Posted on 05/07/2012 6:30:02 AM PDT by cuban leaf
I answered an ad in the Kentucky website used by my town for free classifieds. It listed my town in central KY as the location. The ad was for the truck described below for $3,000. But look at the response I got back below. Is it a twist on the Nigerian scam.
Your thoughts? (some information redacted)
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Hey,
This is XXXXX. I received your email about my 1999 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 4X4. The truck is in great shape. It was always garaged and never smoked in. It has minor scratches, normal for the age. No mechanical or electrical problems. It has been extremely well maintained with a full service history. Clean title in hand, with no loans or liens on it. It does not need anything additional to function, has 144,000 miles. It has automatic transmission, 5.3L V8 engine, 4X4, bedliner, trailer package, LS package, power windows, power door locks, brand new bridgestone dueler A/T tires and more. It just completed a full inspection and is good to go. The price for the truck is $2,800.
For more pictures here is a link to the truck's photo gallery: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I am currently stationed at Fort xxxxx (U.S. Military training base in CA) making final preparations before deploying to Afghanistan. The truck is here with me at the base but don't worry as the shipping won't be a problem; military has a considerable discount, so I can handle it by myself with no charges whatsoever on your account. Shipping may take anywhere between 2 to 3 business days depending on the destination. All documents you need for ownership, manuals and bill of sale will be provided along with the truck. For the payment I would like to use Google Checkout as a third party. They will keep your money into a protection account until you get the truck and will release it to me after inspection period is over and you agree to keep the truck. So, this is not a blind transaction, you can see the truck before committing to buy and to eliminate any concerns you will have 5 days to inspect the truck. If you decide not to keep it Google Checkout will refund you the money, no questions asked, and shipping back will be my concern. I think this is more than fair for both of us. I'll start the official procedure, and Google Checkout will contact you about this. If you are interested in buying it just mail me back with: - Your Full Name and Address - Required by Google Checkout (You'll receive important guidelines + instructions from them.). I want to point out that because I am going to Afghanistan this sale is my top priority and I am looking after a fast transaction, with no delays. That is why I decided to lower the price, to avoid wasting time with negotiations and find a buyer as soon as possible.
Thanks, Sgt. XXXX XXXXXX
—Also, you can google the name of the seller...—
Excellent idea! BTW, I’ve noticed on this local site that there are a LOT of “really good deals” and almost every one has at least one comment below it that says “Scam”. They all have one thing in common: Either no phone number or the number is a fax machine somewhere.
In this case, the seller actually went to the trouble of becoming a member of the site (the only way you can create an ad), which added legitimacy to it, for me, anyway...
There is almost no chance of this being legit.as your say, why not just sell locally? The cost of shipping a truck has to be high, and who would spend that to allowed someone to simply look at it? And it would be leaving the seller’s control.
This is BS.
This burns me up.
People like this can run scams like this all over America with impunity, but my mom gets a speeding ticket running to the local store to pick up a loaf of bread.
The police are useless highwaymen preying upon innocent citizens going about their business instead of actively hunting down criminals - who these days, frequent the new electronic marketplaces.
A telephone number and an email get your ‘legitimacy’ on craigslist. Don’t use CLASS membership as a source of trustworthiness.
CLASS - CL for craigslist. Dang auto correct.
Sergeant don’t write that clearly.
Don’t walk, just run as fast as you can from this.
Just write him back and tell him you will fly out tomorrow and see the truck, pay him and you will drive it back home. You can bet your life savings you will never hear from him again !!
—The police are useless highwaymen preying upon innocent citizens...—
HAHAHA! That is EXACTLY what I call them: “The modern highwaymen.” I made three driving trips to my new home in KY from Seattle and several trips from Seattle to eastern South Dakota, San-Diego, and have driven in pretty much every state in the union. It is like a game of cat and mouse to me, with the state patrols being the “cats”. That said, I get pulled over about three or four times a year but average only one ticket per year.
It’s kind of a fun “game” that really doesn’t cost that much. It has very little to do with safety, though that is the component that gives it “legitimacy”.
I actually declined before I had solid confirmation that it was a scam. Otherwise It might have been fun.
If you do s few searches you will likely find the same add posted at different sites, with different selling locations on different classifieds all over the nation. This is a very common scam on Craig’s list...
IIRC, the opening page for craiglist autos warns against ‘I’m a soldier and about to be deployed’ scams.
I actually did buy a car from an ‘about to be deployed’ soldier, on CL...but there were a few differences. Mainly, it was local, so I could go meet him, look at the car, see where he lived, etc.
I would never but a car sight unseen like that....and you have to ask yourself - if its such a great deal, why can’t he sell it locally.
I did the exact same thing two years ago. The seller claimed to be a woman who got the truck in a divorce settlement. I said that I would fly to wherever she was, give her a check, and drive home. I never heard from her again. I wound up buying a nice 2005 F-150 4WD off of Craigslist from a guy 30 miles away. He met me at my mechanic’s shop, we had lunch across the street while my mechanic inspected it, got the thumbs up, then went to the bank for a cashier’s check. I love the truck, and all ended well.
If you have to ask if it’s real, then your gut is telling you it isn’t.
What sticks out the most to me is the lengthy description of the truck, his plans and the payment arrangement.Lies tend to be long...and every anticipated problem is addressed.
Wouldn’t it be easier for all if he just put his cell phone number in the ad- especially if he’s a local boy living far away? Unless you don’t want someone asking you a lot of questions that you aren’t prepared to answer....
I say BOGUS!
—I would never but a car sight unseen like that...—
Same here. I actually left a comment in the ad (you can do that on that site) that it is a scam and even included one of the links here to a discussion about that scam.
I don’t buy anything worth real money sight unseen. And this “someone will hold the money for us” baloney is always a huge red flag.
—If you have to ask if it’s real, then your gut is telling you it isn’t.—
That is exactly what happened, which is why I turned it down as soon as I found out it was not local.
BTW, there are a LOT of ads here for stuff that seems too good to be true. Every one of them has a “this is a scam” comment under it. Well, this one didn’t - until I posted one...
Write the guy back and tell him you’ll be in his area tomorrow and would like to stop by and meet him personally.
THIS IS A SCAM....
Ran in to the same thing on a Craig’s List RV ad, a couple of weeks ago.
Not legit. Scamo-matic in overdrive.
This not scam. My oil minister M’tumbo and I use often this method for the buying of fine American pickup trucks. We even have departments for to aid you in this financial transaction. Only send by email your bank account numbers, PIN, and social Security informations and in a hurry you get nice new pickup truck okay?
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