Caution !!!!

[dale]

On Trovit site for car sales there is a 1948 Plymouth convertible for sale for $7500 .. This is a very well done scam using an identity of a National Geographic employees name..

[pflaming]

It's not that I like the scam, but rather the warning. TKS

[knuckleharley]

I have a 40 Ford pu cab with a chopped top for sale on the local Craig's List,and got a email about it from a guy last week that claimed to be a Sgt from the 82nd Abn Div that is serving as a ROTC cadre at a college in Pa now. Told me to consider it sold and take it off ebay and craigs list. Even gave me a link to the facebook page of the real 82nd SFC. I thought that was kind of odd,but the SFC is of the facebook generation,so I ignored the warning signs. Haven't been ambushed before by people screwing around and telling me to close a auction because they were mailing me a money order,I didn't do that.

 

Then the guy started them "my transport guy needs to be paid but won't accept PP,so I am going to include his fees in the PP payment to you,and you can send  him the money using a money order" scam. Complete with an elaborate PP "money has been received" page also telling me to forward money to his "transport guy".

 

The thing is no payment ever showed up on ebay or on the paypal site bookmarked on my computer.

 

Sent the spoof PP page to PP,and told the scammer to ESAD.

[Don Coatney]

 

 

Sent the spoof  page to PP,and told the scammer to ESAD.

How was PP able to assist? Inquiring minds want to know??? 

[knuckleharley]

How was PP able to assist? Inquiring minds want to know??? 

They didn't assist at all because I never sent anybody any money. They sent me a email thanking me for forwarding the spoof email to them,told me it was indeed a spoof email,and said they would be looking into it.

 

Which I don't doubt at all because these people are endangering the billions PP pulls in every year. PP has lawyers hired to get on the phone and contact the local PD's in the areas where these scammers want the money sent. In my case it was to a man and address in Portsmouth,VA.  That's the weak link in these scams. They have to have a fixed address they can hold open for 3 to 5 days so they can get the money orders in the mail,and they have to hang around that long to collect them. The local police can be there to arrest them when they do.

 

PP is always sending out notices about stuff like this,but all you really need to remember is that if a payment hasn't shown up on your PP account that you have saved in your bookmarks,no payment has been made using PP. Period.

 

Also,PP will NEVER contact you and tell you to send a money order to anyone anywhere at anytime. Postal money orders are their competition,and they damn sure aren't going to tell customers to take their business elsewhere.

[JerseyHarold]

I've heard horror stories of scammers paying for a whole car with PayPal, then filing a complaint with them, and then PayPal  refunds the buyer's money.   The seller ends up without a car and without payment.   It's getting pretty scary out there!

[dale]

I told the scammer I would pay cash when the car was sitting in my yard. Havnt gotten a reply.. The scammer said she had the delivery all worked out with a holding company as she was out of the Country working for National Geographic. I googled her name and she was indeed a contractor for them, I contacted National Geographic and they said they had been getting similar calls and it was a scam... If a deal seems too good to be true it is.

[Frank Elder]

Personal cash transaction. Sometimes the old way are still the the best ways.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I got a 1986 dodge Omni GLH for my first wife...best dang trade I ever made..guess I would now be called a scammer...

[jhm1mc13]

Tim,

 

A dodge OMNI ?!   Wow,  what a deal.

 

Jim M

[PT81Jan]

Cheating unfortunately seems to be a pestilence...

 

Have contacted the p15-d24 admin last week regarding this -> http://p15-d24.com/topic/40675-caution-scammers-alert/

[knuckleharley]

Personal cash transaction. Sometimes the old way are still the the best ways.

You have to be VERY careful with that these days because cops will confiscate it from you if you are stopped for any reason and seize it as "possible drug money". The kicker is that it is up to YOU to prove it's NOT drug money,and you have to do that in a local courtroom where the judge gets a cut of the seized money.

 

I no longer agree to pay cash for cars on weekends because the banks are closed. What I do is use a credit card to buy the car or truck,and take the seller to the bank with me so the title or bill of sale gets notarized at the same time after I use the credit card to get the cash. Ideally after loading it up on my trailer and having the seller lead me to the nearest bank. That way he has his money right then,and I have the vehicle and the title or bill of sale,and am ready to  hit the road.

 

I came up with this system after buying a car one time and paying the guy,and him then refusing to give me any help at all loading the car or the parts. Wouldn't even help me back up to it by guiding me. Told me it was my car and my problem.

 

I also had parts disappear that were supposed to have been part of the deal after going with the owner to the bank to get the money and paying him. Evidently his son or someone else there took the parts while we were gone.

 

No more for me. I don't hand over any money anymore until the car and parts are loaded on my trailer/in my truck unless I know the seller personally.

 

Even then I got scammed when I bought my 33 Dodge 4dr. The front fenders were just bolted on by a couple of bolts,and the seller took them off while his son was helping me back my trailer down a long twisty driveway. When I finally got back there the owner told me he had loaded the fenders inside the car,and at a glance,he had. It wasn't until I had driven back from Michigan to NC and unloaded the car that I realized they weren't the same front fenders. They were dented and had cracks,and the fenders on the car when I looked at it and paid him for it were almost perfect.

 

There is always some SOB out there looking to scam you if he can.

Edited March 22, 2016 by knuckleharley

[Don Coatney]

The world is full of unscrupulous people. Honesty is a forgotten virtue. Sad but true. 

[Feudin_Wagon]

Not just an Omni, an Omni GLH! Most people aren't aware of those little monsters. Carroll Shelby was involved with that project if I remember right, and GLH stands for Goes Like Hell. There was an even faster versiion called the GLHS. The "S" stands for "Some more".

Pretty interesting little beasts and worth a google search to read about.

[Plymouthy Adams]

The Omni GLH was the only car I ever owned that the police, county, state or city would turn around and follow me in...the single reason I sold the unit....they never messed with me in my Porsche nor have they given my Tiger a second glance...but the GLH was a cop magnet...though I only got pulled once for singing the tires in second gear..I never got a ticket or a written warning, think my service uniform saved my bacon in that case.

 

My other turbo assisted vehicle was a 1989 Dodge Mini-van with 2.5 and factory 5 speed on the floor.  This van was often a total surprise to many folks when pulling away from a stop sign...

 

Both were very fun to drive..

Edited March 23, 2016 by Plymouthy Adams