I recently bid on a 1994 Dodge Stealth RT/TT on ebay. After a few people bid the auction was cancelled. In the ebay ad it stated that he was needing to sell the car fast and wanted 2600 for it. I emailed him to verify if this was true and he responded that Since I was the first to bid on it that I could have first shot. He kept insisting that he wanted to use Ebay's buyer protection to do the sale so nothing would go wrong. (which was great with me) After a few days of waiting for replys I got the invoice on how to pay from ebay. This is what got me investigating. It wanted me to send a Moneygram which would cost me 200 extra dollars since it is a money wire transfer. (western union is also the same thing) I went home and did some digging and found that Ebay NEVER recommends using these payment methods. I found out how to forward the emails (that look exactly like ebay emails) to
Spoof@ebay.com and they replied that they were fakes. also to always check your MY MESSAGES folder for copies of all emails that ebay sends.
Other things that tipped me off were
1. The writing in all the emails (even ebay's) were slightly broken english
2. The car was Pearl yellow but didn't have the Twin Turbo sticker on the side
3. Price!
4. (sorry if I offend here) his name to send wire transfer too was Fernando Lopez in San Jose, CA
Here's a sample of the email that he sent.
Hi,
Sorry for delay, The price that i want to obtain is $2,600 ( including shipping and insurance charges). The price is considerably lower then others on the market because i need to sell it really fast. The vehicle was never crashed, abused or raced. i always garaged it and serviced it, kept very good care of it!. The vehicle is currently located in Chicago IL but unfortunately i am in Miami FL, planning to open a business here and i do not think i can come sooner then next month. However i can arrange for the paperworks from here and i can talk to a shipping company to deliver the vehicle to your address. i think it is impossible to buy a vehicle without having an inspection first. So i had a look on Ebay and i saw they could help us with this. Since the transaction worths a lot of money they have suggested to make the deal only through Ebay so that we will not have any problems. Regarding the payment i am aware of the buyer's protection and we will use Ebay's motors vehicle purchase protection program which will hold the payment until you receive the car. By making a deposit you are not buying the car, is just the way the program works( and in case you buy the car it will give you a 1 month 1000 miles guarantee). However, it is 100 refundable if the car is not as described.
I've got photos of the car hosted on Internet at the following link:
http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x118 ... ?start=all If you are interested in this car please provide me the following information's necessary to take a decision:
-your full name and address for shipping.
-Ebay ID
-your phone #
-any negative feedback and if so... for what reason.
Once again i apologies for requesting this but i need to be sure i am dealing with interested people as i really do not have much time to spear.
Thank you for your time.
James Schayer
Here's the email from ebay rep supposedly (seems like same broken english)
Dear Jason Maggio,
First of all you must follow the instructions provided to you from the invoice. After that we can talk and make the arrangements for shipping. We have contact the seller , and he told as he found another buyer , tell as if you are making the deposit to our eBay Representative.
Feel free to email us regarding any other concerns about this transaction.
John S.
Respectfully,
Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay Inc
Here's the link to the ebay sale
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0124804726Response from ebay
Hello,
Thank you for writing to eBay regarding the email you received.
The email you reported didn't come from eBay.
Emails like this one are fakes, commonly referred to as "spoof"
messages. They're sent in an attempt to collect your personal or
financial information.
***Important***
*Never* reply to a spoof email or click on any links in the message.
If you ever receive an email that looks like it's from eBay about a
problem with your account or requesting personal information, check My
Messages first. If the email is genuine, a copy will also be found in
My
Messages. You can also forward the email to
spoof@ebay.com and we'll
investigate. Don't respond to the spoof email, or click any of the
links
in the message. Please don't remove the original subject line or change
the email in any way.
To check My Messages:
1. Open a new Web browser and type
www.ebay.com into the address field.
2. Click the "My eBay" tab at the top of the page and sign in.
3. Click the "My Messages" link on the left-hand side of the page.
Any email that eBay sends to you regarding your eBay account, and in
particular any message requiring you to take action on your account,
can
be found in My Messages. My Messages will also contain information
about eBay policies or a possible suspension on your account, as well
as
messages from Customer Support and correspondence from other eBay
members.
What to Do if You Think You Have Given Out Sensitive Information
If you think you may have entered personal information such as your
password, Social Security, or credit card information into a Web site
based on a request from a spoof email, you need to act *immediately* to
protect your identity. For detailed instructions about what to do now,
go to:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/p ... theft.html You might consider downloading the eBay Toolbar with Account Guard
(it's
free!). Account Guard has an indicator that lets you know whether
you're
on a real eBay or PayPal Web site, or on a known spoof (or "phishing")
site. It allows you to easily report fake eBay Web sites. And it has a
password notification feature that warns you when you may be entering
your eBay password on an unverified site.
To learn more about the eBay Toolbar with Account Guard, go to
www.ebay.com and click the "eBay Toolbar" link at the bottom of the
page.
Once again, thank you for alerting us to the spoof email you received.
Your efforts help keep eBay a safe and fair place to trade.
Regards,
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team
Hopefully this can help somebody else in the future
JASON
