New Scam?

I was searching kijiji and found a 318ti I was interested in. It was a good deal, but not a crazy cheap deal. I emailed the seller asking where and when I could see it. I got a response that the car was in a town about an hour away from my house and asking where I lived. I replied by telling them the city I lived in and sugested meeting up tomorrow. Then the next response I got was in broken english and said that they would drop the car off for me to look try for 3 days. I know this has to be some sort of scam, but I can't understand where the scam part comes in. Has anyone else experienced this scam?

Hrm, I've not seen that particular variation, but my immediate assumption is that the car is stolen. Either they just try to ditch it with you for a few days, or they double-whammy you by making you put down some deposit.

Or, maybe in the middle of your "test drive", they say they need the car, come pick it up, and then try to nail you with some repair fee for something that was already wrong with the car but they say you did to it.

Long story short, run away and don't look back.

They asked where you lived expecting an address?

Mayhap they plan to rob you instead of delivering a car.

In reply to mw: I'd lean on the side of scam, myself, but I'm trying to be more positive. Let's try this: maybe it is legit and somebody who speaks some English is trying to work with a friend or relative to sell it for someone who doesn't speak any at all.

Nah, all scam. They want to rob you in some way, shape or form.

My guess is they try to set up a time to drop it off and will give you a date and time. If it works for you they will remember another appointment and offer other times trying to figure out when you are there and when you aren't. Then they know when to break into your house.

Had a guy try this with my wife when we listed something for sale on Craigslist. Every time she agreed to a time he would change it. Luckily she worked from home at the time so she could be there whenever. He finally gave up and backed out of the deal.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: They asked where you lived expecting an address? Mayhap they plan to rob you instead of delivering a car.

I had multiple calls from people over the phone asking where my Caddy was when I was selling it on CL. I told them it was in a gated parking garage and I'd be more than happy to show them, they would say they worked odd hours, (insert lame excuse) and I'd say, great, me too, come on over! (lie to cut through the bullE36 M3). Then I'd get some more interesting excuses about not being in town, etc, but if I gave them my address they'd stop by when they had time. I even had one guy plead with me for my address but was unwilling to come when I was around. Every person who said they would come out I would give the city police department .5 miles away as a landmark. Only legit people showed up

If I wasn't in a big complex with multiple parking decks etc when I sold my Caddy I would have just told them to meet at a neutral site, like a shopping mall parking lot, that's when you separate the wheat from the chaff...

3 thoughts come to mind: 1), they're trying to ditch a stolen car for a couple days; 2), they're trying to determine house occupancy; and 3), they're looking to set you up as a patsy with a stolen car.

It's juuusst possible this whole thing is legit, but I'd really question it. If they don't want meet at Home Depot or Walmart, I don't see how it can be anything but fake and/or illegal.

I'm not going to bother pursuing this car any further. Just for fun I was thinking of giving them the address of the local police dept so they would drive an hour and show up at the police department. I will not be giving them my home address. I

In reply to mw:

I've heard of a scam where they load everything in your home into a moving van, if they "loan" you a car, then they can steal your car that you didn't take to work as well.

This thread does remind me that every car I've ever bought from a private individual was looked at it at their house. I guess the times they have a changed.

Give them your "home" address as the most remote place you can find on a map. Then, at the appointed hour, call them and ask where in the hell they are, noting that you're standing there waiting on them!