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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

I contacted a car seller from an online ad for a 1968 plymouth fury. They are offering a great deal on the car. 

 

The first response didn't give any indication that the seller and the car were not in the same state. She simply stated the car was in good running order and invited us to visit her city (a few hours away). 

 

We replied that we are very interested and wanted to set up a visit to see the car. She again replied the third time stating she was actually in another state, in the hospital, and asked us to purchase the car through ebay motors. Here's her last email: 

 

Because i am not in the area anymore to close the deal face to face we can close the transaction thru eBay Motors, because they offer 5 days inspection period. You'll have 5 days to inspect, test and drive the car before deciding to keep it or not. If the vehicle is not like I described, a trailer will take the car back on my expense and you will get a full refund. eBay Motors will keep safe the funds until you receive the car with the title.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 moved forward trough eBay Motors, i will need your full name and the shipping address and eBay will contact you with all terms of our transaction and the payment instructions.   

Best Regards"

 

I'm thinking its a scam and getting red flags. My husband, on the other hand, really wants this car and is hoping it is legit.  I'm very skeptical after years of law enforcement. So...I could be overreacting. Any feedback would be appreciated. 

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Dr. said to exercise and eat the right foods. I thought he said: Accessorize and buy nice shoes!
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

It's a classic and common scam. You are going to get ripped off if you participate in this.

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Message 2 of 19
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18 REPLIES 18

iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

It's a classic and common scam. You are going to get ripped off if you participate in this.

Message 2 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Well...shoot. He's so excited about this car. That makes me sad. 

 

Does Ebay protect against this type of stuff? Meaning, I know if I buy a fake purse or shoe or whatever, I can file a claim and get my funds back. Anything at all with Ebaymotors? 

 

Also, can I report this person to Ebay somehow? 

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Dr. said to exercise and eat the right foods. I thought he said: Accessorize and buy nice shoes!
Message 3 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Ebay doesn't have anything to do with this. The scammer is using the good reputation of ebay to try to fool people. There is nothing ebay can do to make this stop. It is successful because people are hoping to get an unbelievably good price on a car, so the gullible will lose their money on a scam like this.

Message 4 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Ebay doesn't broker deals. The e-mail you will get from "ebay" will actually be from your scammer with a link for you to pay. Then poof your money is gone. Nothing went through ebay, so no protection from ebay.

It's only guaranteed by ebay if you find it listed on ebay and purchase it through ebay.

Message 5 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

It is a fake ad on a third party site that has nothing to do with eBay.

"Dear eBay: Someone, I do not know who, has a fake ad, for a car they do not have, on another web site, that has nothing to do with you. What are you going to do about it?"

 

Really?

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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

http://pages.motors.ebay.com/buy/security/index.html


This is a user to user board not eBay employees.
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When people show you who they are, believe them
Message 7 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Thanks for the insight. It makes sense to me. I appreciate you! 

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Dr. said to exercise and eat the right foods. I thought he said: Accessorize and buy nice shoes!
Message 8 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Glad to help. I don't like to see people lose their money.

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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Thanks misfit run for the info. I'll look into it. With my background in law enforcment, we took reports on anything anyone wanted to share. Official action, of course, was only taken on legit crimes. But we kept all other info to reference for future. 

 

I don't see how sharing this scammers email and other info, would hurt anything. 🙂 

I am also contacting the car owner I think they stole the pics from.  Thanks again for being helpful! I appreciate you! 

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Dr. said to exercise and eat the right foods. I thought he said: Accessorize and buy nice shoes!
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Thanks again, you certainly helped us. Maybe more by the time we're done. 🙂 

 

Have a great week! 

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Dr. said to exercise and eat the right foods. I thought he said: Accessorize and buy nice shoes!
Message 11 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Why does it say to update your account to enable 3rd party hosting? Why should I do that and what is 3rd party hosting in the first place?

Message 12 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Yes, really. Since she/he said they were going to direct us to the Ebay to buy the car, it seemed they were going to build a listing on Ebay. I had not yet been made aware they would likely provide a link to a fake ebay. Make sense? 

 

So....as a general question. When someone buys a car from a legit Ebay Motors listing, what kind of protection does the buyer have? Is it the same as regular Ebay? 

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Dr. said to exercise and eat the right foods. I thought he said: Accessorize and buy nice shoes!
Message 13 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

Need to use a little common sense here. Why would they create an Ebay listing, and thus, incurr listing and sale fees, if you're already going to buy it? No protection for buyer unless you have the car inspected first, and even then, if over 10 years old, nothing at all except perhaps the title.

Message 14 of 19
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iS THIS HOW IT WORKS OR SCAM?

PLEASE run away from this. on this board we see folks who have been taken in by this common scam. its is so sad to see people being relieved of their hard earned money at the hands of these scammers. you handled this correctly by coming to this board for advice, now distance yourself from this thief ASAP.....GOOD LUCK!!!

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