Hmm, could this be a scam?

Froumy · Post by **Froumy** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:15 pm

Other craigs list, etc. scams with cars, when looking to buy.. You send the $$$ through a third party with a realistic looking website. Because the car is in Canada, or something. They promise delivery, $$$ back if not satisfied. Car and $$$ go bye bye. They change the web address every few weeks... Funny thing, though. They're too lazy to redo the whole web page, and tend to cycle through 3 or 4 already made ones. Not to mention charge back schemes on purchasing guitars and amps....

selling/buying something $$$? Nothing beats shaking the guys hand... But there are some things you can do to help against the charge back schemes....but you can still get bitten.

wrea398 · Post by **wrea398** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:21 pm

The pick up guy is a dead givaway. They all have brokers to help out. I have seen this scam 100 times. " Please send amount so I can pay ASAP". Doesn't know the cost but he will take it? Yeah right... My buddy had the exact same scam for for his motorcycle last year.

tomfarr · Post by **tomfarr** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:53 pm

Yes, he is a scammer.

I registered on your forum just to offer feedback.

I just posted my motorcycle for sale on C.L. last night and I received a reply from Mr. Scratchy within about 8 hours.

His first email:

Do you still have it for sale and what is the present condition with your firm price ?

I replied with a few details, including "I sure hope you have a better name, because that one SCREAMS scammer."

His reply I could post, but you might think I had done a copy/paste of the original post on this thread!

I found your forum by Googling "Abi Scratcher".
I wonder where my Abi is, and if I would want a stranger scratching it???

As long as I am here, I may as well take the opportunity to advertise the bike!

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/mcy/2487091407.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for the entertainment guys. Looks like you have a fine forum here.

Robert Valdez
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

fillmore nyc · Post by **fillmore nyc** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:18 am

tomfarr wrote:Looks like you have a fine forum here

Welcome to the forum!!

planetjimi · Post by **planetjimi** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:51 am

OK, maybe I'm a little slow. But what is the scam part of the deal?
He sends you money. Someone takes the bike. What then? Does he say he didn't get the bike and do a chargeback on his credit card?

tomfarr · Post by **tomfarr** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 3:24 pm

planetjimi wrote:OK, maybe I'm a little slow. But what is the scam part of the deal?
He sends you money. Someone takes the bike. What then? Does he say he didn't get the bike and do a chargeback on his credit card?

Is he buying his brother-in-law a collection of bikes?

Oh - and I think it is his insistence on using PayPal; as I believe someone mentioned in this thread, you can only transfer $500 at a time to your bank account.
I would rather have a certified check or money order, I think, which would still have to clear my bank before he took possession.

And they are collecting cars, too!

6burgh wrote:I got that exact same email when trying to sell a car on CL. It's amazing that there are so many maritime engineers out there buying really expensive things for their brothers-in-law. The sad part is that I'm sure this has worked on some people...

Competing with Jay Leno?

spaceace76 · Post by **spaceace76** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:30 pm

he probably either uses the paypal address for something, or worse, "tries" to send you the paypal money and then when that doesn't work, promises to give you a check when his proxy shows up, and of course the check will be bad.

or perhaps something more crafty. i wonder what google has to say about this...

planetjimi · Post by **planetjimi** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:56 pm

tomfarr wrote:
planetjimi wrote:OK, maybe I'm a little slow. But what is the scam part of the deal?
He sends you money. Someone takes the bike. What then? Does he say he didn't get the bike and do a chargeback on his credit card?
Is he buying his brother-in-law a collection of bikes?

Oh - and I think it is his insistence on using PayPal; as I believe someone mentioned in this thread, you can only transfer $500 at a time to your bank account.
I would rather have a certified check or money order, I think, which would still have to clear my bank before he took possession.

And they are collecting cars, too!
6burgh wrote:I got that exact same email when trying to sell a car on CL. It's amazing that there are so many maritime engineers out there buying really expensive things for their brothers-in-law. The sad part is that I'm sure this has worked on some people...
Competing with Jay Leno?

I'm not questioning whether it is a scam or not. I'm just trying to figure out how he get's the bike without paying? How does the rest of the scam play out?

mrhale · Post by **mrhale** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:03 pm

HA!

Just got a hit from Abi Scratchley. Apparently he/she wants a dining room set to go with the motorcycle and other items. Same email language as posted here. All but confirms it's a scam.

As for the scam itself, perhaps the person has a dummy Paypal page where you enter information or perhaps it "shows" money has been deposited. You lose the merchandise in exchange for a few lines of html.

Anyways, thanks guys. I Googled the name because it (AND THE EMAILS) sounded phony. Your discussion here on metroamp came up first so I registered just to respond to this thread. I appreciate the dialogue!!

Good luck and stay alert!
Henry

Metropoulos Forum

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