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2004 Mini Cooper S for $7000

S

steverwrx

Junior Member
Friday I was surfing Ebay looking at Minis. I find a 2004 Mini Cooper S with 24k miles with a "buy it now" at $7000. In the auction listiing the seller asks for the buyer to be "pre-approved" or something and send him an e-mail before bidding. So I send him a note asking aout the car. He writes back a couple hours later that the car is in perfect condition, no dents, no dings,ect and he had surgury so he has to sell. Here is where it gets interesting: The terms are $3000 down, and he will ship the car at his expense from NY and the balance of $4000 will be due on arrival. Then I noticed the auction is no longer on Ebay. So I write back to him.. "if this is legit, why is the auction gone from Ebay"? I get four e-mails this morning about the "transaction". One from the guy with a link to about 50 more pictures of the car and that the transaction will be through "Ebay Square Trade" to protect us both. I get three official looking e-mails from "Ebay Sqaure Trade" backing up this guys story.

So I know this has to be fraud. Should I forward all the e-mails to Ebay fraud department or someone else? I also want to play along with the guy for awhile because it is fun in a evil way. Suggestions or advice? I apologise if this is the wrong forum.
 
How could we make the ebay seller part of a crime to get him into hot water.

Could you tell him you sent him a western union money gram and waste his time going to collect something that doesnt exist?
 
I need a car, and this guy from Italy was selling a 2005 Nissan maxima with 15k miles on it, for 6000. My god I wanted it so bad, but it was an obvious scam.

BTW hate to be the bringer of bad news but I?m pretty sure this is the wrong forum for eBay listing discussions.
 
I think that if you buy a car from EBAY then you deserve to get ripped off! By the way did I mention this thread is off-topic?
 
Originally posted by: dirtrat
I think that if you buy a car from EBAY then you deserve to get ripped off! By the way did I mention this thread is off-topic?
Click to expand...

What? Ebay is one of the largest online marketplace for cars... I think.
If you are saying all those buyers/sellers deserved to be ripped off you are a complete d!ck.

I know this thread is off topic, but toying with scammers is fun. I think they should be arrested and dumped in prison for a long time, but sadly they probably don't get harsh punishments at all...
 
Originally posted by: steverwrx
Friday I was surfing Ebay looking at Minis. I find a 2004 Mini Cooper S with 24k miles with a "buy it now" at $7000. In the auction listiing the seller asks for the buyer to be "pre-approved" or something and send him an e-mail before bidding. So I send him a note asking aout the car. He writes back a couple hours later that the car is in perfect condition, no dents, no dings,ect and he had surgury so he has to sell. Here is where it gets interesting: The terms are $3000 down, and he will ship the car at his expense from NY and the balance of $4000 will be due on arrival. Then I noticed the auction is no longer on Ebay. So I write back to him.. "if this is legit, why is the auction gone from Ebay"? I get four e-mails this morning about the "transaction". One from the guy with a link to about 50 more pictures of the car and that the transaction will be through "Ebay Square Trade" to protect us both. I get three official looking e-mails from "Ebay Sqaure Trade" backing up this guys story.

So I know this has to be fraud. Should I forward all the e-mails to Ebay fraud department or someone else? I also want to play along with the guy for awhile because it is fun in a evil way. Suggestions or advice? I apologise if this is the wrong forum.
Click to expand...


Are you one of the people who forward numerous alarming emails like "congress votes to tax e-mail" and the ilk? Get a clue, if it looks like a duck...its a friggin duck. At this point I am nearly out of sympathy for people that get ripped off.

 
Friend of mine from Jersey bought a truck through E-bay and it was a great legit transaction however the truck was in florida and the transport company was the scam. They put his truck into storage and he actually had to get a lawyer to get them to release it to a different transport company.

If you ever do have to do this. Call the phone number to service several times to make sure you get a person every time. They have a phone system that allows you 1-2 Times to get straight through. Which is enough to place you order/transaction. After that it will always go to an answering system.

I have also dealt with a few service companies that also have this phony phone system.
 
Originally posted by: Trikat
Originally posted by: dirtrat
I think that if you buy a car from EBAY then you deserve to get ripped off! By the way did I mention this thread is off-topic?
Click to expand...

What? Ebay is one of the largest online marketplace for cars... I think.
If you are saying all those buyers/sellers deserved to be ripped off you are a complete d!ck.

I know this thread is off topic, but toying with scammers is fun. I think they should be arrested and dumped in prison for a long time, but sadly they probably don't get harsh punishments at all...
Click to expand...

I'll say it. If you let your greed overpower your good sense, you deserve to get ripped off. What other way is there to learn? They obviously can;t learn through other people's mistakes...or a simple google search for "ebay scam square trade". A fool and his money...

 
THIS IS SCAM. Once you send the $3000, you will never hear from them again. My next door neighbor tried to sell his trailer about a month ago. In just 6 hours he hears from this guy in NY offering to buy his trailer. My neighbor os ecstatic. It is just that he wants it shipped to NY. So he offers an extra $3000 for the shipping and sends this cashiers check issued from some bank in France for the $3000. Now my neighbor is jumping silly with big money. My neighbor deposits the check and arranges for shipping with this shipper who was actually the scammer himself. So my neighbor goes ahead and Western Union's the money to the shipper? Only he pays $3000 from his account. 5 days later the bank calls him to tell him that it is a bogus cashiers check. The only thing that saved his sorry butt is that Western Union would not take his $3000 check. Homeland Security now requires that transfers of over $1000 be recorded and starightening this out took him a couple of days. He reported this scam, got the local police to talk to this scammer, etc. Do you know that this scammer still kept calling him daily for about a week to find out why he hadn't sent the money. Oh yeah, is anyone interesred in buying a camper trailer for $8000 plus shipping.
 
I experienced a similar situation to yours but it was on craigslist. There was a 2005 Ford F350 lariat crew cab diesel for $11K. Normally, this truck is worth about $30k - $35k. I emailed the seller, told him I was interested. Then he told me he was from Italy and needed money for his sick kid, give my name and address, $1k down and the rest after I get the vehicle, he will take care of the shipping, and use a third party escrow (forgot the name). Obviously this was a big scam.

So I tried to play him at his own game. I replied to him telling him that I would send him a check for $18K and told him under good will and trust, he would send the $7K to someone I owe because my bank charges me large fees for each transaction. Needless to say he stopped replying.
 
Sometimes, the deals are real. I got a 1969 F-250 in beautiful shape for $2850. I've since been chased down (literally) and offered up to $8k for the truck on numerous occasions. When buying anything on ebay (especially vehicles), I think that buyer rating and buyer history is very important to look at.
 
Originally posted by: Tommy2000GT
I experienced a similar situation to yours but it was on craigslist. There was a 2005 Ford F350 lariat crew cab diesel for $11K. Normally, this truck is worth about $30k - $35k. I emailed the seller, told him I was interested. Then he told me he was from Italy and needed money for his sick kid, give my name and address, $1k down and the rest after I get the vehicle, he will take care of the shipping, and use a third party escrow (forgot the name). Obviously this was a big scam.

So I tried to play him at his own game. I replied to him telling him that I would send him a check for $18K and told him under good will and trust, he would send the $7K to someone I owe because my bank charges me large fees for each transaction. Needless to say he stopped replying.
Click to expand...

Christ don't even get me started on Craigslist. It's become completely impossible to sell anything without getting flooded with these damn "I'm in Africa or England or Timbuktu" offers.
 
Originally posted by: clarkkent333
Originally posted by: Tommy2000GT
I experienced a similar situation to yours but it was on craigslist. There was a 2005 Ford F350 lariat crew cab diesel for $11K. Normally, this truck is worth about $30k - $35k. I emailed the seller, told him I was interested. Then he told me he was from Italy and needed money for his sick kid, give my name and address, $1k down and the rest after I get the vehicle, he will take care of the shipping, and use a third party escrow (forgot the name). Obviously this was a big scam.

So I tried to play him at his own game. I replied to him telling him that I would send him a check for $18K and told him under good will and trust, he would send the $7K to someone I owe because my bank charges me large fees for each transaction. Needless to say he stopped replying.
Click to expand...

Christ don't even get me started on Craigslist. It's become completely impossible to sell anything without getting flooded with these damn "I'm in Africa or England or Timbuktu" offers.
Click to expand...

not unless it is local... :\
 
Originally posted by: Stoerm
Sometimes, the deals are real. I got a 1969 F-250 in beautiful shape for $2850. I've since been chased down (literally) and offered up to $8k for the truck on numerous occasions. When buying anything on ebay (especially vehicles), I think that buyer rating and buyer history is very important to look at.
Click to expand...

Very true, but the thing scammers do is try to do the transaction outside of Ebay. That's when you know it's a scam.
 
If you really want to go ahead with a suspicious deal, propose that you are going to use a escrow service that you select at your cost. If the seller responds to it, you wouldn't lose any other than the escrow fee.

Still there's a room for scam but you are a lot safer and you can filter most of scammers in this way. Never never trade anybody outside of US. Europe is not safe at all not to mention any other places on earth.
 
Originally posted by: clarkkent333
Originally posted by: Tommy2000GT
I experienced a similar situation to yours but it was on craigslist. There was a 2005 Ford F350 lariat crew cab diesel for $11K. Normally, this truck is worth about $30k - $35k. I emailed the seller, told him I was interested. Then he told me he was from Italy and needed money for his sick kid, give my name and address, $1k down and the rest after I get the vehicle, he will take care of the shipping, and use a third party escrow (forgot the name). Obviously this was a big scam.

So I tried to play him at his own game. I replied to him telling him that I would send him a check for $18K and told him under good will and trust, he would send the $7K to someone I owe because my bank charges me large fees for each transaction. Needless to say he stopped replying.
Click to expand...

Christ don't even get me started on Craigslist. It's become completely impossible to sell anything without getting flooded with these damn "I'm in Africa or England or Timbuktu" offers.
Click to expand...

Heh, yea I sold my old Tempo on craigslist and had people from Africa wanting to buy it and they'll 'arrange shipping' im like WTF, its a damn Tempo, you gatta be kidding.
 
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