Craigslist tractor scam?

[MitchellB]

For those of you that have experienced this sort of (what I consider a scam) listing, this may be just reinforcement, but it may help some others that are more trusting. Below is a recent back and forth emails after finding a nice looking tractor on Craigslist for a very low price. My Craigslist searches are usually local, so I was surprised when I discovered the tractor was not anywhere near local for me. She (he) sent me some really nice pictures of the tractor too. After the second email, I was pretty sure this was a scam, however, I strung her (he) along to see how I was going to be stung. Someone in Omaha may be getting a deal in a tractor though, but I doubt it.

2001 Kubota B2710HST 4x4 tractor - $2100
VERY NICE 2001 Kubota B2710HST 4x4 tractor has roughly 320 hours on the meter, 23 HP, 3 CYL DIESEL ENGINE, POWER STEERING, 4 WHEEL DRIVE, 300 HOURS, HYDROSTATIC
52r9w-5582756355@sale.craigslist.org

Hey,
I'm interested in your tractor. Does it have a Cat. 1 three point hitch on the rear and a 540 PTO? Does everything work? Anything need fixing?
Email or call XXX-XXX-XXXX Mitchell

Hi
Thank you for your interest in purchased my 2001 Kubota B2710HST 4x4. 28HP, 4 CYL diesel engine, 320 hours, 4WD, hydrostatic drive transmission whith hi low adn mg ranges, 2 post folddown rops, diff lock, r4 industrial tires rear pto, rear 3 point lift, power steering, wet disc brakes , with a kubota La504 quick attach frontend loader(Make: Kubota,Fuel: Diesel,Engine Cylinders: 4,Transmission: Hydrostatic,Drive: 4WD). The kubota starts, drives and runs good! It is in just like new condition! I am the firts owner and I have titles for kubota. If you decide to buy it, you'll receive all the papers, owner manual, keys and a buy-sell contract already signed by me. I am selling this kubota because I am in the military and my unit will be sent back to Afghanistan. I don't want it get old in my garage. Also, the kubota is too big for my daughter so there's no use on keeping it. The price is low because I need to sell it before May 20th. If you are interested, it's still available for sale and the price, as stated in the ad, is ( $ 2,100 plus shipping cost $300 ). Let me know if you are interested, email back.
Thank you!
SSgt, Melissa Davis
Melissa Davis <meldavis479@gmail.com>


Hey,
Where is it located?

Hi again,
The tractor belong to my husband but unfortunately he passed away 3 months ago.The kubota is at the shipping center in Omaha, Ne and from there will be shipped to my buyer's address. Right now I'm in a military base. We are training, getting ready for Afghanistan. I am only allowed to check my email twice a day. We have to stick to e-mail for now. Hope you can understand. Like I already said, the delivery process will be managed by me. I think I can have it there at your home address within 3-4 days. If you decide when you receive the tarctor that for any reason you don't want to keep it then you will send it back on my expense. I need to know if you are interested so I can ask eBay Motors to send you the details on this deal. You will also find in the invoice from them the eBay Support Department phone number where you can call for more details ! If interested please include in your next email your contact info for eBay (full name, shipping address and phone number), so we can get the ball rolling.
Thank you and god bless you!!

Hey,
The only B2710 I can find on ebay is in PA.

Let me explain you in a few words how the deal will take place: ebay will be involved as a third party - this means you will send the money to an ebay agent and they will hold your money until you receive and test the tractor. You will have 5 days to test and inspect the tractor and if it doesn't look like you expect you can return it back on my expense, but I assure you won't be the case. In case you accept the tractor you must contact ebay and ask them to release the founds to me. This is how they protect both parties. If you want to move forward or wish to find out more details about this deal please send me your full name and shipping address so I can open a case with ebay and declare you as buyer. As soon as I have your details i will ask ebay to contact you regarding this deal.


Hey,
I'm already set up as a buyer on eBay. All you have to do a place the ad on eBay. However this third party holding my money for me is not going to work. I want to look at and touch the vehicle before I transfer any funds to anyone. If the tractor is in Omaha then that is too far away. Sorry.

 

[jlgurr]

Same thing happened to me with a "local" car for sale in western NC. It was fishy as soon as their reply went into way more detail than I asked for. Means they answered questions I didn't ask yet. Then they asked to complete the transaction in eBay just like your tractor. Finally, the car was at a freight terminal in Texas.

Yeah, right! Scam written all over that one!

Sent from my iPhone 2.0 using TractorByNet

 

[davesl708]

That is the same BS I got on a Honda Goldwing about 6 years ago.
Almost line for line. The bike was in Florida and in a shipping container ready to be sent to me.
When I told them I would be in their town in two days and wanted to see the bike the emails ended.

 

[JBourquin]

eBay will never facilitate a third party transaction. They handle eBay sales only. This scam has been going on for a while. I believe eBay even has it in their FAQ's.

 

[TheSpoon]

Man, you were getting ripped off. The one that I had emailed on (L3301) included a trailer, rotary mower, and box blade for just over $3k....

 

[mecan]

2200 for a bx25 with mmm, fel, backhoe. Even used a local cell number to refer it to email. Apple pay instead of eBay motors. Then would be shipped from a base in alaska.

 

[Snobdds]

If someone does not want to meet in person for a cash transaction...stay far away.

It's the same old play every time...

 

[prichard]

There was a thread on here a while back where we tracked the same tractors around the country.

The one I called on they even went as far as to claim it was at an eBay depot. Pretty sure since ebay doesn't ship anything they don't have a depot.

 

[TheSpoon]

Pretty sure since ebay doesn't ship anything they don't have a depot.

That's not entirely true. I have a friend that works for them in KY. They have some HUGE warehouses. And after the recent merger, have some more around the US.

 

[KennyG]

I see these on CraigsList all the time for tractors and cars. The tip off is that the price is always around $2000, sometimes odd amounts like $2101 or $2056 and is always 1/2 to 1/3 of a credible price. The reason they do this is to alert reasonable people that it's a scam. They don't want to waste time with smart people, they only want suckers. The same reason the Nigerian scammers have all the typos and grammatical errors.