We recently listed our 2012 vehicle for sale. Nobody seems to read the newspaper anymore so we are sort of forced to list it online as putting a sign on it will reach no-one (we live at the far end of a cul-de-sac). Back in Maine we had more options aside from just Craigslist, we had the fabulous Uncle Henry's Swap/Sell Guide - best place to find the weirdest things. So we cleaned her up, took some nice pictures, and then put together the most comprehensive description and put her out there on Craiglist in hopes someone would want to snatch her up immediately.
It's been a while since we listed a car for sale that was worth anything. So I had pleasantly forgotten about all the scammers from Nigeria that start to roll in when you list a vehicle for more than $20K. Last time we did this it was a truck. We were contacted by the usually scammer, suggesting they had a buyer and would send us a cashier's check for more than our asking price. We were then supposed to cash the check and the extra funds were to be paid to an auto shipper of the buyers choice. I knew it sounded fishy, so I declined the deal. A week later an envelope arrived with a huge cashier's check, and nothing else. Apparently their broken English not only made it difficult to speak the language, but also to understand the word "NO!". Out of curiosity I took the check to the bank. I knew it couldn't be legit, but it sure did look real. My credit union dug around and ultimately called Bank of America (who was supposedly the creator of the check) and discovered that the color of the check (I think it was blue) was wrong for BOA as their cashier's checks are green. So the gist of the scam is that they send you this check, you cash the check and send on the funds for the shipping (if you're trusting soul) which is around $3000-$5000, and then the check never clears the bank (because it was fake) and you are now out the $3-$5K.
Well now they've advanced their technology. Now the scammers are still at it with the same old scam, but try to lure you in by saying they can pay you via paypal; as if this is a safer transaction. There have to be a ton of marine biologists working on off-shore rigs (thus unable to come to pick up the vehicle) and a whole bunch of really generous engineers who are on business trips to Boston and wanting to purchase the vehicle for a relative out of the goodness of their heart. Unfortunately, for them, I'm not a sucker.
First, nobody calls you up, after seeing your vehicle listed with every detail imaginable, and asks what condition the vehicle is in... and then takes you at your word. Second, nobody tells you that they have a buyer for your vehicle that is willing to pay exactly your asking price and a few thousand on top of that to have it shipped to them (because this is not a classic car we're talking about, it's a mass produced 2012 Dodge Journey!). Third, if you select the name "Gary" as your uber American name, you best be able to pronounce it!!! Fourth, if they want you to make a transaction via paypal this whole thing is fraught with trouble - 1. Someone has to pay the transaction fee, right? Well don't you think that would be a large amount if the money transferred to another person was over $20,000? I sure do. So the fee to wire funds directly to a bank account would be much less expensive and if you suggest this as the only option you'll entertain, you won't hear from them again. 2. They are wanting you to make the transaction via paypal and asking as though this offers some sort of safe-guarding for this transaction. IT DOESN'T! Paypal doesn't protect purchases of vehicles made off of Ebay, and I'm sure if I continued digging deeper I'd find a notation that indicates it doesn't protect vehicle purchases made anywhere.
The most recent phone calls I've received were a recording saying they were interested in my "classic car" listed online. Classic? A 2012 Dodge? What? Ugh. This whole ordeal is enough to make you never want to do anything but buy a vehicle and drive it into the ground so you only have to deal with buying from someone and then carting it off to the junkyard in the end. Clearly these soulless @$$-clowns are making money off people somewhere, otherwise they would have moved onto a new scam, so if you're looking to sell a car, be on the lookout.
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