eBay

kjiracer · ‎08-09-2017

I found a vehicle on another sale site, listed as something else, but all the descriptions on that site are vague and sometimes wrong. Anyway the price is way too low for what it is, so i'm thinking they don't know what they have. So I send an inquiry to see if it's still available, and the response is send me your name and address so I can notify Ebay for the sale. She then goes on to tell me exactly what it is she has, so she should know what it's worth, oh and by the way she now lives 1,000 miles away, not the next town over. She wants to use Ebay to protect us both. Her claim is I pay Ebay, she ships the vehicle to me on her dime, if I don't like it she pays the return freight to get it back and Ebay refunds my money. The story is her husband died and she can't bear to keep it around, but she's selling it for a 10th of what it's worth. I'll admit to being ignorant of Ebay's policy's on sales like this and can't seem to easily find any info to help me.

zzydny · ‎08-09-2017

Yes. Scam. Run away!

autopartspuller · ‎08-09-2017

Well known scam.

There is no vehicle. Just a scam artist on the other end looking for a sucker!

At least you were smart enough to check before buying 🙂

legitimate_bidder · ‎08-09-2017

No, it's real! Someone really has a MINT car for a price which is lower than you'd pay for a train-wrecked one at a salvage auction, and for some reason they can't sell it where they live (Maybe everyone there is so rich that they wouldn't be seen in a used car!), so they have to advertise it 1000 miles away, and they'll even pay to ship it to you- meaning that between the RIDICULOUSLY low price, and what shipping a car costs, they're essentially giving the car away.

Oh, oh! And I guess even though they're using "Ebay", they somehow couldn't manage to sell it on Ebay- even for the ridiculously low, low price, so they had to advertise it on "another site", and you're the only one who saw it, and who wanted a good deal.

Yeah! Yeah! Send off those iTunes gift cards, or MoneyGrams or Green Dot cards (I know that's how I always pay for vehicles) and wait patiently by your mailbox, and let us know how you like it after the mailman brings it.

ripsmc · ‎08-09-2017

I'm sure someone, or multiple someones, have already fired off some gift cards for it.

By this time next week those someones will be crying in their beer after it soaks in they've been scammed.

jr-41ford · ‎08-10-2017

Like you say Rip, I'm sure a dozen or so have sent payment in one form or another for it. Maybe the reason for it being so cheap is her deceased husband is in the trunk and she can't bear the smell any longer.

This scam is so old you'd think everyone would of known about it, but there are many that still fall for it.

legitimate_bidder · ‎08-10-2017

Even if they had never heard of this scam before, you'd think that it would occur to them that nothing adds up! Why would anyone in their right mind be selling a car for a fraction of it's true value? Why would they have to advertise it 1000 miles away to do so? Why would they go through such trouble and expense ("Free shipping" etc.) when they could drive the car into any used car lot in their town and get more for it than they are asking, or sell it within 5 minutes by putting a sign in the window or advertising it on their LOCAL CL!

People have to really "Want to believe" to fall for this nonsense. Luckily, the OP is smarter than that.

toni9529 · ‎08-12-2017

plus,,,,how about the fact there is NO PHONE NUMBER TO CALL???

That should set off an alarm in someone's head

jr-41ford · ‎08-12-2017

Yep!

ripsmc · ‎08-12-2017

I know the scam ads on Craigslist are increasing like cockroaches in a slum so the number of gullible suckers must be astoundingly large.

I bought a car on CL about 8 years ago and there were very few scams. Recently I started looking for a small truck on CL and found that private sale trucks were about 25 to 50% scams all depending on the area. I'm not naive enough to fall for that garbage so it worked out well for me.

What's funny (not so much to the suckers...) is to see the same truck listed in all 50 states. Late model, clean, dirt cheap, and a gmail address of course....). I didn't check the U.S. Territories....

legitimate_bidder · ‎08-12-2017

@toni9529 wrote:
plus,,,,how about the fact there is NO PHONE NUMBER TO CALL???

That should set off an alarm in someone's head

Oh, most of the scammers have now progressed to using burner phones or MagicJack, etc. -oftentimes even with the correct area code for the area in which they are advertising. Now what they'll do, is typically only have one picture in the ad, and tell you to text for more- that way, they get your phone number and avoid having to go through the CL mail relay.

Of course, they'll never actually answer the phone or speak to you....but most of the suckers seem to be content with texting.

jr-41ford · ‎08-13-2017

I'm trying to buy a Jeep posted on Craigslist at this time, difference is the Jeep I am interested in is just a couple of miles away from me. Just need to find a time to get together with them.

My issues with the scammers have always been when I was selling and when buying off eBay several occassions of "shill" bidding. One was a couple that would flip cars in Portland, Oregon, the other was a former Ford dealer that lost his Ford dealership due to finance and title issues. He had started a used car dealership about 45 miles from here. I went there to look at a pre-48 Ford coupe, he couldn't produce the title and I left.

I don't believe he is in business any longer.