Craigslist car scam?

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** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 30 Dec 2006 Posts: 6

I've been checking out Craigslist to search for a used car for the past few days. A couple of days ago, someone listed a car that seemed to good to be true: $2900 for a 2000 Volvo convertible (the car had a kbb of about 11 grand). I emailed him, expecting a "catch", like it needs new transmission or something, but he sends me the following:

Quote:

Hello,
The 2000 Volvo C70 Turbo Convetible is located in Madison, CT and it is
in perfect condition, with no need for additional repairs, no scratches,
dings, special marks whatsoever. It has 30,052 miles and the VIN is:
YV1NC56D5YJ009300. It has a clear title ready to be signed and notarized
on your name. I have the pictures hosted on the net and you can see them at:
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb41/jspcvo
The price is $2,900 including shipping costs anywhere in the
continental US. There are no other costs regarding this transaction.
The transaction will be closed only through a 3rd party and this way we
will both be protected. My time is limited due to my job in the army so
I decided to use a service from Worldpay. To begin the transaction I'll
need your full name and shipping address, I will forward the details of
our transaction to Worldpay and then you will receive an invoice from
them. The car will be shipped insured to your location with DAS and you
will have 5 days for inspection.
Best regards,

Right away, my bullshit alarm is going off. He did his homework though, because the VIN checks out. The car is located where he says, and the IP traces back to AOL.

I emailed him back saying that I'd pay a mechanic in CT to check the car out, but he never emailed me back.

Now, I saw another car that also seemed too good to be true. A Mazda 6s, 2004, for also, 2900. Now I'm certain that there's something fishy going on because I get the exact same reply:

Quote:

Hello,

The 2004 Mazda 6S is located in South Bend, IN and it is in perfect condition, no need for any repairs, no scratches, dings, special marks whatsoever. It has 32.000 miles and the VIN is : 1YVFP80D345N52473 . It has a clear title ready to be signed and notarized on your name. I have the pictures hosted on the net and you can see them at :
http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z240/jackstk/
The price is $2,900 including shipping costs anywhere in the continental US. There are no other costs regarding this transaction.
The transaction will be closed only through a 3rd party and this way we will both be protected. My time is limited due to my job in the army so I decided to use a service from Worldpay. To begin the transaction I'll need your full name and shipping address, I will forward the details of our transaction to Worldpay and then you will receive an invoice from them. The car will be shipped insured to your location with DAS and you will have 5 days for inspection.

I didn't bother to send him anything back.

Both of the Craigslist ads have been flagged.

Anyone seen this before? If anyone wants to toy with these guys, I can paste their email addys here.

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:56 am

Using Worldpay doesn't offer you any guarantee that the goods will be delivered. It's an online payment service, and the security checks they do are all to protect the seller and make sure that the payment will go through. If the seller doesn't send the goods, Worldpay is not responsible. For all the reassurance you get, the lad may just as well have said send unmarked bills.

If you want to post the emails in our Surplus section, someone will come along and grab them, I expect. Smile

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 12:01 pm

I'm glad the alarm bells have gone off loud and clear. If he has any of your details at all, stay right away.
The catch is certainly centred around the third party. You get to send the money first, etc etc. The third party is protection to the seller, not the buyer.
There would be quite a few people who would have a crack at this guy when you post the emails with full headers and edit out your own details.

If you want, PM me the email addresses. I like these guys.

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 30 Dec 2006 Posts: 6

Full requote of previous post deleted because we can all see it above ^^^

Hi,

I didn't send him any of my personal info, although my first name and last name initial is in my email info. I'm pretty much a lurker here and I haven't got enough courage to start baiting yet. I'll pm you the email info and post the emails in the surplus section!

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:04 pm

livardo, there's nothing that scary about baiting. Try it, and you'll see. Smile

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 30 Dec 2006 Posts: 6

Full requote of previous quote deleted AGAIN. Look it's ^^^^

I hear ya.. I just have a lot more fun seeing the masters in action Smile

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Jul 2007 Posts: 1

Hi,
You have to know that the car I am selling is 100% working and good looking,
no flaws or dents, no scratches or any kind of damage.
I have the clear title in hand.
I am located in Virginia
All documents will be provided along with the car .
I will pay the shipping fees(I have my father who will do me a favor with that...he works at the shipping company).
The price is so low because i really need money because im in serious trouble, my house is being mortgage value and if i don'tpay , my house will be sold in 7 days(no bank offer me a loan).
The transaction will be made through a third company for the safety of both of us .
I'm a serious seller and a fair trader and I prefer to deal only with a serious buyer.
Anyway, I have to let you know that I want a fast deal .
so if you are really interested in buying it, please reply .
I will look for your email, so that we can move forward with this deal!
Thank's
Miles: 89953
Body Type: Sedan
Transmission: Automatic
Number of Doors: 4
Engine: 6
Interior: Tan
Year: 1998
Title: Clear
Exterior: Black
Engine: 2.8L L6 PFI DOHC 24V
Fuel Type: Gasoline
VIN Number: WBADD6322WBW38895

everything checks out and he even sent me a bunch of pics...

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:14 pm

Lets see, Craigslist has pulled the ad for that car on both their Fort Smith and Micronesia sites, its listed on buyhotcars.com as being located in Arizona, the seller is going to ship for free because Dad works at "the shipping company", and (according to carfax), this vehicle is currently located at:
RPM Carz
625 S Euclid St Ste 19B
Anaheim, CA 92802

Do I think this is a scam? Hell yes.