FB Marketplace to eBay...Is this legit? Seem like a scam

[russellmoran]

I found a good deal on a used truck that I really like.  It was NOT thru ebay however.  I facebook messaged this "dealership" and it was an auto reply asking for my email to communicate.  Many dealership do this, no harm yet.  I got an email from a lady and this is what it say....

"Hi, thanks for getting back to me. My 1988 Toyota Pickup at $1600 is still available for sale. It is in great shape. it has no damage, no scratches, dents or hidden defects. It is in immaculate condition, meticulously maintained. It has 85389 miles, 4-Wheel Drive, manual transmission, engine 3.0L V6, gas, and clean title. Everything works great, it was recently professionally detailed interior and exterior. I am selling it because my husband passed away last 3 months ago. I was completely devastated and I am still trying to recover. It reminds me a lot of him, and that doesn't help me at all in the healing process and my daughter can't see me like this anymore, that’s the reason I want to sell it asap. I also got a new job after Michael passed away and moved to my sister in Augusta, ME and the vehicle is here with me, many other things have priority now so it has to go. Before leaving I had prearranged a deal with ebay buyer protection so my presence isn't necessary. If you want to buy it the deal will be done using ebay's services and I can provide free delivery as I have a promotional free shipping card with them and I am planning to redeem it for this transaction if we move forward. The deal includes 5 days to test and inspect the vehicle. No money will be released to me until you decided to keep it or not. If you want to start the process all I need from you is the following info: your full name, full delivery address and phone number. Once I got all the info, I will forward it to ebay and register you as my buyer. They'll email you with all the information you need to complete this deal.
Waiting on your response asap.

Thank you"

Is this a scam?  I have never done this before.  Why wouldn't this already be on eBay?  Thanks so much.

[soh.maryl]

NOT weird at all!

This is such a common scam that most of us could have replied correctly after the first few sentences.

Very common scam.  

Anyone notice that the first post on this thread is from 4 months ago? 

[sayge200993]

I've ran into the same scam several times! One of those things that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is! Here's the email I got from one Nancy R Randle

Hello!

I am the owner of the 2004 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 Double Cab. I had it advertised nationwide through Best Buy Car Sale, LLC. It is still available for sale. It is in great shape. it has no damage, no scratches, dents or hidden defects. It is in immaculate condition, meticulously maintained. It has 130,000 and clean title. It has 3.4L V6 engine, gasoline fuel and automatic transmission. My truck is in exceptional condition. Garage kept entirely. Original paint (very shinny). All factory VINs are present. Timing belt, water pump tensioner along with all other belts are changed at 101k miles. Everything works great, it was recently professionally detailed interior and exterior. I am selling it at this final price of $3,500 because my husband passed away last month and it brings me a lot of bad memories and that’s the reason I want to sell it asap... I also got a new job and moved to Augusta, ME and many other things have priority now so it has to go. I attached you some photos. I want to use eBay Services for both our safety, so if you're interested in purchasing this vehicle just email me your full name, address including the zip code and phone number. I will inform eBay that you are selected as my possible buyer and they will contact you to explain the entire procedure.

I look forward to your answer.

Thank you

Will you ship with conformation and then i send payment through?

Hide quoted text

On Sat, Jul 4, 2020, 8:29 AM Nancy R. Randle

[airsheep]

I Googled 'best buy car sale' and found that, although it used to be in CA, it has since gone out of business according to the BBB.

[quiltgeek]

STOP focusing on the name!!!!!! It's not the scammer's name, they are NOT who they say they are,  they are not where they say they are.

[simba6]

SCAM!!!!

The first tip off it's a con job

"r. I am selling it because my husband passed away last 3 months ago. I was completely devastated and I am still trying to recover. It reminds me a lot of him, and that doesn't help me at all in the healing process and my daughter can't see me like this anymore, that’s the reason I want to sell"

Con men always start with things that have nothing to do with the transaction just to distract you and build trust.

[amaraevald]

This a huge SCAM and it is very much alive. It amazes that FB Marketplace doesn't do anything to it. I just reported one exactly like this and FB marketplace has yet to remove the car from it. This is scary and the moment you see deals starting here at a very low price (warning signs), message me (warning sign), husband passed away (warning sign), eBay invoice arriving at your spam box (warning sign), customer service number starting at non 1800 or 1866 (warning sign), fabricated CARFAX reports (warning sign). FB could do more to make this marketplace a respectable place. Maybe align with EBAY but not let a vendor tell you to message so you can have all of this emails back and forth outside of the Marketplace.

[benedictum]

To build on what Simba6 said, scammers often try to kindle your sympathy or weave a story around why they might not be asking you to do what you normally do. So a lot of personal story offered is one of my **bleep** triggers. Just because the trigger goes off doesn't mean that I'm dealing with a scammer. Some people do offer a lot of information about themselves during a transaction. But it's still something that I have learned to react to by becoming suspicious and making sure I don't agree to anything unusual in the deal. It's in a similar category, to me, as the high-pressure salesman who says that there's another couple trying to buy the same time share unit, or that the sales manager who won't agree to the price you just negotiated for a car with the friendly salesman who's on your side. Suuuure. But now I'm thinking today is not the day to buy.

[soh.maryl]

Anyone notice that the original  post here is 5 months old?

[itsjustasprain]

---

@soh.maryl wrote:

Anyone notice that the original  post here is 5 months old?

---

Threads about scams tend to live on forever because the scams do too. Someone who has some suspicions about a story from a seller will search for other references to the same thing and so the old thread will pop up again. Sometimes the scammer is even using the same script as years ago because the process is more or less automated. 

I always get a giggle over the part where the buyer gets 5 days to inspect the vehicle - and I guess if they dont like it then the magical tow truck fairy comes back and takes it away for free. Um - yeah - dont think so.

[bonjourami]

And it always seems to be a vulnerable female selling the vehicle(being deployed, husband died, son was killed), blah blah.So the victim thinks the seller has no idea what her vehicle is really worth, and they are getting a great deal!

[moh-moe-we39so]

i had the same problem these days

i wanted to buy a treadmill from offerapp and she asked me to send her an email

and she said pretty much the same story except she said omaha,NE

and now i done sent 2 gift cards 150$ as screenshots replying to ( what it looks like ebay) but in fact i think its a scam and i lost my money

don't do it

and if you already did let me know what happend and what should i do next? 

i already notified ebay but it doenst look like i will get my 150$ back

[femmefan1946]

I stopped reading at ---
I found a good deal on a used truck

SCAM!

She not a widow.

She's not an oceanographer on duty in Iran  with the Army SEALS.

She isn't selling the truck for revenge on her cheating husband.

There is no eBay Finance Division.

She's not a woman

There is no truck.

This scam in one forma or another (all those non-applicable  bits are common parts of the scam.

Stop communicating.

EBay only deals with eBay Motors.

Go to the website you found the scam post on and report the scammer to the mods.

They may know it as the Kabuto Tractor Scam

[kalpen23]

LOL you can buy "USED" gift cards on ebay (zero value) then send those to the alleged seller, tell them the numbers on the PIN are scratched so you could check the actual value and let them try and buy stuffs lol

Granted it costs money to buy used gift cards.

Maybe you have some laying around...

Then when they email back with "hey there's nothing on these gift cards" reply:
"I know, same with your so-called vehicle you tried to sell me, very good deal! 

You got nothing, I got nothing, fair and square, I am very pleased with this

transaction, can I leave you positive feedback now?"

[eburtonlab]

@kalpen23 

you can buy "USED" gift cards on ebay (zero value) then send those to the alleged seller

Scammers typically ask for the gift card numbers over the phone, or by text or email; that way they do not need to provide an actual mailing address that might be traced back to a real person. Instead they use a throw-away free email address or a one-time voicemail box number or a temporary phone number that is not connected to a real name.

[rocknd66]

Well as most have said yes it is a scam, but because of this posting I have been having a great time sending email after after email and many questions including asking them to send me 15$ to get a copy of the DMV record so I can get insurance before I drive it. They were using the same name, Nancy Randle, and selling a 1997 F250 super duty with 91k miles because her husband had died only a month ago. I did offer my condolences losing 2 husbands in such a short time.

Also, eBay does not have protections for buyers about vehicles I think. These people burn me up might as well have some fun.