Internet scams

[tizeye]

It's unreal what lengths some con artists will go to. About 6 weeks ago I sold my full size car through a local online auction site..last night I got a call from the lady who bought it saying that the car was listed again on the same site...!!!!...I had a look and sure enough there was my exact add word for word with the same pictures..but at a crazy low price...what I found stupid was that the auction site is not interested at all..in fact you can't even contact them unless you want to pay $1.99 a minute..I bet this goes on all over the World but it still blows me away..

[Halgar]

If you sold the car and got paid for it and now someone has relisted it with your old ad at a cheaper price, where's the scam, unless YOUR information is still on the ad. When we were on Sleaze Bay we had folks stealing our ads, our images, our bandwidth. Crooks will stop at no length to steal.

We bought a real estate course on Sleaze Bay and it turned out to be a counterfeit copy by a known counterfeiter. We reported it to Sleaze Bay and they did nothing. We contacted the owner of the information and they'd been trying for years to get this guy off Sleaze Bay and couldn't get the time of day from them. Sleaze Bays idea of rectifying the problem was for us to send the package back to the seller and have the seller refund our money. Yeah, right, like they're going to willingly refund the sale, and once we release the counterfeit copy, we have no proof that it ever existed. The rightful owner of the information sent us a genuine package in exchange for the counterfeit so that their staff and attorneys could go after the scam artist. This was the beginning of the end for us at Sleaze Bay because after this we were targeted by Sleaze Bay and our account was constantly being screwed with by them until they ultimately trumped up charges and banned our account.

[tizeye]

The lady who owns it now..the lady that bought it off me rang me to tell me that someone else had listed her car using the listing I used when I sold it to her..

[Halgar]

Got it!

[civilguy]

My guess is these people are looking to get a deposit on a 'really good deal' and then disappear. Unfortunately these dirtbags prey on folks who don't have any money to begin with. Most likely someone desperate for a car would jump on this, looking to save some money, and then sadly get duped out of a deposit made to these con artists.

[mikedealer]

i was looking at this car on craigslist, $3600 for a rubicon is great especially since the book value is 13-15grand

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/ctd/1367258405.html

So i write to them, figuring it was a scam or stolen or whatever, what the hell right...

i write:
"Im interested in your wrangler, please let me know details so i can come look at it." figuring it was local since its on craigslist new york

i get back:Hello Mike,

Thanks for being interested in buying my 2005 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon,automatic transmission,black,VIN # 1J4FA69S25P338166.Only 29,700 miles, beautiful condition in and out. Paint shines ,zero dings/dents,no accident. Non-smoker,always garaged and covered.It comes with all the books,receipts, extra keys, tools...Also it will come with a clear title, bill of sale signed by me and all the papers that you will need to register it under your name. The price for the vehicle is $3,600. I live in Portugal so the vehicle will be shipped from here.I bought this vehicle from US but when i tried to register it here they said me that i can't register a vehicle that has US emissions.I sell it so cheap because i can't find a buyer in my country.I want to sell it in US because is still registered there.I want to take this opportunity to assure you that this deal is 100% legitimate,the financial part of this deal will be manage by a third party.If you really want it please reply me as soon as possible.

Thank you!


I ask when the car will be stateside so i can look at it, i get back:
Hello again Mike,

Good faith has always been my top priority and my most valued business approach. The payment will be done through eBay. The financial part of this deal will be managed by them. They will keep the amount until you receive the vehicle and test it.First you will send the payment to eBay and as soon as I have the confirmation I will start the shipping. After you receive and inspect the vehicle to see that everything it's ok they will transfer me the money. Please take into consideration that I will get paid only after you receive the vehicle.The price that I'm asking for the vehicle is US $ 3,600 that includes the shipping and delivery charges.
The vehicle will be insured at the delivery service. If something happens on the road , you will receive the insurance from the delivery service.If you agree with these terms and you have the money ready, reply me your full name and address and i will be more than glad to start the transaction with you. As soon as you will send me your personal details I will begin the transaction and eBay will inform you with all the details.
My best wishes and I'm waiting your response so we can move forward with this deal.
Thank You!

So i write back something like "i think this is a huge scam, whats the deal with a car like this being $3600.

Mike,

The book value for this vehicle is more than what I'm asking for it now but as I have already said the vehicle was bought in the US and shipped to Europe, but it was never permanently registered here, the vehicle is still registered in the US. The vehicle is for sale locally as well, but there are slim chances of this to happen. In order to be able to register this vehicle here in Portugal the buyer would have to pay very high import/custom taxes that will double the price. So I decided to sell the vehicle back in the US.The point is that it is a very good vehicle but I can not use it anymore in the current location and the best option for me is to sell it.That is why I decided to lower the price, to avoid wasting time with negotiations and find a buyer as soon as possible.If you wish to purchase it please provide me your full name and complete address so I can initiate the deal through eBay.You will receive all the transaction details from them. Also let me know if there's something else you need to know.




Anyway, it appears to be a huge scam, even if its just a scam to keep the deposit and screw over ebay, still messed up...

[shodog]

Craigslist is full of scams. when I needed a car last october, I had the displeasure of dealing with all sorts of scam artists. Their favorite was the ebay escrow thing. I get comfort in knowing that karma usually takes care of these idiots eventually

[slotcarrod]

If it quacks like a duck..........

Portugal is a little bit closer to Nigeria!

[Halgar]

Craigslist is full of scams.

Maybe, but the beauty of CL is that you get to see and touch the item before purchase, if you like it you take it home, most of the time for less than the asking price. If you're dealing with folks over the internet only, then CL is probably not better or worse than Sleaze Bay.

[badhoopty]

i was looking at this car on craigslist, $3600 for a rubicon is great especially since the book value is 13-15grand

link is dead but there was also a hella nice rubicon fs here on chicago craigslist for stupid cheap. prolly same one.

[MOmo]

When I worked for Yahoo! part of my job was dealing with fraud and scams. I can't tell you the number of cases of just flat out BAD sites.

Couple of things to look for.

-Privacy policy- anything stating that they share info, even with affiliates, is sketchy at best!
-IP - Check the company/site location. plenty of online tools for tracking them. IF an IP comes back foreign, watch out!
-Anyone requiring 3rd party/payment arrangements etc. be careful


I will say that not all "porn" sites are bad and that there are legit porn sites that do get through via Email ads. All the email providers (yahoo, Gmail, MSN, Hotmail etc) have filters and you should take advantage of them. Look for key words in the headings and direct them to SPAM or Trash. Be careful though that some of your legit mail doesn't get trapped Or make sure certain email addresses are on your "friends" list.



MOmo