As long as they don't ask for a payment first prior to actually seeing the vehicle, there is only one way to find out...

 

Of course it's a scam...
If you follow through they will eventually hit you with something requiring money to be sent up front and you will never see it or the car.
Use your Spidey-sense....

 

Something's not right. The response you received didn't feel right either. Be cautious.

 

I love the extra touch, that the price includes delivery to you!

And to buy it, they want your info so they can "open a case on ebay". Huh????

I did once play along with a scam just to see how the scammer played it. I had posted a snowblower on Craig's List, and got one of the "I'll overpay/send me a refund" plans, with me to ship the 150lb snowblower to NJ. I was sent fraudulent Western Union money orders.

 

There is an epidemic of ads like this on OfferUp. $1200 seems to be the magical scam number they all choose for whatever reason. Always a super clean stock-ish example too.

Found 3 on the front page just today

I like to report em when I see em.

 

Centered in the Phoenix area.

They could be the the lesser form of fraud known as bait-and-switch.

 

Yeah from what I've heard it just leads down an email goose chase as they try to extract your cc info. Never felt like going along with it but it might be enlightening to do so.

 

Classic.

I wonder if these people use their own accounts or if they are fake and playing a long game. (Says they joined 2011 to 2019)

Or are the scammers using other people's accounts they hacked to post the fake ads?

I got scammed on Ebay once by what I suspect was a hacked account - long time member, good reputation, even the sale price was reasonable - a good deal but not ridiculous. The item never showed up and I never could contact the seller. Thankfully the ebay/paypal buyer protection took care of me.

 

Sometimes individual people get recruited by scam operations for that purpose.
They'll often change the profile picture and display name in between posts.
It's similar to how phone scamming happens

 

If it seems to good to be true yada, yada, yada.

 

If it seems to good to be true yada, yada, yada.

Not that it's directly applicable here, but the converse is true, too. If it seems too awful to be true (and it doesn't deal with what has classically been called man's inhumanity to man, and even sometimes then), it probably isn't.

Extremes, whether good or bad, need to be approached with great caution and due consideration.

 

They replied again. Since I'm a God fearing person sent this reply back hope they heed the warning.

 

Ask three or four big buddy beside you for extra protection, the 1st buddy will be holding the phone and ready for 911 in case they are thief and have gun, second buddy holding phone and video record the whole transaction for protection, buddy 3 & 4 act as enforcer and ready to help you for fighting like NHL enforcer and throwing punch like Tyson! Hope is not an scam, but for $1200 either the car still have previous debt from previous owner and I'll be extra 200% careful. Also check if any hold preventing the car license plate transfer or new owner registration or declare stolen.

 

Having been browsing for a family friend for a few months, yes, it is a scam. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Also, any time you see an explicit email address given, that's a sure sign of scam artists, especially when it's something along the lines of "for more info contact xyz @gmail.com"
For OfferUp and FaceBook, the most common scam prices are $600, $1,200, and $1,400. Plus if it's titled with things like "A/C", "NON SMOKER", "SECURITY SYSTEM", OR "WHEEEEEELS"... All scams. I set my minimum price to $1401 and that eliminates most of them.
Hope this helps you filter them out in the future!

Edit: a friend of mine replied to one of these same ads before and got the exact same sob story about the son as you did. Copy and paste!

 

Did anyone report Lisa.Smith197418@gamil.com as a criminal scammer? If not please do.

Am I the only one that wishes:
1) Start charging for emails sent. The criminal scum will have to find a new way to send crap for free Or lower cost than the volume of emails they send.
2) I vote eliminate section 230! This will force all tech companies to better vet and likely require POSITIVE ID verification that scum Lisa.Smith is who she claims to be. Why? If google is going to be held liable for crap scum Lisa.Smith does on Google’s platform, Google needs a way to sue her to recoup any llosses Hoogle has to payout. Criminal activity And stupid tweets/postings/etc will drop off. No more anonymity.

Apologies for my rant.

 

Did anyone report Lisa.Smith197418@gamil.com as a criminal scammer? If not please do.

Am I the only one that wishes:
1) Start charging for emails sent. The criminal scum will have to find a new way to send crap for free Or lower cost than the volume of emails they send.
2) I vote eliminate section 230! This will force all tech companies to better vet and likely require POSITIVE ID verification that scum Lisa.Smith is who she claims to be. Why? If google is going to be held liable for crap scum Lisa.Smith does on Google’s platform, Google needs a way to sue her to recoup any llosses Hoogle has to payout. Criminal activity And stupid tweets/postings/etc will drop off. No more anonymity.

Apologies for my rant.

With the current administration, 230 is likely here to stay. Unfortunately the best way to deal with these is to report them as you see them. OfferUp at least does tend to remove them very quickly after they get flagged.

Frankly it's the "free candy van" of the digital age and as long as you know what to look out for and trust your instincts, it's not too hard to avoid.

 

Another thing to point out is she mentions , in order to buy the car open a case with eBay. The only time you open a case with eBay is when you either 1. Don’t receive the product purchased or 2. Product not as described or product damaged upon receipt.
Then they will work with you to either get a full refund or another product. Is this car listed on eBay?? If I read the post correctly she says that she is a reputable seller on eBay.They also work with PayPal to resolve issues. Plus $1200 dollars for a car ,that probably books for around $6000+ and free delivery does not make sense. Just my 2 cents

Glenn

 

If it was such a deal they could take it to carmax and get rid of it in 30 minutes or so.

 

Just looking saw this '10 Camry for $1200 yeah right. Smells like a big scam.
View attachment 328684


So just curious sent a email this was the reply: Thoughts?
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Yeah, I just got the same exact email (copied and pasted, except now it's four months ago), and I'm in North Dakota

 

Just looking saw this '10 Camry for $1200 yeah right. Smells like a big scam.
View attachment 328684


So just curious sent a email this was the reply: Thoughts?
View attachment 328682

Definitely a scam and they're still at it

Just looking saw this '10 Camry for $1200 yeah right. Smells like a big scam.
View attachment 328684


So just curious sent a email this was the reply: Thoughts?
View attachment 328682

Definitely a scam and they're still at it. Came across 2009 Nissan Altima for $1000 perfect condition same car was posted multiple times listed in different states. Saying it was their sons car that died in a accident too many memories. Just give her my info and eBay
Motors protection program will contact me within 12 hrs telling me what to do next. There's several of them out there on Facebook marketplace for $1,000-$1,200 some guy listing a car for his sister giving her email address. Two different kinds of cars so far I've come across. Be careful people. Don't think eBay will do such a thing on a Facebook listing to begin with. Almost had me suckers lmao

 

When I lived in Texas same thing they show a beautiful car and ask 1200 oh 600 was the preferred price in Houston and say to contact me at this email address. If you honestly believe a 2010 Camry for example in that good shape is only 1200 than ya need to check the value of camrys

 

When we lived in Tennessee, my wife asked about one of these types of ads for a van (we wanted to switch from car to van, honda/toyota), between 4-6k where actual KBB over 16k. The ads always used a White or Navy Blue Odyssey, Beige or Black Sienna. I told her it was a scam but had her go through the discovery process to learn. I did tell her not to provide any information, just go through the asking nicely and get enough info. Everything was going great. After a few days, they got to payment and delivery conversation. Then she realized how it was going as literally predicted.

Even if you realize its a scam, have a little fun. Play along and annoy the person. And if you have time pass on that info to the authorities.