Victim Location 03884
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I received an email after posting an ad for my car for sale. What initially tipped me off were several things: first, there was no subject. Craigslist reply system always puts the title of the ad in the subject line. Then he claimed he couldn’t receive responses from Craigslist reply system, so he provided the gmail address, and then his closing line in the email "I can help." That was just weird.
Here is the full text of his email:
"I came across your ad and I would like to speak with you. Have there been any accidents? Messages have been hit and miss going through on here today – how about this – I will leave my email below for you to get in touch with me. Shoot me a message there instead. That is the best way to get a hold of me.
My email: RickBrady479(at)gmail-dotcom
Talk to you soon. I can help. Thanks.
Sent from my iPhone"
Then after I created a separate yahoo email to respond (I hadn’t done my homework yet to find out that it was, in fact a scam, so wanted to reply just in case it WAS a real inquiry, but wasn’t about to use my regular email), I got this second response:
"Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
http://www.vinhistory.report
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided – it will definitely help you with the sale.
Let me know if this helps. Thanks!"
Type of a scam Fake Check/Money Order
I placed a vehicle for sale on Kijiji and Autotrader.ca and received an email from someone saying they wanted to purchase but want to have a VIN check completed before hand. They were even willing to transfer the $20 to pay for the VIN check. I expect they are trying to get the VIN info to collect more information plus what was posted to Kijiji and autotrader.ca. The emails are very sincere (probably to much so) and were way to eager to purchase without questioning the details of the vehicle.