Craigslist, Ebay and other online buying/selling scams.
#367771 by Candaman Sun Jun 24, 2018 11:45 am
First time here- hope I'm using this right!
I have a collector car for sale on Kijiji, and an apparent buyer who is a 10 hour drive from me.
He sent one basic msg stating interest to which I replied that it was a cash only deal, no WU,TT,EMT etc, cash only! This is his reply-

"Would you do an E=Transfer and will forward the first $1,000 and when it is to be picked up, I will make sure you have the rest ahead of time.
I would appreciate a receipt for the first $1,000 as a deposit and a copy of the ownership. In the receipt I would like to have the VIN# included in the receipt.
Can I get your address so that I can get things on the go on my end if you agree to the arrangements.
I understand were you are coming from.
You had mentioned something about the windshield, is it broken.
Thanks Dave"

I've yet to reply to the above. I do not understand how sending me an EMT in return for the requested info can be a scam- but this whole thing reeks of oddness... I contacted my local RCMP and they were not able to confirm anything about this tactic. Ideas?
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#367772 by AlanJones Sun Jun 24, 2018 12:03 pm
It's most likely that he's not interested in the car, he wants your documentation so that he can use it in other scams. The $1,000 will come from a hacked account or be sent to you under false pretenses by the victim of another scam. The scammers then got a nice set of documentation to prove ownership of the car,that cost him nothing to get and can be used multiple times to scam other victims, by pretending to be selling your car.

You'll end up with 2 problems - whoever the initial $1,000 comes from will have your bank details as the only real ones and the same with the victims who the scammer "sells" the car to - they'll have your details from the documents. So you'll be left trying to clear the mess up.

Stick to your guns and sell locally for cash - any sensible buyer is going to want to see the car first anyway and anyone that comes up with strange procedures should be treated with suspicion.

Please do not tell scammers that they are listed here - it will take them seconds to change their fake details and their new details will not be listed for any future victims to find.
#367780 by Candaman Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:05 pm
Thanks for the reply. I suppose even though the car is still legally registered in my name, that doesn't matter at the time of sale if someone jumps to buy it... This is a pretty good one to make me try so hard to figure it out- I'm usually the first to slam the door on odd situations.
The point you made about looking at the car in person too- I posted an incredibly detailed and accurate description, but the pictures honestly don't show much of... well... the whole picture. It is a classic, but it is no '63 Corvette.

And the last thing that bugged me is that to send the 1,000 dollars to me is a rather insane leap of faith on his part. Really nothing to stop me from taking the money and then selling the car to someone else, leaving him empty handed. It would be pretty hard for him to recover that money if I decided to keep it and say 'tough luck'. Not a position many would put themselves in.
PS I did post my phone number publicly on the ad. I have found (although not necessarily scams) that 80%+ of people who email instead of call really aren't that serious about buying. Surely not to the extent of dropping a grand.
#367781 by AlanJones Sun Jun 24, 2018 11:11 pm
Candaman wrote:I suppose even though the car is still legally registered in my name, that doesn't matter at the time of sale if someone jumps to buy it.


This is exactly the way the scam works, and usually without the benefit of the scammer having the documentation. The scammer doesn't intend to physically sell the car (or have viewings). They'll offer the car at a really low price, and have a convoluted story about being overseas/out of state. And then suggest having it shipped to the buyer with a payment made to an "escrow company" (the scammer using another email address) to protect both of them. The scammer only needs one person to ignore the warning signs and he's earned himself a few thousand dollars.

Please do not tell scammers that they are listed here - it will take them seconds to change their fake details and their new details will not be listed for any future victims to find.

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