Just another scam?

[shvl73]

I e-mailed in response to an ad for a Bobcat 328 Excavator on Craigslist from the Boston area. Here is the response (with names omitted);

I have received your email regarding my excavator on craigslist.org
The excavator is in full working condition.
It will be shipped from Canada as I now live here. I want to use a company that handles shipping and payment too. Something between escrow and cash on delivery. I get paid after they deliver the excavator to you in US. They have offices in Canada and there in the US too. Using their services I can have the excavator delivered to your address in 5-7 working days and we can both feel safe about this being in different countries. The company told me they accept 40% security deposits for transactions over $2,000. I will pay the shipping charges but I am not offering insurance. If you want it insured during shipping you need to pay an extra $200. Payment will be made after shipping starts and you will be able to confirm shipment with the company before making payment. Money will be sent to the escrow company not to me. The escrow company is in the US and your money will stay with them until they deliver it to your door.
We can agree on a testing period for you and during this period the money will still be in escrow. I can give 3 days to have the excavator inspected at any dealer you want.
Please tell me if this will work out for you and if there is anything else that you would like to know about this deal.
Hope to hear from you soon!


I should mention, it was listed for sale at roughly 1/3-1/2 average sale price for comparable units. My thought was if legit, I'd call in the serial # to verify it wasn't stolen. Now I don't think I'll even respond.

 

[Charlesaf3]

It completely reeks of scam. They'll send you it before you even send money to the "escrow" corp? Uh huh.

 

[shvl73]

Maybe I should offer to meet them at the border with a bank check and a ramp truck that I hire. I'm guessing they wouldn't agree.

 

[weesa20]

Tell them you'd like to come pick it up at a public place and see what happens. Feels like a scam. The "escrow company" is probably just a name and PO box that they own anyway, and a shipping form (to check that it shipped) is not all that hard to replicate.

W

 

[California]

craigslist | avoiding scams and fraud

I'd say that seller hit every point in the craigs scam checklist!

That avoiding-scams page asks you to email them the # of the suspected scam listing.

 

[shvl73]

craigslist | avoiding scams and fraud

I'd say that seller hit every point in the craigs scam checklist!

That avoiding-scams page asks you to email them the # of the suspected scam listing.

Good idea, I hadn't thought of that and I should do so.

 

[toolaholic]

DON'T DO IT! My daughter lost $2700 on a similar deal! before I bought my backhoe at auction , I looked for 2 months on e-bay. It was amazing , how many scammers there were! Tool

 

[DieselPower]

Might be a scam, might not. I sold on ebay for a little over 2 years and used a escrow service many times for international high dollar sales.

What you need to do is ask for information about the escrow company and do a little background check on them. Once you have their name and address call the Better Business Bureau.

Better yet. Contact the home town bank that you deal with. Ask them about doing a IBAN money transfer, this is the most common way large amounts are transfered throughout the world. You could set it up that when it is delivered you call your bank and authorize the IBAN money transfer. It's a instant transfer and the seller would then be able to call his bank and tell him if the money has been transfered and he can then authorize the release of the equipment from the delivery company. It's safe because no money changes hands until the equipment is at your door step.

In any case I would not give them a down payment. Either it's paid for at time of delivery through escrow or IBAN transfer for the full amount or he can sell it to someone else.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

It sounds like a scam to me. I can't help but note that HE has a company he wants to use for shipping and 'escrow' for this transaction. That's a big clue that it's a scam. Another is the international aspect of the whole thing. I wouldn't even bother answering unless you want to convince yourself by playing along for a while.

 

[MX5000]

I wouldn't do it. Even if it isn't a scam, there's too many hoops to jump through. I'd look around for another machine. It really isn't worth taking a chance. Just my 2 cents...

Howard