Facebook Marketplace SCAM

[vancolbri]

There is a posting now for a RV on Facebook Marketplace with over 100 postings selling the same RV in different states.

Very Clean 2004 Dutchmen Sport Lite 28ft Clean $1,000

The seller said they recently moved back home and their husband died and final price is $1K and need to sell asap.

If the buyer agrees the seller said they are selling via ebay and ebay will be sending an invoice with payment instructions. The instructions are purchase with cash 5 - $200 gift cards and call for payment that happen to be ebay SCAM phone numbers.

[soh.maryl]

OK, that's an obvious scam.  This type of thing has been going on for YEARS on FBM, CL and other sites that are not eBay.

Was your purpose here to warn us? If so, you're basically preaching to the choir.  Most of us are well aware of this scam and have provided over the years hundreds, if not thousands, of messages warning people about this.  

Did you report the listing to the site where you found it? Hopefully, you yourself did not fall for it.  

[vancolbri]

Why has it been going on for years and I was almost a victim of the scam. I am a New to member of ebay.

[elcondormusica]

Lots more of these scams with a John Deere tractor, several golf carts are running on Facebook now

[eburtonlab]

It has been going on for years because it is very successful at tricking inexperienced users that see a deal that is obviously too good to be true and do not stop to think about it.

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.

[buyselljack2016]

I am a New to member of ebay

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it's a "facebook markerplace" scam. You being a new member of "eBay" is irreverent 🙂

[titipeo]

It has been for years because people's greed gets in the way and fall for it. Plain and simple. There were numerous red flags, and yet none triggered anything. 

Dirt cheap price for the item, way below normal retail price. Makes you feel special

Zappy story to prompt the immediate sale. You start connecting with the seller/scammer

Item on FBM or CL, OU, but, eBay is handling the transaction. Sort of, get it @ Walmart, and pay for it on CVS

Payment with gift cards, why not cash, credit cards, bank transfer ?????

Free delivery to your house with a 5 day inspection. Do you have an idea how much it cost to ship a car. more than what you are paying for it. 

By then, the ask for a bit more to cover taxes and incidentals. 

[1786davycrockett]

@buyselljack2016 

"You being a new member of "eBay" is irreverent"

No need to bring religion into the thread -- that would be definitely irrelevant.

[vancolbri]

Exactly!!

[stainlessenginecovers]

I think the religion comes into play because anyone that falls for this "old as the hills" scam, should start praying that their greed does NOT overrun their common sense. 

If it's too good to be true, it's because it is too good to be true. 

[vancolbri]

I suppose it is, thank-you for clarifying that.

[buyselljack2016]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

@buyselljack2016 

"You being a new member of "eBay" is irreverent"

No need to bring religion into the thread -- that would be definitely irrelevant.

---

You are correct 🙂

and irrelevant is what I meant to post.  My spell checker kicked in, corrected my spelling, and I failed to spot that error ☹️  

[soh.maryl]

It has been going on for years because people are still falling for it.

They see that 2019 Honda and they ignore all the warning signs, the first of which is that eBay never lists items on any other site.  Why would they do that, they have their own?

And then there's the sad story about why the car is being sold.

Finally, think about this:  Why in the world would any legitimate seller spend several thousand dollars to have a valuable vehicle shipped to a total stranger for a "trial period"? Does that make sense?

[asset_liquidators]

I could go on FB right now and pull up a handful of scams for various types of vehicles. I see them literally every day.

You asked: "Why has it been going on for years and I was almost a victim of the scam. I am a New to member of ebay."

It has been going on for years because people fall for it. Did you REALLY think you were going to get a pristine vehicle for $1000, $1200, $1400? Not going to happen. These scams prey on peoples 'inner greed' where they see an item that is too good to be true, and they think they are getting one over on the desperate and naive seller who has fallen on hard times. These buyers think they are taking advantage of somebody when in fact it is them that are the prey.

We see posts here almost every day of someone who got scammed and are mad at ebay for letting it happen. EBAY has nothing to do with these scams that are on other sites.

I am glad you didn't fall for it but lots and lots of people do and THAT is why it has been going on for several years.

[vancolbri]

Exactly, good point!