Craigslist scammer/phony beware

[verdelaw]

When I was looking for a charger, I ran across this same ad:

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/4851799161.html

I emailed the person and got a very short and cryptic response. He didn't want to give me a phone number, and only responded to some of my questions. I wanted to set up a time to see the car, and we got one set for the following weekend.

As I was doing at the time, I continued to look every day for both a charger to buy; and I would save pictures of cool ones I ran across for future ideas. During this time I happened to run across pictures that were identical to ones in the craigslist ad. Same car, same position, same sun glints.. exact same tree in the background. This was weird and I was starting to think it was a little fishy :eusa_eh:.

It was a 3ish hour drive from where I was, so I asked for a number to call to make sure he was going to be there. I recall he gave me one. In any case as the day approached I emailed and called to confirm the meet and got no responses, the phone just rang and rang. The Saturday came and I was all set to drive down, but I could get no response so I decided that 6ish hours of drive time was not worth it to show up and nobody/nothing be there :jerk:.

Never could get a response from the email or phone number from then on and the ad was pulled. But here it is again.

Buyer beware! Don't give anyone money before seeing it in person!

 

[Riverdawg]

Yeah you got to be cautious on craiglists ads. Saw a similar thing several years ago for a truck that was posted on my local craiglists, but supposedly the vehicle was in KY or TN. Realized pretty quickly after a couple of vague emails that it was a scam. Lots of unscrupulous people out there unfortunately.

 

[badmopar67]

Why do you people crawl on this earth

 

[khryslerkid]

Yea, looks like the text has been tampered with. Phone # taken off, sentence shortened...

They use to do this on eBay too. Steal someones add and have the responses sent to them. Then ask for a deposit....

 

[44070dart]

there are a lot of people who also collect emails to sell .. I ask for their phone number when I sell ..that I don't respond to emails and if its posted its still for sale.. if I'm buying I never go alone, never bring large amounts of cash and let them know I'll leave a small deposit if I want it ..never at night ..and stay out of sketchy neighborhoods no matter how temping the prize is ..common sense

 

[1966satellite]

Same car is listed on Carsforsale.com

 

[Deleted member 214]

Saw a deal on a truck on the Cleveland, OH Craigslist. Contacted the seller and got that "I'm stationed at Fort something-or-other in Colorado, I'm being deployed in a few days, send me a deposit and I'll ship COD." I looked up the fort, found the nearest town, and said "Hey, my cousin lives in _____ just ten miles away. He can be there in half an hour with cash". That shut the scammer up real quick.

 

[gdrill]

I found an ad one day for a "car" listed in my home city in Alberta Canada. Awesome, too good to be true price. Looked great in the pics. The funny part was there were palm trees in the yard?? Nope we don't have those up here! Even drove past the listed address, brand new house still under construction. I emailed Kijiji and reported the ad and it was removed. You just can't take anything for granted these days.

 

[mosquito13]

scored four great deals on cars via craigslist so far. I always come armed and bring a buddy caring too. Here in Fla. people get killed over a whole lot less cash then I pay for my jalopies. Have heard enough stories of people setting up sales for stuff on craigslist only to be ambushed walking into a abandoned address. That said everyone I have ever dealt with buying and selling were cool.

 

[Nsane]

Best one i had was my own car up for sale with the phone numbers changed! I was trying to sell a car and checking other similar cars in the area and found my same add just with the number and price changed.

 

[1971 plymouth roadrunner]

Same thing a few weeks ago, similar story different car. Something he said was kinda weird and I looked up the address he gave me and it was in an area completely different than I was led to believe. I guess this is pretty common, cause I was on Craigslist a few hours ago and saw a listing for a HEMI roadrunner with an asking price of $27,000!?!? He put like three photos of the car up, no badges or pics of the engine. Craigslist used to remove the ad when it got enough complaints, now I see the same fake ad up for months on end without it being removed

 

[Robliepse]

I recently listed my 1971 Satellite clone for $6,000. Met a few interesting people, no scams. but people's expectations were .....I'll be polite......interesting. One guy spent 2 1/2 hours looking at the car, took detailed notes and pictures. He got back with me a couple days later and said it would take $10K to get it how he wanted it. WTF is he looking for? This was a 44 year old $6K driver. After a few other similar experiences I was very clear with others who would call. 1) I know this is a very solid car. 2) I know these cars very well and this is a solid deal. 3) your not going to buy this car and sell it on Barrett Jackson for $40K. 4) look at the 30+ pictures on Photo Bucket and dont waist out time if your not serious. 5) dont waist our time with low ball offers

End of the day, a guy drove down from Cincinnati and bought a really nice solid car for a good price. Good solid deal, good buyer and all is well

 

[Bruzilla]

I haven't found it unusual for sellers, especially dealers, to place listings for the same car on multiple craigslists. Our cars are a little different than newer cars as most folks won't drive across town to look at a Kia Rio but they'll fly across the country to see a nice collector car. You just need to look for where the car is actually located instead of assuming it is local.

I looked up the number in the ad and he was also selling a Dodge truck at one point, so he sounds like he's a Mopar guy. And as for answering his phone, you should try getting a hold of Jerry at J and J Auto Parts down in Starke. I swear you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting him on the phone, and yet every time I go down there he tells me to always call before I come down to make sure he's there.

 

[Coronet 14]

I contacted American Muscle motors about car for sale on 2 different sites in 2 states. They said have the car listed on 2 sites and the car is for sale for 27,000

 

[verdelaw]

This specific ad? All I can tell you is the last time I saw this ad, it was a scam. Maybe it's the real owner now...

- - - Updated - - -

There are unicorns out there though. I missed out on one when I was looking; really chapped my *** at the time.

There was a guy on Hemmings selling a numbers matching 68 charger r/t 440 auto for $24k (I think). The body was in primer, but the interior was fine and it ran and drove fine. I called the guy and he wanted me to give him a deposit. Car was in CO and I was in IL. Anyway I said I couldn't do the deposit until I saw the car, and if I saw the car and it was legit, I'd give him the full $24k in cash. He told me there was a guy from Finland that wanted it and if I wanted it I needed to give him a deposit by the end of the week. I couldn't fly/drive to CO in that time due to work, so he apparently sold it to some guy in Finland.

I still think about that from time to time, and kick myself a little because Hemmings is pretty legit... but I think that my no deposit without seeing the car rule is fair.

 

[steve from staten island]

On the back pages of Hemmings there is a note about scammers. Hemmings i would think is not immune to them either. In my opinion you absolutely made the wise and safe decision.