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Is this a scam?
Wezoin
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, so I've been browsing around looking at cars online, and came accross a 2001 Land Rover Range Rover on kijiji for $2950. Apparently in perfect condition, I decide to email the seller to inquire whether the price was a typo. Heres the reply I got:
Suspicious things about this email:
At this point, I went back to look at the ad on Kijiji, but it had disappeared. I searched Ebay and couldn't find the truck either. So I replied to this with
This is replied to with
Bassically, I would LOVE to buy the car, and $3000 for a car thats listed around $25000 everywhere else would be great. Only problem is I feel kinda uneasy buying a car without a chance to look at it first, and sending that kind of money over the internet is another scary prospect for me. I'm thinking this is going to be one of those fake consignor agreement things. Does ebay even run a program like this?
Oh, and I just noticed, she attached a picture of her face and signature to the email... Which just adds to the oddity.
First of all I want to thank you for your interest for my car. I sell at this price($2950 USD) because i just finished the divorce with my husband.
When the divorce has finished i own this car. Now as a women i don't need. This car is in excellent working conditions, no scratches,
flaws or any kind of damage, slightly used in 100% working and looking conditions and comes with a clear title.
From the beginning you have to know that for the payment I request only secure pay, I prefer the payment to be done using eBay services.
We will use a safe payment method because I am affiliated at eBay and I have a purchase protection account for $20.000.
The final price that I want for this car is $2950USD including shipping and handling.
If you are interested in buying it please provide me your full name and address so I can initiate the deal through eBay.
I will wait your answer(if you are interested to buy) very soon
Alice ______
Jessica ______
Street address
New York, NY _____
United States
Suspicious things about this email:
- Broken English
- Signed under 2 different names
- Using being a woman as an excuse for not seeing the value of a truck
- Insisting I give her information to initiate the deal when I made no suggestion that I intended to buy it
- Originally found on Kijiji, which i specified in the original email, but she started talking about ebay
- Listed as in London, Canada on Kijiji, but the address listed in the auto-signature is in New York
At this point, I went back to look at the ad on Kijiji, but it had disappeared. I searched Ebay and couldn't find the truck either. So I replied to this with
Well, first of all, I'd like to know the location of the vehicle. Kijiji listed it as in London (also, I've noticed today it was removed from Kijiji) , but your auto-signature lists it as in New York. Also, who is it I'm speaking with? Your email claims to belong to a Jessica Lin, as does your automated signature, but you signed the last email Alice Andrews. I'd like to ensure that the vehicle is at least in Canada as I'm quite simply not interested in dealing with the transfer of the title accross the border. Also, I couldn't find this vehicle on ebay, mind providing a link?
Thanks,
Sam
This is replied to with
Hi again,
The car is already at the shipping company in Manhattan,New York sealed and ready for the shipping.
I have a contract with eBay so this deal must go through them. I'm very busy with my job and I'm left out of the town so I can't meet
in person with you so this is the reason why I chose to sell my car over the internet. According with the eBay you have 5 days
from the time you receive the car to inspect it and decide if you want to keep it or not.
Here is how it will work:
1.First of all I will need the following details from you:
- Full Name
- Full Shipping Address
2. After I will receive the details from you, I will forward them to eBay.
3. After they will process your info, they will send us both invoices. The invoice will send you the details on how to make a refundable payment.
4. eBay will contact me and I will ship the car to you. After you receive the car you will have 5 days to test, verify and do whatever you need to the car.
If you will buy, then I will receive the payment details from eBay so that I can pick up the money.
5. If you will decide that you will not buy the car, eBay will refund the money and I will have the shipping company come pick up my car.
If you wish to make the transaction, please send me the necessary info so that we can proceed. I look forward to hear from you.
Thank you
Bassically, I would LOVE to buy the car, and $3000 for a car thats listed around $25000 everywhere else would be great. Only problem is I feel kinda uneasy buying a car without a chance to look at it first, and sending that kind of money over the internet is another scary prospect for me. I'm thinking this is going to be one of those fake consignor agreement things. Does ebay even run a program like this?
Oh, and I just noticed, she attached a picture of her face and signature to the email... Which just adds to the oddity.
Wezoin on
0
Posts
Here's a story my dad ran into some time ago. A co-worker of his bought a really nice convertible for probably 1/4 the price he expected to pay. Reason why? The lady he bought it from was going through a divorce and the car was one of the items they had to figure out how to split up. She wanted to piss him off because he loved the car so she sold it for dirt cheap so they could split the money and be done with it.
Now, take it with a grain of salt, but that's just something I've heard, so not all deals like this are very shady, but many of them probably are.
The broken english, the divorce story, the ebay payment, the "I'll sell you right now" attitude. No sane person would sell a Land Rover for $2950 (shipping too)
B.net: Kusanku
End of story, this smells bad. I would closely check with Ebay policies so you know how you're protected if this goes wrong.
PSN: TheScrublet
Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
Steam Friend code: 45386507
Of course there's also the possibility that this person isn't scamming you but is just missing a 0 every time she quotes the prices (i.e. it's actually $29,500). Not really likely, but I do see this a lot on online car/house listings (usually I suspect it's on purpose to get it to show up in lower priced searches).
Yeah, I assumed it was the lack of 0's at first, and that kinda thing usually annoys me, hence why I send them an email asking if the price is right (either scaring them into thinking im gonna want to buy it at that price and try and force them to fix it to stop this stupid practise.)
But yeah, the shipping was what first threw me off. Then the fact that she'd be sending me the details on how to pay rather than telling me where to find out about it on ebay. And the first email sounding like a generic response, and the second one leaving questions unanswered.
Why can't a crazy (assumed from price) foreign (assumed from the broken english) lady live close to me and own an awesome car to sell me? Dammit.
Scam-tastic... Tell her you'll pick up the car and give her an extra grand to boot. My guess is she'll still claim she wants to "ship it through ebay"
Dear SIr,
I Wish to buy you're [BOAT] for (3,000US$)
Also, unless I'm mistaken, eBay does not have a "Try it out: satisfaction guaranteed or your money back!" policy of any kind, as this woman is implying to put suckers at ease. Caveat emptor and all that happy shit--when I got scammed into writing a check for an Xbox that never arrived, I had a hell of a time getting my money back minus 25 bucks under their You Got Hosed guidelines, and that was with a check; wire the money, and you're fucked.
Also, http://www.snopes.com/love/revenge/porsche.asp
Not quite. I'm surprised Snopes doesn't have this one listed, not that I could see. Maybe it's considered a variation of the Nigerian or lottery scams.
It's a funny collection of scam baiters. I wouldn't suggest trying it, but it's a good read.
I strongly doubt they could do anything about it; it's quite different from spoofed phishing e-mails. They'd probably just advise you it's a scam.
Please, let PA have their own P-P-P-Powerbook
Alright, alright, so what should I send this scammer then?
Come up with some ideas and we'll do it, although maybe this thread would become better suited for SE++ then?
Don't send her anything. Report it to ebay if it's a possible scam and tell her no. Don't try to mess with her or go outside your authority.
While the stories on 419 eater are funny, the guy responsible for 90% of them is located in the UK, and has a 3rd party address / PO box he does this out of. At no time does his home address, etc come into play.
While the chances that you will see the people involved in this, its much nicer not to divulge any personal info. And while it would be fun to 'reverse' scam, anything they would buy / give you is most likely stolen from someone else's account.
Its just not worth it... and since its not on ebay proper.. i don't even see where its worth reporting it.
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
Yes, do not actually try to scam the scammer. Most people forget that at the end of the P-p-p-powerbook story the guy who was posting the story first had DoS attacks on his website and then was never heard from again on the boards.
That actually is an internet myth, the guy is alive and well