Autotrader SCAM?!?!

[WiCkEd95GSX]

Ok so I was checking Autotrader and came across this deal.
<a href ="http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=191004795&dealer_id=57064428&car_year=1998&model=ECLIP&bkms=1129788804099&make2=sel_one&lang=en&isp=y&start_year=1995&engine=&certified=&fuel=&search_type=both&distance=200&make=MIT&color=&min_price=&drive=All+wheel+drive&max_mileage=&address=07503&advanced=y&end_year=1999&doors=&transmission=Manual&max_price=&cardist=13">1998 GSX</a>

its a 1998 with under 60k miles for only 2900?! I am like WTF?! I email the guy to ask him whats wrong with the car and he replies back in the email "Thank you for your recent intrest on my car! The car is a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse in perfect conditions without any mechanical problems . The price for the item is US $2,900.00. As a shipping career I will use DAS, all the shipping/handling and insurance charges are included in the sale price.You will get the package with all the papers, clear title, bill of sale signed by me as well. If you have any questions at all, please let me know and I will be more than willingto help you out! If you would like to go ahead with an order right away contact me via e-mail and i will let you know more about the transaction.
Thank you. "

Yea right I knew from the beginning this is too good to be true, so I email the guy back telling him I want to look over the car and test drive it, so then he emails me back saying "Fort Mill, SC is the location of the car. I`m not in US for the moment and the pick it up option is not avalable ! but i can shipp you the car. There is nothing wrong with the car ... i sell the car at this price because i recently moved from US to Glasgow with my whife who is from England and we intend to mary in UK and i sold my house over US and everything owned by me and the only thing to sell is the car. So if you want to make this deal i will need the folowing details from you:
-full name and address;
-shipping address;
-phone #

After i will have all this details i will forward them to AutoTrader and they will proced the order. You will be contacted by AutoTrader with all the instruction that you need to close the deal with me. So now all im waiting is your e-mail with the requested details so we can procede with the deal."

Ok yea right Im not that narrow pal. First of all the guys email is a free account, and it just happens to be eclipse1998 or something like that. Then listed it says the location of the seller is in NY, now that I want to test drive the car its all the way in SC. And you just happen to be out of the country how convenient. Yea, if the car has no problems and with that mileage you can sell that car in less than a week for at least 9k. Another thing is I can almost swear that Autotrader says on their website that they never get involved with the buyers and sellers. Yea so I am convinced that this is definately a scam. My doubt that this is a unique situation is .00000000000001%. Anyway I dont think im going to even bother to email the guy back. Am I right or am I being a little to paranoid? Just wanted to know if any of you guys heard of this kind of scam or had any experience with this.

 

[redturbo66]

You're surprised that it's a scam? Or are you just questioning whether or not it's a scam in the first place?
Don't buy the car.........problem solved. Let some other idiot fall for it.
If you really want to pursue buying the car, get a phone number from the guy and call him. Get more information.

 

[1gfromND]

Oh yeah this brings back good ol' memories. Well the situation I was in was about 2 months ago and it was on Ebay for a 05' Yamaha R6. I already had my 99' R6 and all was good but then I came across this 05' R6 on ebay for $2700!!!!!!!! SO what did my dumb ass do?!?!? I decided to reply to this creep and the funniest thing is is that he gave the wrap with the whole "UK" bull$@#! Yeah he said he recently moved to the UK and all his stuff was in Philly and he NEEDED to get rid of his stuff quick. He sounded like he was loaded so I believed his story I figured maybe he got a good deal on the bike and isn't going to lose too much on this deal so I kept goin.... . So after I had my bike for sale and had several people lined up to buy it I decided to "talk" to this guy again. I asked him how the payment was to be paid and he replied " just transfer $2700 in cash to a cashiers check and send it to this address Bla bla bla. Oh yeah he was all buttering me up too with the "Sounds like we have a deal" and "I'm holding onto it for you" and how could I forget "Looks like we're starting to wrap this up" my god the shysters out there!!!!! Then came the day where I wanted to show one of my friends a pic of it so I went to Ebay and tried looking up the item number it was and it said that either it has been sold or it had ended or something like that also it said "ABOVE ALL DO NOT send this person any money or CASHIERS CHECK because it will not fall under their warranty. So it took me like 1 second to realize what the hell I got myself into . I emailed him asking if I could get some more pics and said I just wanna make sure I dont get scammed........I haven't heard from him since....people like that just deserve a good ol' beaten' I'm serious. Sorry for the long reply but hey its kinda funny that the two stories sound so familiar!!!! Bottom line SCREW IT report the person who is selling it and try to get him busted or something I wish I could do that now. Keep us updated Sam

 

[Defiant]

I've advised Auto Trader of this.

 

[1gfromND]

Defiant "The Knight In Shining Armor" awesome I hope something becomes of this.

Sam

 

[WiCkEd95GSX]

I've advised Auto Trader of this.

Thanks I wouldnt want anyone to become victim to this. Especially a fellow DSMer or one looking to get into the world of DSMs.

 

[91etalon]

its all common sense in my opinion

 

[WiCkEd95GSX]

its all common sense in my opinion

Not to a younger kid who is way to excited to think straight. Besides not everybody has common sense.

 

[Defiant]

I got a very nice form letter back from AT, with the fairly-inevitable "watch your own ass" kind of stuff. Fairly huge, mostly to say, "Won't be our fault".
They did leave a contact name and number.

"Thank you for reporting your security concerns. We take your security seriously and will investigate your complaint right away. On the behalf of our staff, I'm sorry you experienced any problems related to our service.

I can tell you that our security team constantly reviews our site for suspicious activity and uses filters to block deceptive email and spam from going to our customers. Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way to identify and stop all fraudulent buyers or sellers. The best prevention is using your own good judgment and being aware of the signs of fraud. Find out more below.

=========================================================================
How You Can Prevent Fraud

* Please review our Fraud Awareness Tips so you know the signs of fraud.

* Sellers, copy and paste the link below: http://www.autotrader.com/research/...icle_id=12125&refpage=buyingtips&restype=used

* Buyers, copy and paste the link below: http://www.autotrader.com/research/...icle_id=12124&refpage=buyingtips&restype=used

* Links to Fraud Awareness Tips are also available on the main Home Page and areas of the site where a seller's contact information is displayed. They are also attached to all the emails that are sent to Sellers directly from the site.

* Be particularly cautious if you receive email from us encouraging you to complete a sale. We never get involved in buyer-seller transactions and it is probably a spoof.

A Message on Deceptive Emails and Websites
Spoof emails are a growing trend on the Web. Protect yourself against fraud and know how to spot a spoof.

What are spoof emails?
Spoof emails are fake emails sent by spammers. These emails appear to be from a popular website or company and ask customers to disclose personal information - including the kind that can lead to identity theft. Senders of spoof emails often:

* Include a well-known company's logo and email greeting.
* Use a fake email address that includes the company's name.
* Provide links inside the email to a bogus website that appears to be legitimate.
* Request sensitive personal information, such as financial account information.
* Urge recipients to wire money or send payment.

Have AutoTrader.com customers received spoof emails?
Spoof emails are a common problem for online services. Unfortunately, our company is not immune from this type of fraud. Some of our customers have reported receiving spoof emails from senders posing as AutoTrader.com representatives. These spoof emails urge our sellers and buyers to:

* Complete the sale or purchase of a vehicle listed on our site.
* Wire money for some type of bogus deposit.
* Reveal financial account information to the sender.
* Pay money to claim a bogus sweepstakes prize.

How can I spot a spoof email?
Rule number one - use common sense. And keep in mind:

* If the email describes a deal that is too good to be true, it probably is.
* If an email that appears to come from AutoTrader.com solicits a payment or financial account information, it's a scam. We only ask for such info when you're placing an ad on our website.
* If an email refers to some program or service that is not clearly described on our website, it's probably a spoof.

You'll be more likely to spot a spoof email if you know what we do and don't do on our website:

We don't get involved in transactions between buyers and sellers. We'll never send you email urging you to complete the sale or purchase of a vehicle listed on our site. We won't ask you for a deposit or for information about how you intend to pay for a vehicle.

We don't verify information about buyers or sellers. We won't send email assuring you that a transaction is secure or that we've verified information about a particular buyer, seller or listing. Watch out for spoof emails that describe so-called `preferred' or `pre-approved' buyer or seller programs. We don't offer such programs.

We don't offer escrow services. We're not affiliated with nor do we endorse any escrow services. Avoid any escrow website that states or implies that it's affiliated with us.

We don't warehouse or ship vehicles for sellers. We'll never ask you for a deposit or payment for the purchase or shipment of a vehicle supposedly stored in an AutoTrader.com warehouse - it doesn't exist!

We don't require payment to enter a sweepstakes or claim a prize. From time to time, we may offer promotional contests. But we'll never require you to pay any money or reveal financial account information to enter a contest or receive a prize.

What should I do if I receive a suspicious email?
If you receive a suspicious email that appears to come from AutoTrader.com:

* Don't just delete it! Report it to us first.
* Forward any suspicious email message you receive to [email protected].
* Don't change the subject line or send it as an attachment - doing so could hamper our investigation.

If you've been targeted by a spoof email or other form of online fraud, you can also bring it to the attention of federal and state law enforcement agencies by filing a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center - http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

How can I learn more about Internet fraud?
We've included some additional resources below:

Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
Types of Fraud - http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm#Online Escrow Services

Press Release - FTC Warns Consumers about `Check Overpayment' Scams - http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/12/checkoverpayment.htm

Consumer Alert - Check Overpayment Scams: Seller Beware - http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/overpayalrt.htm

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC):
Special Report on Fraud - http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnspr03/index.html

Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC):
Internet Fraud Preventive Measures - http://www.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/fraudtips.asp
=========================================================================

Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this incident may have caused you. And thank you for helping us fight fraud. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

You can email us at [email protected] or call us Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-8 p.m. EST at 1-888-512-0094.

Thank you for using AutoTrader.com,
Sharon Jones
AutoTrader.com Customer Support
888-512-0094

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AutoTrader.com is a vehicle-listing service that connects buyers with sellers. By using this service, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement. The Visitor Agreement is available at the bottom of each page of our site.

Please view our Visitor Agreement at: http://www.autotrader.com/visitor.jtmpl?ac_afflt=none"

 

[silvah_gsx]

This guy was doing this on cars.com for a few months. He had a 2003 evo for $15k, blue. Gave almost the EXACT same story he gave you. He wanted a $3k deposit. The ad was removed after we emailed him to tell him that cars.com does NOT store cars for people and that we were notifying cars.com of his ad.

If it looks too good to be true (and is being sold by someone in the UK ), it should be reflex to notify the site on which the car is listed.

 

[island03gst]

Yeah, I almost learned the hardway trying to buy a GSX-R TLR for 4K. Basically if they don't list a phone number don't go into it.