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Quote:

Originally Posted by trader220 (Post 3538970)

Would it be any different if they picked a name and address out of a phone book? Or do people actually send money to these scammers. Ebay had hoards of them till they kind of cleaned it up

Still plenty of that scam on eBay, too many to count.

Here's one that was on eBay. Was for a nice 635CSi. The bids got up pretty high, then he cancelled all the bids and apparently sent out e-Bay PMs to everyone:

Hi,
Sorry for delay, The price that i want to obtain is $2,980 ( including shipping and insurance charges). The price is considerably lower then others on the market because i need to sell it really fast. The vehicle was never crashed, abused or raced. i always garaged it and serviced it, kept very good care of it!. The vehicle is currently located in Pomona CA but unfortunately i am in Miami FL, planning to open a business here and i do not think i can come sooner then next month. However i can arrange for the paperworks from here and i can talk to a shipping company to deliver the vehicle to your address. i think it is impossible to buy a vehicle without having an inspection first. So i had a look on Ebay and i saw they could help us with this. Since the transaction worths a lot of money they have suggested to make the deal only through Ebay so that we will not have any problems. Regarding the payment i am aware of the buyer's protection and we will use Ebay's motors vehicle purchase protection program which will hold the payment until you receive the car. By making a deposit you are not buying the car, is just the way the program works( and in case you buy the car it will give you a 1 month 1000 miles guarantee). However, it is 100 refundable if the car is not as described.
I've got photos of the car hosted on Internet at the following link: http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x119/1986BMW635CSI/?start=all
If you are interested in this car please provide me the following information's necessary to take a decision:
-your full name and address for shipping.
-Ebay ID
-your phone #
Once again i apologies for requesting this but i need to be sure i am dealing with interested people as i really do not have much time to spear.
Thank you for your time.
-------------------------------------------------------------

To which I responded:

Why would you arrange for a shipping company to deliver the car, when I live in Pomona, where the car is located? It doesn't make sense to ship a car 3 miles, does it?

If we work out a deal, I'll come over, bring the cash and exchange it for the car and the pink slip. It doesn't get any quicker or easier than that.

[Note- of course, I don't live in Pomona! Just trying to see what he would say]

____________________________________

to which he responded:

Hi again,
It's seems you misunderstand me, now I am in Miami and I will not return until I have a clear transaction (I can't waste my time).I will make this deal only under eBay Protection Department because is more safe for us.Once we have a clear deal I will come home to ship the car or you can come and pick up yourself (it's your choice) because shipping is payed in advance by me.
In order to finalize our transaction I will need to know your full name, ebay ID and your full address for shipping and I will make all the necessary arrangements with ebay Motors and they will send you the invoice for our transaction.
Thanks,
______________________________________

At that point, I got bored with it and stopped communicating.

The latest:

From: Thomas Sprinkle
Date: October 18, 2007 12:39:23 PM MDT
To: Jeremy Lawton
Subject: Re: Porsche 911T Sportomatic - $2900

Hello,

The transaction will be closed only through WorldPay and this way we will both be protected. My current job doesn't allow me to do otherwise. I have way to little free time to handle home visits and my phone calls are very limited. As I said before the car is as described and you will be able to inspect the car before a final decision.
Again all I need to proceed with this is your full name and shipping address. If you are no longer interested let me know as I have several other potential buyers.

Thomas Sprinkle

And more me; I think I might try to go the cashier check route if this gets boring.
Mr. Sprinkle,

I am VERY interested in the car. Let me state again, I live just a few miles from where the car is located. I can pick the car up in person. I am happy to close the transaction through World Pay, and I do not mind paying $2900, even though I do not need you to ship the car. So you can keep the money I am saving you through my personal pickup of the car. Certainly no buyer who lives in the same area as the car is located wants to pay to have the car shipped just a few miles. I shall be happy to inspect the car before the World Pay transaction. I would have come to inspect the car 5 days ago, when I first responded to your ad, but it seems your time is at a premium! I understand your business; I too served in the Army. Semper Fudge!

Thank you very much!

Jeremy Lawton

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gogar (Post 3540017)

I too served in the Army. Semper Fudge!

:D:D:D Dang this is funny! I hope this little drama will continue a bit longer! I love it when a scammer gets folked with!

Mr. Thomas Sprinkle has reared his ad in central NJ craigslist yesterday and I got the similar but much more abbreviated reply.

"Hello,

The transaction will be closed only through WorldPay and this way we

will both be protected. My current job doesn't allow me to do
otherwise.
I have way to little free time to handle home visits and my phone calls

are very limited. As I said before the car is as described and you will

be able to inspect the car before a final decision.
Again all I need to proceed with this is your full name and shipping

address. If you are no longer interested let me know as I have several
other potential buyers.

Thomas Sprinkle"

I was going to post his ad here for everyone's amusement but was beaten to the punch by Gogar.

The ebay car is badged as a SportoMatic.

This one is not.

The scam car pics do show the rear decklid that says "sportomatic" on it. Similar awesome color, though. There's a link somewhere up in this thread.

Well, after my "Semper Fudge" faux pas, Mr. Thomas Sprinkle got tired of me and stopped replying. Iguess I need to work on my scam-speak.

I did, however, find the pics of the actual car, which is very nice:

http://www.cannillomotorsports.com/pastinventory/79911t/79911t.htm

I don't know if I should contact cannillomotorsports or not, it's not like they could do anything about someone grabbing their pics.