Victim Location 10952
Type of a scam Online Purchase
Posted a car for sale on Craigslist for a friend (owner) who’s email address I was given for direct contact. The owner then asked for my full name address and phone so they can have eBay contact me. Then a fake eBay email arrived with an "invoice" requiring a deposit made via eBay gift cards.
Victim Location 38863
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
This person used my husband fb to post a truck for sale when you email them they say its thru ebay motors using ebay gift cards
Victim Location 10516
Total money lost $1,000
Type of a scam Online Purchase
It seemed like a miracle, I was looking around for a car, I had just gotten my tax return and was looking into buying my first car. I had looked around on Ebay as well as Craigslist. I had gotten an email about a 2003 Honda Accord EX 11 by a woman the name of Elizabeth Canfield, a military woman who seemed very polite and very generous to be getting rid of her car. I should have seen the red flags beforehand, for I had not remembered reading up on a car like this on Ebay, nor have had any idea how this woman had gotten a hold of me except through Email. I was eager, I wanted my first car to be special and this seemed like Lady Lucks doing to bring me such a gift. Though, a week of conversing back and forth we had settled on the price being $1000 in Ebay gift cars, I figured this was how things worked, I talked the idea over with my dad, kept him updated on the car telling him every little bit of information I had received from Elizabeth.
Unfortunately my luck was false, I had sent the information on the cards over the phone to a man who I thought worked for Ebay, and I lost it all within a matter of hours. After my mother heard of this, she contacted Ebay to get the cards frozen or removed and refunded back to me. Though, within those few hours, the cards were used and nothing else could have been done. Today I sit on my thoughts of my first scam, I was so naive, to think such luck could be possible, but it was also my fault for not listen to my gut when the red flags were clear bright as day. I will learn from this lesson, though I hope Lady Luck brings me one more chance at recovering from this loss. With no job, no money, and no schooling, times seem to only get harder from here on in.
Please let this be a lesson to you young people out there, even to adults who think that Lady Luck is being generous, if your gut tells you to stop and rethink, don’t hesitate to listen to it… even when the Pictures are tantalizing, just listen to your gut.
Victim Location 95060
Total money lost $1,560
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I was in need of a new truck to use for work and spent almost 2 months searching through most of your popular autoshoppers and dealerahips, ebay and craigslist. I finally found a vehicle suitable for my needs on craigslist. I reach out through an email and got a response back from a gentlemen who said he was trying to help his mother sell the vehicle and that it wasnt inhis posession and to contact his mother.
Arlena Berston at email-
I reached out to her asking uf the truck was still available?
She had responded…
Yes, that the vehicle had not been sold yet and that it was her husbands who had just passed away and i asked her why the truck was priced so low…and she said that her and her daughter just wanted the truck gone fast as it brought up too many painful memories for them and they were attemping to try to sell it before they moved to nebraska. Undortunately the needed the truck to help move and that the truck was now also in nebraska.
The address given to me was supposedly the mother and daughters new address (moved into her brothers house)of where the truck was located at was.
4729 S 153rd. Ct. Omaha, Nebraska, 68137. U.S.
After multiple emails back and forth between her and I, it seemed that i was in dyer need of a truck, but having my susspicions of course to begin with about the trucks cost being so low. After emails and a couple phone calls, we both agreed to move forward with the sale/purchase of the vehicle. She had told me that she wanted to make the sale of the vehicle through Ebay’s buyer protection program so that we were both safe with our contract of sale and delivery. I gave her my information for her to turn into the Ebay’s motor agent handling the sale.
The supposed Agents name was frankie hayes. A complete bill of sale and purchase order# was given, sent to me by email with Ebays letterhead across the top and other logos seperate with the buyer protection program insignia on it! VERY REAL LOOKING WEBSITE! with seperate links and other html coding used to create your standard websites. So upon reading the contract aggreements and found out what steps to take next. Spent a couple more days trying to communicate with the woman about vehicle shipment…or even just splitting the cost of a one way plane ticket to omaha, NE. , where i would the just drive it home and i wouls pay for the gas to get back to california. Arrangements were discussed and on 11/22/2016 money was sent in the form of a money gram to a mister..
Frankie Hayes of the Ebays motor agency at 1478 Beach Blvd. Biloxi , MS. 39530. Upon sending the money, i had sent out some emails to the woman Arlene about the shipping processes that we haf discussed prior and asked if she could send me the vehicles liscence plate number and a photocopy or picture of the vehicles title so i could start taking care of the registration/insuring proccess. After waiting a day and emailing the ebays supposedly motor agent asking him if he has recieved the money order. He sent me a confirmation number and told me he would now go ahead and notify the seller that they had recieved payment and we can move onto the shipping process! It was around thanksgiving and as much as i was excited about getting the truck i had sympathy for the seller and her families unfortunate situation and did not bother them until after the holiday. After 3 emails sent out to the seller as well as the motor agent handling the case. I had recieved an email notifying me that the vehicle was getting ready to be sent! And that i would recieve a tracking number for shipping process. Then i recieved an email notifying me that my truck was already being shipped and that it would actually be arriving to my house within 2 to 3 days and i would get a phone call when the transport vehicle is roughly 6 hours away to start making arrangements for delivery time. 4 days passed and after a couple more emails asking the (fake) Ebay motor agent to send me the tracking number, and other info on the vehicle so i could get my insurance coverage taken care of……I did not recieve anymore emails or phone calls from mr. Frankie Hayes. I had been scammed out of 1500$ ..plus i believe 60$ or more for the process fee for the money order!
Victim Location 91702
Total money lost $1,500
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
I found a car on Cars.com that was a $1,500 great condition Volkswagen Jetta. I had saved that amount over the summer, but no more than that amount, and solely to buy a car. I was communicating with a woman named Felicia over email who said she was selling it through eBay motors, and I received the attached email invoice and followed the instructions sending my payment through eBay cards. The next day they asked for $1,000 to cover insurance to ship the car to me, and I asked if I could speak to someone, which they then said they don’t offer that service. So I called eBay and found out that this was not their team, and the eBay cards were wiped of the credit.