In searching for wheels for the Curmudgeonling, I run across a lot of CL ads that are too good to be true. Example:
http://columbia.craigslist.org/ctd/3141015182.html NADA retail is ~$11k.
My radar is screaming 'there's gotta be a scam here' but what kind of scam?
They want your email address to send you junk mail/sell it?
There's a dead hooker in the trunk?
Similar to the house scam, IIRC. They get you to pay so and so some money to deliver it as a "deposit" and dip out.
An email will come back to you with a sob story.
It may be that it was owned by a relative who was killed in the line of duty and they just want the car gone as a way clear the bad memories.
Replace "killed in action" with "ex-wife" or similar.
The last piece of info will be that the car is located far away but the seller will pay the shipping once you have sent the money (scam.)
I replied to one recently, similar story and the car was in Portland, OR (listed in Ohio.) I replied back that my B-I-L lives in Portland and that he would be willing to meet and pay in cash. I never got a reply.
"I'm leaving the country in 30 days, you give me a deposit and I deliver it in 29 days; I need something to drive."
Bye bye deposit.
I sometimes see buy here pay here type dealers running ads of the cars for the price of the down payment they're looking for.
Get in this 2005 Accord today for only $2200!! (+ 36mo @ 24.9%!!)
It's spam email, or you'll get some kind of phishing link saying "if you want financing, here is a place I can recommend" then victim clicks the link and either gets a virus or enters their info and has their identity stolen.
The ad has been pulled, but did it have a "contact me at the email in the photo only..." kinda thing? I saw one of those on CL. There was a legitimate used car place that it looked like posted it, but the email in the photo was a gmail and not the web site of the used car place. Price was ten large under book.
Yeah, the listing was 'sale by dealer' but I don't really remember much else about it. I just grabbed that one at random, there were a few others. I figured there had to be a scam, just wasn't sure of the workings of said scam.
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