Fraud

[waugrom]

There are multiple ads for different cargo trailers that seem fraudulent.  The ad asks the buyer to email for more info.  Regardless of the trailer the same hard luck story comes up about a recent widow who has to be deployed.  It’s terrible to use our military to enhance a scam.  The ad is for a 2017 cargo trailer for $1000.  It asks the buyer to email for more info.

[alcoforever]

The sheep must be shorn.

[soh.maryl]

Exactly WHERE are you finding these multiple ads? It isn't eBay, is it?

Please make a note:  Regardless of what you are told by the scammer, eBay never ever has anything at all to do with any listing on any other site except eBay.  Why would they?

And what seller with any brains would ship a vehicle, at his own expense, to a total stranger for a trial period?

And you don't want to get me started on the eBay gift card part of this scam.  

[Anonymous]

Your finding the ads on a site other than eBay (craigslist, facebook marketplace, offerup, etc) and the ads have absolutely nothing to do with eBay.  The scammers tell you that the transaction will be handled by eBay and will send you a fake invoice purportedly from eBay.   Rather than come here to "report" it, report it to the site where you found the ad. 

The first sign it's a scam is not that it's a deployed widow.  The first, and most obvious sign it's a scam is the super low price.  A 2017 cargo trailer for a grand?  If I saw that, I'd know immediately it's a scam and I sure as heck wouldn't email the scammer with any of my contact information.  But people do it all the time, thinking they're gonna get something for almost nothing.  It's called greed, and scammers know it works.

[fab_finds4u]

Are you finding these ads on non eBay sites and they say eBay is handling the sale and all they want is $800 - 1,000 paid with eBay gift cards and it will be delivered in 2-3 days?  That's a scam!  

[fab_finds4u]

And ducks must be plucked. And those duck pluckers have a pond full of  ducks. 

[nkmipgolf]

Cargo trailers, boats, cars, RV's, motorcycles, dogs, you name it scammers are selling it.   Strange this widow wants gift cards instead of money???  She must be paying eBay a lot of money to store, sell  and ship the car 300 miles to me for free and back if I don't want it.  And she only wants 1\4 the price, wow she must be stupid?? Oh well, off I to Kmart to get 5 non-refundable and cannot be redeemed for cash  $200 gift cards.    Sadly this happens every day.

[mudshark61369]

@waugrom,

At the top of this Motors board is The topic Internet Vehicle Scams written by an ebay employee, that describes them.   Each of the online sites has a warning someplace describing scams, and what not to do. They also have links to report the scam listings so they can be pulled.

When you find any item listed on Craig's, Offer Up, Market Place... etc., for any item that has a very low price, chances are it is a scam of some sort. They all have some things in common, a sob story reason why the item is listed for such a low price. 

  The price being asked is the first thing that people ought to be questioning.  However, too many people either do not have the common sense or the price causes their common sense to fly out the window and they fall for the scams. Then they come here blaming ebay or wanting a refund.

[kensgiftshop]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

And ducks must be plucked. And those duck pluckers have a pond full of  ducks. 

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Especially this time of the year.

[stainlessenginecovers]

There are also fraud alerts at the top of the WEBSITES that these are being shown on (CL, FBMP etc.) 

As soon as those sites start charging $5 to list any type vehicle (as did Thesamba last year); those will stop. 

Till then, game on. On an hourly basis. 

[tony1963]

Back in the early 2000s, this was referred to as a "fruad".

[mudshark61369]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

There are also fraud alerts at the top of the WEBSITES that these are being shown on (CL, FBMP etc.) 

As soon as those sites start charging $5 to list any type vehicle (as did Thesamba last year); those will stop. 

Till then, game on. On an hourly basis. 

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@stainlessenginecovers,

Do you really think a $5 fee would deter a scammer who has the potential of making hundreds if not thousands of dollars by posting fake listings on several sites?  Even if they only list one vehicle and "sell" it for $1,200 in gift cards, the $5 fee would be a bargain.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Yes, I do... and it did work. These scammers have to A.) put in info they don't want to put in to pay the fee and B.) I saw no less than 30 'scam' vehicles on Offerup and reported/removed all of them.. and this was on the 1st Page! That would cost $150 and I didn't get to page 2. They won't pay it.

In fact, they used to do it here on ebaymotors all the time; 1959 Corvette for $15000 etc. All were 'free listings'. Now, you have to pay for each and every listing (unless you are a proven dealer)