition" provided by Eric and his crew.