Is this a scam? It almost seems too good to be true

[carorie-0]

Hello,

I am Sarah, nice to meet you! The 2008 Nissan Altima SL never had or need any paint/bodywork done, garaged keep always, without any mechanical problems, tires and wheels are in great shape as well, electric is working perfectly. The car has only 82,291 miles, it is in excellent condition, no liens or loans, it has been very well maintained, with a clean title and no accident history. The engine is 2.5L, the automatic transmission shifts perfectly. I am selling it for $1,200(last price) because my husband died 1 month ago (of a heart attack) and it brings me bad memories. That's the real reason I want to sell it, besides, I hope to find a new owner as dedicated as my departed soulmate was. I sold the house and with my kid moved to my sister in Augusta ME to pick up the pieces, so to speak. I want to use eBay Services for both our safety, so if you're interested in purchasing this car 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.

PS: Below I attached you some photos. 

[carorie-0]

I forgot the mention that this was through Facebook marketplace

[therogue-trader]

sounds like a scam. presumably it's the old/classic 'gift cards as payment' scam

[guangxi_hone]

It is scam. Type in "scam" in forum search window. They work through Facebook or Craiglist or any other platform.

[myescape]

SCAM.Ebay does not offer that service ,if its not listed and bought on this platform ebay is not inolved

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

[eunster1313]

It's %100 percent a scam. eBay has nothing to do with that car.

[candd205]

Definitely a SCAM. They plan to send you a legit looking e-mail that looks like it is from ebay asking for you to send them gift card numbers. The e-mail is not from ebay, it is from the scammer. Once you give them the gift card numbers, they will use all the money quickly, there is no car, and your money is gone in minutes. Ebay can't recover the money for you.

[soh.maryl]

A fairly common scam.

You need to understand that eBay has nothing at all to do with any item listed anywhere except eBay.

And that eBay gift cards can only be used to purchase items actually listed for sale on eBay.

Report this scammer to the site where you found the vehicle and definitely stop correspondence with this lout.

I love that she hopes to "find a new owner as dedicated as my departed soulmate was".  That does sound so much better than "I am hoping to find a new sucker".  

[7606dennis]

Scam!  Since eBay doesn't work that way, don't fall for it.

[bar-29368]

Wow - he only died a month ago (suddenly) yet she's already sold the house and moved to her sister's with the kids.

She's a fast worker.

She forgot to mention how she's a medical technician about to be deployed.

[guangxi_hone]

you could report them

https://www.bing.com/search?q=where+to+report+internet+scams+and+frauds&qs=AS&pq=where+to+report+int...

[atikovi]

---

@carorie-0 wrote:

Hello,

The 2008 Nissan Altima SL never had or need any paint/bodywork done, garaged keep always, without any mechanical problems, tires and wheels are in great shape as well, electric is working perfectly. The car has only 82,291 miles, it is in excellent condition, no liens or loans, it has been very well maintained, with a clean title and no accident history. The engine is 2.5L, the automatic transmission shifts perfectly. I am selling it for $1,200(last price) 

---

Come on now. Do you seriously think you can buy a car like that which normally sells for over $5,000, for just $1200? Please use a little common sense when car shopping or bring along someone that knows something about cars.

[japan-treazures]

@carorie-0 

This is one of the oldest scams here on eBay. Avoid this at all costs or it will end up costing you!

This is not standard operating procedures on eBay. eBay does not rely on its users finding ads on Facebook or Craigslist and sending contact information to a seller. The seller will eventually send you a dummy "invoice" that will really look like it came from eBay, asking you to pay with gift cards to have the vehicle/trailer shipped to you for a free evaluation period. The seller will take the numbers from them and cash out and you will not be able to get you money back! 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.

Often a seller will state that ebay will send it from their warehouse. 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.

See here for some info about such scams:

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 safe way to purchase a vehicle on eBay is to make the purchase here on eBay.com. Once you find a vehicle on eBay, you should always complete the checkout process on eBay. You may have to pay a deposit. Then you typically meet the seller to inspect the vehicle and pay the seller the remaining amount. I recommend that you never pay for the vehicle in full until you have eyes on it.

If you encountered an ad on another site, contact that site to have the ad potentially removed. eBay is not involved with any ads listed on sites other than eBay itself. You should report the listing to the site you saw it on to potentially get it removed. 

Glad you didn't fall for it like many other have!

Hope this helps!

[soh.maryl]

She also could be the flight attendant who does not have time for her vehicle.