Craigslist SCAM.

I have been looking for a nice used car for my wife. With a step into stupidity i decided to look on Craigslist.

This is what i found:

2004 mitsubishi galant LS 3,8L v6 FI sohc 24V automatic trans. with 42k(carfax present) original miles, runs and drives excellent.

The red flags went up, especially after this:

I have dropped my price to $2649(purchase price) since this is an urgent sale and I need to sell it before 5 of March when I will be deployed in Afghanistan with my platoon replacing the troops scheduled to come home.

Yeah right.
The BlueBook on it is $7,988 in excellent condition.
Here is a pic of the car he sent me:


Here is the whole e-mail from him:

Hello,

thank you for your interest in buying my car. My 2004 mitsubishi galant LS 3,8L v6 FI sohc 24V automatic trans. with 42k(carfax present) original miles, runs and drives excellent. this car has been extremely well maintained with a full service history. it's in perfect condition without any mechanical problems, with no damages or hidden defects, no need for additional repairs, clear title without any accidents.

I have all the car's manuals, all the documents and papers (i'm the second owner-first owner from FL).
I have dropped my price to $2649(purchase price) since this is an urgent sale and I need to sell it before 5 of March when I will be deployed in Afghanistan with my platoon replacing the troops scheduled to come home.

To conclude this deal in a timely manner, the financial part will be managed by eBay . they are acting like a third party in our deal,which means that you will have 10 days inspection period before committing to buy the vehicle. In this way both, buyer and seller are 100% covered during the steps of this transaction.If you're interested to conclude this purchase in a timely manner email me your Full Name, Home Address and Phone Number to open a case with eBay and they will contact you(email and phone) to explain the entire procedure.

click on the link below for pictures and info with my car: 2004mitsubishi-galant.page.tl...

My best wishes and I'm waiting your response.

John Lawrence

I dont know, i had a gut feeling,so i decided to do some research, and this is what i came up with:

Beware The Craigslist Ebay Motors Escrow Scam

The famous Craigslist (or any other source) Ebay Motors escrow scam is still going strong. I am still getting many search engine hits from it, and even after two years, it remains my single most popular post .

In short, it works like this:

You answer an ad which has a car for sale that seems "too good of a deal to pass up" or perhaps too good to be true.
The seller says the car is in storage, and will be shipped to you. The stories vary, lately the most common one is that a military guy has to sell his car because he is shipping out, and he has to due it long distance.
The seller demands that you send Western Union or a similar non-traceable payment to an "Ebay Motors Agent", using the Ebay Motors Protection Program. They even send you an official looking email.
If you make the mistake of sending money, you are hosed. There is no Ebay Motors Vehicle Protection program. There are no agents, and Ebay does not use Western Union.
Remember:

Never pay anyone for goods using Western Union, it is probably a scam
There is no Ebay Motors Vehicle Protection escrow program
Ebay Motors does not use agents
Ebay does not accept Moneygram or Western Union payments directly
If the story seems fishy (vehicle in storage, guy overseas) it probably is fake

From this link:
theautoprophet.blogspot.com...

Like they say, "if it sounds to good to be true, it most likely is".
Anyone else ever had someone try this on them?

reply to post by SKinLaB


Ummmmm-what exactly does this have to do with "Secret Societies"?
Am I missing something?

IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - THEN IT PROBABLY IS!!!!!!!
Also beware of listings that are Not Local and do not include a ph #.

Great job with the research and avoiding a scam. I know that if it is to good to be true, etc., but I might not have suspected what you found. S&F. For me, after the whole rapist/killer thing on Craigslist I would not ever look for anything on there, period.

Originally posted by Skippy1138
reply to post by SKinLaB

 

Ummmmm-what exactly does this have to do with "Secret Societies"?

Am I missing something?

Oh damn!!!!!!!!! I just realized that. Man did i press the wrong button! Thanks for letting me know.

I was recently helping my wife's friend find a decent used car and encountered the same scams. I emailed one guy just to see how the scam worked and I got the military deployment story with the eBay guarantee. These cars were advertised as local, so the big red flag for me was that all the pictures of the cars showed sunny skies, green leaves and no snow. Here in Rhode Island we've been buried in snow for over a month.

There are similar scams on eBay. They'll show a fully restored '57 Chevy with a "Buy it Now" price of $7,500. These listings usually get pulled pretty quickly.

You did not have to do any research to get this information....

Craigslist lays it out for you right when you go into the cars + trucks section.

Direct from the site.

How to recognize a vehicle scam attempt on CL:

Shipping a vehicle to you is suggested by seller

eBay Motors or another intermediary is specified by seller # Payment by Western Union or a money wire is requested

Price is unusually low (fraction of blue book value) If you see these tell-tale signs, flag ad as "prohibited" and avoid Offers to ship a vehicle are virtually 100% fraudulent

eBay has no involvment in craigslist for sale ads, and any eBay or similar emails or web pages you receive are fake

Never use Western Union or wire transfer to pay for goods - only a scammer will ask for this, and any funds sent will be lost

Do not buy vehicles site-unseen, regardless of low price. The vehicle does not exist, and any money you send will be lost.

Stories about divorcees or departing servicemen needing to sell quickly at a low price are generally fraudulent

If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

a classic 419 scammer

ever heard of 419 scambaiting it's quite rewarding in a sweet sweet revenge sort of way.

peace

good one had a scammer today also it was for a 2000 toyota 4 runner perfect condition but this was a lady that her son died in iraq a few months ago read here

"Hello,
My name is Thornhill Emily . Thanks for being interested in buying my 2000 TOYOTA 4RUNNER LIMITED 4WD . The car is in perfect condition , with no need for additional repairs, no scratches, dings, special marks whatsoever, never been involved in any accidents . It has 51499 miles , automatic transmission , 6 Cylinder 3.4 Liter engine size , Silver exterior . I have a clear and clean title for it , no liens or loans ready to be signed and notarized on your name ... The price is $1,800.00 if you want to buy it today or tomorrow.
I'm selling my son's car , who died in Iraq two months ago and I want to get rid of it asap because the sight of it makes me think of him often and often and the pain is too great . Put yourself in my shoes and you'll do the same (selling the car of your dead son, no offense)
"
"can provide VIN # to check on your own, also I can send you more details too . Just let me know if you are still interested and where are you located .
Thank you,
Emily"

Here comes the scam

"Hello again,
I`m located in Great Falls,MT (the suv is here with me) right now because i got a new job here,the thing is i`m very busy and i don`t have time to stay and meet with all my potential buyers, that is why i gave to a shipping company that will ship it to the next owner(on my cost). I will make the deal only to eBay. I am a member of the eBay buyer protection program and using this service you will get a 10 days testing period after delivery. During that 10 days testing period I will not be getting any money. I need to know if you are interested in buying it so I can ask eBay to send you the details on how this works. If interested please include in your next email your contact info for eBay ( full name, full address ) so we can get things started.
Thanks and have a great day ! "

continues for a laugh
Hi. I can't purchase a vehicle that I can't see or drive first. I am sure for the price that you're asking, you can sell fairly quickly. Thanks for your time

scammers last reply this is happening as i type this

Hi,
I told you before that i`m very busy right now...i just got this new job so i can afford to loose it,i hope you understand.So let`s make it through eBay to skip all that hassle,all you have to do is to send me your full name and address so eBay can complete the invoice onto your name and send it to you by email.Don`t worry in case you won`t like this transaction you can cancel it whenever you want and you will be charged with nothing

I emailed him the SCAM paper and he has not responded back. I pretty much expected he wouldn't.
Craigslist was pretty cool and a good idea back some years ago. Things got so crazy with scams, prostitution, and just straight up shady business. The site owners let it go to crap. They dont monitor anything. I wont be going back to that site.