Is this a scam?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I had another message from the guy last night asking what it would take to make the deal. So this morning I sent the following email.

"I’m not adverse to making a deal with you. However, I am not prepared to conduct any sale, for whatever price we agree on, through the mail. If you have an idea as to how we can deal in cash, then I’m open to negotiation. "

I received this response about 30 minutes ago. It was sent to me and also had two additional email copied in that seemed to correspond to the names of his relatives he lists below.

"Not a problem, my family home where I grew up is San Jose we have been there over 60 years, my mother still lives at [address removed] and I work responsively to look after her as independent as she is, If we have a deal I will have one of my cousins [names removed] bring you the Money in cash, you need to me what I owe you, they will do so early next week just as soon as I can track them down and ask them to do this deed, all I ask is you just give them the title whe we pay you and give me several weeks to pick it up the fj 55 up, respectfully. Please put the wheels and tires back on so we can load it. I am for real and I will buy your truck. If you need other references I will give several non busted bankers who ill confirm I am not a flake. I am just hooked on a FJ 55 that’s all. and you have it. Thank you for the reply. Kindest personal regards. [name and number removed]

What do you guys think? I don’t mind keeping it here while he figures out how to move it, it is just sitting out in my barn. Some of it sounds totally legit but some of it is totally bizarre… I mean who sends out his mother’s address in an email?

22

If you have cash in hand, it may be weird, but it’s not a Scam.

Take the money and don;t worry.

23

If he’s willing to do a deal in cash it may be on the up and up. But I would meet him/his mother/the cousin or whoever in a public parking lot, like at a mall, to do the deal.

24

The only thing that weirds me out a little is his desire to buy it now, pick it up after a few weeks–but if it’s immobile, maybe that makes sense. If it were me, I’d want to make it clear you’re not responsible for anything that happens to the truck while you’re storing it for him.

25

Cash? US non-counterfeit greenbacks? Or Guyanese currency?

26

Oh well then, you can never sell anything if you take paranoia to that extent.:dubious:

27

I’d arrange to meet the cousin in the local branch of your bank, so you can immediately deposit the money. (Just in case they plan to mug you.) But if the cousin is local, why wouldn’t the guy want to have him inspect the car first?

28

Really? It’s paranoia to question large amounts of paper money handed to you by a stranger who you’ll never see again? :dubious: :dubious:

A local guy once came into the county treasurer’s office and tried to pay his taxes with Guyanese bills. Didn’t work.

29

It does seem fishy. I had a similar experience, but mine turned out to be okay. A person called, offered to by my car, and wire me the money the following Monday. I asked a few questions, and finally came to the conclusion he buys vehicles and fixes them up to resell. The person who bought my car picked it up with a trailer and already had two other cars loaded from other sellers that he was bringing home too. Maybe this is one of those situations.

I would be careful about the money order. Many people don’t realize that when a bank puts a hold on a check or money order, it doesn’t guarantee the funds have been collected from the other financial institution when the hold expires. Even though they have released the funds into your account, they can still go back three days after the hold expired and take the money back out.

I sold a car once where I had the buyer meet me at his bank. He had the teller make out the official check there so I could guarantee I was getting paid with a real check. It may seem like a hassle, but it was actually quite convenient to do it this way for both parties. Maybe you could have the cousin do this?

30

A genuine U.S. $2,000.00 bill (I think Reagan’s on the front). Of course, he’ll want $500 in change…

31

I take back what I said about the old landcruiser being an unusual item. In googling “fj 55 landcruiser” there is apparently a large fan club base for the FJ55 landcruiser and if you have got the exact model and year he wants he could be really wanting it.

Here are some online ads for them.

32

Man, I was taught this scam back in high school! The trick is to maximize the amount of time between when they write the money order and when you can cash the money order. Heck, you don’t even have to forge the money order: you just take the money out after it is written.

33

If you’re using a non-fake money order wouldn’t you had to have paid cash for it at some point?

34

Hmm…if someone comes over and actually gives you cash for it - well, I don’t see how that could be a bad thing.
I mean, $1500 for a car that is gathering dust in your garage - I would have a friend be with me when that person arrives, and then go for it.

BTW, did you do a Google search to verify the name/address/phone number of the person buying this?

35

Yes. If you wish to sell things, you must accept payment. If you get paranoid over every little detail, then you should not sell things.

36

Every little detail, huh? Like whether the paper you get can be used to buy groceries or only used to play Monopoly?

37

You guys sound like folks have never bought things, at a distance, sight unseen, from strangers.

The way to hold these transactions is an escrow account. learn it! Love it! Suggest it to the schmuck and see what his response is.

The process:
-Both parties agree to a legal description of the item being sold. “One (1) Vintage Peruvian Wombat Squirrel Cage, on wheels, lightly used”

-He places the money in escrow, a disinterested third party that makes their money on a percentage of the dollar amount (in my case, it was $120 on an $8000 transaction)

-The escrow notifies you that the money is good, the check has cleared, you go ahead and send the item.

-The item is sent using some guaranteed method of delivery. The recipient verifies that, “yes, it IS One (1) Vintage Peruvian Wombat Squirrel Cage, on wheels, lightly used”, and the Escrow service releases the Real Money to you.

-If it is NOT as billed, things go to arbitration, worst case, you get your OVPWSC back and he gets his money back, shipping costs are negotiated. If it’s missing the Lower Left, Rear, Womblefidgit, but that wasn’t stipulated in the agreement, the seller still gets the money.

www.escrow.com is a good place to start

38

Note that the craigslist website warns against using online escrow services because there are scams and frauds there as well.

39

escrow.com, IIRC, is owned by ebay and is not a scam.

40

If the OP is smart enough to post here, he will recognize Monopoly money. :rolleyes: You are straining beyond any reasonable situation. Perhaps the buyer is really an alien, only wanting to meet the OP in order to harvest his organs… through his anus, of course. :dubious: