Just happened to me. Posted on the classifieds looking for a transmission adapter plate. Got a private message that his Uncle in Oklahoma sells the transmission adapter plates. I was to contact Mikeziggs@gmail.com which I did. He said he had them -going into great detail and seemed legit. I send him $200 via Apple Cash to 559-540-0640 band never got the tracking number he promised to send. I had an uneasy feeling sending the money and should have followed my instincts and not done it.
Classifieds Transactions: Red Flags
- Thread starter IH8MUD
- Start date
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countless real people join the forum JUST to sell or JUST to buy. There ARE "catches" in place, but at the end of the day, the BEST catch is educating our members on the scammer tactics.
Which is why this thread exists. And why it regularly gets re-set at the top of Classifieds as a Notice.
It IS impossible for me to force members to read it. Kinda like directions in general....
Sorry man. That’s a classic scam.
They always reach out and tell you to contact them at this email or this phone…
Just posted a wanted ad earlier today and got a direct email from a guy at mikestunts09@gmail.com asking where I live and he has what I need. No comment on here and the ad I posted didn’t have my email or phone number. I think it’s a scam so I’m going to avoid it for now
Looks like that email is from the Netherlands, but could be a VPN ... Probably wise to avoid.
Appreciate it! I’m going to avoid it. I’m not good with technology so I have no idea how you know that lol
An AI search took roughly 2 seconds to find your email address.
Just sayin'
[It was on TW, BTW]
What is TW?
You really do not want me posting breadcrumbs publicly on where to find your real email address.
You know what your email address is. Use the Google machine to find instances of it and see if it's possible to delete them.
your email matches your username....scammers send emails to username@gmail.com or username@yahoo.com etc etc and hope they get lucky.
I found your email addy on Tacomaworld. And an Oldsmobile forum. Literally entered your username into Google search....and AI makes that process 100x easier and automated for the scammers....
LC Family
SILVER Star
I recently experienced a scammer tactic which was new to me. I listed a car for sale on a marketplace platform (Hagerty). I immediately got a message from a user giving me a private e-mail address to contact them off site. I messaged back and said I would be happy to discuss the car but it would need to be on the Hagerty platform. The user went radio silent.
Then, a few minutes later, another message came from a different user also giving me a private e-mail to contact them off-site but also saying "if you are not comfortable, we can discuss here" and claiming Hagerty's message system was difficult to understand... (which it isn't).
After I responded to leave it on the platform, the user continued by asking I get a car history report from a report agency called autointellog.com, which I have never heard of. Even though I thought getting a report in this specific situation on this specific vehicle was pointless, I asked if CarFax or Experian would be sufficient and they pushed autointellog. I checked it out, entered my vin number, and it immediately asked for payment (CarFax doesn't do that). In the meantime, I checked CarFax and Experian to compare prices with autointellog and learned vehicles from before 1981 don't have vin numbers that can generate a history report. Also, because I initiated a request with autointellog, I received a strange e-mail from a gmail address asking me to complete the request and submit payment. I called bull**** on it and didn't go through with it. I responded to the user by saying I am happy to give history but not with autointellog so they continued to push autointellog as the only place I could do this... so I went radio silent.
So I am reporting this because I think both users who contacted me are the same person and I think autointellog is a bull**** way of them getting credit card information from people. Seems very likely autointellog IS A SCAM. Why is there no regulation for businesses on the internet? Keep your head in the game all!
Then, a few minutes later, another message came from a different user also giving me a private e-mail to contact them off-site but also saying "if you are not comfortable, we can discuss here" and claiming Hagerty's message system was difficult to understand... (which it isn't).
After I responded to leave it on the platform, the user continued by asking I get a car history report from a report agency called autointellog.com, which I have never heard of. Even though I thought getting a report in this specific situation on this specific vehicle was pointless, I asked if CarFax or Experian would be sufficient and they pushed autointellog. I checked it out, entered my vin number, and it immediately asked for payment (CarFax doesn't do that). In the meantime, I checked CarFax and Experian to compare prices with autointellog and learned vehicles from before 1981 don't have vin numbers that can generate a history report. Also, because I initiated a request with autointellog, I received a strange e-mail from a gmail address asking me to complete the request and submit payment. I called bull**** on it and didn't go through with it. I responded to the user by saying I am happy to give history but not with autointellog so they continued to push autointellog as the only place I could do this... so I went radio silent.
So I am reporting this because I think both users who contacted me are the same person and I think autointellog is a bull**** way of them getting credit card information from people. Seems very likely autointellog IS A SCAM. Why is there no regulation for businesses on the internet? Keep your head in the game all!
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If someone wants a report that bad, they can pull it themselves. I won’t be forced into buying a report for someone on some random site. Stand firm sellers!
And, as a buyer you should pull a report yourself than trust a report provided by a private party.
LC Family
SILVER Star
Yep, the scammer claimed only the owner could pull the report which I knew wasn't accurate.
I had recently looked at a fuel tank cover here, and inquired about shipping. It was too high, and I didn't go for it. Couple days later, I get a random e-mail from a guy (not the advertiser) Saying I can have the cover for less, with shipping 10% of what the advertiser listed. He gave a Gmail address ("bluesronnie430@gmail.com" ) to contact him. It had been sent to an old email address of mine, which raised suspicions. I asked for a picture of the cover to remind me which one it was. Picture sent I had never seen before. I found (and deleted) that old email and my phone # I had posted years ago here on this site. I have now DELETED all of them (with help from admin on one of the really old ones)