Scam, Scam, Scam, Scam

[CanadaGTO]

If it looks too good to be true.......

I f#$*ing hate scammers. I hope no one falls for this crap.

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=1519&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7698544&ADS=7698544|

Copy of Email I sent to Autotrader:


Hi there,

Just wanted to let you know that the following Ad is a Scam:

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=1519&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7698544&ADS=7698544|

First of all, it is way underpriced for the vehicle. I contacted the seller and got the following reply:

Hello,
First of all I want to thank you for your interest for my car. I sell at this price(CA$ 9.300) because i just finished the divorce with my husband. When the divorce has finished i own this car. Now as a women i don't need. This car is in excellent working conditions, no scratches, flaws or any kind of damage, slightly used in 100% working and looking conditions and comes with a clear title, 3 months transferable warranty. From the beginning you have to know that for the payment I request ONLY secure pay, I prefer the payment to be done using AutoTrader&eBay services. We will use a safe payment method because I am affiliated at AutoTrader&eBay and I have a purchase protection account for CA$20.000. The final price that I want for this car is CA$ 9.300 including shipping and handling.

If you are interested in buying it please provide me your full name and address so I can initiate the deal through AutoTrader&eBay.
Thank You,
Gabrielle Dawson

Noticing that the $ amount was incorrect, I followed up with a request to clarify, along with a request to have the car inspected. Here is the reply I got:

I'm realy sorry for you but i think is to late for inspection because i'm not in the country for the moment (like you know i just finished the divorce with my husband and i have moved to my parents home in London,United Kingdom for a while.) And ship company already prepared the car for ship. I want to tell you that is to late for inspection and the only way that we can close this deal is to make me a payment total($6900CA) to eBay so i could start the ship. In case that you are still interested please email me your final answer.
I will ship my car from Vancouver/Canada . You will have 15 days from the time you receive the car to inspect it and decide if you want to keep it or not. If by any reason, you will not be satisfied for the car, you will return the car to shipping company with no xpence. I will pay for shipping.
If you are interested in buying it please provide me your full name and address so I can initiate the deal through eBay.

Thank you!!



I then did a little google search on the phone number in the ad and noticed it was the phone number of a Vet Clinic in Brampton. I also googled the email address and found the following links to pages about this being a scam:

http://melbourne.gumtree.com.au/c-Cars-for-Sale-caravan-campervan-motor-home-GUMTREE-EBAY-SCAMMERS-BEWARE-W0QQAdIdZ113452373

and

http://forum.escrow-fraud.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1561

As you can see, the language about a recent divorce is almost exactly the same.

I can forward the emails to you if you wish for verification purposes.

I think it is imperative you have this Ad removed before one of your customers gets ripped off.

Thanks

Patrique Malaise

[mazdabetty]

ahhh yikes... that's so annoying, I wonder how many people actually get suckered in to scams like these...

[stealthman12]

nice job cta_patrique.
also, the description says that the car is FWD......

[aris]

I had a car that i was selling a couple of years ago and so go guy emailed me saying he wanted my car and that he was from texas. I was asking $5,000 for the car and he sent me a check for $7,000. He told me that he wants me to take the $5,000 for the car and then wire the other $2,000 to the shipping company. I took the check to bank to make sure it was good and the bank told me not to give any money to him cause if it is a scam i would be out the $2,000...well a few days go buy and the bank never got to me yet and i started geting email from the guy saying where is his money and that the check was cashed and that he was going to call the FBI on me...i started laughing when he said that considering the check was never cashed..it turns out the check was no good...

The bank told me that "if it's to good to be true then it's not"

[DruidB]

The autotrader website is littered with hundreds of these... most ads are stupid low prices and want you to Email only... not call

[Slipstream]

there was another scam my friend was looking into an 06 acura rsx with 40k km for $6000 description said elderly couple in yukon moving to florida and wanted to unload it quickly..quickly called bs on this obvious scam

[DruidB]

there was another scam my friend was looking into an 06 acura rsx with 40k km for $6000 description said elderly couple in yukon moving to florida and wanted to unload it quickly..quickly called bs on this obvious scam

lol... what really cracks me up is just how damn obvious they are...

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=768&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7711330&ADS=7711330%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=768&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7730138&ADS=7730138%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=768&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7726035&ADS=7726035%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=768&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7719555&ADS=7719555%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=688&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7715271&ADS=7715271%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=688&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7707178&ADS=7707178%7C


That took me less than 5 minutes of searching... they are killing autotrader

[Unoriginalusername]

sad that autotrader lets their site get littered with these

[MAZDA Kitten]

WOW... I had no idea they took over trader.ca
what a shame.

http://www.419eater.com/

[MAZDA Kitten]

lol... what really cracks me up is just how damn obvious they are...

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=768&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7711330&ADS=7711330%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=768&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7730138&ADS=7730138%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=768&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7726035&ADS=7726035%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=768&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7719555&ADS=7719555%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=688&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7715271&ADS=7715271%7C

http://www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?mknm=688&Region=-1&subcategory=&CAT=1&ADID=7707178&ADS=7707178%7C


That took me less than 5 minutes of searching... they are killing autotrader

Is it my computer or are all the pics coming up as blurry?

[CanadaGTO]

Is it my computer or are all the pics coming up as blurry?

Not your computer, they are all blurry. I think they are just stolen pics from other past listings.

[ElegantGremlin]

Is it my computer or are all the pics coming up as blurry?

They're doing that for me too.

[MAZDA Kitten]

Not your computer, they are all blurry. I think they are just stolen pics from other past listings.

Thats what I figured. None of the cars show liscence plates and one neighbourhood looks like some where in Southern States like Florida. I think I saw palm trees LOL

[SpeedBaby]

in the past couple months autotrader got flooded with those. they usually copy postings with pictures from cardomain or autotrader US, however some are so retardedly stupid that they list the same listing in the same category as the original. often if you google the description you can find where it was originally taken from.

the strange part is that i noticed that some of them don't even list any email or phone contact information, which leads me to believe that it could be done to bring the average value on the Value Finder.

Regardless, it has become a great annoyance, and i find it to be very frustrating that autotrader isn't willing to take any preventative measures. They will in fact remove the listing if you forward them an email with a proof that it's a scam, but that's about it.

[DESTROYER]

Is it my computer or are all the pics coming up as blurry?

I think it's it's just a low rez pic or a thumbnail and when it's enlarged it loses the resolution. Conveniently enough.


If it looks too good to be true.......

I f#$*ing hate scammers. I hope no one falls for this crap.

I hear you. That's one of the major reasons I ended up getting a demo through a dealership as opposed to buying private. Even though there was a thread about this and saying you could save buying private. When I was originally looking a month or so ago I found a 2007 MS3 GT and called the guy with a couple o questions i.e. accidents (he said he doesn't think it was in any major accident or so the previous owners told him), warranty ("I don't know"), then I asked, just to be polite, "how is it running?", he says "pretty good I think.":loco
Never called another private add. Too risky. Go with a reputable dealership and you will have peace of mind.

[crystal8484]

I had a car that i was selling a couple of years ago and so go guy emailed me saying he wanted my car and that he was from texas. I was asking $5,000 for the car and he sent me a check for $7,000. He told me that he wants me to take the $5,000 for the car and then wire the other $2,000 to the shipping company. I took the check to bank to make sure it was good and the bank told me not to give any money to him cause if it is a scam i would be out the $2,000...well a few days go buy and the bank never got to me yet and i started geting email from the guy saying where is his money and that the check was cashed and that he was going to call the FBI on me...i started laughing when he said that considering the check was never cashed..it turns out the check was no good...

The bank told me that "if it's to good to be true then it's not"


My buddy at work had something similiar happen... a dude in texas wanted to buy his couch off of craigslist.. and I'm talking like an butt ugly couch... he gets the cheque and right away we all know it's bogus.. we call the company and apparently the dude was using some CEO's name and they were currently under investigation as they had about 10 other people calling with the same info.

lucky you took it to the bank!!!!

[chinsterr]

Somolian scammers and pirates suck

My friend works at a TD Bank and says there is at least one person everyweek that gets tricked by these scammers.

[Nabster]

ya a couple months back I had some enzo racing seats forsale, and some one sent me a cheque and told me to send the extra money to the shipping company, I figured it was a scam so i phoned the bank and they said the money order was no good and other ppl had been fooled with the same money order(same serial #). The stupid thing is then this guy started calling me. he was claming in the email to be from quebec but had a african accent with a 12 digit phone number wtf! wondering why I couldn't do business. I told him i wasn't giving him free money and to stop calling me :loco

[DESTROYER]

It's a lot more prevalent than we realize. Quick story... guy booked a wedding at my restaurant 2 years ago from England and didn't care how much anything cost. Told my manager, it's his daughter's wedding anything goes. I was in Montreal at the time on business so told manager it was BS and we would never get a cheque. Cheque arrived 5 days later ($25,000, was supposed to be $20,000). "Client told me he overpaid so I could pay the Event Planner in NY and Photographer etc. Deposited at the bank. I waited for it to clear, even told my account manager to double check because it was too good to be true. "Client" gives me 3 different account numbers to wire money to the event planner, photographer etc. I said no. Then I agreed to send $5K to one account (I had another $20K of his so I didn't care). Then cancels party couple days later saying daughter is very ill and asks for the rest of the money. I smelled a fish :whoa and told him to come in person to pick up half (since I closed the restaurant for him and nobody showed up, therefore lost revenue) and I would keep the balance as a credit towards any of his events in the future. He freaked out. Then threatened legal action (:chuckle). After 6 weeks from depositing the cheque it was called back (the entire $25K) due to fraud. They stole a cheque from an insurance company, washed out the ink and replaced my business and new amount. I called cops and the constable told me very common but mostly with cars. Basically they never usually ask for the full amount back so you are never worried to give them back a portion. For example if you are selling your car for $15K, they give you a cheque for $18K and ask you for $3K back due to over paying you by accident. People think it's fair and give them the balance. Of course your car is never picked up and the original cheque will bounce so you lose money trying to sell your car. Because they do the ink washing it takes longer for the banks to catch it and you are SOL (hopefully not giving any TM3 members any ideas, man imagine all those extra mods??:chuckle). Be very very careful who you deal with. I got lucky and bank covered losses.

[Sean80]

Haha! I found a similar thing a couple months ago. 2006 gsx-r 600 for $2500 lol. Claimed they were recently divorced and all that bs. I just ignored it because it so obvious that its a scam. If it's too good to be true, it probably is...

[aris]

lucky you took it to the bank!!!!

Of course i did...i wanted the money:chuckle