What to do about a potential scammer......

[Imissmyturbo]

For the hell of it I bidded and won an auction on ebay for an R33 RB26DETT motor. It went for $2200. Sounds too good to be true....I knew it was but figured since the seller is in Troy NY I could arrange for pickup. Here is the emails between us:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...17475

My congratulations, you are the winner! It was impressive! I accept money order, cashier's check and personal check. Please email me a tracking number after sending a money order or check. The total amount is $2235 including shipping and insurance. I also need your address and the name. I will prepare the item and ship after full payment has been received. My address is: Antoinette Gurley 476 10th Street 2nd Floor Troy, NY 12180Please email me at [email protected] if you have any questions.I offer the following shipping options:Standard Flat Rate Shipping Service: US $110.00If you want to mail your payment, please send it and include a copy of this email to:Antoinette Gurley476 10th Street 2nd FloorTroy, NY 12180United States(518) 874-5019Thank you again for your purchase.twgodcharles

second email:

Hello,

my congratulations, you are the winner! I accept moneyorder, cashier'scheck and personal check. I do not accept PayPal andWestern Union. Please email me atracking number after sending a money order or check.The total amount is $2235 includingshipping and insurance. I also need your address andthe name. I will prepare the item andship after full payment has been received.

My address is:

Antoinette Gurley476 10th Street 2nd FloorTroy, NY 12180

P.S. Please mail me tracking number is helpful indeedfor both of us.

please mail me

Thanks,Antoinette

3rd email:

JC> Where is the motor righ now? I will pay forshipping even if I can pick itJC> up. I will be upstate next week and can get it.

I already write you, Item is already packed anddelivered. It will beshipped by truck as transit cargo and do not ask meabout this more

look, you will buy this engine or I will offer SendSecond Chance Offer.

mail me please

So what should I do? Send him a letter bomb? I really hate this kinda bs that goes on with nissan engines.

[goofynick6]

Very sketch...I'd steer clear

[WDRacing]

His/her total lack of english makes me very leary indeed. I don't buy expensive things from EBAY and if I do it's from a company.

I'd call and speak to this person and arrange for you to pick it up unless it was strictly mentioned in the bidding that you were to pay for shipping etc...

WD

[74260zt]

I bid on it also, just to see if it wouls sell for a low price. I asked him if I could pick it up, and got the same responce. He could not even provide a pic other than that generic rb26 pic.

The ONLY way I would go thru with that kinda deal, is to pay for it once it arrived to a local dock, where I could put my eyes on it....

[rb250sx]

well my guess is hes not keeping it in his second floor apt. We have an address perhaps ill be in the mood for a cruise to troy this weekend:-)

[Imissmyturbo]

Thats the same mentalitly I had. If it was true I would get a motor for dirt cheap......But I was pretty sure was a fluke. I guess my 100% ebay rating will go down. The funny thing is his address is for an apartment so you know he can up and leave once he gets the money.

[USMCgetsome]

you'll get burned by this guy if you send the money. There's no way to make anything recoverable engine/money if this guy doesn't deliver. Swing by his house with another buddy and the cash and if he doesn't have it beat his a$$ then i'll fly down and dig the hole and bury him. easy clean up.

Just kiddin. but i'm sure this guy is all bs if he was serious he do all he could to get rid of that engine.

[Imissmyturbo]

well my guess is hes not keeping it in his second floor apt. We have an address perhaps ill be in the mood for a cruise to troy this weekend:-)

I bet he is straitup scamming or he has this motor oversea's and it will be shipped when I pay. But come on. A 97 RB26DETT with ECU/Harness/MAF's for $2200? Would be nice but that's a bit unreal.

[enginerd]

I say give him a call and try to arrange pickup in person. Looking at his previous auctions, he sold a 7MGTE Supra turbo kit and intercooler for $610 with positive feedback from the buyer. The only thing is the buyer is a new on eBay so it could be a fake transaction. If you've got the money and time, why not. In the end, you may get a sweet deal on a motor. Even if you don't want to keep it, you can turn around and sell it for profit.

[blk90s13]

lets pay him a visit take the motor and knock his teeth off

[Imissmyturbo]

I was looking at is feedback. It's 16 and 100%. But only 2 of those items he was the seller. The rest where things he purchased. And the 2 items sold where left by new members. He won't answer or return any phone calls. It's too bad Jon Powell is on vactation cause I think he live within an hour of this guy.

[Eikon]

Tell the guy you don't trust him, and make the payment go through Squaretrade.

If it's legit, he'll understand and be happy to use Squaretrade.

If it's not legit, he'll say no. Then you and a couple other NICO buddies will be forced to take a trip to Troy and break his legs.

Seriously... break his legs. If this transaction falls through, he will just go on and scam someone else. This crap needs to be dealt with.

BREAK HIS DAMN LEGS!!!

phew... I'm calm now.

seriously though... break his legs... with an aluminum softball bat.... right below the kneecap. Stand him up straight... step on his foot and have your buddy swing away... bottom of the ninth with 2 on.. you need a homer to win it. Break his legs!

lol

[lowredcruzr]

tell him to use square trade, and forward the emails to ebay. they will pull a neg. feed back for the right reasons, i'm currently having one reviewed by them now. i wouldn't send this guy a dime, tell him to send cod, shipping companys will collect and pay himjustin

[goofynick6]

I've lost over 1000$ in bad ebay transactions, including $770 for a laptop once...don't pay him.

[jrsink]

I'll be glad to make the trip to Troy with you. I have some pent up rage that needs to be released.

[rb250sx]

BC and Troy are pretty far apart. you'll be taking about 4 more days to get out there haha.

[blk90s13]

i emailed him and he replied here is a paste from the email

eMa> Dear twgodcharles,

eMa> where are u located ? i will come pick it up if uclose by

hello

Unfortunately pick up is not possible. Item is alreadypacked and delivered. It will beshipped by truck as transit cargo. They only need toknow the exact destination place.

thanks

[BoostFab]

it's already packed and delivered, and shipped by truck too?! man that dude is full of it. don't be a fool and hand him the $.

[blk90s13]

i say we take a ride up to troy and go teach him a lesson

[74260zt]

Since I did place a bid on this motor, Ebay sent this to me this a.m. warning me of a fraud:

"The following is a notice from eBay Trust & Safety regarding: Item Number - 7976117475 Item Title - 1997 r33 gtr engine Our records show that you placed a bid on this item. We removed this item from the Site and cancelled your bid because it appears that the seller's account has been compromised and used by an unauthorized third party. The seller's privileges to trade on eBay may be temporarily suspended while we investigate this matter further. Due to privacy concerns we will not be able to share further details related to this seller."

[JonPowell]

Let them know that I am gonna be in Troy at my shop tomorrow(15 mins from my house) and I am on 3rd St so going to 10th will be literally les sthan 5 mins outta my way.

Tell them that I am curious to check it out as a second chance buyer.

[biglipzit]

wow this is getting interesting. let us know what happens Jon if u do make it there.

[Eikon]

The way I am interpreting this...

Some douchebag from some other country hijacked an account from a guy in Troy, NY. The poor guy in Troy probably doesn't know anything about this engine.

It says in the email that it's been comprimised and used by an unauthorized party.

Anyways... when you go to Troy, try to give him the benefit of the doubt that he probably doesn't know anything about this. If he does know something, then break his legs.

[Imissmyturbo]

So how does this scam work? If someone would have sent money to the address in Troy who what would have happend to the money? Wouldn't the guy in Troy get the $$? How would someone overseas be benifiting from this?

[Slo_240sx]

Not if the guy at Troy is being used as a 3rd party to collect the money then send it to someone overseas.

Don't send anyone any money if you have doubts. You just started a thread about a scammer which means you are having doubts so right there should be a flag to not send him any money until you can come physically look at the goods.

Another scam to watch for, which has been tried on me because I am too smart for these fookers: I put my car up for sale on a website. Someone overseas wants to buy my car VIA email with no number no address. He says hes gonna send you a cashiers cheque for say... 6000, car being sold for 4k. You have to send him back the difference of that which would be 2k then he'll have his shipper out there to get the car.

I got a cheque. Put in the bank account. IT WAS FAKE. The guy sends me a fake check and wants me to send him back 2k of my own money to cover the difference. Most people would go eh the check is good and send there own money and then they'll find out its no good. Well I was smart enough to let it clear first and I was iffy on the look of the check. He endded up calling me and I told the F*[ker that the check was no good and the FBI was coming to his house. He never called again. I then got slapped with another scam and the same thing.

DO NOT send anyone money if you have doubts and/or the deal seems too good to be true.

-Alex

[BoostFab]

surprisingly there are plenty of stupidity out there and this trap actually fooled many. especially on auto-trader.