Possible scam?

Richard

Richard

Final Approach
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
9,076
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West Coast Resistance
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Ack...city life
I have contacted a private person looking to sell a truck. I would be the buyer. I found the truck advertised on local Craigslist. Does this looks like a scam? Can Ebay escrow be used for non-Ebay listings? Below is e-mail I received from him.


"The transaction will be fully under eBay’s surveillance, giving us both security and insurance since they offer the highest rate of safety and reliability during online transactions.
They act as a neutral third party. Look how this works: I will contact eBay and give all the info about this deal.
They will email us the forms which are needed for our deal(invoice, payment instructions, buyer’s and seller’s protection policy).
You will send the money to eBay and they will notify me to ship the vehicle (on my expense) to your location.
After you will inspect the vehicle and decide to keep it, eBay will forward the funds to me once you have approved them to do so.
They will hold and insure your money until you will receive and test the vehicle. I need your name , shipping address and cell #
so I can reserve the vehicle for you and register the transaction with
eBay and they will contact you with all the instructions step by step on how to complete the transaction."
 
If it's not a scam, it's stupid. Sounds scammy to me, but I don't know for sure.
 
Definite tingling of the spidey sense. There may not be enough facts in current evidence about the truck itself. But if it is just your average truck, my dos centavos is to tell the seller thank you and move on to the next truck.
 
If you still wanted to do an escrow transaction, it would be dirt simple to set up an account with YOUR Banker and provide the seller with a bank document showing the amount of funds available. But at all times, you are in control of the money, not the sellers agent.
 
Here's a better deal. I will work with this guy, and insure that it all works out cleanly. So - just send the money to me, and sit back and relax while I take care of everything. Send the money via Western Union care of Doc, collecting at any Western union in the world, and use "scam123" as the keyword.

Trust me, I won't let you down, send the money today, you are totally secured in this transaction and I can take that to the bank.
 
Doc, so that's how you can afford that palace in Lagos.
 
Guarenteed scam.

Since it is a local ad, tell them you will show up with cash- No escrow needed. They will have some ridiculous reason why a face-to-face cash transaction will not work.

If, for some reason the truck is not in the local area, ask where it is. Surprise! You have a cousin/friend/old roommate/yada, yada that is right around the corner, and can physically inspect the truck, and hand them cash.

There will be another reason that won't work.

What they want is for you to deposit the money, using a phoney ebay link that they provide.

Poof! Your money is gone, and there is no truck.
 
Put out the money, then he says he will ship it to you for your inspection, run far and fast.
 
BIG TIME SCAM !!!
A friend of mine fell for this about a year ago trying to buy a 182. He deposited the money into what he thought was a legit ebay escrow, rented a car and drove from so cal to san francisco only to realize there was no plane:frown2:
He was so upset/embarrassed he actually hired a PI to track down the @ssholes. Turned out to be someone in russia i think and there was absolutely nothing that could be done at that point.
 
Go on EBay and check out any listings they may have on the seller,looks a little scammy to me,but you never know.
 
Folks, anything that seems to good to be true, is usually too good to be true! :mad2:
These are common scams, use a popular item, cars, trucks, airplanes even old Broncos at a price about 50-60% of retail and attach "a can't lose because it's escrowed" clause and offer shipping.
They prey on folks wanting to steal a deal, it's been going on for decades. I had a customer that was buying "factory demo" Porsches at 50% of sticker price, and they would ship them from Texas for FREE!! This was in the late 90's, same scam, just cashiers checks instead of escrow accounts. Never did see his Porsche. :dunno:
 
Non Compos Mentis said:
Guarenteed scam.

Since it is a local ad, tell them you will show up with cash- No escrow needed. They will have some ridiculous reason why a face-to-face cash transaction will not work.

If, for some reason the truck is not in the local area, ask where it is. Surprise! You have a cousin/friend/old roommate/yada, yada that is right around the corner, and can physically inspect the truck, and hand them cash.

There will be another reason that won't work.

What they want is for you to deposit the money, using a phoney ebay link that they provide.

Poof! Your money is gone, and there is no truck.
Click to expand...
That's exactly how the transaction was going to go for a tractor I was looking at buying except the scammer wanted to use Google Bank (I think that's what it is called).
When she said I couldn't examine the tractor because it had already been processed for shipment, I started having fun with with the emails.
Back away, far away.
 
Ebay specifically warns you about scam escrow houses. This scam has been around forever on ebay. The only one they endorse is ESCROW.COM (in the US). Almost every other one offered is a scam even if it appears to have an impressive name.
 
I did receive ebay FPS Order Summary which also contains Invoice number. I'm still deciding if I want to play with the 'seller'.
 
Richard said:
I did receive ebay FPS Order Summary which also contains Invoice number. I'm still deciding if I want to play with the 'seller'.
Click to expand...

Still no guarantee that the email truly came from Ebay. Many ways they can make things shows from a legitimate source but not be really from there.
 
A simple check will reveal that eBay does not do escrow any longer. . . . except for eBay items. So yes, unless its on eBay it is a scam. Will likely use a website that is not ebay or use DNS server number like 10.0.0.22 or something like that will return a clone of the ebay website.

Why not play along and ask for the escrow website - then report the person to the local bunco department . . . its the only way to stop this stuff. . . . or at least slow it down.

The thing is on Craigslist you said - where does it get a eBay item number???

Its all too easy . . . yes it is a scam.
 
POST THE LINK THEY SENT YOU HERE! I want play with it for a while, deconstruct it - etc.

The obvious scams are when they send links embedded in photos - mostly people see the logo and fall for it -

or the send a link that has embedded text so it says www.ebay.com/paypal/escrow.html but the real link takes you: ebark.uint.ru/ebay.shtml
 
Flymeariver said:
Still no guarantee that the email truly came from Ebay. Many ways they can make things shows from a legitimate source but not be really from there.
Click to expand...

That is why I only said I received it. I didn't say where it came from as I have not been able to verify that.
 
Seller had vehicle listed on CL local to SoCal. That is the ad I answered. Then seller says he is working of offshore oil rig and is unavailable. The vehicle is actually in storage in Las Vegas, NV. He says he is selling for a low price to deny spouse in divorce proceedings.
 
Richard said:
Seller had vehicle listed on CL local to SoCal. That is the ad I answered. Then seller says he is working of offshore oil rig and is unavailable. The vehicle is actually in storage in Las Vegas, NV. He says he is selling for a low price to deny spouse in divorce proceedings.
Click to expand...
hahahahaha


again

hahahahaha
 
comanchepilot said:
hahahahaha


again

hahahahaha
Click to expand...

IKR

The reason people get took is largely because they want to believe there is good in others. I think that is mostly them projecting. Innocence becomes a weakness to be exploited. I admit to not being too clever when it comes to this stuff. However, I've not lost any money in scams prolly cause I'm a cheap SOB. I have lost money by making loans to persons who turn out to sketchy people. I guess I have lost money to scams although only when dealing with a person on an individual level.
 
So Richard sent me the link they sent him - here is what I found:

This is the pick up address:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3890-Feldspar-Ave-Las-Vegas-NV-89120/2142236161_zpid/

and the document itself:

Lets go through the document:

The very first email: the FROM: Ebay - goes to:
[email protected]

The contact at the end: [email protected]

Why would eBay use a Gmail address?

Look at the Buyer Pays EBay - why would eBay use Moneypak? They own Paypal.

Money Pak - search ebay moneypak fraud -

see this article: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...ak-debit-cards

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...6114650AAh2Zai
 
There is never any reason for anyone to get scammed . . .

I think he should tell them he wants to pay cash, he has an free first class train ticket back to Las Vegas from Los Angeles since he works for Amtrak, and that he will pay then $250 more to drive the car to Los Angeles. He will meet them at Union Station . . . .


Scam them back.
 
In my most recent e-mail to the 'seller' I asked him to provide street adder of vehicle and said I will travel to that location to inspect the vehicle. I made sure to mention have cash several times. We'll see if he responds but I will be surprised if he does...unless he counters with alternate terms. In that case the game is on!
 
Richard said:
... Then seller says he is working of offshore oil rig and is unavailable. The vehicle is actually in storage .
Click to expand...

The two most common stories:

"I'm deployed in the Middle East and unavailable..."

"I'm working on an off-shore oil rig and unavailable...."
 
He did respond:

"Right now I`m in a oil platform in the gulf of mexico and I can't meet with you.This is the reason why I chose to sell it over the internet.
The vehicle is at the shipping company ready to be shipped."

To which I replied:

"Someone should have access to the vehicle. Can you arrange with that person so I may physically inspect the vehicle? Have cash, need vehicle."

I refrained from asking about his listed street address which is actually a vacant lot. I'll keep that card close to my chest.
 
Richard said:
I did receive ebay FPS Order Summary which also contains Invoice number. I'm still deciding if I want to play with the 'seller'.
Click to expand...

Ebay does not send such things. You're being scammed! STOP NOW!
 
This is one of my favorite story's about a successful scam baiter. Features Detective Sergeant's Michael Palin and Juan Trique Ponee.

It's a good read. Warning: Do not read while enjoying your coffee or other beverage. Otherwise I might owe a few of you some cleaning materials for your monitors and keyboards.

http://www.419eater.com/html/bigman.htm
 
The single most effective way to avoid phishing scams is to never, not ever, click on a link that someone sends you...ever.

So, for example, look at this link:

http://www.microsoft.com So, it's a link to Microsoft, right? Go ahead and click it (I promise, it's not dangerous!)

So, what you do is you create a link to http://www.bankofamerica.com and send it to your site that has exactly the same look-and-feel as the BoA website. They send you to a login page and voila, you give them your username and password! They just make the login prompt pop some "Server busy" error with a "Try again later", meanwhile they can log into your account and clean you out!

If you need to go to your bank account, type the address into your browser yourself.
 
I checked at Western Union today, and my money isn't there. I told you to put it in Western Union so I can handle this for you, and secure your vehicle. I will deliver the vehicle anywhere in the mainland US once I get your payment through Western Union. Trust me, I can take that to the bank, you need to get that money in right away.

Thank you, and have a nice day. Oh - this is not a scam. This is really for real. Really, really for real, I really mean it, and guarantee. You can reach me anytime at 1060 West Addison St. Chicago IL. Really
 
Bill Jennings said:
I had to stop reading after I saw the carving of the bust, our HR manager caught me doubling over in my chair!
Click to expand...

Oh it gets even better from there... Even includes a dead parrot.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I had to stop reading after I saw the carving of the bust, our HR manager caught me doubling over in my chair!
Click to expand...

I had tears in my eyes when I read that the first time, the guy that pulled it off has a ton of time and a great imagination!! :rofl:
 
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