ebay scams

[TinaLes]

We were nearly scammed on Autotrader on a VW T5 Camper a few years back. paid £12 for HPI check, all checked out OK, but when the seller said he was an ex pat and was now based in Portugal,needed a quick sale as he had been made redundant, and would arrange to have the van delivered back to the UK, by a tracked delivery company called Atlantic shipping,for me to fully verify before accepting to pay the balance having paid a large deposit, alarm bells started to ring.
I reported it to Autotrader as a scam and was told by them "it was my fault!) as the sellers e-mail address was in one of the many pictures of the van, and not in the advert description!.
I then phoned the police action fraud line reported sellers name as Luke Hall, and the response was "oh not him again".
Turns out its a long standing vehicle scam running across Europe & Canada, not just the UK. They have successfully ripped off hundreds of people in all these countries, and will no doubt continue to do so.
There must be a more comprehensive way for these on line selling platforms, to verify that the items for sale are legit.
The seller guy, Luke Hall name was bogus, he was a brazilian living in Portugal, Atlantic Shipping (very clever this bit) scammers set up a log on website that you could supposedly track the delivery on from Port To Port, 3rd party independent bank that you would place deposit in "Virgin Money Bank" does not exist either, but they still set up a website with password verification also.
These scammers are getting more clever by the minute, so be careful everyone, go see the vehicle at the sellers address, then do all the usual checks, and verify the paperwork is what it is.
Les

 

[Paul and Val]

We were nearly scammed on Autotrader on a VW T5 Camper a few years back. paid £12 for HPI check, all checked out OK, but when the seller said he was an ex pat and was now based in Portugal,needed a quick sale as he had been made redundant, and would arrange to have the van delivered back to the UK, by a tracked delivery company called Atlantic shipping,for me to fully verify before accepting to pay the balance having paid a large deposit, alarm bells started to ring.
I reported it to Autotrader as a scam and was told by them "it was my fault!) as the sellers e-mail address was in one of the many pictures of the van, and not in the advert description!.
I then phoned the police action fraud line reported sellers name as Luke Hall, and the response was "oh not him again".
Turns out its a long standing vehicle scam running across Europe & Canada, not just the UK. They have successfully ripped off hundreds of people in all these countries, and will no doubt continue to do so.
There must be a more comprehensive way for these on line selling platforms, to verify that the items for sale are legit.
The seller guy, Luke Hall name was bogus, he was a brazilian living in Portugal, Atlantic Shipping (very clever this bit) scammers set up a log on website that you could supposedly track the delivery on from Port To Port, 3rd party independent bank that you would place deposit in "Virgin Money Bank" does not exist either, but they still set up a website with password verification also.
These scammers are getting more clever by the minute, so be careful everyone, go see the vehicle at the sellers address, then do all the usual checks, and verify the paperwork is what it is.
Les

That is really interesting and a great piece of information/advice.

 

[The Dotties]

The other thing worth mentioning is doing an HPI check.

We have bought 6 caravans, 2 MH's, a Sprinter LWB, a Sierra, a Discovery, a Range Rover, Mercedes C270 & our current Mercedes R350 and we have not had any problems...…...but we have done our research and been very careful, any sniff of a problem and we didn't go for it. We have also been willing to travel for the right vehicle.
PS.....Don't tell MrA how much I have spent on craft items from ebay and how much I have planned for my craft room......dedicated craft furniture/storage....oh and the swivel seat he made out of a Range Rover seat...

I would just like to add the following observation................
I’m positive that there is a Mr ambulance kid on this forum

 

[Nasher]

Good advice but last year, in France, I advertised a motorbike on “Le Bon Coin”, a type of eBay.

Because of the language difference I asked for any queries to be sent via e-mail. That enabled me to read them at my leisure rather than trying to keep up with the speech of an excited French speaker. I speak French, up to a point, but find having the time to read it easier.

I realise it is not a common occurrence but there can be reasons for preferring e-mail, including having a written record of what has been asked and the answers given.

Ebay has it's own messaging system, that should be used to contact sellers. That way there is an accessible trace as to who said what in the case of a dispute

Using personal email does not offer that security

 

[simsy56]

I have bought many vehicles on e-bay, no money, until I have checked it out, seen it, and it is genuine. And I have to fly to view.

Craig

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[maison]

Ebay has it's own messaging system, that should be used to contact sellers. That way there is an accessible trace as to who said what in the case of a dispute

Using personal email does not offer that security

Accepted.

My main point was not rejecting a listing simply because the preferred method of communication is e-mail.

 

[pagey]

all quiet on there today

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

I would just like to add the following observation................
I’m positive that there is a Mr ambulance kid on this forum

There's nothing that gets past you is there.

 

[chatteris]

posting on another account

 

[Figaro]

Lots more ebay scams appeared tonight, all seem to have a starting price of £3,000
Beware out there, lots of sharks circling

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[philsil1304]

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Thanks for the heads up!

Gosh, you have been quiet for 8 years!

 

[Duckato]

I thinks as long as people bear in mind eBay has become possibly the biggest source of stolen & pirated goods and hence probably the biggest fencing operation in the world they won't go far wrong.

What is truly amazing is the woman that profited very nicely by making Ebay "what it is today" then became CEO if Hewlett Packard and promptly destroyed a significant part of it, yet is still tipped by some to be potentially the first female US president...

 

[john lillie]

the giveaway is the email address in red, I emailed crv just to wind him/her/it up, soon as you ask to view, they lose interest

 

[chatteris]

i have reported loads the last few days but it amazes me how many accounts they have hacked, as soon as ebay remove one lot they are back under another account. think ebay need to put some sort of delay period for multiple listings so they can be vetted first

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[Duckato]

Eeeeeeeek! why can't I edit my typos in my previous post?

 

[chatteris]

just been having a conversation (moan) with ebay customer services about the scams and suggested they immediately suspend the accounts instead of just removing the ads as they get reported

 

[Sandie]

As I am currently actively looking for a new m/h, I have seen lots of scam eBay adverts in the last week or so. I have reported them, of course, but they are so obvious that I can't believe anyone actually gets taken in by them. On the other hand, if that's the case, why do the fraudsters keep trying?

 

[Mike p]

at least 40 scam motorhomes for sale on ebay at the moment so be careful

P & P Caravans also scam site was Floud motorhomes,

 

[Northernraider]

Be aware a lot of these its not your money they are after it's your email address

If you email the enclosed email address and not through eBay they then have your email address.
Then they hack it.

It isn't always about getting you to part with money

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[Northernraider]

As I am currently actively looking for a new m/h, I have seen lots of scam eBay adverts in the last week or so. I have reported them, of course, but they are so obvious that I can't believe anyone actually gets taken in by them. On the other hand, if that's the case, why do the fraudsters keep trying?

Most are obvious and only a really stoopid person would think they could buy a motor home at 3 grand.

They want the email addresses because this can lead them to PayPal accounts, online bank accounts etc.

And they sell them on

 

[pagey]

I looked yesterday and one scammer on there had over 3000 ads if you looked on other items for sale I did not report them all

 

[chatteris]

as long as you report a few ebay will eventually remove them all, and have been removing them within an hour, is it possible to upload multiple ads at the same time as the scammers seem to be able to get a lot on quickly, just keep reporting them and hopefully they will run out of hacked accounts to use

 

[Northernraider]

as long as you report a few ebay will eventually remove them all, and have been removing them within an hour, is it possible to upload multiple ads at the same time as the scammers seem to be able to get a lot on quickly, just keep reporting them and hopefully they will run out of hacked accounts to use

Not if people keep giving them more email addresses to use.

 

[chatteris]

just seen a load more on pukkabike account, about 2500 listings so have reported a few but ebay needs to immediately suspend accounts and stop multiple listings until they have at least had a quick look, just report the ads to ebay dont reply to the email address to wind them up

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