heads up to XK150 scam

[wifegonnakillme]

Hello Jag folks,
I'm visiting from the Triumph side. Last week there was a brief posting of a red 1959 XK 150 on ebay with a Buy it Now of $5900. The car apparently had been restored in '98 and the pictures showed a good clean looking car...too good to be true? Well, I managed to get the sellers email and began email contact. I learned that the car is apparently now located in Gatz Austria (although the pictures look like the car was in Arizona or some place with large cacti). Anyway, he seemed to insist that i could buy the car if I was willing to use Bidpay and would be willing to ship by his chosen shipping company. I responded that bidpay has a max of $1000 and that we could use an escrow service instead - he responded that the bidpay max was only for NA and that he had their purchase protection up to $10K...anyway, I sent him the bidpay confirmation (I queried them) and haven't heard back, big surprise -
Once again too good to be true - probably is - but there was a good few hours there where i saw myself driving that beautiful car...
Cheers,
Kerry
'59 TR3A /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/canpatriot.GIF

 

[Simon TR4a]

Kerry, BEWARE! Very fishy.
Simon.

 

[wifegonnakillme]

Don't get me wrong, I wrote this one off unless he comes back willing to go through escrow where I get to see and approve the car before his funds are released -
Just wanted to let the community be aware that this car and seller is out there,
Cheers,
Kerry

 

[jessebogan]

This is a common Ebay scam. The photos and ebay account are hijacked( not necessarily from the same person) and when you pay....your money is gone forever. You just know that the car would sell for much more money than the supposed buy it now price. If it seems to good to be true, it usually is, especially on ebay.

 

[JamesWilson]

All sorts of warning flags here:
<ul type="square">
[*]The ridiculously low price....
[*]The overseas location with a USA target market... was it listed with the German e-bay?
[*]These cars often show US License plates or other inconsistencies- as you note an Arizona like backdrop when an Alpine one would have been apt....
[*]The use of a "chosen" shipping company- particularly where they offer "free" (with their employer, or a relative's, or....)shipping- that's $1000 more-or-less by sea to/from Europe....
[*]They take advantage of the ignorance people have of shipping costs and letting them make the arrangements delays the time when the sucker, er, buyer, finds out the car wasn't there after all- days rather than the weeks for trans-Atlantic shipment.
[*]The great desire to get a deposit up front, fast... Something is better than nothing....
[*]Is there really a Gatz in Austria? Graz, ja.... These ads are often written in very poor or odd sounding English, but you'd expect them to get the local stuff right. If not then they may not be there either....
[*]You didn't mention who was doing the escrow, but these scams also sometimes propose/use fake "escrow" services....
[/list]
From your description it sounds like practically everything is dodgy.

I think e-bay should put one of these ads up on public display with an explanation of exactly what's wrong with them and WHY buyers should treat them with utmost caution.

Caveat Emptor. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

 

[Bruce Bowker]

old OLD REALLY OLD scam.

What I don't understand is why these scammers don't put a more realistic price and then just run away with a fat deposit. One might be more inclined to look at such a sale if it were $20,000.

EBay will pull these within minutes if you report them. I reported two cars and both were gone within 10 minutes of my email.

Bruce

 

[JamesWilson]

An oldie but goodie?

You're right though- a little more investment of the scammer's time in making it all look realistic and more plausible and they'd make out like bandits.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[John S Farrington]

I had a deal on a Jaguar almost go south a few years ago. It was straightened out and was OK but in the 2 weeks of doubt, I found out that what E Bay toutes as a "safe harbor" and all this protection for the buyer is a scam in itself. I got no help on locating the seller from E Bay and through my own investigation, I was able to find out more about the seller than E Bay knew and the seller had a history of many trades using E Bay. I also found out that the FBI is very interested in E Bay trading and was very helpful. I could not recommend E Bay as being a safe place to trade.

 

[JamesWilson]

[ QUOTE ]
... but in the 2 weeks of doubt, I found out that what E Bay toutes as a "safe harbor" and all this protection for the buyer is a scam in itself. ....

[/ QUOTE ]

I've found e-bay to be no help whatsoever the once I had some difficulties with a purchase- and they don't seem all that interested in properly polcing their "regulations" either.

I'm now much more circumspect when buying things. I usually ask for a phone number and call the vendor for anything more than $50 and that does a good job of sifting out the bad apples. Even for a short international call (which it is for me to the US) its usually cost effective.....

 

[Bruce Bowker]

They will pull a car if you report it. If you can figure how to get the report page.

Bruce

 

[John S Farrington]

Bruce, I dont know what pulling a report means, but if you are talking about an E Bay action based on a complaint or a potential scam on their "safe harbor", my experience says that nothing happens except red tape that accomplishes nothing. In referring to E Bay, it is "caveat emptor" (Latin).

 

[jessebogan]

In life I think caveat emptor is the norm. I have reported many faked ads to ebay, and without exception they have been pulled. I have completed over 600 transactions on ebay, both buying and selling, and have never had an insurmountable problem. It is like everything else, keep your eyes open. I have gotten some excellent parts at real affordable prices, and in fact I could not begin to restore my anglia with out it.