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View Full Version : Help please.. Transaction for car sounds fishy



Slevinn
10-22-2008, 05:15 PM
So, my friend is looking at getting a BMW, and I found this one for him... but I dunno.. The way she wants to do things sounds fishy.



It's still available. If we reach an agreement, the car will be delivered directly to your address. It will be shipped by truck and it will take about 5-6 days to reach your location. The car along with all the necessary documents is located in New York, NY (ebay HQ) and is ready to be shipped for inspection/testdrive and/or to be bought. Everything has been paid for (inspections, crating, shipping, staff, insurance, etc.) so you won't have to pay for anything else than the car.

To speed up the process, I'm telling you in advance that for handling payment, we should use eBay's security for such transactions. The transaction will be strictly under eBay's surveillance, providing us both with the security and confidence that nothing will go wrong. They will be the 3rd objective party involved in the transaction. This way you will actually pay for the car after you receive and test drive it, because eBay will hold the funds in an escrow account and will only release it after you accept and confirm delivery. After the car is delivered to your address, you will have 5 days to for inspection and test drive. Within this period you have to decide if you purchase it or not.

If you decide to take it you will have to contact eBay and let them know, so they can release the payment to me. If, by any chance, you won't like it, the car will be shipped back to me and eBay will refund you. The shipping back will be done on my own expense, but I am sure this will not be the case since the car is simply in excellent non-smoking condition inside and out.

To start the transaction with eBay, I will need the following details in order:
Full name:
Address:
Phone number:

All the best,
Jessica.
The price for the car is really good... She said that she is getting rid of it because the car was in her name, and she just recently got divorced, so she got to keep it, and she doesn't want it.

Opinions?

Snork
10-22-2008, 05:16 PM
It's 100% a scam.

Slevinn
10-22-2008, 05:25 PM
Can you elaborate for me?

Fleksta
10-22-2008, 05:27 PM
It's 100% a scam.

+1

No way that is legit.

theshadow92
10-22-2008, 05:27 PM
Does it happen to be an E46 M3?

Freddy B
10-22-2008, 05:29 PM
scam...alert local authorities to check into it

325bob
10-22-2008, 05:31 PM
That payment speech sounds like every Ebay Bimmer thats priced well under market! Ask Ebay about it.

Slevinn
10-22-2008, 05:36 PM
Does it happen to be an E46 M3?
No, I do not believe so.

scam...alert local authorities to check into it
Hrm.. What would I have them check into exactly?


That payment speech sounds like every Ebay Bimmer thats priced well under market! Ask Ebay about it.

Sorry, don't quite understand this.. Are you saying its common, or completely BS?

security6
10-22-2008, 05:40 PM
Definitely a scam. If your friend wants to throw away his money, just tell him to send it to me.

Ebay headquarters aren't in NY, they're in San Jose, CA. See here: http://pages.ebay.com/aboutebay/contact.html

Slevinn
10-22-2008, 05:43 PM
Yeah, I figured it sounded too good to be true. How exactly would I report this to authorities? What would I need to do or provide?

PixMan
10-22-2008, 05:49 PM
Just like the scammers from Craigslist, I've seen hundreds of those ads. And just for kicks, I reply wanting to buy it, and always get a similar response.

So I tell them "Gee, I'm going to be in that city/town this week. Tell me where I can see it." Oddly, the e-mails stop.

TopasBlau46
10-22-2008, 06:18 PM
I had one of these scams happen to me a week or two ago, just search for the thread. It's a SCAM.

HiTheNameIsBj
10-22-2008, 07:11 PM
ebay does not secure transactions, my brother almost got hit by one of these buying an r1. It turned out to be someone working for ebay. scam.

5050punk
10-22-2008, 07:23 PM
This definitely appears to be a scam. The only thing that makes it look slightly legit is that she actually uses proper grammar and spelling. Usually these are written by someone who obviously barely knows how to speak English.

MIMI1
10-22-2008, 07:24 PM
fail at scam

dont do it

I hump my M3
10-22-2008, 10:12 PM
Does it happen to be an E46 M3?

lol yeah that Silver one with the black tint and 30000 worth of mods being sold for 9900!! super escrow deal. Ask to actually see the car and listen to them plead for money before you even do that :rofl:.

thatsamare321
10-22-2008, 11:03 PM
craigslist anyone?

kapitaljin
10-23-2008, 12:07 AM
lol, craigslist also has a bunch of these too. I was fortunate enough and RIGHT at the time I had the money to buy a 540i, a local posted it up and went over and had a smooth transaction. Cute owner too.... however, the curb rashes on the rims explains a lot...

Snork
10-23-2008, 01:19 AM
Out of all the 3000 dollar e46s on sale, THIS one happens to be fake! What are the odds, eh.

DrewDude320i
10-23-2008, 02:43 AM
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/3692/scamtj4.jpg

weenstan
10-23-2008, 03:18 AM
Lol.

MSex
10-23-2008, 09:20 AM
Best way to flesh out an Internet scam (here in the U.S.) is to offer to show up locally.

Don't get me wrong- I've heard of people who have showed up and gotten robbed/carjacked/killed.... but generally, the scammers will stop even talking to you when you tell them you want to transact business in person, just as Pixman says.

Gatsby740il
10-23-2008, 11:48 AM
It's 100% a scam.


ebay does not secure transactions, my brother almost got hit by one of these buying an r1. It turned out to be someone working for ebay. scam.


I was going to say the same thing about eBay securing funds in escrow. Doesn't happen.

I stick to the Good 'Ole Saying, "If It Sounds Too Good To Be True..."

I would stay FAR AWAY from this one if I was you, Slevinn. And by the way... DO NOT send any of your personal information. With your confirmed address, full name, email addy (If you've been in touch via email)... that person might be able to swing their way into your PayPal or eBay account by claiming they lost the password.

Good Luck.

-Gatsby :cool

montaillou
10-23-2008, 06:24 PM
Ebay doesn't offer escrow. I have used Escrow.com in the past, and they are also recommended by Ebay (though since they bought PayPal, you can't hardly find mention of them). Offer to use an escrow company YOU found, not one they recommend. They might even go along with the escrow company you find for a while, and then come up with some lame excuse why they can't work with this company. If they are a scammer, at some point they will give up when they see they can't scam the escrow company.

Scammers will try to get you to use their escrow company, don't do it.

Slevinn
10-23-2008, 08:48 PM
I was going to say the same thing about eBay securing funds in escrow. Doesn't happen.

I stick to the Good 'Ole Saying, "If It Sounds Too Good To Be True..."

I would stay FAR AWAY from this one if I was you, Slevinn. And by the way... DO NOT send any of your personal information. With your confirmed address, full name, email addy (If you've been in touch via email)... that person might be able to swing their way into your PayPal or eBay account by claiming they lost the password.

Good Luck.

-Gatsby :cool

Don't worry, I am not a stupid person when it comes to this stuff... If I get any type of email from ANY place I do business with (ebay, paypal, bank website, etc) I first type the website in directly and see if the same message is in that website.. If not, I delete the email.

Thanks for all of the advice, guys. Not gettin' scammed anytime soon.