Is this one a scam?

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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:41 pm

Hey everyone. It's been a while since I've been on the board. (life in general taking waaay too much of my time Wink

). My daughter is looking to buy a used car off Craig's List, and something about the emails from the seller set off my alarms. Wanted to get some opinions from the pros on whether this seems like a scam or am I mis-reading it...

email my daughter got :

Subject:Fw: Re:

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

Date:Tue, Feb 3, 2015 at 6:36 AM
Subject:Re:

Please give me a little time to explain you the process of this transaction. As I told you in my first email, I divorced, I got a new job and moved to Omaha, Nebraska. Before leaving I had prearranged the deal with eBay so my presence isn't necessary. The car is located in Omaha, at the shipping company, ready to be delivered. The car will arrive at your address in 2-3 working days. The shipping cost is included in the total price of the car! You will have 5 days to test it and inspect it. If you intend to move ahead and conclude this transaction, please email me back with the following information: Your Full Name - Required by eBay (You'll receive important guidelines + instructions from them.) Your Shipping Address and Phone Number - Required by the Shipping company (They will call you with delivery/pickup instructions 1 day ahead so you can communicate what time schedule work best for your to receive the car). After I will have all this details I will forward them to eBay and I will proceed this transaction. eBay will contact you with all the details that you need to complete this deal and also to see that i am covered by them and that I am legit seller. Waiting your email with the requested details.

Thoughts?

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:44 pm

It's a scam. Ebay don't get involved in sales that aren't through their auction listing.

Never try to buy a car or handover any money, without physically viewing it first.

Something the mods dream up Joined: 22 Apr 2014 Posts: 905

Why are they selling through Craigslist and not through E-bay?

SCAM!

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:02 pm

^ What Goat Boy said. It's a fake Escrow scheme or similar. They tell you to pay via "ebay" then direct you to a fake site which tells you to pay money into a certain bank account. They tell you that they will deliver the car to you and then you can accept it or send it back for a full refund. Of course, they don't own the car, they won't deliver it and you never see the money again.

Drop all contact with the scammer and walk away from the whole thing. Of course you're very welcome to post the "seller's" information in Surplus or PM it to me for attention - We reported thousands of such bank accounts last year - literally, thousands - so taking this one down would be a pleasure.

If you're looking for a car, Ebay and in-person auctions can be very useful, but always, always make sure the vehicle exists before you pay for it!

Welcome to Eater. Cool

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:23 pm

In addition to the solid advice above; He used "transaction" three times, "shipping company" and "details" twice, and had to tell you he was a legit seller, all in one short email.

It's a lad. Laughing

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:31 pm

Lobo! Where you been? We never did get coffee yet.