6 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS
Accepted Solutions
@hunau-13eliyc4,
Please, please, please, do not be one of those people who think that there are genuine vehicles for sale at a price that is too good to be true.
Please, also, do not be one of those people who buy such an expensive purchase without even SEEING THE VEHICLE.
Ditto, please do not be one of those people who send money by bank transfer (which means no way of getting it back) ... and also do not be one of those people who believe that there is such a thing as eBay holding money for a seller and only releasing after you are supposedly happy with the item that will supposedly be sent to you.
There is no such thing.
- Notice that the email you received is not from anyone @ebay.com.au. (And even if the @ information did say @ebay.com.au or @ebaymotors.com or something like that, that would be a spoofed email address, like a mugger putting on a fake name badge.)
- There is no eBay Motors service.
- There is no escrow service for cars, caravans, motorboats, or any vehicle of any sort on eBay or on Facebook etc.
As padi, sandypebbles, lyndal, twyngwyn, and papermoon.lady have said, this is a well-known scam. It's so well-known that it is very hard for the regular responders on these boards to believe that anyone isn't aware of it! But you have done the right thing in checking on these boards before handing over any of your personal information or any money.
In case you were in any doubt - do not scan your driver licence or any of your personal information at all to send by email to these scammers. That would result in your identity being stolen, and as far as I'm aware, you cannot be issued with a new D/L number. That would mean your identity would be permanently compromised.
DO NOT engage any further with this scammer.
You should immediately cut off all communication. You should furthermore be on the lookout for increased scam emails, since you have already confirmed that your email address is live, and that you are to some degree susceptible to the scam that was in the process of being perpetrated upon you. If you can, try changing your email address. If you provided any other information such as phone number or address, you should be aware that those details are compromised.
Is there a car?
No. There's no Toyota Prado. There is no person on military deployment. eBay doesn't deliver cars to people's houses. eBay doesn't hold money in that particular way.
What happens if I pay and then notify eBay that I am happy with the purchase and want to confirm?
You will never notify anyone that you are happy to confirm because the car will never be delivered. It's fake. The whole thing is a scam.
Why does eBay allow this?
eBay doesn't. It's a scam run by scammers, and it's been run for years. The scammers just reference eBay because it makes the scam look official and trustworthy. They could just as easily say Commonwealth Bank Motors, or Trading Post Motors, or Government Auction Motors, declaring that any of those (fictitious) bodies/companies will deliver the car and hold your money until you confirm.
Anyone can claim to be someone else. That's how many cons and scams work, unfortunately.
What happens to my money, then, if I pay? Aren't I protected?
The point is that your money will go straight to a bank account that is being used for such scams. It might be being used without the owner of the bank account even being aware of it, or it might be that the bank account owner is complicit but not aware of exactly what's going on (e.g., bank account owner might be a victim of a "love scam" and have given bank account access to that scammer.
Chances are very high that the instant your payment hits that Australian bank account, the money is immediately transferred to another account - out of the country. Even if you go to the police, that money is almost certainly non-recoverable.
You're not protected by eBay's Money Back Guarantee (MBG) because eBay isn't involved in this. The scammers are just putting on an eBay mask and mugging you while pretending to be eBay, if you see what I mean. And anyway... eBay's MBG specifically excludes transactions where payment is made using bank transfer as one of the covered payment methods. Not only that, but motors is one of the categories not covered under eBay's MBG, so you would be out of luck in every respect even if the car were actually listed on eBay.
I wish you much better luck with your car purchase, and I would suggest that you keep the following points in mind:
- Inspect the car in person beforehand. ALWAYS.
- Do a test drive.
- Don't fall for the "being deployed" excuse or for ANY story whereby the sale has to be quick and that's why the price is low. Baloney, baloney, baloney.
- Get your mechanic to inspect the vehicle before you buy or even better, get it inspected by RACV or your state's equivalent. (Always a good idea.)
- Don't expect a car to be available at significantly below the market value. (Check market value on Red Book... I believe the Kelly Blue Book service is also coming to Australia at some point. If in doubt, check with car insurance company and ask what the market value is. They'll know...)
- See proof of ownership...
Oh! The Choice website has explained how to buy a used car all point by point 
@hunau-13eliyc4,
Please, please, please, do not be one of those people who think that there are genuine vehicles for sale at a price that is too good to be true.
Please, also, do not be one of those people who buy such an expensive purchase without even SEEING THE VEHICLE.
Ditto, please do not be one of those people who send money by bank transfer (which means no way of getting it back) ... and also do not be one of those people who believe that there is such a thing as eBay holding money for a seller and only releasing after you are supposedly happy with the item that will supposedly be sent to you.
There is no such thing.
- Notice that the email you received is not from anyone @ebay.com.au. (And even if the @ information did say @ebay.com.au or @ebaymotors.com or something like that, that would be a spoofed email address, like a mugger putting on a fake name badge.)
- There is no eBay Motors service.
- There is no escrow service for cars, caravans, motorboats, or any vehicle of any sort on eBay or on Facebook etc.
As padi, sandypebbles, lyndal, twyngwyn, and papermoon.lady have said, this is a well-known scam. It's so well-known that it is very hard for the regular responders on these boards to believe that anyone isn't aware of it! But you have done the right thing in checking on these boards before handing over any of your personal information or any money.
In case you were in any doubt - do not scan your driver licence or any of your personal information at all to send by email to these scammers. That would result in your identity being stolen, and as far as I'm aware, you cannot be issued with a new D/L number. That would mean your identity would be permanently compromised.
DO NOT engage any further with this scammer.
You should immediately cut off all communication. You should furthermore be on the lookout for increased scam emails, since you have already confirmed that your email address is live, and that you are to some degree susceptible to the scam that was in the process of being perpetrated upon you. If you can, try changing your email address. If you provided any other information such as phone number or address, you should be aware that those details are compromised.
Is there a car?
No. There's no Toyota Prado. There is no person on military deployment. eBay doesn't deliver cars to people's houses. eBay doesn't hold money in that particular way.
What happens if I pay and then notify eBay that I am happy with the purchase and want to confirm?
You will never notify anyone that you are happy to confirm because the car will never be delivered. It's fake. The whole thing is a scam.
Why does eBay allow this?
eBay doesn't. It's a scam run by scammers, and it's been run for years. The scammers just reference eBay because it makes the scam look official and trustworthy. They could just as easily say Commonwealth Bank Motors, or Trading Post Motors, or Government Auction Motors, declaring that any of those (fictitious) bodies/companies will deliver the car and hold your money until you confirm.
Anyone can claim to be someone else. That's how many cons and scams work, unfortunately.
What happens to my money, then, if I pay? Aren't I protected?
The point is that your money will go straight to a bank account that is being used for such scams. It might be being used without the owner of the bank account even being aware of it, or it might be that the bank account owner is complicit but not aware of exactly what's going on (e.g., bank account owner might be a victim of a "love scam" and have given bank account access to that scammer.
Chances are very high that the instant your payment hits that Australian bank account, the money is immediately transferred to another account - out of the country. Even if you go to the police, that money is almost certainly non-recoverable.
You're not protected by eBay's Money Back Guarantee (MBG) because eBay isn't involved in this. The scammers are just putting on an eBay mask and mugging you while pretending to be eBay, if you see what I mean. And anyway... eBay's MBG specifically excludes transactions where payment is made using bank transfer as one of the covered payment methods. Not only that, but motors is one of the categories not covered under eBay's MBG, so you would be out of luck in every respect even if the car were actually listed on eBay.
I wish you much better luck with your car purchase, and I would suggest that you keep the following points in mind:
- Inspect the car in person beforehand. ALWAYS.
- Do a test drive.
- Don't fall for the "being deployed" excuse or for ANY story whereby the sale has to be quick and that's why the price is low. Baloney, baloney, baloney.
- Get your mechanic to inspect the vehicle before you buy or even better, get it inspected by RACV or your state's equivalent. (Always a good idea.)
- Don't expect a car to be available at significantly below the market value. (Check market value on Red Book... I believe the Kelly Blue Book service is also coming to Australia at some point. If in doubt, check with car insurance company and ask what the market value is. They'll know...)
- See proof of ownership...
Oh! The Choice website has explained how to buy a used car all point by point
No such thing as eBay motor.
eBay does NOT provide any such service.
