Scam? I think so.

[N80]

I just got the "invoice". It says that there is a form that needs to be "filled up".

 

[jyoutz]

In another thread I was complaining about a listing on Craig's list that sounded too good to be true and that the person who listed it replied back to me once and then not again.

Well, today I got a reply with a name and the pictures I requested. The tractor looks fantastic. The location of the tractor, according to Craig's list is about 2 hours from me. I sent the seller, who says she is selling her recently deceased husband's tractor, a list of dates that I could come and pay cash for the tractor. This is the reply I got:

As I mentioned before, I'm a widow and now I'm here in *******, ** staying with my parents. [That is not the location listed on Craig's list].
The tractor is already at the shipping company in Roanoke sealed and ready for shipping. My presence won't be necessary because I prearranged the deal with Continental Freight Shippers. The deal includes free delivery and it will arrive at your address in 3-4 days. You will have 5 days to try out prior to making any purchase and if by any reason you find something you don't like about it you can send it back at my expense. If you are interested in knowing more info about how it works, I can ask Continental Freight Shippers to send you an email with more information on how to purchase it. Continental Freight Shippers will contact you shortly after they have the details with all the confirmation that you need to complete this deal and you will also have proof that I am covered by them and a legitimate seller.
If you would like to receive the email from Continental Freight Shippers with all the transaction information please reply with your full name, shipping address and phone # and they will call you right away.
Hope to hear from you soon.

So, this obviously looks fishy. I cannot find a company with the exact name of Continental Freight Shippers but there are a few with very similar names. My wife, who is an excellent researcher, could not find a person by the name the seller gave me in the area that the Craig's list posting originated from except for someone who is deceased. Craig's list also says only to buy face-to-face. The part about trying it for 5 days and sending it back at the seller's expense sounds ridiculous too.

I sent her my work number and address. I'll play along and try to be an optimist just because I want it to be real (the pictures show a sweet tractor!). I'm normally a realist....pessimist according to my wife.

It makes me sad and angry that we live in this kind of world. It also makes me disappointed in myself that I'm still hoping this might be legit.

Curious if others have seen this sort of thing?

CL scam for sure. I’ve seen about the same story pitched for vehicles at too good to be true prices.

 

[Diggin It]

...

 

[N80]

Here is the website for the shipper. On surface looks legit but weird spelling and syntax errors throughout. Also, phone and fax number are the same.

https://continentalfreightshippers.com/index.php

 

[jyoutz]

All the time. Not possibly about it .... absolutely positively a ripoff. Classic email, just like the Nigerian Prince thing.

Virtually ZERO chance the 'person' you're corresponding with has ever even seen this machine. Possibly a foreign operative raising funds for terrorist activities.

Raising funds for their favorite charity: themself.

 

[N80]

I did do an image search on the images and got nothing. These folks are at least trying a little harder than those Nigerian princes.

 

[Diggin It]

...

 

[Lineman North Florida]

If you keep messing around with these folks, they gonna get you yet.

 

[KennyG]

I would guess that 99% of the ads selling something for a deceased or overseas relative are scams. And 99.9% of the ones that involve shipping the item to you are scams.

 

[Fixastuff]

Don't see it as a data collection scam. Too little contact info to be worth it. The word "sealed" is odd and probably a tell. But, she could just mean that it is in storage.

So I'm still waiting for the punch line. My guess is that the "shipping" company will request $500 or something along those lines to guarantee delivery and that is the angle.

I tried to look at the image info data but there was very little there. How do you do an image search?

When I was looking for a dump trailer I came across this exact type of thing many times on Craigslist. Sometimrs it was a dead husband, sometimes it was an "im deployed at sea but need to sell this and arrainged it with the shipping company before i left.

One of trailer is still for sale today 1 year later at maybe 3k less than what it's worth. I eventually gave up and bought new.