Ebay Fraud Alert

[Tom]

Group,

Wanted to mention an interesting fraud (or so I suspect is a fraud) that is going on with Ebay car sales. The characteristics are as follows:

- The Ebay listing offers a car at substantially below market value;
- The listing period is always very short;
- The Ebay listing requires bidders to be pre-approved;
- The pre-approval process requires you to contact the seller directly through the Ebay e-mail system;
- The seller contacts you and lets you know where to send the deposit;
- Though the location is listed as US, seller and car are conveniently overseas at this time;
- US located buyers can't see the car-not to worry, it is such a bargain that you don't need to see it;
- If you are located in the country where the car is, you likely won't get contacted;
- First person sending a deposit gets the car, creating a sense of urgency;
- The listing ends early-forcing you to pay outside of the Ebay listing system.

It goes without saying that if it is too good to be true, probably is.

One of the cars in the fraud was a 300sl Roadster that was listed on the OurSL site. The criminal used pictures off the site to list the car on Ebay. I called Roy Spencer to let him know it was going on-obviously Roy can do nothing about people stealing pictures from his site to perpetrate a fraud.

Common sense would keep most of us from falling for this trap-but it is very clever and looks very legit because E-bay is involved.

Best,

Tom



_____________________________________________

1971 280sl Tunis Beige Metallic (restored & enhanced)
1971 280sl Tobacco Brown (low mileage stock)
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[Malc]

Tom,
Similiar problem occuring in the UK right now.Though there are twists to the tale.

-somebody offers to buy your car
-ask for your bank details so they can direct deposit the money
-they "hoover" out you bank account and disappear

another twist
- somebody comes and sees your car
- offers you a very large cheque, saying it's their wages, can you provide "change" between its value and the cost of the car
-they take the car and the original cheque bounces!

Unless you are paid cash, NEVER release a vehicle to a purchser until the cheque has cleared.
always get a name and address and land line phone number. Check land line number straight away. Ask for ID.
Take down the car registration plate number of the vehicle they turn up in.

A lot of top end RHD cars are being stolen right now, especially BMWs Mercedes, Land rover. Most get exported out of the country within 24 hours
Malc

[Joe]

I had an inquiry on my 230SL from Norway. I didn't follow up on it, but a week or so later, Traderonline (where the car is listed) wrote to say that the person who had made the inquiry fit the pattern of fraud. Their email went on to say that a bank can collect against the receiver of a cashier's check for up to 30 days after the check is cashed or deposited.

I had an offer once to cash a cashier's check for about 25 grand, and receive a commission of about 5 grand. The person holding the check was (he claimed) a Russian living in Ohio, and I had a business connection to Russia, so that is why he asked me. All I had to do was wire 20 grand to Russia.

Of course, the deal appealed to my greedy side. I took a copy of the check to my banker for advice, and she called the issuing bank in Ohio only to learn that over 180 fraudalent cashier's checks with the same bank officer's signature had been received by the bank for payment.

With a computer and a good copier, it is fairly easy to create an authentic looking check and to copy a legitimate banker's signature to it. The Ohio banker said she thought the scam was coming from Nigeria. Of course, on the Internet, you can be whatever and whomever you wish. My banker went on to say there is really no limit on what period of time has to elapse before a bank can no longer seek recourse against a customer who cashes a fraudalent cashier's check; the bank is not going to take the hit.

a few months ago, when offering a motorcycle for sale somewhere in the Web, I received about a half dozen offers from foreign countries which included cashing a cashier's check for more than the asking price, with the stipulation I was to refund the difference.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Joe2

1965 230SL
1971 280SL

[TheEngineer]

Here is an actual story, which happened to an acquaintance of mine: He had an MG for sale. A man came and looked at it. A day later, he came back with “his wife” and wanted to have her look at the car. Then they wanted to drive it.

They had come with a late model truck, a very nice vehicle, and my friend didn’t hesitate to give them the keys and permission to test-drive the car. He had the truck in his driveway and the “buyer” had given him a key. A few hours passed and my friend got worried.
 
Eventually he called the police. He had tried the key in the truck and it didn’t fit. The police was no help: They explained that he had given permission to drive the car and handed over the key and there was nothing that said, when the potential buyer had to return the MG.
But they ran a check on the truck and determined that it was stolen.

The police arranged for towing the truck away. The next day, the police explained to him, that by now his car, most likely was in Canada, or at a chop shop. “It happens all the time, nothing we can do. The car wasn’t stolen” To my knowledge; he never saw his car again.

1969 280SL,Signal Red, A/T, P/S, A/C, Both tops, 3.27 axle. Retired engr. West Seattle, WA

[Tom]

Here's another:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2495130468&category=6338

_____________________________________________

1971 280sl Tunis Beige Metallic (restored & enhanced)
1971 280sl Tobacco Brown (low mileage stock)
1970 280sl Deep Red (Project Car)
_____________________________________________

[Ed Cave]

Tom:

I have to agree. The "BEST MERCEDES 280SL I HAVE EVER SEEN" was, coincidently, turquoise blue with brown interior and had a brown piece of 'carpet' laid across the dash. It was also well priced at $6,500, had free shipping and a dirty engine to boot.

Somebody better jump on this one while they can!

Ed Cave
Atlanta, GA

1964 356C
1971 280SL

[tobacco]

Originally posted by Tom

Here's another:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2495130468&category=6338


It also appears to have a unique set of snaps on top of the soft-top cover -- to secure the top perhaps? -- and that's probably as rare a dealer option as the color combination and that handsome dash toupee.


Bill Greffin
Chicago
#22375

[Ed Cave]

This one, a 1956 190sl, smells bad too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31852&item=2495160947&rd=1


Ed Cave
Atlanta, GA

1964 356C
1971 280SL

[Ed Cave]

Now that was amazing! I posted the message below and less than 20 minutes later, that very car had disappeared from ebay. It still had over 4 day left on the auction. Coincidence?

Wow.

Ed Cave
Atlanta, GA

1964 356C
1971 280SL

[hauser]

Originally posted by Ed Cave

Tom:

I have to agree. The "BEST MERCEDES 280SL I HAVE EVER SEEN" was, coincidently, turquoise blue with brown interior and had a brown piece of 'carpet' laid across the dash. It was also well priced at $6,500, had free shipping and a dirty engine to boot.

Somebody better jump on this one while they can!



Guess what guys?  This listing may have ended on ebay but it is alive and well on the Hemmings site.  The car is listed by www.wholesalecalifornia.com with an asking price of $19,000.00.

They can run but they can't hide!

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[Tom]

Hauser,

I would guess that the Hemmings listing is real and was the source for the Ebay pictures and description.

Best,

Tom

1971 280sl Tunis Beige Metallic (restored & enhanced)
1971 280sl Tobacco Brown (low mileage stock)
1970 280sl Deep Red (Project Car)