Craigslist, Ebay and other online buying/selling scams.
#240307 by andrewb84 Thu Mar 05, 2015 5:23 pm
Hello. I'm selling a car and got a call today from someone who wants to buy it. He lives too far away to view it but is still very interested in buying it which is what has got me wondering. He has offered to pay a £250 deposite over paypal and told me that I would recieve the rest of the payment from the people that he will arrange to collect the car from me. It's all happened so quickly that it's making me wonder if it's a scam. I've tried looking up scams but nothing I can find seems to fit in with whats happening. He has given me a name and a mobile number and he is asking specific questions about the car. He ssems to know what he's talking about. It seems too good to be true. Am I being scammed?
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#240309 by HillBilly Thu Mar 05, 2015 5:57 pm
yes, it is a scam. He will forge PayPal emails to you, telling you it has been paid for, but you need to ship it to him before the deposit will enter your account. PayPal does not work like that.

Sell only to people that are in your local area, have cash ( or some other monetary form you will accept), and don't show the vehicle at your own home ( or business) for your own protections. Meet them close, not at your home or business. This is all assuming your vehicle runs.

What is the scammers email address ? Please post it, copy and paste the email itself, and the headers if possible.

#240310 by andrewb84 Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:08 pm
Thank you. He didn't offer to pay the whole amount through paypal, just a deposit. Then the company he arranged to collect it would give me the rest of the money when they actually collected the car, he didnt say how they would pay. I read about people being scammed with the full amounts of money but nothing where a deposit was paid and then the rest of the money was paid by someone else. He called me on my mobile. I havnt had any emails off him yet although he did give me an email address.
#240311 by HillBilly Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:15 pm
please read this article : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3567

there are lots of possibilities, but IF someone showed up at your door ( or where ever ) to pick up the car. Then the most likely threat is they will give you a forged ( fake) cashier's check. When you go to deposit it, the bank will find out in 3 days to 3 months the check is forged. Then you account gets debited the amount of the check, plus fees if it goes in the red. And you could also be facing criminal charges for passing a bad check, even though it was not initiated by you.

Assuming the plan went OK ( by the scammers definition of OK), you would be missing a car, and out all the money you thought you had received for it.

Please post the email, email address, and complete headers if you can. This will help others doing internet searches to find this scammer quickly.

#240314 by andrewb84 Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:27 pm
Thank you again. If I speak to him again I will insist on cash payment.. I will post again wih updates when I speak to him next. Thank you again, it seemed to good to be true.

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