Think I just got scammed by Smokey Auto sales in Florida?

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

Guy Sells Fake Cars Online, Ends Up On FBI's Most Wanted List

Nice find!

[tirwin]

$1M reward.

This just got REALLY interesting.

You hear that Popescu?

Somebody is going to wake up the gimp and then they are coming after you with a couple of hard, pipe-hittin' fellas that will go to work with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch for that kind of scratch.

You sleep easy now, ya hear?

[168glhs1986]

Likely many of these scum bags out there. Lets hope this is the one associated with this thread.

[Farrell]

Originally Posted by tirwin

$1M reward.

This just got REALLY interesting.

You hear that Popescu?

Somebody is going to wake up the gimp and then they are coming after you with a couple of hard, pipe-hittin' fellas that will go to work with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch for that kind of scratch.

You sleep easy now, ya hear?

nice pulp fiction reference. spot on, except a couple words...

damn, i need that Million.

[tirwin]

Originally Posted by Farrell

nice pulp fiction reference. spot on, except a couple words...

damn, i need that Million.

Great flick!

$1M would buy a real RSR or two.

[Farrell]

man, i looked into this guys name, he's been at large since like 2012. they tried to arrest him but he slipped away from them.

[jwakil]

Very interesting thread. For all the Monday morning quarterbacking I've just read, I would bet most of us before reading this story would have considered it a legit deal when we got picture proofs of the car as we requested, with visual proof of the vin we expected, and a call from what we believed was our chosen & legit PPI mechanic. I thought one could buy cars sight-unseen if enough due-diligence was done, but this proves its probably not possible any more.

Its sad to lose trust in people. When I sold my SC a few years back to someone out of state, I felt kind of honored that he trusted me enough to not even see the car. (Of course he called me and had me turn on the car and asked special questions, but if I was a crook I probably could have faked it).

I sympathize with the OP, & hopefully the culprit gets caught but I have a feeling there would be hundreds to take his place.

[sugarwood]

Sorry to bump an old thread, just to summarize how the buyer actually got scammed.

Buyer was provided specific requested photos and spoke to someone at supposed PPI shop, and this was confidence enough to wire the money.

The scammer sent copied photos of the car. Scammer never had possession of the car. How was the scammer able to provide specific photos requested by the buyer?
It was blind luck that buyer only requested common photos (undercarriage, the VIN, and door jamb plate) that the scammer just happened to have access to in the main trove of stolen pics. This really did make it look like scammer owned the car.

The buyer told the scammer to get the car inspected at a random shop. Buyer called a random shop in the area, and said to expect to see the 911 brought there. Car never gets to the shop since there is no car. Just stolen photos. After a day or two passes, the scammer had an accomplice call the buyer and pretend that was the shop. Area code matches, but the phone number does not. Buyer missed this.

Buyer send money.

Moral of story. Can't trust photos. Can't trust phone calls. Ask seller to send you a VIDEO of seller's face and the car, and seller saying your first name.

[ian c2]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Moral of story. Can't trust photos. Can't trust phone calls. Ask seller to send you a VIDEO of seller's face and the car, and seller saying your first name.

Well seeing as the scammers are using Skype phones , a Skype video call seems obvious

I was making a purchase a couple of years ago now and my preferred Mode of communication is sms text .
As it was blue , the seller knew I was on an iPhone so asked to FaceTime me .
Weirdest thing at the time ...

What was weirder was when I said I’d text him my adress and he said “I allready know it”

The whole deal was VERY interesting !!!
A pain in the arse , but very interesting .