buying a car with gift cards

[tricijone7]

my adopted father recently purchesed a car from ebay using gift cards. he never recived the vehical and we are not sure how to get his money back?

[nunabr0]

These scams prey upon greed. The victim exhibits as much or more greed than the scammer by salivating over something that is obviously too good to be true. The greed is so bad that they throw all common sense out the window, and ignore all the warnings admonishing them NOT to participate in deals that exhibit signs such as"

Free shipping.

Payment via gift card or WoneyGram, etc.

Prices that are too good to be true.

Stories of death of a loved one/divorce/military deployment, etc.

On and on...

I once called my 90-something year-old mother, and said "There's a 2006 4x4 F150 on CL, in mint condition for $2300"- and you know what she said "Oh that has to be a scam or something!". (This from a woman who last drove a car in the early 1950's)..

I'm sorry, but anyone who thinks that they are going to get a mint condition nice vehicle for less than what a totaled one would go for- and with free shipping, no less from a thousand or two miles away (That alone would cost $1000 or more)- and that someone would want to be paid in GIFT CARDS for a legitimate big-ticket transaction, is beyond stupid- they are blinded by greed. No RATIONAL person would fall for such obvious scams- as demonstrated by my curerently 94 year-old mother.....

[nunabr0]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:

Get a red one for me. I will pay you in Canadian Tire Money. Good stuff, eh!

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I think the person to whom you refer only accepts Canadian Tire Money gift cards!

[mr.elmwood]

Scurries back to the store.

[vanman1029]

Wait,,,,all might not be lost,,,,the car may be waiting in Ebay wharehouse #6 in Erie, Pa.

[nunabr0]

LOVE the title of this thread! It really illustrates the absurdity of these scams. It's equivalent to saying "Buying a bridge with poker chips" or "Buying a house with postage stamps".

[atikovi]

I'd like to see somebody come to a closing with a bag full of iTunes gift cards.

[nunabr0]

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@atikovi wrote:

I'd like to see somebody come to a closing with a bag full of iTunes gift cards.

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Hey, it could happen.....in Detroit- where a real house could be had for less than the price of one of those non-existent cars!

[dubiousgain]

I don't find that a victim of being scammed is a subject  for mirth, however I do think that their chronic seduction of an unrealistically cheap price is.  If it sounds too good to be true it generally is. A trite cliche, but it speaks volumes.

[nunabr0]

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@dubiousgain wrote:

I don't find that a victim of being scammed is a subject  for mirth, however I do think that their chronic seduction of an unrealistically cheap price is.  If it sounds too good to be true it generally is. A trite cliche, but it speaks volumes.

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The too-good-to-be-true price is one of many glaring ABSURDITIES that should SCREAM "this is obvious not real".

Why would anyone need to advertise such a good deal halfway across the country from where the item is, when if it were real, they could drive it to nearest used car lot and sell it for more in 5 minutes?

Why would anyone offering such a good deal ALSO offer to lose even more money by spending $1000 or more to ship it "for free"?

Why would allow a stranger to take possession of it and use it for x number of days, and then offer to pay return shipping if the buyer wasn't satisfied?

Why would any rational person want to be paid for a big-ticket item via gift cards?

Why would someone advertise something on CL or Autotrader (etc) and then suggest doing the transaction through Ebay (when in reality, Ebay does no such thing)- Why not just advertise it on Ebay if they were really selling it, where they would get national coverage, and the vehicle would go for market value?

I agree with Legitimate_Bidder; I've known immigrants who can barely speak English; people who are not too bright; people who are not savvy; inexperienced kids, etc. etc. and none of them fall for such scams. They look at them and laugh.

There's just no helping the kind of people who would fall for such nonsense. If they don't lose their money to that particular scam, they will lose it to another. As another poster said, one recently even came here after already having lost a few grand on such a scam, and was about to partake of another with the exact same M.O.

People come here having fallen for these scams, and then ask "How do I get my money back?" -Hmmm, should've asked that before sending money to a complete stranger over the internet for a too-good-to-be-true deal which they paid for via a method that offers no security.....

[atikovi]

Who this Legitimate_Bidder you speak of?

[mr.elmwood]

A mythical creature that wanders the roads of new Jersey dispensing bonbons to the under privileged.

Kind of a Robin Hood meets the Red Riding Hood wolf.

[ujokinme]

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@atikovi wrote:

Who this Legitimate_Bidder you speak of?

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You need to ask? Isn't it quite obvious that they are the same person?

[atikovi]

You joking me? DUH!

[vanman1029]

On a serious note, a guy in NJ responded to a Craigslist ad for a 4x4 Jeep at a very cheap price. The buyer contacted the seller and they agreed to meet in the NJ pine barrens so the buyer could check the Jeep's off road capabilities. The buyer pulls up, gets out of his car and is immediately clonked over the head by someone who snuck up behind him. Buyer wakes up, his car is gone, the Jeep is gone, his cell phone is gone and so is the cash he was going to purchase the Jeep with. It took him an hour to walk out of the pines to report the theft. The cops said he was lucky to wake up at all.

[nunabr0]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:
A mythical creature that wanders the roads of new Jersey dispensing bonbons to the under privileged.

Kind of a Robin Hood meets the Red Riding Hood wolf.

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I consider myself more of a merry man. [Said with an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality!]

You mean, there's another person in the world like me?! 😮 That'd be like you having a 'Murcan equivalent who lives on a mountain in TN. and doesn't believe in brakes!