911S Craigslist Scam in PA

[Bravoaloha]

Beware. Got scammed out of a $500 deposit. I know the price is too good to be true but I have been doing this a while and everything else seemed to check out. Guy slow played me- didn't even ask for a deposit, said he had someone else coming and I offered, then went radio silent,

https://allentown.craigslist.org/cto/d/allentown-porsche-911/7556379068.html

[911hutch]

Saw that and said "Yeah, Right.. too cheap, it's a scam"....then I saw it was in a bunch of CL city sites ....sorry you got beat outta $500

[Unobtanium-inc]

It bears repeating....

RANT on Scams, Advice for buyers and sellers. Flame Suit On!
First a word to sellers, there are a couple of things we can do to make it harder for the scammers.

1. It's important when you sell a car to watermark the pictures somehow. There are a million apps for this but you can also go oldschool. When someone I don't know asks me for pictures of a car, I say sure, and cover it in magnets. If they are interested in buying the car they don't care, if they are trying to picture flip or worse, just use the pictures their plans are foiled.
2. It's also why I always take pictures for ebay in the same spot in my shop, that way people recognize the place. I've actually had people call me and say someone was trying to sell one of my cars but they recognized my shop, so it works.

Next a word to buyers.
1. Be careful out there everybody, the more these things are valuable, the more risk, a wise man once said buy the seller not the car.
2. If you think you are being super clever staying up all night searching the dark corner's of the internet and found that Porsche listed on an obscure website and it's just your lucky day or you found some dealer in a small town with a slick website who just doesn't know what he has, don't send the deposit, it isn't your lucky day. If you found it on the internet the gig is up, anyone who can setup a website and take pictures of rare car, can do five minutes of research and won't put it on their site for half of it's true value.
Now if you're pumping gas in your 911 and some guy walks up to you and says he has his uncle's old Porch, do you want to come look at it, that might be real, but if you find it online and it seems like it too good to be true, it is. There was once a time when you could scan craigslist and jump on a deal, that day is long gone. I went to see a well known flipper in NYC several years ago, he had three Indian women sitting in front of computers hitting re-fresh on every craigslist, every classic car forum, and every other avenue every few seconds, that's why that dude calls you within 15 minutes of you placing an ad, trust me you can't compete with that, so if a craigslist ad has been up for more than 15 minutes and it seems like your lucky day, it isn't.
Bottom line, if you find a "super deal" on the internet there is a 90% chance that it is a scam, and if it's not, some flipper will offer the guy way more, and you'll be out of the deal. Another well known west coast flipper will always pay more, just to get people to stop trying. I once won a sealed bid estate auction for three Porsches. Once this guy found out it was me he said, "I'll pay 20% over whatever Adam bid!" Luckily, the seller was a gentleman and I got the cars. But he was willing to do anything to best me.
If you want a deal on a Porsche go out and make some friends, meet other Porsche guys, the best cars never see a for sale sign, they just quietly trade hands amongst Porsche guys. Most of the cars I buy are not advertised, people just know to call me, but all I do is make myself known. I seen some of the best deals happen between two friends, so if you are in the market for a Porsche, get out there and drive, don't surf the net, there are no deals there, but there are lots of scammers.
3. Always go see a car and put your hands on it, if you can't, arrange for someone else to put their hands on it. Scammers don't have cars, so this eliminates 95% of them.

[matt930s]

Great advice Adam.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Originally Posted by matt930s

Great advice Adam.

It works, I've probably bought 1000 Porsches and while I've bought some that weren't what they said they were, I've never bought a phantom car, i.e. been scammed.

---Adam