Victim Location 97103
Type of a scam Other
I have a add on craigslist for a boat. The person request me to go to a link( hindetector.com) two different people under different names have requested this report and the wording was almost identical. Basically if I go to that web sit it wants me to put a HIN number of the boat and wants my credit card info to pay for it. Now thief has my card info and can go on a spending spree. I did not follow through but replied for him to get a life and quit trying to bleed money out of hard working people.
Victim Location 33325
Type of a scam Online Purchase
Scammer name in the email I received: Blake Williams
He said they would buy my boat as long as I purchased a HIN report, and came back clean. He insisted on me using hindetector.com, because they are cheaper and would reimburse me (as long as the HIN report came back clean). I immediately found this strange and started searching the actual existence of the company. I tried bbb.org, and using google.com. I found one instance with the same exact wording I received in an email.
Victim Location 78746
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I put an ad on craigslist for a truck. User wants info about the VIN number and asks me to buy the research. Directs me to https://vinshape.com/
Im the seller and don’t need it…
Here is the email:
From: Kim Borrego
To: 6ppxf-5969625951
Sent: Mon, Feb 6, 2017 12:13 pm
Subject: Re: 2008 ford f450
Thanks for honest answer. Also, Thank you for offering me VIN. However I don’t want to obtain it myself because if it’s bad then i just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out.
I would just really appreciate it if you can get it and that you get it from usvinshape.com – because they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I would like to see car tomorrow if you are available (and if everything is ok with car report)
I hope you consider this and get it, hope to hear from you soon, Kim
Victim Location 33615
Total money lost $25
Type of a scam Online Purchase
Both website listed above link to the same organization. The scam is this… a person contacts me interested in a motorcycle I have for sale. The first 2-3 exchanges are questions which show an actual interest in the bike. Next, they casually ask for a VIN report and suggest a website that charges less than car fax for example. They fake real interest in the bike, but really need to see the report first. After getting the report, you never hear from them again. This has happened twice to me (I only fell for it the first time) the initial emails were similar, but the email requesting the service I use to get a report were exactly the same. Both times they used a different web address, but when I checked, they both end up at the same place run by the same people. Total scam, just trying to get people to buy their $25 car fax report. Fraud. They are totally just trolling craigslist auto for sale and getting unsuspecting victims to buy their reports at $25 each. Smart really, if it were not totally illegal and fraudulant.
Victim Location 60613
Total money lost $24.99
Type of a scam Counterfeit Product
Contacted through Craigslist in Chicago that the person’s mechanic is requesting this particular vehicle history report from this website. I purchased and sent it to them and never heard back about their interest. I’m pretty confident it’s a system vinhistories has set up to scam people. The reports are really vague and useless.
Victim Location 76426
Total money lost $24.99
Type of a scam Counterfeit Product
This company phishes for sellers on craigslist, contacts them repeatedly about purchasing vehicles, motorcycles, etc…, then asks for a VIN report on the vehicle. They suggest you use this company, and offer to pay you back once they purchase the vehicle. When you purchase the report from them, which by the way, is free from lots of other trusted sources, they send you a legitimate-looking receipt and report, but you never hear from the seller again. They are after your $25, plus all of the information you give them during checkout.
Victim Location 92807
Type of a scam Online Purchase
When selling a vehicle, the responder carefully leads you on to a point where they request a VIN check on your vehicle. The scam is to get you to pay for a report then say they are not interested any more. Here is the request:
I would really appreciate if you could provide me with a history report for your bike from the bikevinenquire.com . I’d like to be sure the bike is completely good and with a clean history. The website I’ve sent you is twice as cheap as Carfax and many others. I don’t want to get it myself since if it has been in any accidents in the past I won’t buy it and the report is useless but you can use it however it turns out to be. However if the report turns out to be clean I would like to check the bike in person, whenever you’re free to show it.
Hope to hear from you soon, ***
Victim Location 98121
Total money lost $24.99
Type of a scam Credit Cards
Received an email responding to my craigslist ad selling my vehicle and the scammer asked for me to provide a vehicle history report and provided a link to this detectvin.com website. They charged $24.99 and provided a vehicle history report that was useless and contained all readily available information publicly and for free. They need to be shut down so they can’t continue to steal people’s money like they’ve stolen mine.
Victim Location 78628
Total money lost $24.99
Type of a scam Other
Put an add on Craigslist to sell my motorcycle. Communicated with interested buyer from Craigslist multiple times asking about bike and when we can meet. The individual then asked for a vin report specifically from checkupvin.com. I told him I already had carfax report but he insisted on checkupvin. Once I purchased it he never communicated with me again.
I have since found a site with 20 people reporting the same scam and the "interested" buyer used the same sentences on everyone including myself. Cost was $24.99
Type of a scam Online Purchase
They contacted me about a vehicle I posted on craigslist, and wanted it’s VIN history from a specific site, carcheckupvin.com. They were adamant about using that site, and the reasons they gave sounded like a sales pitch, saying that it is cheaper than Carfax, and that every penny counts. I checked the site, it’s been active for 20 days, has no social media, no phone number, and nothing that makes it look legit.
Victim Location 92268
Type of a scam Counterfeit Product
I have a car listed on craigslist. In the past week I received inquiries from what seems like three different people. They ask a couple of questions, always asking if I have service records and signs it "Best". When I tell them I have a Carfax they all tell a story of why they don’t trust Carfax and ask me to get a researchusvin.com report, and say it is cheaper than Carfax. The active link in their emails all redirect me from researchusvin.com to researchvin.com. I believe this is a scam to get me to give them my credit card information, or to just charge me $24.95 for a fake report. All the emails a re similar in wording and all push me to buy this report. I refused to buy another report when the first one asked, the second prompted me to write their support line and the third one confirmed this was a scam.