Suspicious Non-AFF Sale?

[Quasi]

I'm on the hunt for a replacement for my much loved 1992 EBII Tickford Fairmont Ghia 5.0L, which I have just sold after 10 years of ownership.

In my hunt I have focused mainly on AU XR8s due to the price bracket I'm working with (self imposed limit of $10,000). One that I have shortlisted on eBay also came up at www.drive.com.au, but with a huge, and rather unusual, difference in the asking price.

I submitted a price query through one of the listings and recieved this reply (seller's surname hidden by me):

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, I am XXXXX XXXXX serving the Royal Australian Air Force, i have been recently transferred in Carnarvon WA 6701. I need to sell the car fast because in 4 weeks I will be deployed to a different country and I'll stay there for a while. I'll buy a new one upon return.

The last price for my car is $2,345 AUD (I've lowered the price because I'm running out of time). The car is road worthy and also has a long rego, clear title, very well maintained, always garage kept, excellent condition, runs and sounds 100% perfect with no leaks or noises.

Details:

Registration#: YAN180. Just had it serviced. Mechanically A1 , Km's 125000.

Rego & RWC Included , the car is registered in QLD. This is my first time selling a car over the Internet and i think the best way is to use a third party company that protects buyers and sellers.

One of my friends here bought a car four months ago,from a different state and he used a third party company and he was very pleased with their services. They inspect the car for damages and the mechanical condition before starting the transaction, they will also give you a 10 days inspection period (this means that after you receive the car and papers you have 10 days to use it and if something goes wrong or if the car is not as described by me ,you will get your money back).

I have all the papers signed and I'm ready to make a deal as soon as possible. The delivery will take no more than 4 days and the car will be dropped at your home address . So, if you really want it you can be able to have it in no time.

Let me know if you want to go forward with the transaction so i can give you the details from the third party company.

Email me back so i can send you pictures with the car.

Have a nice morning!

I have replied with the following:

Thank you for the reply.

My enquiry was prompted due to seeing your eBay listing, from which the vehicle sold for just over $8,000 and was then relisted with the added line

“THIS AU XR8 REBEL WAS SOLD and now relisted because the winning bidder [ changed his mind ] only genuine buyers please”, yet the listing on www.drive.com.au has the sale price at $2,345, and I found this quite strange.

If I were to purchase the vehicle, at any price, I would not require the services of a third party company as I would prefer to arrange inspection personally, or by a known and trusted individual, and take delivery of the vehicle personally, or arrange transportation myself.

Once again thanks for your reply, merry Christmas and good luck with the sale.

Regards


Is it just me, or does this all sound a bit suspicious?

eBay listing

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261145181...=p5197.c0.m619

Drive.Com.Au listing

http://www.drive.com.au/used-cars/ford/falcon/37433012

[I reckon]

Scam .been going around for years that one !

[XR6WGN]

Good Morning and Merry Christmas

I think you have every reason to be suspicious on that one, yes there is a RAAF base in Carnarvon but it is listed as a "bare base" (did a quick look on "Wiki") which means there are very few personnel based there and the base is only "fully" manned in times of conflict - would they actually deploy overseas from there? - don't know.

It might be a genuine drop in price to "sell it quickly" but the use of the third party company to sell a car in Queensland certainly has the hallmarks of a scam.

It's a pity you need to ask those type of questions as it looks to be a nice car - it'll be interesting to see if you get a reply.

[efirestorer]

If you were not so cautious in your reply to him , most likely the next email from him would be along the lines of " send $xx. by Western Union for the inspection fee which will be refunded on the sale."

[MercurySilver]

my guess is fake

third party inspection (not chosen by you) ????

ask him to give you an address to go and view/inspect the car
see what happens

if they give you some spill about it being unavl for a viewing by you (or someone on here up in qld) then its 99% fake
and if you said that you would fly up to visually look at the car and we're turned down by the seller then cmon, who would do that??

i mean who would buy a car unseen from a complete stranger?
unless you had heaps of money to burn

so it was originally sold for 8, buyer didnt show and now the seller wants 3?
so nearly two thirds off in price?

whats your gut tell you???
mine tells me faker who needs a head punch and then report both ads

[Quasi]

Yeah, it smelled like a scam to me, but thought I would post something on the outside chance that it was for real and somebody here knew the seller and/or the car.

[Jim Goose]

Ahh scam... dont bother to reply.... No bare base at Carnavon at all sorry.

And if the person is a RAAFie, he will say he is in the RAAF... not use the full tittle... lol

[Auslandau]

100% scam. No inspection will be available. They don't want to scam the asking price but will ask for the few hundred for transport up front. That's all they are after. Continue with the emails and see where i takes you. I have before and all stops when they ask for the transport funds. It won't be their car but pics they have pinched from cars that were previously for sale. Prices are always listed as a 'too good to be true'.

[wrongwaynorris]

One of the oldest scams in the book , steer well clear .

[kenz]

Ahh this old chestnut. Working for armed forces, want to use third party, really low price and listed as $AUD, of course it's AUD we live here unlike the scammer lol

[krzysiek]

Did you submit the price query through eBay or the Drive.com.au listing?

I ask, because the eBay listing appears to be fairly legitimate. The Drive listing, no so much.

I'm thinking the Drive listing could have just copied the eBay listing word-for-word and is trying to scam people. They would do this because it would save them time over writing their own ad with their own pictures.

If your first message & response was over Drive.com.au, try and message the eBay seller directly and see if you get a different, perhaps genuine reply.

[krzysiek]

Actually, I am fairly certain that the guy on Drive.com.au is a scammer, using someone elses listing and the guy on eBay is legitimate.

Look at the eBay's seller feedback. Almost 100 positive and it seems a lot of them are for being a seller. I wouldn't call it a scam just yet (the eBay seller). I'd ask him a question and inform him of the Drive.com.au ad and see what he says. Does he even know it's there?

[FPV414]

Scammy McScam Scam.

Don't know why there's still deliberation on the topic, first post nailed it - been going around for years. If you fall for that stuff you got rocks in your head.

[2011G6E]

It's an oldy, but the first time I've seen it with a "vendor" who is actually in Australia...usually they're in Indonesia or something. That's what makes it interesting...it shows that the scammers are getting smarter, as people who would automatically delete such a thing if it said Indonesia or Malaysia or Thailand will stop and think "Hmmm..." if it's actually supposedly inside Australia.

Another dead give away that it's a stock formulated cut and paste letter meant for westerners are American terms like "clear title", which might draw in a Yank where it's a very common (required in fact) thing to have in a car sales advert, but here in Oz we don't use that term when selling a car. Noting that the price is in "AUD" when you and he are both in Australia is also another give away....

[Elks]

100% scam. Under the heading. If its too good to be true, it usually is.

They just want to nick your deposit or freight fees.

Any easy clue is the AUD. when was the last time you heard an Aussie quote currency like that. Like Dave I've wasted a little time, but no money on these. If you press to see the vehicle. " really, my uncle lives in Canarvon he is in the RAAF too, you'll might know him, he can inspect the car for me and give you the full payment". Id bet a bottle of Jack you will never hear from them again.

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by FPV414

Scammy McScam Scam.

Don't know why there's still deliberation on the topic, first post nailed it - been going around for years. If you fall for that stuff you got rocks in your head.

Simple, because people like you and I are still replying? That is why the topic is being deliberated!

[Full Noise]

As others have said, scam. The pictures are most likely from an ad that appeared some time ago, they have nicked them and submitted them in a bodgie ad.

On an unrelated note. Why on God’s earth would anyone put pictures of their missus and dog next to a car when they’re trying to sell it? FFS we don’t care about how ugly your missus or dog is.

[bungarra]

The RAAF base at Carnarvon is the airport and currently no RAAF staff on the ground, they are only there if an ex is on or the cadets are doing something. Definate Scam.

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by bungarra

The RAAF base at Carnarvon is the airport and currently no RAAF staff on the ground, they are only there if an ex is on or the cadets are doing something. Definate Scam.

Ah there is no base... and its not a bare base. Just because the RAAF may land there during an exe doesnt mean its a base. Curtin and Learmonth are the bare bases in WA. 30yrs odd years ago Normanton had a fixed arrestor wire at the airfield to be used as an emergency field for the mirages... it was never a base or even bare base.

[I reckon]

Do ya think the op has got the hint its a scam yet ? Can we get a few more to say its a scam. Lol

[BLU-220]

It is a big scam

[XT UTE 68]

Originally Posted by krzysiek

Actually, I am fairly certain that the guy on Drive.com.au is a scammer, using someone elses listing and the guy on eBay is legitimate.

Look at the eBay's seller feedback. Almost 100 positive and it seems a lot of them are for being a seller. I wouldn't call it a scam just yet (the eBay seller). I'd ask him a question and inform him of the Drive.com.au ad and see what he says. Does he even know it's there?

The ebay version looks legitimate, try contacting him and see what response you get, but you have to view in person before handing over any cash.

[xisled]

Originally Posted by XT UTE 68

The ebay version looks legitimate, try contacting him and see what response you get, but you have to view in person before handing over any cash.

The eBay one is a scam, check out the time stamps on the photo day if 2013 and one has time of just after 9pm but it is daylight.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by xisled

The eBay one is a scam, check out the time stamps on the photo day if 2013 and one has time of just after 9pm but it is daylight.

Really all that means is that he has the time set wrong on the camera.

The eBay one suggests payment by either bank transfer or COD, I doubt scammers would be interested in COD

[SPArKy_Dave]

I sent the ebay seller a message, about the scam listing.

We'll see what happens.

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by SPArKy_Dave

I sent the ebay seller a message, about the scam listing.

We'll see what happens.

So did i......

My question:

Just curious if you can explain the drive add for the same car, but at a much reduced price. Link to add>> http://www.drive.com.au/used-cars/ford/falcon/37433012 << Cheers...

The reply:

No Idea my rebel au xr8 is only on ebay

[Quasi]

Yeah, figured that was the case, that the eBay listing may have been legit, but the other one was bogus. Although to be honest the photo of him with his back to the camera was a bit odd I thought.

Either way, I figured at least the Drive.Com.au listing was now out there and people could avoid it.

[stevethepom]

As Fake as a $15 bill mate !

[Teddy GT]

I also sent a message, but asked for a test drive and got the exact same reply as the op, word for word. Coincidence .... i think not. SCAM ??? i think so.

[xxx000]

anyone tried calling the phone number on the carsales ad?

it's 0401 612 426

I tried and it goes to Optus messagebank. Obviously that's the dubious ad and they want contact via email only