So, I'm writing a story on Internet car scams..
 

I find the Aluminator Camaro on Ebay for a $8000 BUY IT NOW .. :lol:

http://cgi.ebyamotors.com.5u.com/196...dZViewItem.htm

priceless..

Oh, and I got a fake "second chance" offer on the Fairlane I WON..

This story is so easy to write.. so much material.. lol

these scams must work.. right?

And it's a spoof site :rofl:

They spelt ebay wrong.. guess it's like a ROLOX watch..

ht tp://cgi.ebyamotors.c om

Wow.. I bet 5% of the Camaros on there are scams..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1968-...QQcmdZViewItem

The sad part is that there are 12 bids.. :faint:

More then 5%
I bid on another camaro a few weeks ago and I lost out, but had 4 different second chance fake e-mails. E-bay needs to really do something about this kind of thing. It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to use E-bay anymore.

I am starting to feel the same way, I am paranoid everytime I log on. I am constantly looking for signs of scams as I search for items, I always look up at the address bar to make sure I am actually still on the ebay site.

A couple of weeks back I was checking out some Kubota tractors, it seemed like the scam units way outnumbered the legit ones!

I am surprised that ebay stock has not taken more of a hit due to this.
Although I suspect the drop from Jan 06 to mid summer, probably was in part due to these scams.

Steve I really think you would be doing a great service putting this out in print. I fear average Joe public is not aware how extensive these scams have gotten.

I saw a 1968 Camaro in Semes, AL, which is around 30 minutes from my house. I emailed for info and got a response that the car was actually out of the country and that the ebay ad was just trying to find the "right" buyer. Alarm bells went off. :_paranoid

Suddenly the Ebay ad had its city removed and two days later the ad was removed. I almost feel sorry for anyone that actually believed the car existed and wired this scammer any money for "shipping."

Some poor guy had his Ebay account stolen. Likely when they got one of those "Update your Ebay information Now, Click here scams." No Idea why people will fall for those.

At that price I can afford to buy it back! :D At the very least Ebay needs to make reporting easier, I always forget how I reported the last one! :willy:


Jody

lol, good idea Jody. :D

Here's his e-mail address, maybe we should all e-mail him and post his responses here. :lol:

[email protected]

The amount of fraudulent e-Bay correspondances I have had, given the very limited number of bids/transactions I have actually made is incredible. I would bet there are a lot of really unhappy folks that have been scammed in this world. Most folks aren't generally computer savy, very easy to fool with the types of e-mail "offers" etc that I have gotten, even I have to look at them three times.

Just another (easy) way for crooks to be crooks. Beware!
Mark

There is another kind of scam too that overseas customers have been victims to.

There are several cases over here where guys have won the bid on a resonable good car, mostly in need of restoration but in some cases they have bought a nice looking, good running car. Or at least that was what they thought.

When it arrives two or three months later here it has been a total piece of junk. Barely held together by the remaints of paint on it.

This is in some way to be blamed on th buyer, to check things out. But when you receive something that doesn't even match the photos on the eBay ad then you have been screewed.

Write the article, it is for sure needed.


Jan

Ebay should be boycotted until they clean up the scams and police their site better. I would not buy or sell on Ebay the way it is now....too big a risk.

I'm with you on that! :yes:

The annoying thing is that it is not just scam cars any more. A couple of months ago I was bidding on a pair of NOS '67 Camaro RS fenders. I threw a bid in around $500 for fun - didn't hit reserve - and forgot about it. A day or so after the aution 'ended' I get an email from the guy who says that the winning bidder (at $1500 give or take) can't complete the deal and do I want them? for my original bid? We'll I'm spectical but what the heck, I may as well respond, they're in GA and they guy sounds legit maybe just a little down on his luck... So I email back ans ask about shipping. Now I am in Western Canada and from experieince I know that shipping will be "pricey" at best. He emails back and says not to worry, the $500 would include shipping...

When something looks like it is too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true.

Just one of many stories I am sure. Good luck with the story Steve.

Update...

I got a second chance offer to buy the Fairlane.. So i send the scammer a note showing interest..

His reply:
Only 5 days from London to California?? wow.. must be sending it on the Concord..

We had to give my scams story more space.. too much material.. lol

Did you try to track his IP-number from the email?

It often ends up in Romania or Russia.

Apparently this must be a lucrative business otherwise they should have ended by now. I beleive that this is ALL over eBay. The scammers probably scans eBay on anything over a certain value and try to scam everybody.


Jan

Ebay does seem to be getting out of hand with scammers.

Maybe Ebay needs to somehow approve people before they can post an ad or bid.

E-bay and craigslist is full of scammers. It's sad that these people can't get real work and not have to rip people of for a living. They should be shot on site.

Jody:

Email any suspicious emails or listings to:

[email protected]

They will send an email telling you it will be looked at, and you will be emailed again with their results. Usually takes about an hour.

Once ebay finds one, they cancel the listing and/or the contact the FTC. (Federal Trade Commission) They will also contact the ISP where this account originated from and file the appropiete documents so either the subscriber loses their account, or the ISP is charged and risk losing their license.

Further, if in the US, the AG of the particular state will be contacted and charges brought against the party doing this.

I think the best idea would be to not allow any postings from the countries where these originate from, or where there is no legal authority to prosecute these jerks.

Hope this helps.

tyoneal

Paypal is bad also, I sold a trans on there for 800 the guy payed with paypal on his credit card, I shipped the trans he left me positive feedback, two months later paypal took the money back the guy canceled payment on his creditcard. after researching it this is quite comon, and paypal will not stand up to it.