Auto Trader Scam

[Jillian]

Thank you for posting, 1024. The information will very likely prevent someone else from the same scam. I'm sorry that you lost a bit of money, but due to you being alert, you caught the scam in time. Good for you.

[mrm]

I found a very similiar ad on auto trader. The car's location on autotrader was Baltimore. Then he emailed me and said it was in Billings MT. I ran a carfax and it said it had been purchased recently in NY. It was fishy from the beginning. We exchanged other emails about the Ebay buyer protection program. Oh well... I only lost the fee I paid for carfax. I started researching autotrader scams on google and found this site. Excellent site. I won't waste anymore emailing this jerk and will report him to autotrader and ebay.


Subject: RE: Owner 64094003: AutoTrader.com: Vehicle Lead 2007 Toyota Yaris[/color]
I am selling this car because my unit will be sent back to Iraq.I have no use for the car anyway,due to my job.The price is low because I need to sell it before May 10th. The car is in great condition and runs great. I have a clean title ready to be signed. The car has no electrical or mechanical problems.It is still available for sale if interested, price as stated in the ad .The car is in Billings, MT ( i had a buyer but he couldn't get his loan approved, so the car is waiting to travel to its next owner) in case it gets sold I will take care of shipping . Let me know if you are interested, email back.

> Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:46:30 -0400
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Owner 64094003: AutoTrader.com: Vehicle Lead 2007 Toyota Yaris
>
> ***VEHICLE LEAD***
>
> The following lead was generated from AutoTrader.com's web site at http://www.autotrader.com.
> To view the vehicle, click the link below:
> http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=261694040
>
>
> VEHICLE INFORMATION
> Make: Toyota
> Model: Yaris
> Year: 2007
> Price: 3750
> Mileage: 33600
> Body Style: Sedan
> Color: Gray
> Cylinders: 4 Cylinder
> Transmission: Automatic
> Doors: Four Door
> Stereo: Unavailable
> Description: Save tons of $ on gas! Great condition and very clean. Dark gray (actually called "Flint" - a very pretty dark gray) with gray cloth interior.Automatic, 33 k miles - Toyota quality with documented gas mileage at 39 mpg and may get even better gas mileage depending upon your driving! Has a CD player/ MP3, AM/FM, driver and passenger air bags.
>
>
>
> Fraud Awareness Tips For Sellers:
> http://www.autotrader.com/research/shar ... e_id=12125[/color]

[Ralph]

Hi mrm

Welcome to Scamwarners

Allthough sympathetic that you have been messed about and lost a little money, I am very happy that you have avoided the kind of loss we are accustomed to seeing from victims of these scammers.

Also very grateful that you have taken the time to call in and post providing the details of the scammer.

As you found from your searching, when people become a little suspicious they will often do a little searching, the more there is for them to find, the better chance of them not being scammed

[ranmori]

There are other sites as you well know but the content of this site blows everything else off the map
Great

[Arnold]

Welcome to Scamwarners and

[ttt]

One way that I have tried to separate the spam from serious is to search for the images posted in that ad using google search by images (right click the image of the auto and select "copy link location"). Then, past it into the google search by image. Here is a link to how search by image works from google. http://www.google.ca/insidesearch/featu ... image.html. I works pretty well. I found that many cars are advertised as being located in numerous places around the world. In one case I think I found the original (legitimate) poster of the ad. The car was reasonably priced and with a phone number. The scammer posted the same pictures with a ridiculously cheap price.

[kjk]

yep i was scammed re buying a vw transporter van from portugal
. this was a very good scam just didnt do enough checking as hubby in too much of a hurry.

[TerranceBoyce]

It's too late to help you kjk but it's much safer to buy locally so that you're able to check the vehicle or item out before you purchase.

The scammers alway offer the most tempting deals, but they'll also do their best to make sure you can't check them out before you buy, so that when they start telling you up front that they're at sea, on an oil rig or un-contactable that's enough of a warning sign to at least make you suspicious. Speak to them on the phone and check out their dialling code. If it doesn't match where they claim to be located, or it's a 44 (0)70 UK redirect number drop them immediately as they're hiding behind a redirect service.

These are things that will alert you up front that you're dealing with a scammer. If they start mentioning that payment must be made by Western Union or MoneyGram then walk away, but they'll hold that information back until the end, but it's your last opportunity to prevent you losing your money. People in the West have bank accounts and anything that indicates that they're trying to remain anonymous is a bad sign.