Old scam, newer twist?

[dummy]

Ebay is showing a 2003 Kubota Bx 22 for $4990.00 delivered! Bx-22 Have to be a registered bidder to buy. Ok, what does that mean? Sent an email and got this in reply <font color="blue">

Thank you for your interest in purchasing my 2003 KUBOTA BX22 TLB. I know
that are numerous offerts on eBay and I'm glad that you choose to contact me
regarding your willingness to purchase.

First of all I must inform you that currently I'm in Netherlands and I have
to let you know that the tractor is here with me and it is in a perfect
condition, I am the first owner of this tractor; I bought it directly from
an authorized dealer.

The tractor has a clear title which you will receive it with the tractor. It
can be registered into your name, so stay cool about this. I have to tell
you that I have other serious offerts which I have to consider and I will
make a decision regarding this sale function at time of payment and price.
The price that I am willing to sell it is US $4,990.00(this price includes
the shipping and insurance to your location) and if you agree with this
price we can start to complete the transaction. The payment must be done
using a money transfer service. I prefer money transfer because in this way
i will ship the tractor in the same day you make the payment. You will
arrange payment through Western Union. In case you want me to ship you the
tractor right now you have to make me a confirmation of US $4,990.00.

After you've completed the transfer you will receive a confirmation that
will alow me to track the transfer.

Here are the details that i need:

-sender name and address
-receiver name
-exact amount wired
-MTCN # (10 digits)
-if it is possible a scanned copy of the receipt format .JPEG for me to add
to the files

As soon as the payment will be confirmed and the money properly sent, I will
IMMEDIATELY proceed and I will ship the tractor via Lufthansa Airplane Cargo
insured and It will take 72 hours until you will have it at your door. The
shipping is free. The US $4,990.00 of payment are fully refundable if for
any reason you do not accept the tractor or if the tractor has scratches,
hidden defects, or it is not as advertised. I will even pay for the shipping
back to my location if you reject the tractor but since it is a state of the
art farm tractors and works and looks perfectly I think it would not get to
this.

Here is my name and adress you need to organise the western union transfer:

First name:YALE
Last name:SINGER
Adress:AMBACHTSPLEIN 115
City:ROTTERDAM
State:GV
Zip:3068
Country:NETHERLANDS

If you agree with these terms, let me know and i will be more than glad to
start to complete the transaction with you. Thank you and I hope that you
will have the pleasure to use this tractor.

Cordially yours,
Yale
</font> Think I'll pass this time.

 

[gerard]

Gee - what would his reply be if you offered to ship his money the MOMENT the tractor arrived at your door????????

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

This scam has been around the big motorcycle listings for months now. Here's how it works. The scammer gets people to email them to be put on the bidder list then contacts them back individually to close their deal. They work off of hijacked Ebay accounts so they are virtually untraceable and if you deal with them directly, Ebay is out of the loop, too.

The scammer can get any number of deposits from any number of potential buyers then just disappear with tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars sent to some Western Union office in outer Botswana or wherever.

Anytime you see an item advertised like this, to to Ebay Customer Support and take two minutes to report it.

 

[tc35dforme]

Hey bidding has ended due to an 'ERROR'. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I wanted to buy one /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Something is weird....all of the previous items that 'seller' placed were originating from Winnipeg Manitoba. I wonder if this is a case of identity theft. Curious why they would close the deal on Thanksgiving. Hmmm, a holiday, limited security staff on at Ebay corporate to chase this .......

Here in Massachusetts a guy was just arressted for stealing the identity of 12 guys all with the same name. One was a State Representative. They haven't figured a total yet but the rep got soaked for something like $ 11,000. They say the Rep is responsible for paying for it.

These high tech ( intellegent theif ) crimes are getting scary.
Bring back the dope with the bag over his head !!!!

 

[pekabu]

This is a big problem with eBay. Most snowmobiles online are scams. Same scenario. $3500 for a $8000 sled. Stolen id's.

 

[pekabu]

One other interesting note, is that they steal pictures from sleds sites or other sled auctions. Recently saw a sled for auction that the pictures showed his yard! People have complained on Amsnow and Snowest that there sled is for sale on eBay and it really isn't! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[rbeitz]

Same old scam that they have been running on the 4-wheeler auctions for months now. The other day I counted no less than 2 dozen fraudulent auctions for 4-wheelers. Ebay can't shut them down fast enough.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color="blue"> "Ebay can't shut them down fast enough."</font>

While that may be true, Ebay could eliminate a lot of the problem simply by eliminating the 'restricted bidder' auctions where the scammers get to communicate directly with potential bidders. This has been going on long enough that Ebay should have at least done that and they haven't.

 

[Junkman]

eBay could do a lot of things to make the site more secure, but doesn't do them because even if a person backs out of an auction and you request a final auction fee credit, they still get the money for listing the auction. eBay is a company that doesn't care as much about fraud unless they are the ones that don't get paid. My eBay purchase and sales have been good, but I am very careful who I buy from and I cancel bids from people that I don't feel good about competing in my auctions... If they bidder has any negative feedback in recent months, I just cancel them out. If I have a new bidder bidding and it is an expensive item, I don't let them continue in the bidding unless they send me an email showing their internet provider. If they use a Yahoo or Hotmail e mail address, they are history because these type of addresses have the greatest probability of changing regularly.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I sold one of my old tractors on Ebay and got lots of bids from people with ZERO history and I admit is scared me. I ended up selling to a guy with 3 positives who paid cash and picked up the tractor less than 24 hours after the auction ended.

BUT, prior to selling on Ebay I listed the tractor for sale on the internet and I got several inquiries from Africa and states in the former Soviet Union. Each offer was very similar, so I figured they were some sort of a scam. In each case, the guy giving me the offer "worked for a large American multinational company" and needed some farm equipment to help out the backwards crop production in whatever country they were in. And in each case they wanted to send me a cashiers check for about DOUBLE the asking price of the tractor, but then wanted me to wire transfer the excess to a 3rd party that would come to get the tractor. On the surface it seemed odd, but then I figured that something with the wire transfer would give them my bank account information? And they wanted several other bits of information as well. The first time I got that type of inquiry I thought maybe it was legit, but the longer the negotiations went on the screwier it got. And then I got several more very similar inquiries. I don't remember all the questions and conditions, but I'm sure some people fall for it. This all happened 6 to 8 months ago. None of this stuff happened via Ebay, it was all through other web sites where I had classified ads posted.

So when you are selling, make sure you watch what your are doing too!