Scam "Buyers"

[dbs944]

I'm selling my Class A - have an ad on RVTrader and the local Craigslist. I am getting a bunch of obvious scam attempts - simple questions, they accept the answers, agree to pay full price and then ask for PAYPAL account info. Once I tell them I have a lien with USAA they disappear.

Is there anywhere to report these or are they just an acceptable nuisance and part of the selling process?

What do they do with the paypal information?

[Duck]

I received the same type of reply for my trailer but it was a text message. Just dumped it.
Don

[frankdamp]

As long as the title hasn't been signed over to the dealer by the registered owner, just having it in his possession shouldn't be an issue if the dealership is trustworthy. I did say "reputable" in my earlier post.

Does Michigan not recognise consignment as being different to being "on sale"? I'm pretty sure Washington does. The dealer is working as the owner's agent to sell the vehicle and doesn't own it.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

frankdamp wrote:
To avoid scammers altogether, put your rig with a reputable consignment dealer.

Just a word of warning: here in Michigan, a dealer MUST have the title to all vehicles for sale, in their possession. Giving someone your RV AND title is going to require a bunch of trust! It might be different elsewhere.

[austinjenna]

Tom N wrote:

What would you report them for???
Fraud?

Actually all they are doing is sending emails right now, so I don't think they are breaking any laws.

[Water-Bug]

dbs944 wrote:
I'm rather amused at the attempts and play along for a little while.

Just playing along may be just playing into their hands. They probably aren't as dumb as they appear to be. The longer that you correspond, the greater the chance of them sending you a virus or malware. That letter from their bank that supposedly guarantees funds could have all kinds of goodies burried in it. Even the time of day that you respond tells them something about you. You can't outsmart a con, no matter how many times you've seen it done on television.

[JaxDad]

Too much detail, waaaaay too much detail. Offshore rigs and ships have better internet service than a person who lives in the country.

Pass.

[jplante4]

Just got one of these. Here's the last email that raised my Spidey sense.

Good to hear back from you, i work with New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) and we are presently offshore in New Zealand Taranaki Basin on kupe project, i am at sea right now so i wont be able to check the Monterey am buying this for my dad as a surprise gift so am willing to offer you the amount you requested, i insisted on PayPal because i don't have access to my bank account online and i don't have internet banking too, but i can pay from my PayPal account as i have my bank a/c attached to it, all i will need is your PayPal email address to make the payment, and if you don't have a PayPal account yet, i will suggest you set one up at www.paypal.com it will not take you more than 3 mins to do that, i will be expecting your PayPal email so that i will make payment, i have a pick-up agent that will come for the pick-up they will also determine and secure the shipment once payment has been sorted, i will also need your full name and phone number.

Regards.

[Tlauden]

Never give out your address on CL, a true buyer/seller will agree to meet you in a public area. As to the scammers, oh well.... You can tell a serious buyer apart from the frauds. Also, when I'm purchasing something I always provide the seller with my first name, a local telephone number, and I always say which town I live in. I feel like a scammer wouldn't take the time to provide a semi-local town name.....

[dbs944]

Tom N wrote:
What would you report them for???

Fraud?

[monkey44]

A further word of advice -- even dealing in cash. buy one of those 'pens' that highlight money, and 'test' the cash like merchants do now mostly with bills larger than $20. It can tell you if that specific bill is fake or real. Even the Feds admit, counterfeit money is so real-looking and feeling, it's difficult for the professionals to tell if from real bucks anymore.

I know, I know, we're all getting so paranoid every deal we do seems like a criminal act ... but it pays to be as safe as possible when dealing with large transactions.

[mowermech]

I simply tell them that Montana State Law required that I have THEIR full legal name and address to fill in the blanks on the Title before I can get it Notarized for transfer (that happens to be the absolute truth, by the way).
Strangely, none of the scammers have EVER given me the required information.
I also tell them that they must send the "cashiers check" to their shipping agent, then HE can cash it and bring me the CASH when he picks up the (whatever).
Again, strangely, they never reply.

[dbs944]

I can certainly recognize the scammers but I guess it just isn't worth prosecuting. It is so transparent that it is rather humorous.

That said, my last RV sale, the buyer gave me 2K in cash and 4K in a bank (cashiers) check. After getting the trailer home, he decided it needed more work than he initially thought and put a 'stop payment' on the bank check. I didn't know you could do this but that is what he did and my (ex) credit union deducted from my account and sent the money back. So he had my money, my trailer and my title. It took one call telling him he purchase as-is, with the ability to have the trailer checked out which he didn't do, and he decided it was better to go to his bank and wire the money to me.

Having a lien seems to be a bit of a safety net as they are responsible for seeing that the money goes through correctly. Interestingly, when I bought this MoHo, we were both using the same finance company and the company waited 10 days for their own check to clear. Go figure.

[Go_Dogs]

Escargot wrote:
I've bought and sold all of my RVs on Craigslist. When selling, I post the maximum number of photos allowed (24 on CL). My description of my RVs have been detailed and honest. At the end of the description I add a NOTE: Please, no commercial brokers, etc.

They email me via CL's anonymous address which is then forwarded to my own email address. Usually serious private buyers will email their phone number and ask me to all them, which I do.

We then arrange a place to meet. I never give them my residential address. I usually arrange our meeting in a public / active parking lot... bank, city park, etc.

Usually after meeting a potential buyer, one usually gets a Spidey sense of who they, what they're up to, but, either way, I play it safe as a sort of relief for myself, and it usually relieves the buyer as well.

If they're still interested, I arrange to meet them at my bank where the teller can validate their account and if the amount of purchase is available in their account, etc.

This is the smart way to do it. Don't forget to transfer, or take your license plate. Remain as anonymous, (address, phone, e-mail) as possible, until you have a sure buyer. Remind them, that they will need valid insurance at time of sale. Make sure whatever you're selling is clean-don't leave any receipts, or anything with personal info in it.

[ependydad]

frankdamp wrote:
We had a scammer show up at the house asking if we were considering selling. I said yes, and he inspected the rig carefully. He then offered $12,500! Not even knowing what the consignment guy thought about it, I told the scammer to get stuffed.

That sounds like a low-baller, not a scammer. Or am I missing something?