Another Ebay Scam? Beware of Silver 74 GHIA car!

Steve L. spotted this eBay auction.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/112316750098

and asked me about it. Auction looks a little suspicious to us both.

Finding the car in the registry, 4275, I contacted the last known owner, the auction is not his and car not for sale.

Some people are still bidding. Ebay has been contacted about the scam, but have not yet killed the auction.

Hopefully anyone bidding on any DeTomaso is smart enough to use the registry, learn the truth, and protect themselves.

Hate to have anyone scammed!

So I am posting this for anyone not yet connected to the DeTomaso Registry.

Chuck

Seller claims the VIN# is 4277, which is not in the registry, but clearly photos are of #4275.

Message on his price for a "Buy it Now" type offer....

quote:

New message from: seasic7

I hope to get around 65k. If you are interested send me your email for more pictures.

Thanks

Funny - Seasick is in MA..

Get to know the seller seasic7

• Located: Tewksbury, MA, United States
• Member since: Oct 11, 2005
• Positive Feedback: 100% (Buyer Only!)

The car is in San Francisco.


Buyer responsible for vehicle pick-up or shipping | Vehicle shipping quote available

Item location:

San Francisco, California, United States

I'm still waiting to see when I can go look at the car in Michigan..... or SF....!

$65K huh? I wonder if he knows that he bought it back in '15 for $75K!?

Usually eBay is a little faster about knocking these guys off....not sure what's up with that....

Steve

If as the seller claims it is chassis #4277 and not #4275, despite the fact he lifted photos eBay may not stop the auction if he is who he says (and not a hacked account) and has been an active user since 2005.

A lot of eBay auctions use 'generic' photos, yes it is underhand not to disclose , but not sure it is against eBay policy, although probably should be. The registry also has no photo data on #4277, I wonder If he is smart enough to have done that research!

At the end of the day it still smells bad.

Julian

I saw this car in Staten Island, NY about a year and a half ago.

It was for sale at the time. Soon after it started showing up for sale in several locations around the globe.

The way these things get hacked and reposted raises "questions" about the authenticness of the new "for sale" ads. Particularly considering that when I saw the car, the price was $85,000.

It was registered in New Jersey at the time.

There is some previous magazine article documentation that the car was customized by the DT factory for a European customer and it appeared as shown in the magazine article. It is a unique Pantera.

Caution should prevail on these current "for sale" posts. The only way to know if it is lagit is to go look at it.

In my experience that's the only confirmation you can get. I made an appointment to look at a car here in NY and within hours the location was relisted as Las Vegas.

It can be difficult finding the actual location of the end of the rainbow, especially riding on a unicorn. I hate that. That fairydust gets all over everything?

I don't know exactly what the game is unless the scammers are just trying to get you to put a depost on your AmX, then disappear before you get there.

quote:

your AmX, then disappear before

I think that's the plan. They want you to give them an email address, then work you off line.

Rocky

The fact that this car is listed as being in SF then "suddenly" is in Michigan and available for inspection....but emails stop once you ask for the location in MI!

Also, the way that the automatic bidding was cancelled by the seller is stinky... Perhaps the deal is to look at the people who are actively hitting the enter button as potential victims, to be contacted at the end of the auction with "have I got a deal for you" proposals.....just as Doug suggested!

It get's more interesting..... I really like this car, and since the current owner really doesn't want to sell it, I figured I'd see if this guy would sell it to me for $499,999. A good price for a really nice car! Imagine my surprise when the response I get after bidding is "the seller is no longer accepting bids from you!"

So anyone that looks like they are half a brain equipped, gets thrown off the bus!
Buyer Be Wary!
Ciao!

Previous history also has it appearing in Australia, London and France.

Story gets MORE interesting!

Phone number 313-757-0648
1504 Humphrey St, Southfield, MI

Car is still available and he will arrange for shipping....yah right.

I just sent him his address for the phone number and asked if the car is available for immediate inspection? We'll see.

Anyone in MI not busy?

In mean time, auction should be coming down....called auction co directly and spoke to someone probably not in this country, who looked at the account. Only used for buying, all of a sudden used for selling....apparently this raises red flags to them...!

Still love the car!

oh yeah, these scams are just to grab whatever money (even a down payment) and run--anybody in any country can run this scam. I was actually bit by one, an expensive guitar---I thought I was exercising reasonable caution and insisted to have a phone call with the guy before I sent any money---but after the phone call and the payment, nothing showed... Ok for me, Paypal and the Credit card covered the claim (many thousands of dollars), but neither did those guys ask for even a clue about phone call, etc---so I think the reality is that these kinds of scams are frequent and common.

This guy still insists that his name is on the title.....and the car can be viewed over the weekend....in the Detroit area.....

4275 was the car in the BaT posting. This car is supposed to be 4277, and he did send someone a picture of that particular title.

But why would you use pictures from a different car????? ....and so many other issues.....

I think the presumption of the scammer is that all the cars around 4275 are all the same.

These scammers think that they are playing chess with you but in reality they are playing a lousy game of checkers.

They see the similarity with the checkered playing board but that's as far as it goes.

Ego is their biggest flaw. Why even bother to play with them unless your ego is bigger then theirs is? The game is childish.

The only reason to continue the game is to gain insight into the mind and Modus Operendi of a master criminal.

(I hope my sarcasm is apparent).

Where do you guys see the VIN? There all zeros in the eBay auction

quote:

Originally posted by Rocky:
The only reason to continue the game is to gain insight into the mind and Modus Operendi of a master criminal.

(I hope my sarcasm is apparent).

Ah. Inspector Clouseau I presume?

Think of it this way, ANY information that you give the scammers is too much. You are telling them what they need to know.

quote:

Originally posted by sjdennis:
Where do you guys see the VIN? There all zeros in the eBay auction

I contacted seller via ask a question

I do believe Doug has a very good point here.....!

Touche'!


Steve

Also the seller sent photos (modified of course). While he simply duplicated (doctored the photo) the 7 of vin 4275 to become 4277, he didn't bother to alter the engine number and it is the same in both the original (4275) and modified (4277) images.

Do you think the scammer is smart enough to read this thread and find out what he is doing wrong?

This reads like a tutorial to me? Who are all of these unidentified visitors here?