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Is this a Rip Off?
Murago
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
so my friend found a deal on Craigs list for an 04 honda accord. It has 30k+ miles on it, and its in excellent condition. The guy is leaving the country for a long time and doesn't want to have it go to waste and rust or whatever. He's gonna have the phone shipped from Indiana to florida, and is willing to pay for the shipping. He's asking $2900 for it; bluebook rates it at 18,000 for excellent condition.
This guy also wants to use a payment method called worldpay, where basically my friend sends the money to a middleman for holding, and then my friend has 5 days to decide if he wants it. If he keeps it, the middle man gives the money to the seller. If he doesn't want it, the middle man returns the money.
IS THIS BULLSHIT? This would be a fucking awesome deal, but i just don't know! I don't want my friend to get ripped off, but obviously this is an awesome deal. What do you guys think?
This guy also wants to use a payment method called worldpay, where basically my friend sends the money to a middleman for holding, and then my friend has 5 days to decide if he wants it. If he keeps it, the middle man gives the money to the seller. If he doesn't want it, the middle man returns the money.
IS THIS BULLSHIT? This would be a fucking awesome deal, but i just don't know! I don't want my friend to get ripped off, but obviously this is an awesome deal. What do you guys think?
Check out www.myspace.com/scarborough -- tell me what you think!
Murago on
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he's most likely getting ripped off
!!!!▓▓▓▓▓Gravy?▓▓▓▓▓!!!!!!
!!!!!!▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓!!!!!!!!!
of doom
the guy is offering to have you pay through some supposed service HE is obviously very familiar with and your friend knows nothing of
that's already erasing the "neutrality" of using a third party
agree to find some other method, or if the seller won't use anything else tell him "go fyad"
Now may be the time to google that phrase and learn a thing or two perhaps
This is certainly such a scam.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
You can find good deals on craigslist, but that deal is too good. I gave up even listing cars on there because of the amount of scams I had to read thru and scam artists (not really artists, they weren't very good at it) I had to speak with. I did however buy a motorcycle off of it that turned out to be a great deal.
Even if it was legitimate, the guy would never pay for shipping. You could park that car on any street with a sign that said "$2900 CASH ONLY" and sell it within minutes. At best your friend is buying a stolen car. At worst (which is what it really is) your friend gets a $3000 lesson is fraud avoidance and no car.
yes, i have heard of worldpay before, I did some temp work for another online banking solution a few weeks ago and worldpay was a company i had to deal with twice in liasing on deadlines and stuff. I think they're something to do with the royal scottish bank or something.
so yeah, worldpay is legit... what he's asking your friend to do with it is probably not
I have to recommend against this. If it was someone just looking to embezzle, it probably wouldn't be a big deal. If it's someone who just wants to steal, and is willing to lie, cheat, steal, assault, or kill to do it, then it's not something you really want to risk. I mean, when you're dealing with large sums of cash, it pays to be paranoid. If you want to do the deal in the bank, you're probably ok. If you're meeting the seller at a vacant lot, then we'll see you on the news when they pull your body out of the river.
If he contacted him before he left, told him he wanted to meet him in a very visible place (parking lot of a Wal-Mart during the day or something like that, maybe somewhere near a police station, or in a bank parking lot during lunch time, etc.), then bought it by writing out a check right then and there, there wouldn't be much of a risk, would there? This is a simple internet scam, I don't think he would be crafty enough to somehow violently attack him and take the car, because if he wanted to go that far he wouldn't have to lure some kid out of Florida to do it. By no means consider this me writing him off as harmless, he could still be as such, but if dealt with properly there's no real risk involved.
My suspicion is, however, that when he calls and tells the guy how he wants to do the deal, the guy's going to back out at the last minute.
Holy shit these people WILL NOT STOP CALLING ME. I've gotten 4 phone calls today telling me I've won a bunch of holiday/hotel vouchers, and if I'll pay $99 for administrative fees they'll ship it to me. I'm already pissed off at them calling several times in a row, each time claiming they're from a different company but offering the same damn thing.
Scam? All signs seem to point to yes.
So call your phone provider and ask them how to deal with telemarketers.
Put yourself on the do not call list
but when the violate that, report teh violations and actually get them punished for it
Basically, OP, research Worldpay--hell, call them up and have them describe their fraud policies to you. Then, make your decision.
Which is what I meant when it sounds too good to be true.
But, despite what many of the first posters said, it's not a scam just because he uses Worldpay.
we've concluded: ITS A SCAM
I'll be honest, i pretty much figured it since he told me, but he was truly convinced it wasn't a scam.
Lol, i have to thank you guys b/c after he read this thread he decided it was a good idea to research escrow scams. /roll eyes
It pretty much matched up everything he was looking at.
So thanks guys, you saved somebody $3000.
Its funny, cuz last nite he said "Why didn't i think about it. Who would sell a 15,000 dollar car for 2900$?"
LAWL