Help! I’ve been scammed

[esty]

it's important to understand how craigslist scammer operate...they use pictures of other cars they find on the web and sell them as their own...

 

haven't you ever looked at craigslist cars for sale by owner...you see a nearly new car for a stupid low price or a mint 57 chevy for $2500.00...if you search craigslist in other cities, about 99% of time, you'll find the same car, same ad, same bogus seller fishing there as well

 

my bet is the ebay and auto trader ads are legit, being sold by the real owners of the cars

 

 

[penth2o]

No. Sorry Esty. I don't know how it works. I've never seen Craiglist. Only read about it. 

 

If they are legit owners selling the cars, how are the scammers getting the monies? I understand how in BCThomas's case as he did the number one mistake with a wire transfer. He didn't actually know the person or it being a family member but how would they get money from people?  

 

Nobody sends monies sight unseen or to a unknown person.

or do they just keep riding this until they do find someone that does?

 

[Tsingtao_1903]

I once wanted to purchase an out-of-state car and was willing to fly there to inspect, pay and drive the car home.  The seller claimed that he was an army doctor and was deploying somewhere soon.  He asked for me to pay into an escrow account.  

 

That did not pass the smell test for me.  So, I googled up "Craigslist car buying scam".

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

If a con artist senses a buyer’s hesitation about wiring money before they have possession of the car, many times they will offer to do a “safe” transaction utilizing a company like Escrow.com or another online escrow service. They will tell the buyer to send funds via Western Union to the escrow account where they will be held until the buyer picks up the car.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? The problem comes when a spoof email (one that mimics a legitimate site) is sent to the buyer from the supposedly secure escrow site. The funds then aren’t routed to a legitimate escrow account, but rather a fake one. The seller is never heard from again and the buyer is left with no money and no car.
Despite all the dirty deals, it’s still possible to make a good, legitimate car deal on Craigslist. But you have to stay aware and pay attention to these warning signs.

If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The way con artists lure people into their scams is by offering irresistible deals.
If you can’t meet with the buyer or seller in person because they’re out of the country or are sick, or for any other reason, you should proceed with extreme caution.
The seller wants to use an online escrow service of their own choosing.
The seller asks that you wire the money to an overseas account. Especially be wary when they request that you use Western Union, as many scammers use this service.
There is an urgency to the transaction. Either someone else is looking at the car or they have to sell it in a hurry. Scammers use a sense of urgency to force buyers to do things they wouldn’t normally do if they had enough time to think it through.
The only contact information is an email address and the buyer or seller claims they don’t have a phone number to give you.

Edited March 9, 2018 by Tsingtao_1903

[Adamha]

Sucks. No matter what it sucks and thieves deserve what comes to them at the end. BUT,

 

The hard lesson is NEVER, under any circumstances buy a car without yourself, preferably, or someone you trust, examining the car and verifying VIN's.

[KFunk]

2 hours ago, esty said:

it's important to understand how craigslist scammer operate...they use pictures of other cars they find on the web and sell them as their own...

 

haven't you ever looked at craigslist cars for sale by owner...you see a nearly new car for a stupid low price or a mint 57 chevy for $2500.00...if you search craigslist in other cities, about 99% of time, you'll find the same car, same ad, same bogus seller fishing there as well

 

my bet is the ebay and auto trader ads are legit, being sold by the real owners of the cars

 

 

The real key I’ve used for identifying many of these scams is google reverse image search for similar images.  Save a couple pics to your desktop (or save url), then go to google image search and click on camera in search bar.  Upload your pic or paste url, then search and click on similar images.  Then it usually takes you to where the car is really for sale, for a much higher price.

 

the other main tip offs are it being incredibly cheap, scenery doesn’t match state where it’s located, and no visible license plate so you can’t see the state that’s on the plate.

[penth2o]

What's the status on this BCThomas?

were you able to accomplish anything?  

[Dionk]

Have you called the police? it’s worth reporting. Also might be worth taking the text of the ad and googling it to see how many other scams are being run.  Possible for different makes and models of cars but possibly with some of the key phrases.  I’m really sorry this happened. Hang in there. 

 

[Tdh]

On 3/8/2018 at 7:06 PM, penth2o said:

No. Sorry Esty. I don't know how it works. I've never seen Craiglist. Only read about it. 

 

If they are legit owners selling the cars, how are the scammers getting the monies? I understand how in BCThomas's case as he did the number one mistake with a wire transfer. He didn't actually know the person or it being a family member but how would they get money from people?  

 

Nobody sends monies sight unseen or to a unknown person.

or do they just keep riding this until they do find someone that does?

 

I routinely buy people’s unfinished projects, finish them and then sell them.  It’s how I finance my hobby.  The last 8 or so cars I’ve sold that got picked up by a carrier were bought by people who DID NOT show up to view the car.  They also paid me in advance in full.  Granted I gave them references, and sent extremely detailed/numerous photos but those could have been faked.  People absolutely WILL SEND YOU MONEY for a car they haven’t seen in person.  In every one of these cases, I didn’t ask to be paid up front in full.   I even recommended using an escrow service for one of the transactions because of the amount (upper 5 figures), but the guy passed and wired me the amount in full for fear of losing the car to another buyer.  

 

BCThomas, it stinks that this happened to you.  Hope you find a way to run the guy down somehow.  

Edited March 20, 2018 by Tdh

[bcthomas122279]

I’m working on it but it doesn’t look good.

 

I’ve bought and sold many cars and motorcycles this way and I also find my hobby like this.