[RESOLVED] Scam, fraud, ebay, craigslist ESCAPE

[MYPROJECT]

so i found some lady selling a 98 GST because she divorced her husband and kept the car. she wants to do the transaction through ebay, i got the message and everything from ebay and they want me to send a money gram to an ebay agent. now i thought i was going to do everything with a credit card, so that whole money gram thing threw me off, has anyone bought a car through ebay?? is this method safe?? thanks in advance

[Anonymity]

if its offically through ebay then yes it is safe,or some sort of official money transfer company.

[knochgoon24]

Do you have a link for the auction? I'd be nice to see how 'legit' it looks.

[MYPROJECT]

well i found the car on craigslist and i emailed her. there she said that she had a contract with ebay to sell the car that is why she wants to do everything with them, ebay sent me an email and it looks pretty legit i got the case id # and everything. i even checked the vin number on carfax and it says it is a 98 eclipse GST. just the thing thats got me thinking is having to email that money gram to the ebay agent. is there any way i could check to see if the agent is legit??

[snox135]

It sounds really bad to me. Just cause it is though Ebay doesn't mean it is safe. I have been ripped off selling stuff there. Con-artist usually use money grams through someone else to cover there tracks. I would get her phone number and talk to her. Why would she want to pay the ebay fees for no reason?

[bluetlr2001]

If you have an ebay account i would contact them first. I have to email address and i got an email about an item that i was bidding on from ebay that looked legit. But they sent it to my email address that isnt even registered on ebay. And i contacted ebay and it was a scam

[broken_eclipse]

ive definately heard this scenario before. first time with a DSM though. run away.

[knochgoon24]

Do you have a craigslist link?

[speedyz2]

This is no good. I emailed eBay once about something similar. eBay does not ever act as an escrow agent. They do not handle third party transaction. If it is not an eBay listing, do not do it. Craiglist has been getting filled with scammers lately about cars. I'm guessing the car looks immaculate in the pics and she wants an extremely low price. Please do not do it.

P.S - She could have grabbed the VIN from an ACTUAL eBay listing...

[99RedGs]

Drive to her house and look at it. There is no reason to deal with ebay. Im assuming if you were looking on craigslist she lives near you because looking at out of state craigslist items is an easy way to get scammed. Either go meet her in person or stay away from it. It isn't hard for people to impersonate "Official" ebay accounts when they send you messages.

When in doubt......doubt..

[r6speed]

DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am very serious! I went through this once the EXACT same situation and EXACT same e mails! This is a scam, like said above EBAY does NO absolutely NO third party! I was doing it with a seadoo 19' boat that I paid 15000 for! I lost that 15k (boat was worth 25k) for about 6 months!

Here is what to do just so that you can prove this to yourself...cause I know its hard to pass. Send that e mail you got to spam@ebay.com within a couple hours they will send you and e mail back saying it is a scam...GARUNTEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very serious man do not do this! I also garuntee she has not gave you her phone number...if she has she will not tell you where to go to get the car because "it has to be done through ebay"

Ever used photoshop? I can make a page that looks just like the e mail you got in about 5 minutes...give me an e mail and I will prove it to you...this is a scam!!!

By the way...the only reason I got that 15k back was because I flew to the destination where I sent the money before it got there....I met the guy (said it was a she that got divorced and kept the boat), that is the only reason I got the money...after I called the cops he showed up to pick up the money as I beat the shit out of him and we both went to jail...but I got out 1 hr later he is still in prison.

[MYPROJECT]

Damn i'm glad I got on here. Well thanks for all the info, it really helped out. Turns out it was a fraud, I sent ebay the email I got with all the info and they replied right away. FRAUD!! you guys saved me some money. Thanks again

[Novice]

Yeah I just got done dealing with this scam. Just a heads up to anyone.

Here is a link I found with exactly the same e-mail I got just the car was a 98 gsx for 4,000

FromWhatIHeard.com - Yet Another eBay and Craigslist Scammer

He even sent me some a pic link from photobucket.

1998MitsubishiEclipseGSX - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

I almost took the bait then that little voice went off. Thank god I listened to it. Over sea transactions and super low car price sounds that sounds good to be true.

What an asshole.

[tunethis]

With high dollar items, it's best to buy in person to be safe. I'm sure with the economy the way it is, scams are up more than a 100%. Be careful.

[Rob10_99]

Anything off ebay that you didn't pay for with paypal, consider it a scam.
Unless you meet in person, not at circleK or some 7-11, but at a house or apt ect.

I like to lead these people on and let them explain exactly how to send them money...multiple times.
STAY AWAY!!!

[95redturboawd]

Saw this exact same Eclipse in my local Detroit craigslist and in another thread on here. Guy said he was in the UK or something.