eBay/CL scams

bigballer · Nov 13, 2007

i know there are a ton out there and this has been covered alot lately but i figure some people may benefit from my experience. the seller posted a bx2200 (204hrs) on CL for $2850. I emailed expressing interest and got a response within 30 minutes. Andy <sgt.andy07@yahoo.com> stated his platoon was being deployed to iraq and he didn't want his tractor sitting in the backyard "getting old". he said payment would be handled by a 3rd party (ebay) to eliminate any trust issues. i responded positively and an hour later recieved an invoice (with ebays logo) stating i should immediately to go the nearest moneygram sub and submit payment. once payment was recieved the tractor would be shipped (free of charge) and arrive at my "doorstep" in 3-4 days. i asked him for the SN of the machine so i could verify any service bulletins, etc.. he sent one and a quick google search pulled up a hit for a tractor (bx2200, 405hrs) for sale in PA, he claimed his was in OK. i also sent ebay a copy of the invoice asking if it was legitimate. They responded in a couple hours stating the invoice was fake and they never use moneygram or any other "wire" service for transactions, on top of that, they never act as 3rd party for transactions between private partys and that an escrow company should be used. i emailed the sgt andy asking him to confirm the SN because my search had found a potential duplicate, stating i was still interested but wanted to be sure i wasn't being scammed. of course he hasn't responded yet. conscience probably got the best of him

now i knew this was a scam from the beginning but never really knew how they "handled" taking care of the buyer so this was more a fact finding mission than anything else..

i wonder how many people actually fall for this type of thing, tractor related or not, this has to be big business for thieves..

Grrrr · Nov 13, 2007

I notice lots on ebay and am always seaching for the report scam button.

I normally find they are removed within a few hours.

There was a fellow on another board who was nearly scammed for a similar thing.

He had a garden tractor for sale for $1000. He put it on CL and 20 mins later someone wants to buy it. Really nice emails, normally from someone innocent sounding.

The scam goes like this. Buyer sends seller a fake cheque for the price plus $100. Seller says that her shipper will come and colellect it once he has them money

He tells the seller that the extra is for the shipping. The seller must bank the cheque at his bank and then send on the $100.

The emails looked like this:

Hello, i really appreciate your response to my earlier mail.like i said
i will like to buy this item so pls do withdraw the advert from
Craigslist. I will also like you to know that i will be paying via
check due to the distance as i am located in Florida.I will need you
to provide me with the following information to facilitate the mailing
of the check.

1.Your full name
2.Your mailing address be it residential address
3.Your phonenumber.

**I will like you to know that you will not be responsible for
shipping i will have my mover come over as soon as you have cashed the
check**

hello.
thanks for your trust and i want you to faithful with me concerning the transaction but i will like to tell you that the payment will be sent to you by my secretary and i want you to remove it from the computer because i have never buy on the computer and i dont want any delay so please kindly bear with me....there will be over payment on the check in which i have to include the shippers money with your money because they have to pick some other items for me in your location....once you you have the payment i want you to deposit the check into your bank and cash it. upon the confirmation of the payment you will deduct your own money and deduct $50 for your running arounds fee, and send the remaining money to the shipper via western union money transfer or money gram transfer because they have to use the money for the pick up in your place..

Note.......you have to follow this instruction so that i can have the trust on you and you should not forget that you are going to send the shippers fund as soon as the check clear in your bank..ok
thanks and hope to read from you soonest

best regards

hello, how are you doing today, i will like to tell you that you should hold it for me because my secretary have issue the payment to you and just go and remove it from computer...ok
thamks and get back to me

The scam is obviously that the cheque is going to bounce and you have allready sent your own money by something like Western Union to the scammer.

This email followed

I have just been informed now by my courier company that the check will deliver to you tommorow moring here is the tracking number (8634 9651 7919 ) so i want you to go to your bank and cash the check,then you will deduct your money for the item,plus an extra $50 for your troubles,Then you will go to nearest western union outlet and have the money send.

Here is my shipper's information below:
NAME: CHARMAINE BARAJAS,
CITY: ROSEMAED
STATE: CALIFORNIA 91770

After sending the money you will get back to me with the transfer details which include
1.MTCN number at the reciept
2.,Actual Amount sent
3.Sender's name and address.
as soon as you do this today i would be expecting your reply then my shipper can come for the couch this weekend ok.
Do get back to me .
Thanks

When the seller eventually realised this was a scam he was lucky he had not sent out any money.

The cheque did come from the buyer thought and after a week at the bank they said it was a fake.

The email that followed:

but you will get my check tommorow,so what are u going to do...will u help me cash the check, then...let me know.
Thanks

This person was lucky and realised what was going on in the end.

This person wasn't so lucky

Anonymous said:
I wish I would of found this thread a week ago, and then maybe today I would not be out over $3,000...

Allow me to explain, I posted an item on Craig's List and about 2 hours later got a reply from an "interested buyer" almost EXACTLY like you described. I received a check via UPS a couple days later for the amount of my sold item, an added $50 "for my troubles", and over $2,000 to be sent Western Union to their "shipper". After I cashed the check (which my bank did with no problem!) I sent the remaining money as instructed through Western Union. It took a week for my bank to figure out the check was fake and by that time the money was long gone. I actually discovered this thread by entering the name of the shipper into Google. I do believe the person trying to scam you might be the exact same person who successfully scammed me.

This is what was sent to me:

Here is my shipper's information below-----

Name-----Charmaine Barajas
Street address---2152 La Presa Ave,
City----Rosemead.
State------California
Zipcode------91770

If you read this thread I would appriciate you getting in contact with me, I am interested to see if the person's e-mail address is the same, and possibly see if you have any information that might help me fight what happened.

If anyone else here has any suggestions, please let me know, I am currently paying my bank back in payments but I am determined to take this as far as I can go, I do believe with some perseverance this person can be caught.

MessickFarmEqu · Nov 13, 2007

You'd be shocked how often people fall for this stuff. We've had more than one customer who has wired money for a tractor they never recieved.

canoetrpr · Nov 13, 2007

Ok I'm hijacking this thread a bit but its not too far off...

There are a couple of sellers that I know of, one on ebay and one locally in classifieds that sell almost brand new Kubotas (< 10 hours) - typically 2006 or 2007s. They are quite legit. The tractors are selling for what would consider a reasonable price given the model and feedback indicates that the vast vast majority of buyers are happy.

What I can't figure out is how anyone can come up with a reasonably good supply of such low hour, almost band new machines. Neither are Kubota dealers.

I'm just curious.... been trying to figure this out. Is there any reason to be concerned if purchasing from someone who has a legit item for sale but always has a steady supply of these types of machines coming from who knows where?

Neil you must have a guess at least.

Delta Dave · Nov 14, 2007

canoetrpr, could they be grey market?

SnowRidge · Nov 14, 2007

Demos, show machines, advertising machines, factory test machines?

Bird · Nov 14, 2007

Even if they were stolen, the thieves usually wouldn't have a steady supply. My first thought is someone who regularly attends a number of auctions.

claridon · Nov 14, 2007

During my tractor search I did communicate with a couple of guys involved with selling these extremely low hour tractors and I came away with the impression they're repos sold at auction. Apparently one seller attended a large auction is held in Oklahoma. His tractors were being sold from Kentucky. I communicated with one of his customers and he was very pleased with the deal. Everything was on the up and up.
However, I found the price of these tractors (JD) were too close to what I could buy a new one for through a local dealer. Shipping cost, warranty, potential risk, etc. made it not worthwhile for me.

855Idiot · Nov 14, 2007

bigballer said:
i know there are a ton out there and this has been covered alot lately but i figure some people may benefit from my experience. the seller posted a bx2200 (204hrs) on CL for $2850. I emailed expressing interest and got a response within 30 minutes. Andy <sgt.andy07@yahoo.com> stated his platoon was being deployed to iraq and he didn't want his tractor sitting in the backyard "getting old". he said payment would be handled by a 3rd party (ebay) to eliminate any trust issues. i responded positively and an hour later recieved an invoice (with ebays logo) stating i should immediately to go the nearest moneygram sub and submit payment. once payment was recieved the tractor would be shipped (free of charge) and arrive at my "doorstep" in 3-4 days. i asked him for the SN of the machine so i could verify any service bulletins, etc.. he sent one and a quick google search pulled up a hit for a tractor (bx2200, 405hrs) for sale in PA,

This same "Andy" was doing the exact same scam in Salt Lake City!
I messed with him for several day just to see how long he'd play.
I just happened to have a relative in the city where the tractor was,
and this relative could just pick the tractor up and save us both shipping costs.
I just made that up to mess with him and to see how he'd react.
He didn't like that one....

I went on to say that since I was saving him soo much in shipping costs,
he should lower the price

He quit responding at that point.

I didn't mind wasting his time--while I was reporting him as a scammer.

He has not resurfaced since...

canoetrpr · Nov 14, 2007

Delta Dave said:
canoetrpr, could they be grey market?

Definately not grey market. They are USA models.

cp1969 · Nov 14, 2007

Very nearly the exact same scam ran in CL in Kansas City a few weeks back. L3400 for $2800, reason for cheap sale supposedly divorce, seller's name was Amy Wilson. Transaction had to go thru eBay. Ad disappeared within a couple hours after i responded. I knew from the beginning it was a scam but had a lot of fun with them. Supposedly it was crated up in Orlando, FL ready for shipment. I said, that's great, I live in southern GA (I don't) and can be there with trailer in 8 hrs; no ebay needed, I'll bring cash. That threw them for a loop and we went round and round about them needing my full address and me not giving it. Finally I started getting emails that were exactly the same as two or three iterations before.

This drug out over several days. In the meantime, I contacted the fraud website of the FBI to try to get them involved. They have yet to answer my email. It finally got to the point that I said in an email, "Look. *I* can run a better scam than this, and I am not a scammer. Let me know if you want some pointers. For a fee, of course."

rtdiggr · Nov 14, 2007

$2800 seems to be a popular number, I wish i keep the info on this guy to share with the site but i didn't, i did report it to e-bay.
The guy had a 2007 case 445 skid steer for $2800.
The rest of the info was basically the same as the other scams.

Shane

WBWI · Nov 15, 2007

A little off topic but still related... when I was looking for my tractor I talked to a tractor dealer that gave me this story:

A customer bought a used tractor on ebay from a seller in Iowa. Price was good and tractor "looked" clean. The buyer took delivery and brought it in for service to get the tractor checked over. Once the mechanics got into the tractor they found a mud/water line pretty high on the frame. They were able to trace the s/n and initial purchase of the tractor and it came from Mississippi and had most likely been through the hurricanes. The buyer tried to contact the Iowa seller and found a dead end.

I guess there are all sorts of ways to scam the unwary.

cp1969 · Nov 15, 2007

WBWI said:
I guess there are all sorts of ways to scam the unwary.

Is this a great country or what? All a man needs is a good idea.

Unfortunately, I've never had one.

MikePA · Nov 15, 2007

WBWI said:
I guess there are all sorts of ways to scam the unwary.

Unwary is one way to describe them. People looking for a deal that's too good to be true is another way. You'd think common sense would kick in when these 'buyers' see a tractor, or any other item for that matter, way, way, below market value. How many warning signs do these people need before they look elsewhere?

Builder · Nov 15, 2007

canoetrpr said:
Definately not grey market. They are USA models.

They could be flood damaged. There must have been more than one tractor sitting in 5 feet of water after Katrina. Once dried out, they look fine.

leeinmemphis · Nov 21, 2007

I have put some equipment and my tractor on ebay/craigslist lately. There are alot of scammers out there but there are also alot of potential buyers out there.