Narrowly escaped getting scammed on FB Marketplace today.

[Sogo]

Was going to buy a vehicle, but the seller stopped answering my emails under the excuse that eBay was in control of the merchandise and all questions should go to them. When I got the communication from eBay, I called their "support" line, but the guy seemed angry and agitated that I had questions. eBay was requiring that I pay with eBay gift cards. When I contacted the merchant who sells eBay gift cards in my area, she said there had been a lot of scams using eBay gift cards lately. The clincher was that I couldn't get my questions answered, either by the seller or by eBay (The same number that I called yesterday was busy continuously today); and the main question was that there was no mention of the title in the document they sent me. They wanted their money, then they would deliver, give me time to evaluate it and accept or not; but still no mention of when I would get the title. I finally came to the conclusion they were trying to get me to send the money as eBay gift cards and then would not deliver either the vehicle or the title.

In short, it was one of those deals that was "too good to be true." The price was unbelievably low, supposedly because her husband had recently died, and she just wanted to get rid of it (an RV), and she would pay for all the shipping and return (if I didn't approve of it after inspection). The deal was supposed to expire after 24 hours if I didn't contact them with the eBay gift card numbers that confirmed my payment.

I let the 24 hours expire.....I'm so glad I just "walked away;" and thanks to that merchant who warned me about eBay gift card scams.....

[madaboutharry]

1. That is a very common scam.

I have read posts on FB with this exact scenario from people wanting to buy campers and travel trailers.

[Sogo]

4. Wow.....

I'm so fortunate I avoided it.

[Iggo]

2. Haven't heard of that twist on the gift card scam yet.

I have however heard of enough scams so that when I hear the words "gift card" I laugh and go "Nope."

[niyad]

3. Same scam operated here over the summer, reported to police and DA fraud squad.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. Ummmm, how about going to more normal and public

places to buy a car?

I know, a novel idea, but really?

[Sogo]

7. It wasn't a car;

it was an RV (as stated in my post).

But whatever.....

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. Apologies for not reading more carefully.

But you should also have been alerted by the "My husband died and I just want to get rid of it" and all the rest.

At least you did avoid being scammed, and that's good.

[Sogo]

11. I posted this story as a warning to try and save others from actually getting scammed,

by showing the signs. I was not aware of these red flags, so being grateful that I escaped the scam, I wanted to alert others. It seems several others were already aware of these things, and that's a good thing. There are, no doubt, others who are not so aware, such as I was not, and I related this story in hopes to be helpful.

Believe me, I've been harder on myself than you or anyone else can be by pointing out my fault in the matter, so thanks, but no thanks for the scolding....

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Again, apologies.

I am so glad you avoided the scam. It is all to easy to not see the red flags, to think things are okay and just go on. And thank you for posting to help others.

[Mopar151]

8. Huge, "legitimate" dealers have their own pitfalls!

One of which is, they need cash like a vampire needs blood! Bargains are for them to buy, not for you! And they can't make money on old campers, or basket case race cars, or whatever you are messing about with.

[woodsprite]

6. IMO, the best place to get a deal on RVs is

RV shows. Especially on the last day because you may be able to buy one off the lot. That’s what we intend to do next time. Aiming to get a new tow vehicle first though. Haven’t found any deals on those yet.

We also got a deal on our current fifth wheel using a quote from RV Direct. Found a dealer where we could walk through the model we wanted. Got a quote from RV Direct for $14k less than MSRP ( which had been $34k). Went to our regular sales/storage place and told them we’d rather buy from them, showed them the quote, and they cut another $2k off.

[Midnight Writer]

9. 3 red flags stand out. Gift card payment, deal "too good to be true", 24 hour time pressure.