Scam Meter is active

Penn · 04-20-2010, 16:33

This is a copy and paste of a series of email concerning a car I was interested in...is the respondant a bit bi-polar, or am I jaded?

Me: Sharon can you please confirm the mileage on your car and the price you are asking? Tx, df

Sharon: Hello and sorry for the delay,
I want to thank you for your interest in buying my 2003 Audi A4 Sedan 3.0L Quattro AWD which has only 74,000 actual miles. I hope I will not bother with this story. Because of my disability(I am deaf-mute) internet is the only place where I can try to sell the car. I hope I will be able to answer all the questions you might have by email as any other type of communication will be impossible. Unfortunately my son passed away in Kandahar last year. Now as I have no family left, the car will be my gift, my gift in the memory of my son. Money is not a problem! All I want is to find the right person who will love and take care of this car. The price I am after is $2,700. You may wonder why I'm asking this small amount for this car. Well, the truth is that I decided to do this only as form of protest. This is exactly what I have received as compensation after my son died serving his country. Nothing more, nothing less!!! It is very clean, garaged all the time, and in case it gets sold I will take care of shipping. This is already arranged as I had it listed elsewhere and I had it prepared for shipping. Let me know if you are interested, email back.
Here are some words about the car:
To see the pics click on the link:
http://s830.photobucket.com/albums/z...udiA4Sedan30L/
Engine: 3.0L L6 Exterior color: White Interior color: Tan Transmission: Automatic Fuel type: Gasoline
I am selling this 2003 AUDI A4, Quattro package, Non-Smoker, No Mechanical Problems, has 74,000 miles and runs like it has 1,000 on it. It has always been garage kept and adult owned and cared for. This car has never been smoked in. Clean title in hand- NO ACCIDENTS and nothing to worry about. The exterior of the car is in great condition. The tires have about 75% of tread remaining on them. The breaks stop on a dime and will not need replacing anytime soon. The engine runs perfectly and has many years left for someone to enjoy. The interior is in fantastic condition. The leather is just a supple as it was the day it rolled off of the showroom floor and the inside even still has that "Audi" smell. This Audi A4 is equipped with Bose Sound, The AC blows ice cold and the heat works perfectly too. The timing belt service was just done, so you will not need to worry about that. City 18/hwy 26
Regards,
Sharon Harris

ME: Sharon< I am so sorry to hear of your lost, You can consider the car sold, Please forward your address and I'll be there this Friday.
On a more personal note; How old was your son when he enlisted; and what unit was your son serving with? Again my sincere condolences for his sacrifice on behalf of our freedom.
Sincerely and respectfully,

Sharon: Hello again,
Because of my disability (I am deaf-mute) internet is the only place where I can try to sell the car. I hope I will be able to answer all the questions you might have by email as any other type of communication will be impossible.
I`m located in Great Falls, MT (the car is here with me) right now because i got a new job here,the thing is i`m very busy and i don`t have time to stay and meet with all my potential buyers, that is why i gave to a shipping company that will ship it to the next owner(on my cost). I will make the deal only to eBay. I am a member of the eBay buyer protection program and using this service you will get a 7 days testing period after delivery. During that 7 days testing period I will not be getting any money. I need to know if you are interested in buying it so I can ask eBay to send you the details on how this works. If interested please include in your next email your contact info for eBay ( full name, full address ) so we can get things started.
Thanks and have a great day!

ME: Sharon, Great Falls, well I'm only a few hours from you no need to ship; where are you in Great Falls?
am wondering what the reply will be????

Leozinho · 04-20-2010, 16:55

It's a scam. That she is only willing to ship is the give-away.

Deaf-mute is just an excuse to not have to talk on the phone (because you'd probably recognize his Nigerian accent.). Low price as a war protest is an attempt to explain the irrationally low price.

If you follow through, she/he will probably say she/he found out going through Ebay won't work and ask you to wire the money to a bank account.

On second reading, I bet there's a spoof email, seemingly from Ebay, prepared already that will tell you how to send the money. I don't think Ebay facilitates sales outside of it's auction site. Either way, it's a scam.

Sigaba · 04-20-2010, 17:02

Chef--

IMO, this sounds too good to be true.

According to kbb.com, the vehicle described in poor condition should command a significantly higher price.

Add the cut and paste nature of Sharon Harris's replies, and my gut feeling is that you're talking to a bot.

**The Reaper** · 04-20-2010, 17:13

Bullshit.

The SGLI is around $500,000 last I checked. There would be other payouts as well. The only way it could be true would be if he cut her out of his will and designated other people as beneficiaries.

Watch for the ripoff, as others stated above.

TR

alelks · 04-20-2010, 18:13

Definitely a scam in my opinion.

DDD · 04-20-2010, 18:18

Definitely a scam, I used to know how the whole thing worked (I think the money's in the shipping) but don't remember now. That being said Definitely a Scam.

Penn · 04-20-2010, 18:58

No doubt a scam it is, but the whole son thing caused me to continue the dialouge, I wanted to see the replies. There were none to the direct questions of enlistment date and unit.
I knew the game was on with shipping and being within driving distance to their location...

wandering_idiot · 04-20-2010, 19:00

Tell her to take a picture with her holding a local Great Falls, MT newspaper.

See what happens.

Fud116 · 04-20-2010, 19:24

I actually had a very similar run in when looking for used cars. Same kind of thing except the seller said he was deployed with the Air Force and would ship it to me over AF cargo plane.

It was a lot of fun messing with the guy.

PR31C · 04-20-2010, 20:06

I have a seperate email account just to reply/screw with adds like this. Here are some of the great buys I have found. If you are shopping on craigs list, use www.craiglook.com to search. You will find the false adds posted in multiple cities with slightly different discriptions.

I can ship it for $400. It will be delivered in four days and you will have to pay the shipping fees when you will receive it.
The truck vin is as follows 1FTSW21R28EB54322, and is equipped with Heated seats, Reverse vehicle aid sensor, 20" custom chrome wheels, Diamo 16 karat 8 lug, 26782 miles, Wrapped in Nitto tires, Tailgate step, Adjustable gas/brake pedal, Chrome tubular cab steps, 6.4L V-8 twin-turbo Diesel engine, Towing package, Low mileage, Ice cold A/C, No accidents, Non-smoker, One owner, Power everything, Runs & drives great, Still under factory warranty, Very clean interior, Sirius-Satellite radio, short bed is 6 3/4 long, It is 20ft 8 inches long and is 6ft 8 inches tall, Driver Air Bag, Anti-Lock Brakes, Air Conditioning, Cruise Control, CD Changer, CD Player, Passenger Air Bag, AM/FM Stereo Cassette, Leather Seats, Power Door Locks, Power Mirrors, Power Windows, Power Steering, Power Seats, Tinted Glass, Tilt Wheel. You can see all the pictures here: http://s756.photobucket.com/albums/xx203/forf250/

2 Months ago I found out my mother has cancer and for this reason I need sell it at this price. For making this fast and easy for both of us and because I wasted a lot of time on the phone and with appointments with several 'serious buyers' that never arrived, I've decided to use an escrow service. This will allow us to complete the sale in a manner that is quick and safe for both of us. If you want to know more, get back to me and I'll tell you how it works.

Hello ,
My name is Tanya Anderson I am emailing you regarding the 2001 BMW Z3 2.5 ROADSTER that I have for sale.
My car is in perfect condition , with no need for additional repairs, no scratches, dings, special marks whatsoever, never been involved in any accidents. The interior looks great (NO SMOKING). It has 76,513 miles , automatic transmission , 6 Cylinder 2.5 L engine size , gasoline , white exterior and tan interior . I have a clear and clean title for it , no liens or loans ready to be signed and notarized on your name ...
I'm selling my son's car , who died in Iraq four months ago and I want to get rid of it asap because the sight of it makes me think of him often and often and the pain is too great .
Put yourself in my shoes and you'll do the same (selling the car of your dead son, no offence) !!!
As you probably noticed , the final price that i want for this car is $2400 if you will buy it today or tomorrow .
Here are the pictures with my car:
http://s750.photobucket.com/albums/x...01%20Bmw%20Z3/

Let me know where are you located and any other details you need about it.
My best wishes,
Tanya

Sierra Bravo · 04-20-2010, 23:59

Professional scam ring. Its been going on nation wide for a few years.