Think its a scam - Buying a Motorhome

Hi,

I think i've made up my mind that this is a scam but just wanted to let others know. See below an answer to a mail I sent someone about a motorhome, i asked was it still for sale and this is the answer:- this is the e mail address Diane Sutter <[email protected]>

Hello and thank you for your email. This is the first time that I sell something on the internet but I have decided to try it since all my friends here in the United States have been successfully using this system for quite some time.
I have analyzed all my options and I came to the conclusion that the safest way to do this deal is using the service of eBay, that can give us both the safety and the guarantee necessary to end the transaction in a secure way.
I have applied for this service and I'm willing to pay for their fee if you agree using their service.
People have asked me the reason for which the small price. The answer is simple: I do not wish to waste much time on this transaction. The camper is in great shape, never been involved in any accidents and looks exactly like the images and the description and the engine functions great. I wish to inform you, that I lived in United Kingdom for 3 years and have bought the camper there. That is why I am selling it there, because it is registered in United Kingdom. The camper is currently in the possession of the shipping company in United Kingdom waiting to be shipped to any location. As far as the price of the camper, that is £6,900 like you already know, this also includes the transport fees.
- The first payment that is £2,900 would have to be transmitted to eBay.
- The shipping is started, and in 2-3 days after this you will receive the camper.
- Then you have 7 days in order to examine and control it.
- After these 7 days you must inform eBay about your decision.
- In the case you don't wish to keep the camper, you must send it back and £150 it will be deducted from the payment you already made for shipping purpose.
I understand that we are both protected through the rules and regulations eBay with regard to the safe trade on the Internet. If you are interested in the purchase and if you agree to use the services of eBay, for both our safety, write back for the more information.

Click this link for more pictures of the camper:

As you thought, this is a definite scam.

A few points for people reading this thread:

1) eBay does not run an escrow service.
2) eBay does not take payments directly (payments would go through paypal, and paypal also has no escrow service)--so the moment you are supposedly sending money to eBay, it is a scam.
3) Paypal payments are instant, there is no mechanism by which they are held pending shipping or inspection.
4) The statement about small price tells me that the scammer is taking the typical approach of offering an item for less than market value (of course he can, since he doesn't actually have the item anyway)
5) The English mistakes tell me that this person is not from the United States or UK

Thanks for that, just some advise, what do I do now, just ignore any e mails or e mail them back?

Ignore them completely, or just respond that you are not interested and leave it at that.

Thank you for posting this. I just received the same thing except it was for a boat. He said his name was David Sutter but the email was the same. Here is the email I received from him...

Hello and thank you for your email. This is the first time that I sell something on the internet but I have decided to try it since all my friends here in the United Kingdom have been successfully using this system for quite some time.
I have analyzed all my options and I came to the conclusion that the safest way to do this deal is using the service of eBay, that can give us both the safety and the guarantee necessary to end the transaction in a secure way.
I have applied for this service and I'm willing to pay for their fee if you agree using their service.
People have asked me the reason for which the small price. The answer is simple: I do not wish to waste much time on this transaction. The boat is in great shape, never been involved in any accidents and looks exactly like the images. I wish to inform you, that I lived in United States for 5 years and have bought the boat there. That is why I am selling it there, because it is registered in United States. The boat is currently in the possession of the shipping company in United States waiting to be shipped to any location. My final price is US $5,000, this also includes the transport fees.
- The first payment that is US $2,500 would have to be transmitted to eBay.
- The shipping is started, and in 2-3 days after this you will receive the boat.
- Then you have 7 days in order to examine and control it.
- After these 7 days you must inform eBay about your decision.
- In the case you don't wish to keep the boat, you must send it back and US $150 it will be deducted from the payment you already made for shipping purpose.
I understand that we are both protected through the rules and regulations eBay with regard to the safe trade on the Internet. If you are interested in the purchase and if you agree to use the services of eBay, for both our safety, write back for the more information.

Click this link for more pictures of the boat:
http://s1112.photobucket.com/albums/k48 ... sutter202/



On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 5:45 AM, wrote:

Hello,
I saw your 2008 22' Crest Carribbean Pontoon boat for sale on Craig's list. Still for sale?

Kevin

Thank you once again!!!

I received another reply from this scammer today.


The boat is already at the shipping company in New York along with all documents, sealed and ready to be shipped. After you make the first payment to eBay, you will receive along with your boat the documents you need to transfer the boat under your name. Due to the fact that the boat is already registered in United States there shouldn’t be any problems with the procedure.
I need your full name and address (where you want the boat to be sent to) in order to inform the shipping company. I will get back to you with the exact time and date it will arrive at. Obviously you have to be home at that time since you have to sign some papers confirming that you received the boat.
You have 7 days to test and inspect the boat. 
After that you have to contact eBay with your decision. They will get back at you with the necessary information depending on your decision.
If you want to buy the boat provide me with your full name and address and eBay will give you all the details that you need to complete the transaction! Waiting to hear from you, as soon as possible.

 

On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 1:52 AM, Kevin wrote:

Yes I am very interested in buying your boat. Where is the boat located? I would like to inspect the boat before I purchase it. Please let me know how to proceed.

 

Thank you,
Kevin

Welcome clever1,
I'm glad you can't be scammed. But now it's time to drop the scammer. Please don't mess with him, this is a criminal who has got some information on you and who might become nasty when he finds out that you are stringing him along.
You can either just stop contacting him or you can tell him that you found a motor home in the area you live and you found it more convenient to see what you got.