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#1
10th May 2009, 07:51 PM
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Does it sound like I'm being scammed?
I'm looking to buy a car. Recently I came into a decent amount of money, and I think it's time that I stop relying on public transportation and get a ride of my own. I'm not looking for anything to impress the ladies (I can do that well enough on my own
 ) -- I just need something that will be reliable to get me where I need to go every once in a while.I started looking on Craig's List. There, I found a car that claims to have fewer than 40,000 miles, and costs less than $5k. This was relevant to my interest, so I emailed the guy. I got an email tonight, two days later. He claims to be going on a military deployment overseas, so he has to get rid of his car. I'm in the Army, too, and I looked him up through the white pages on the Army website -- his name checks out. He's a military member, at least. Now here's the part that worries me (and I'm a novice at buying a car, and I don't have anyone to really advise me, so I'm hoping someone here will help); he says (and I'm just going to copy and paste it here): "The transaction will be closed only through a 3rd party because this way we will both be protected. My time is limited due to my job in the army so I decided to use a service from PayPay which will serve as our 3rd escrow party in this transaction. To begin the transaction I'll need your full name and shipping address, I will forward the details of our transaction to PayPay and then you will receive an invoice from them. The car will be shipped insured to your location with DAS and you will have 5 days for inspection, I will pay for shipping. " WILL I be protected if I pay this guy via PayPal? Is this a common way of doing things when people buy cars over the net? It sounds like a really great deal for me -- it's exactly what I'm looking for -- so I want to get back to this guy in a hurry, but I really don't feel like being ... "taken for a ride" here. Could someone please advise me?? :o 
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#2
10th May 2009, 08:13 PM
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For starters, I don't think PayPal offers escrow services.
PayPal is definitely a popular method of online payment, but I think their buyer protection services only apply to eBay transactions and other specific websites in their network. Perhaps the seller is referring to Escrow.com, which is eBay/PayPal's official Escrow partner. If the transaction goes through them, you should be pretty safe. I'd be wary of any escrow purchase through another website, though, the Internet is crawling with sham escrow fronts. ETA: This article may be of interest. Oh, this blog article is even more relevant. It seems that the military man going off to sea is a pretty common Craigslist car scam. His wording sounds similar to some of those mentioned in the above blog. That and his apparent desire to use PayPal as an escrow service (something which would offer you zero buyer's protection, despite his claims) raises more than a few red flags. Last edited by takowasakun; 10th May 2009 at 08:21 PM.
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#3
10th May 2009, 08:26 PM
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It absolutely sounds like a scam. You should never send any money to someone from Craigslist, that's what Craigslist is all about. It's local. Check the car out, see if there's anything wrong with it, (there will be, it just depends on how much you feel like putting up with/ getting fixed) and take care of the business face to face. Actually, I just looked at the cars on Craigslist, and at the top of the page, in approx. 20 point font it says "OFFERS TO SHIP CARS ARE 100% FRAUDULENT!" So perhaps you should keep looking. Good luck.
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#5
10th May 2009, 08:39 PM
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SCAM.
I can enter the text of his reply into google and get many hits with the exact same wording. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...7225457AAUqcvN http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-347-287-6817/2
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#6
10th May 2009, 08:40 PM
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#7
10th May 2009, 08:41 PM
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#8
10th May 2009, 08:48 PM
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Didn't even notice that. PayPay is pretty dubious. Poor grammar, a token address in the Rockefeller Center, an FAQ that explicitly states they are not responsible for fraud or money lost using their 'service'... I'd stay far away from that site and anybody asking you to use it.
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#9
10th May 2009, 08:58 PM
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#10
10th May 2009, 09:01 PM
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I frequently answer the question of friends and clients on whether something is a scam. I don't know at all. But I can say that if you think it is a scam now, it is almost always a scam. That has never been wrong in the past, but it will undoubtedly will be sometime in the future. But you don't need to take that risk because there a plenty of cars out there. Plenty. And there are professional escrow services you can use if that is what you want to do. They won't give him the money until they have the car and title.
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#11
10th May 2009, 09:11 PM
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On any listing on craigslist, this should show up at the top of the screen highlighted in yellow:
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#12
11th May 2009, 03:51 AM
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I've bought a lot of used cars in my life from private individuals. Even though I live in a rural area, I've never had trouble finding exactly what I wanted, and I have a local mechanic I trust who checks them out for me. So...suggest you look closer to home.
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#13
11th May 2009, 04:16 AM
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#14
11th May 2009, 04:25 AM
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Maybe it's just me but the profit margin on selling a used car is typically pretty small. I've never pulled the numbers but it seems to me that what little money you typically could make would be eaten up by the shipping costs involved with shipping the car.
In either case, I'd bet this was a scam. I am a firm believer in 'if it sounds to good to be true. it is'... especially when dealing with craigslist/ eBay/ etc.
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