It's really hard to tell if this a scam.
Summary: The discussion revolves around the difficulty of identifying scams, with one participant expressing surprise that a specific scam is still prevalent. The scam involves fake car sales where eBay motors allegedly handles transactions. x75 mentions that this scam has been profitable for fraudsters, generating significant amounts of money, and likens its persistence to a quote often attributed to P. T. Barnum.
(This was emailed to me after I saw their post of this item on FB marketplace.)
I am selling my **** runs smooth. It has a manual transmission, and only ***** miles. The title is clean and registered in my name, with no liens or outstanding loans. The motorcycle has never been involved in an accident and is completely free of scratches, dents, rust, or any mechanical issues. It does not require any repairs, and my final price is $800. This sale is a personal decision. My husband passed away seven months ago due to a heart attack, and keeping the motorcycle has been emotionally difficult. I would like to finalize the sale before the 22nd of next month, as I am preparing for an important military mission abroad. Since I am currently stationed on a military base with my medical team, I am unable to leave. For this reason, I have arranged the sale through eBay, ensuring a secure and hassle-free process. The motorcycle is already in your state, in eBay's custody, and ready for delivery. eBay will handle everything, including shipping the motorcycle directly to your home within 2-3 business days. To give you peace of mind, you will have 5 days to inspect and test the motorcycle before committing to the purchase. If you decide not to keep it, eBay will take care of the return at no extra cost to you. Additionally, since I am currently on duty, eBay is covering the shipping fees as part
of their service.
If you are interested, please provide me with the following details so I can move forward with eBay: Full name, Shipping address & Phone number. Once I receive this information, I will submit it to eBay, and they will send you a confirmation email with all transaction details. This will verify that everything is legitimate and handled securely through their platform. I have also attached additional pictures of the motorcycle for your reference. I look forward to your response.
(I am also in the military Active Duty and this whole story sounds a little weird and the eBay makes it sound more sus. But please I need others opinions.)
x75
·3 months agowow, this scam is still around? I give credit to P. T. Barnum, this scam will live forever. Back when $1200 COVID checks came out, every on-line sales site was filled with 100s of late model clean cars for only $1200 - and eBay motors "handled the transaction". I read the scam generated 8 billion dollars of fraud, and it just keeps on giving.
56nomad
·5 months agoIt is not even remotely hard to tell if it's a scam. When you buy something at Walmart, do they tell you they will complete the sale at Target? But the price! It's always the price. That's the bait. You think you'd better act quickly before someone else beats you to it. But there is no motorcycle. Just pictures they stole off the internet. $800 dollars, free shipping, arrives at your door in 2-3 days and you have 5 days to decide if you want to keep it, yeah sure. They will also want you to pay with eBay gift cards, which are untraceable.
soh.maryl
·5 months agoIf you will always keep this in mind when shopping on line, it won't be really hard to identify a scam: eBay has NO involvement with other sites. So if you are shopping on FB, CL or ANY other site and it's mentioned that eBay will handle the sale, you need to immediately STOP.
Also the seller being identified as active military, flight attendant, someone who travels a lot for their job and thus has no use for this vehicle, recent divorcee, widow, mother of dead child is a tipoff also. If none of that triggers your spidey sense, here's another: what motor vehicle seller with any brains ships a valuable item like a car to a total stranger for a "test drive" for free?
chrispass918
·5 months agoSoundsy legitty
1786davycrockett
·5 months ago@cel-8218
"It's really hard to tell if this a scam."
No, it's really not that hard to tell if this is a scam.
It is 1000% a scam -- and a very old one, at that.
DON'T THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY ON THIS SCAM!!!
kensgiftshop
·5 months ago@cel-8218
That's an old scam that's been around for years.
It's been around that long because it works.
glorybells
·5 months agoIn reality, if you find a car for $800, and the car actually exists, it’s probably going to look like this:
jbbowers12012
·5 months agoPLEASE stay away from this. This is a scam. There is no motorcycle - only a scammer trying to relieve you of your hard-earned cash. No more "chit-chat" with this thief! You did the right thing by coming to this board! Im' sure that you will find a nice bike from a legimate seller! Good luck!
gator08041971
·5 months ago@cel-8218
Sadly, this is one of the most obvious examples of a scam. The sob story, the too-good-to-be-true vibe. Walk away from any listing or description like that.
eBay does not operate in that manner either. They also usually try to get paid using cash to card tricks, so the money can't be retrieved.
Don't reply, just report the e-mail as a phishing attempt and move on.
kibble-net
·5 months agoThank you for your service, and yes this is a scam.
biggymoe
·5 months agoSCAM ALERT 101.
Have no further communication with this fraudster!!
albertabrightalberta
·5 months agoSCAM!
Ebay has NOTHING to do with items that are listed on other sites EVER!