Purchase procedure

Question

Hi I found a car that I would like to purchase on Facebook and I been in contact the seller who just informed me that she will be selling the car through eBay how do I go about that process or is this a scam.

eburtonlab · Answer

@samart1991

Beware scammers who advertise on other sites and tell you that the transaction will be handled through eBay.

That is not how eBay works. eBay does not rely on users finding ads on Facebook or other sites and sending contact information to a seller. Likely the seller will send a phony "invoice" that appears to be from eBay but is not, asking you to pay with gift cards to have the vehicle shipped to you for a free evaluation period.

eBay has no warehouse and does not ship vehicles. eBay does not handle such transactions or provide "vehicle protection orders". Scammers often promise those things, though. Any phone number you may receive on such an "invoice" does not connect to eBay, but to the scammer.

Anyone that asks you to purchase gift cards or to send card codes to them to complete a transaction is trying to take advantage of you. Anyone asking for a gift card is looking for a gift at your expense. Once anyone else knows the code, your money will be gone and you will have no recourse.

See here for some info about avoiding such scams (US links):

https://pages.motors.ebay.com/buy/security/index.html

https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-fraud-schemes/online-vehicle-sale-fraud

The only way to purchase a vehicle on eBay is to sign in to eBay, find the vehicle on eBay and complete the checkout process on eBay, so that the item appears in your Purchase History. Then you typically meet the seller to inspect the vehicle, pay the seller, and collect the keys, title and vehicle.

If you encountered an ad on another site, contact that site to have the ad removed. eBay is not involved with any ads listed on sites other than eBay itself.

inceptions · Answer

Hi @samart1991

This is a common scam, and you are dealing with a criminal who is trying to steal your money.

eBay has nothing to do with listings on other sites. If the item isn't listed on the eBay website and if you don't purchase it through the eBay listing, the transaction has nothing to do with eBay.

You can read eBay's warning here:
http://pages.motors.ebay.com/buy/security/index.html

You can read the FBI's warning here:
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/online-vehicle-sale-fraud

Read about eBay gift card scams here:
https://pages.ebay.com/ebaygiftcard/

You can report the listing to the site where you found it.