I found an ad for a 2001 Toyota Tacoma for $1,500 on the Let It Go app. The ad requested to contact the seller by email. I sent an email and got the following response:
"Hi, I have received your email regarding the 2001 Toyota Tacoma has only 121,000 miles ,3.4L V6 .engine. The car is in perfect condition with clear title, no accidents, no liens or loans and it has just been completely serviced. The engine runs very good and the automatic transmission shifts perfectly. The price for the car is $1,500 (including delivery and handling to your address). I'm selling this car because my child of only 26 years died 2 months ago in a bike accident, the car belonged to my son and it brings me bad memories and that's the reason I want to sell it. Me and my husband travel a lot with our business and we want to make this deal through eBay Motors (Buyer Protection Program), so if you're interested in purchasing the car just reply me your full name, full address, phone number and email address so I can notify eBay. Once that is done, they will contact you in the next 12 hours to explain the entire procedure."
A couple things about the ad/email made me suspicious so I researched eBay's selling process. I responded to the email and said:
"I'm so sorry to hear about your son and co ole Troy understand why you'd want to sell it. I am definitely interested in the vehicle. I've never gone through eBay Motors before so I'm a little skeptical. Is there a listing for the vehicle on eBay that I can look at? Their sellers site says you have to register and create a listing to sell through eBay motors."
The response I got was even more suspicious:
"The car is located at eBay warehouse in Nebraska headquarters, in the container, sealed and ready for shipping. Also the price is low $1500 because i want a fast deal, the car belonged to my son and it brings me bad memories. Like i told, the car is in perfect condition with clear title, no liens or loans. All the documents including the title and the bill of sale with my signature on it, will come along with the car and it will take no more than 1-2 days to arrive at your address.The transaction will be made thru eBay Motors because they can protect both of us and they also offer 5 days inspection period. You'll have 5 days to inspect, test and drive the car before decided to keep it or not. If the vehicle is not like I described, you'll ship it back on my expense and they will give you a full refund. eBay will hold the funds until you receive the car with all the papers work. Only after you confirm them that you wanna keep the car they will release me the funds. In this way, you will be able to inspect the vehicle before committing to buy it.
If you want to start the transaction with eBay just reply me with your full name, full shipping address, your phone number and email address then they will contact you with further instructions."
At this point, I searched for the eBay warehouse she stated. eBay posts popped up immediately in the search indicating others had been scammed using these same type stores and cheap prices. I reported the ad on Let It Go.
Be careful folks!
