I saw a craiglist ad for a 2002 Cooper S $4000. I thought-what the heck-I'd ask to see it. I get the following back
I'd thought I'd pass it on. Of course the ad is gone now. Amazing it went away that quickly. Scary

Hopefully nobody would be taken in once they'd gotten a note like this. I just had to pass it on. Hadn't seen a variation like this yet.

 

It's actually an old scam, but a scam nontheless. Thanks for reminding everyone that it's still out there.

As soon as you want to inspect the car, you'll either get ignored or get a lot of excuses why it can't be inspected.

Really want to kill the scam? Tell them that YOU'LL open the escrow account!

 

Really old scam, they use this on many sites and list cars for cheap prices and hope people will bite the bait.

 

funny that guy does not know crapp about a MINI Cooper, anyone who knows anything about MINI's knows that you couldn't get a 2002 MCS with an automatic transmission.

 

Cool. I should get out more. Thanks for the info! I had heard of a couple of scams, but the inventiveness of cheats I guess suprises me...

 

I have a simple rule. If it is on the Internet, do not trust it. Trust me when I say that. Uh,..wait.

I'll get back to ya.

 

 

SCAM STILL GOING ON ! FROM CRAIGSLIST IN MA, BE CAREFUL PEOPLE this is the message I got , note he even included a vin # , how's that for a twist! to good to be true usally is.......

Hello, The car is located in Novi, MI and it is in perfect condition, with no need for additional repairs, no scratches, dings, special marks whatsoever. It has 10K miles and the VIN # is : WMWRC33453TE19205. It has a clear title ready to be signed and notarized on your name. I have the pictures hosted on the net and you can see them at : http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff269/davidmoore79/ The price is $2,900 including shipping costs anywhere in the continental US. There are no other costs regarding this transaction. The transaction will be closed only through a 3rd party and 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 Worldpay. To begin the transaction I'll need your full name and shipping address, I will forward the details of our transaction to Worldpay 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. David Moore

 

link to scam page? has anyone notified CL that there's a scam? Has anyone notified the scammer that he's been outed??

 

For anyone dumb enough to fall for it, this is a cheap lesson in street smarts.

 

Really, I hope that nobody on this forum would fall for something like this.

 

I have a friend that fell for one of these scams. He sent the guy $12,000 even AFTER I told him it was a scam and explained how the scam worked.

 

The BIG red flag for me came when i read that this was a 2002 MCS with automatic trans Automatic trans in a Cooper S didnt come until later 05

My friend responded to one of these ad's on Autotrader... a 2004 5-Series BMW for $20k... owner had the car in Holland, was traveling for work all the time yadda yadda yada... yea right! Needless to say, Autotrader took the ad down

 

Craigslist Escrow Service? Really? I hope someone outed this guy or even tried to scam him. Ask him to send $50 cash to prove he's legit... haha!

 

in Chicago Criagslist there are many many post of scammers in the car section. First sign of scam is that the price is low, second (scams never have phone number), third is the pics have palm trees or vegetation not available in Chicago, fourth is you search other big cities and the same ad is there, fifth they never capitalize the first letter of the city, eg chicago.

 

The biggest (most costly) thing I arranged to purchase online was my '65 Vespa 180 ss. I met the guy in person to exchange the vespa for cash. That was the first I'd seen the scooter in real life, though I'd seen pics. It was better than the pics. That was about 3 years ago and there were no problems with the scooter or title.

Not everything on the net is a scam. The people who do not agree to meet in person, they are the ones running the scams.

 

yea, it hit Chicago today and has been stopped, Thanks to the info found here on NAM.

 

Hey Gang,

Here is the email I got back from the guy selling that MINI on CL.

"Hello,and thank you for your interest in my 2005 Mini Cooper. The car looks and runs exactly as new. The titles is clean, and you will receive it along with the car , so you will have no problems whatsoever registering it there. Vin Number : WMWRC33565TC59864 . Miles: 32000, Automatic Trans.It has an automatic transmission, navigation, park distance sensors, 3M protective coating front and rear, cold weather package and contrasting stitched seats.
Here are the pics of the car :
http://usera.imagecave.com/mini05cooper/
I hope you are serious in your intention for buying, don`t take it personally, but I had many problems with fake buyers in the past. So if you decide on buying the car, I want the deal closed only through eBay`s Safe Purchase program. You will make the payment to eBay and they will hold the money until you receive the car. After you receive the car and you inspect it, the money will be released to me, in this way we are both protected. Anyway, the car is available and I guess you could be its new owner if everything turns out all right and, again, you are serious about buying. The car is in New York at eBay Shipping Center. My final price on it is $ 4700. It will be shipped on my expenses along with the title, 2 sets of keys, owner's manual and a notarized bill of sale signed by me and by a lawyer. The shipping will take 1-3 days depending on your location. Please get back to me A.S.A.P. if you decide to buy, and include in your e-mail your full name and address so I can start the deal with eBay. You will receive all the transaction details from them.
Thank you, Brian S"

I'm not going to reply to him.

I wonder who's MINI that is in the pics.

I dont have a CarFax acct, if you do and want to pull the vin and post your findings feel free.

BUYER BEWARE.

 

PAY to eBay?
eBay SHIPPING CENTER?

 

I'd answer him back...just to find out where that eBay "shipping center" is...

 

CarFax won't do a thing. Odds are he's using a real VIN that will come back clean.
Someone did this with a motorcycle I was selling on Ebay. A couple weeks after it sold I saw it on Ebay again for less than I sold it for. A little investigating and I found that someone's account had been hijacked and the hijacker was using pictures and info of my bike!