IMPORTANT: EBAY Scam you need to know about.

[buldozr]

My brother called me the other day telling me he was a victim of an ebay scam. He tells me the story, he sees an rx7 on ebay with a buy it now price of $7k.

He contacts the seller for more pictures, gets the pictures, contacts the seller back stating that he would like to purchase the vehicle.

The catch is that the vehicle is overseas. When my brother asked why, seller said he is in the US navy and was stationed out in Portugal(my brother sympathised due to being in the US airforce).

Seller stated he can have the military ship it back no charge to the states(which is a true scenario, if a vehicle is shipped overseas by the service, they have to bring it back).

So my brother thought good deal, He sent me a picture of the car and asked me my opinion, I told him it looked like a scam but he kept reassuring me it wasn't, he told me that ebay sent him an e-mail stating that everything is protected and the seller wont receive the funds until it is signed off and then had the sellers escrow account info on the bottom(the scammer copied and pasted ebays terms page and made it look official).

I glanced at the e-mail and it looked legit to me although I was very sceptical, I noticed one of the pictures of the nitrous tank looked like it was an advertisement shot with a back drop, I told my bro and he just shrugged his shoulders.

Anyhow, he transferred the funds over and waited for the car. 15 days later(the day came to release funds in the account) he tried to contact the seller, no response, he called the bank and they stated the funds were transferred already.

He contacted ebay to find out what was going on and why funds were transferred, they didn't know what was going of course.

He tried to get info on the seller from ebay, ebay would not let him have the sellers personal info(will most likely have to get subpoena or something).

Anywho, what I know is the guys personal e-mail, its a GMAIL service so it will be a pain to get his IP, the escrow account is an escrow service that is known for scammers and is probably facilitating the bastards.

I have plenty of Network friends that would be willing to help me find this asshat, I just need my bro to follow through the steps to get that IP address from either Ebay or Gmail.

I told him already to go to the police station to make a formal statement and to also talk to his C.O. on base to see if the military can do anything about it (possibly bomb the shit out of a country hunting for one man, they did it before didn't they?)

Cliff notes: If the car looks like it is worth 20k and seller asking 7k, don't do it, car or product or even buyer (if selling) is overseas, don't buy/sell it.

Wants to pay with money order, make sure that money order is legit before sending product. Please learn from my brothers mistakes so douche bags like that don't make money off of another hardworking idiot(like my bro). :nono:

<edit IJ>

 

[MDCmotorsports]

Well duh.

Had a guy pull this on me with a supra. When I asked him where he was stationed, he told me a naval base in San Fransisco.

So I googled it.

Its been out of commission since the mid 80's.

I never heard from the guy again. Needless to say I never gave him any of my money.

 

[buldozr]

It could have been worst, I read a story about a guy that went to buy a 44k porsche, same scenario, same scheme, just more money lost. He never saw a dime of his 44k or that porsche.

 

[KeithH]

Hey... I've got a stack of gold bricks I'm trying to sell. They're just taking up space in my guest room. I'll let them go for half of what they're worth just so I don't have to hassle with them. I'll even ship them for free.

Not to sound mean but have to agree with MDC
DUH!

 

[Justin727]

yea i've seen the Rx7 as well on craigslist

 

[Mr. Sinister]

Hey... I've got a stack of gold bricks I'm trying to sell. They're just taking up space in my guest room. I'll let them go for half of what they're worth just so I don't have to hassle with them. I'll even ship them for free.

Sold! But my company can only send you a cashier's check for $14K over the total amount, so you'll have to send me a check for the difference.

 

[figgie]

Seller stated he can have the military ship it back no charge to the states(which is a true scenario, if a vehicle is shipped overseas by the service, they have to bring it back).

Well hind sight is twenty twenty but this statement is INCORRECT. Only way that the MILITARY is going to foot the bill is if the assignment has changed elsewhere. TDY does not count. Has to be a permanent change of assignment.

 

[HommerSimpson]

I could use some gold bricks....I need a path to OZ

 

[KeithH]

Sold! But my company can only send you a cashier's check for $14K over the total amount, so you'll have to send me a check for the difference.

WOOHOO! My wife will be so happy. Sent me your bank's routing information so I can expedite your $14K after your cashier's check is received.

I'll calculate your total tonight. We can use a third party escrow account to make sure that you are satisfied with the transaction.

 

[dugums]

You are not going to stumble upon an unbelievable deal on ebay - there are just too many people looking to make that possible.

As long as you approach your purchases with caution and common sense, there is no way for anybody to get caught up in this type of scam.

There are special circumstances that sometimes make for incredible deals, but these opportunities are few and far between. I bought a Volvo in this type of circumstance. At first I was very skeptical, there was a guy advertising a Volvo for roughly 50% of what it was actually worth.

I carfaxed it and looked up the owner records (I happened to work for Volvo at the time) - and then called him. Everything seemed to jive, all his information matched, etc. His story was that he was a Canadian citizen and his company had transferred him back to Canada. Importing the car back into Canada was prohibitively expensive, so he was instructed to sell the car as quickly as possible and his company would purchase him a replacement when he got to Canada.

I was skeptical (as you always should be) and inquired about how he wanted to handle the transfer of money. He said I could wire the money and he would ship me the vehicle. I told him that was not going to be acceptable for me. Because the vehicle was so cheap, I decided I would spend the money on a plane ticket and go check it out.

I flew down the next day (without cash) and inspected the car for damage (and to make sure it existed). The guy was very nice, and we headed to my bank. I transferred him the money, he gave me the title, I dropped the car off at the shipper and hopped a plane back home.

There are some common-sense things you can do to protect yourself (i.e. not letting somebody have your money until you get what you bought). But you are always risking losing your money when pursuing a too-good-to-be-true deal. At least by taking some preventative measures I ensured that the most I would lose in the deal was the price of the plane ticket.

It's OK to be cheap - just be sure everything passes the smell test, and be responsible for your own money.

 

[suprageezer]

Sorry to hear your brother was taken advantage of, Azoles tend ruin anything in life they touch. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is a duck. I see the 5-6K MK4 Supras on Craigslist everyday I flag them all. I have received a thanks from Craig’s cause who ever answers their emails also knows there is no such thing as a 5-6K MK4

 

[shaeff]

That sucks, but he should have listened to you.

That being said, I edited your first post and broke it up into paragraphs to make it easier to read.

 

[IJ.]

Shaeff: Ummm I'd already done it and spell checked it

 

[buldozr]

Shaeff: Ummm I'd already done it and spell checked it

I guess I could have done that before I posted... I will spell check this one twice to make up for that last one. I don't mean to sound like I need to defend my bro, hes an idiot. He should have listened, but I hate thieves, their below maggots in my book. Just wanted to post this to inform the public that if its too good to be true, it is. Buyer Beware. Also, this is not a new scam, this type of scam has been going on for years on ebay. Just be aware.

 

[supradan22]

Shaeff: Ummm I'd already done it and spell checked it

And this is the reason why I love supramania so much, Helping me pass English class since 05.

If you examine one of my early post in 05 you can actually tell a difference.


Hooked on supramania worked for me:crazy1:

 

[Ckanderson]

please be very warry of ANY vehicle you purchase.

I had a guy try to scam me last night on an 03 r1.

the name on the title didnt match his name. He had bought the bike but never registered it, and now was trying to sell it to me.

walked away from that one.

 

[montego6500]

it happened to me to. i found a golf r32 a car that retainls for 30,000 for 1900 on craigs list. so i bit it was a gmail account and she sent me what i thought was a legit ebay page but links didnt work and only would take money gram. so after talkin to ebay help and insisting i pay through paypal i never heard from them again and no emails where returned after that.

 

[MassSupra89]

The catch is that the vehicle is overseas.

And that's where you stop.

 

[montego6500]

mine was listed in milwaukee but they said it was in san diego total scammer

 

[buldozr]

And that's where you stop.

exactly, anyone tries to use an escrow account, walk away, wants to use a money order (to use as payment either buying or selling), it could be a fake money order, you just never know, overseas is a dead f'ing giveaway, just walk away from it. It was a $7k dollar mistake, let it be a lesson for him(he will have to pay on it for the next 5 years, every month will be a slap in the face). :3d_frown: