An vehicle scam turns deadly on another e-commerce site

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

As reported in Colorado around August 16th, A couple answered an ad on "L-G" for a Toyota Rave and met with a scam seller at a location, he claimed he brought the wrong title with him and asked the couple to follow him to his residence, he admitted he robbed them and shot them both. He then stated he put the truck back on this site in a different name. This investigation is still ongoing. 

This scamming auto thing is getting way out of hand with these e-commerce sites, about 2x weekly, in the forum we read someone questioning gift cards, fake invoices from Ebay, texting and/or harassments. I really don't know what needs to be done here, but every site needs to team up and get together to figure this out as 2 people are now dead and 5 children have lost their parents. Any thoughts?

[aldente28]

OK but you could substitute "classified ads" for the name of the online platform. I don't think it makes sense to say something needs to be done about classified ads.

[luckythewinner]

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@silverstatetreasureboxes wrote:

I really don't know what needs to be done here, but every site needs to team up and get together to figure this out as 2 people are now dead and 5 children have lost their parents. Any thoughts?

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Robbers have been shooting people since this country was founded, and in those 250 years no one has been able to "figure it out" yet. 

Do you seriously believe that eBay and LetGo are going to come up with the answer to gun violence? 

[bargainnation · Accepted solution]

Thia is sad. Under the circumstances I never would have followed the seller to his residence because he said he brought the wrong title with him. That would have been a red flag for me not that I will agree to meet a stranger to buy/sell something who placed a classified ad for this reason.  For people who don't mind meeting strangers to buy, sell or trade be very careful. Always meet sellers/buyers in a high-traffic area during daylight hours.

I read a few years ago that in some areas local police departments let buyers/sellers who use sites such as CL to handle transactions at a location monitored by the police which is a great idea.

[hurrrhaha_0]

I see it all the time and it's not just cars but I have to ask, what else can we do?

Look right now on a certain Marketplace I can GUARANTEE there are cars for sale without a title...

Why, doesn't the seller realize they can get much MORE money if they have the title and it's only a $50 or so fee to get one at the DMV?  And here's the kicker, don't buyers understand that too?

One more time: 

Why would anyone in their right mind sell something that, if they only spent $50 and a couple of hours they could easily get another thousand or more dollars for?

And why does the buyer think the seller is that dense?

The word that comes to mind is greed.

Let me say this, too...
It's illegal in most states to buy OR sell a car without a proper title.

But every day there are cars for sale like that, and I'm sure interested buyers.

Why?

Are people that dumb?

And if so what can we really do?

[hurrrhaha_0]

Here's another classic scam (among many)...

The car can't be test driven because (according to the seller) the battery is dead...

Guess what?

A new battery at the local auto parts store is $100-$200, let me go buy one, drop it in, should start right up!

(Yes I have ran into this and said exactly that and was willing to go buy one right then)...

Suddenly "ahhh uhhhh" the seller got cold feet and started mumbling excuses...

Guess it wasn't just a bad battery huh?

You have to think on both feet before handing over hard earned money.

Buying OR selling a car involves a PROCESS.

You're not just buying a new pair of shoes, a car purchase is something most of us only get to do so many times in life... So educate yourself, what you need to know, then follow the process to the letter...

I've done that and had no problems.

If you learn how it works you should be able to spot problem sales.

If you see a problem sale move along, why?

Because, final tip:

There are WAY more cars for sale than there are buyers!

Yes, ALWAYS!

No, I don't care what the seller thinks how collectible and unique that car is.

There are more, and more behind that, and even more and more after that.

Don't be afraid to skip over the first 5- 10 cars if need be.

[autopartspuller]

I bring a battery with me every time I go to check out a vehicle.  Sometimes they pull the "oops the battery is dead" routine after I get there.  I am always like, No problem.. got one with me!

[chapeau-noir]

I'm not finding any reports of this - do you have a source?

[u_cant_take_it_with_u]

One must realize that before the scamee is the victim of a scammer, they are a victim of themselves. They are cheap enough (and clueless enough) to think that one would actually have to resort to an online selling venue to liquidate out of a vehicle at a third of its retail market value.  Let alone that there is a seller out there, who is ignorant enough to list something for a fraction of what it actually is worth, and have it be a culpable, and viable listing.  People see what they want to see, and think that they have just stumbled onto a once-in-a-lifetime great deal. They need to get into the real world, and always remember.... If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

Thank you for your reply, turns out this car was stolen and was put on Letgo, there was no legit title, but do agree with you.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

Thank you chapeau-noir, the reports came from various news sources: The Denver post, ...people.com crime...msn.com. If you just Google the Aurora Co. couple killed buying a car on Letgo it will pop up. It's also on Gofundme.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

Thank you for your reply and no I know they cannot do anything about gun violence but these online selling sites who lists vehicles surely could come up with a solution such as requesting proof of ownership to the listed vehicle before it's listed? This is just my own opinion. I guess the only thing for us to do is to teach people to be careful, meet sellers at the police station for transactions, maybe requiring VIN numbers before sale to check out vehicles? As I stated this vehicle was stolen in this particular case and suspect listed it twice.

[hurrrhaha_0]

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@silverstatetreasureboxes wrote:

Thank you for your reply and no I know they cannot do anything about gun violence but these online selling sites who lists vehicles surely could come up with a solution such as requesting proof of ownership to the listed vehicle before it's listed? This is just my own opinion. I guess the only thing for us to do is to teach people to be careful, meet sellers at the police station for transactions, maybe requiring VIN numbers before sale to check out vehicles? As I stated this vehicle was stolen in this particular case and suspect listed it twice.

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Again part of the problem here is the buyer...

The INSTANT that buyer understood the title wasn't free and clear they should've moved along.

Yes, that opportunity presented itself and had they taken it they likely would be alive today.

There is simply no point in trying to purchase a vehicle without a proper title.

Also when pulling up to the seller's location, start looking (more on this further down).

Omg it's really simple, you need these things when buying / selling a car:

Seller:  Car, title, and keys.

Buyer: The money, all of it, cash works best.

And be aware, if I'm pulling into a seller's location and I don't see the advertised car that puts me on alert... Yes it's possible it's garaged in the barn or some such thing but if the seller starts talking about having to go out back, why?

If you have a car for sale why isn't it sitting out front when you know there's a buyer coming to look at it?

Here is what I pay attention to (among other things), how READY is this seller to actually SELL the car?

Well, if the car is sitting underneath a tarp and he can't find the keys and the battery is dead, the answer to that question is "not very."  Guess what, move along, not a good deal.

The car doesn't have to be dealer ready with the 400-point inspection all done and every tire brand new and all of that, but at the very least the seller should have done some homework, knowing they are selling the car...

Same with the dead battery, that thing should be charged when the buyer shows up but yes it is possible to overlook a few things, most of us are not professional sellers so that's how it goes but pay attention.

When I pull up to a purchase location I want to SEE the item for sale...

I bought a power washer not long ago, we met in a deserted parking lot.

Yes my alert radar was telling me to be careful, so as the seller's vehicle came into view I started looking...

As he pulled into the parking lot I spotted the handlebar of what could've been a power washer...

Check, it appears he has the item for sale in back of the vehicle.

Another thing I saw was it was just the driver, one occupant, it's just the seller and not a gang of folks...

Granted some could've been hiding but all I had on me was the $125 for the item, I made up my mind if I got robbed to just hand over the money and be done.

The sale went smoothly, I did have to purchase some additional parts so by the time it's all said and done it came closer to $160 but it's a nice little Ryobi gas pressure washer.

All these things and more, I pay attention to as I'm pulling up or as they're coming into view, if anything seems out of place I move along.  Takes practice, I've lived in a third world country before, you learn what to look out for.

[heyyoufoundit]

If people would only research a bit, they would find there are safer ways to buy or sell a car online. I know of at least one service/app (blinker) that authenticates sellers and buyers and cross references them using drivers licenses & ownership records.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

Thank you for that valuable info on blinker, maybe that site could utilized more often if potential buyers and sellers knew about it!