PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

xb50gs
Community Member
There are so many eBay scammers active I think I should post another topic. I had written one on the previous board that was pinned to the top, but its since been removed.

In a nutshell, if it looks too good to be true. IT IS.

A $45,000 car is worth the same amount anywhere. If the owner was to sell it to a dealer, or trade it, they may lose a few thousand, but not tens of thousands. So, Rule 1 is

If a car is listed as a buy it now for less than half its value, its it typically a scam.

Next off, eBay DO NOT, WILL NOT and HAVE NEVER offered a ESCROW program for ANYTHING. You DO NOT send money to eBay, who in turn release funds to sellers upon you approving the condition of the car. eBay is a auction venue. And a slack one at that. So, Rule 2 is

ANYONE who claims that the transaction is done that way is a LIAR, a THIEF and a SCAMMER.

Buyers, please use common sense. If a seller is registered in NSW, but says the car is in another state and that he is out of the country, THEY ARE SCAMMERS. The probability of that being true is less than 1%.

Next off, interstate car shipping is VERY expensive. No one would include free shipping on a car that is already way under market value. No one is that desperate to get rid of their car. I might drive a car a few hours drive to meet a buyer, but interstate, even SAME state shipping is thousands of dollars. IT IS A SCAM.

The people doing these scams have been doing it for YEARS. It started as a letter in the post from a long lost relative, who had died and left you thousands of dollars, turned into a email with basically the same thing, but with more money and now its cars, bikes, boats, houses, basically anything of value that can easily be photographed and listed without being able to be verified as the owner.

The cars used in listings are usually nothing more than cars parked in a public place. The people listing are usually middle men, working for bigger scammers, typically in Africa-Nigeria. They will list the items with a sob story and can list 10 or more at a time. If you ever phone them, they often forget which car it is you're ringing about.

Please, don't forget these people are CRIMINALS. They're paid a fee for doing this. They can also be dangerous. So the best, safest, smartest bet is once you get a fishy looking email once you inquire about a car, delete it and have no further contact.

People, unless you can see it, drive it and touch it, DONT PART WITH THE CASH.
Going Ford is the Going Thing.
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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

cherylchez62
Community Member
I had a similar story from a "Cindy" in UK - user name was different to that and car was a BMW - all ready to be shipped..right!!!
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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

xb50gs
Community Member
[quote mid="504698409"]Never again will we buying a car off EBAY. We bought a car recently which passed it's RWC with costly repairs to do so. The person we bought it off swore the car was good to go. Yes, go to the wreckers. We drove it for a week and then the engine died. The car is stuffed. It would cost us $10000 to make the car driveable again. I've since discovered the seller has done the same thing to others. Con-artists use Ebay. They use sweet-talk to get you in. We have learnt a very expensive lesson. The sad part is that my 90 year old mother paid for the car so we could visit her on a regular basis before she passed away. Don't think your experience will be different from the others. We are very trusting people but in future we won't trust car sellers on Ebay or anywhere. Please use your intelligence. Save up for a new car, hire a car or use public transport.

Thats a sad story, but unfortunately, a $50 roadworthy inspection would have told you all that before you bought the car.

Buying a car from eBay is the same as buying a car from anywhere. Contact seller, inspect it, have it checked out, if satisfied, make a bid or buy it. If not, walk away.
Going Ford is the Going Thing.
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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

if you approach it as beagles says its fine. i use a car bought off ebay for 25% of 'normal' price a few years back and its still good, i use it more than the other car i bought for ten times the price.
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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

bumpety bump bump better on the front page

TELL ME AND I WILL FORGET, SHOW ME AND I MAY REMEMBER,, INVOLVE ME AND I WILL UNDERSTAND Confucius 450bc
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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

Thanks for bumping this viewmont, I'm looking to buy a newer used car and after reading all this I think I'll steer clear of ebay. 

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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

panda_4
Community Member

Don't remind me! ๐Ÿ˜›


 


I tried to sell a Datsun ute on ebay once and wasn't it the hot item for scammers!! From captains on boats in the south pacific sea to guys in Guatemala! All of them wanted to use 'pickup agents' and all sorts of weird and wonderful money transfers! (and by the way I wasn't born under a bush yesterday)


 


I picked up the phone to the ebay customer service to be promptly informed it was the latest scam in town!


 


I ended up taking it off and selling it on carsales instead!


 


Moral of the story: Don't sell/buy cars on ebay unless you can go and see it first or you are sure it is legit!

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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

xb50gs
Community Member

My mate advertised his VX SS on eBay and got about 6 text messages from O/S numbers asking to buy it for $5000 more than listed and for his paypal address. He wasn't too clued up on all the scams and was going to do it.



I filled him in and replied to all the numbers 'Hi, sorry, I don't use paypal as I found too many scammers try to do me out of money. I'd rather you drove the car before purchasing it, so if you meet me after work at Newcastle Police station, you'll be able to inspect and drive the car. Cheers, Detective Inspector XXXX XXX, Internet Fraud depratment.



Pity I did that, no one wanted to message him back, they mustnt like cops.

Going Ford is the Going Thing.
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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

Here is another posting option for you Dave.... Don't do anything I wouldnt do ๐Ÿ˜

atheism is a non prophet organization
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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

and a numpty to comment and keep it at the top

atheism is a non prophet organization
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PLEASE: ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A CAR. Read HERE first.

great rule of thumb if you cant see it and test drive it dont send money for it....

 

My story:

 

I work for a Bank..recently a customer complained because they had made a purchase Harley valued at $50k but had paid $13k for it. It was to a Sargante ( yes that is how it was spelt)  **** ***** ( the reason I have not written the name is because the seller used the name of a decorated Seargant in the Aust forces.  Ahh the plot thickens. This Sarge resides overseas so he asked the seller to send the money via Bank transfer.

 

Rule one dont buy from someone who does not know the spelling of his own title

Rule two dont send money to someone overseas for a car/bike etc 

Rule three if a product is priced massively under market value question it

Rule four if it is too good to be true well it is.

 

The long and the short we attempted to recall the funds from the beneficiary bank who declined. The Bank accepted no responsibility and it is now a civil matter. 

 

PLEASE I BEG everyone out there to be careful

 

Also do not provide remote access to anyone to your computer.

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