When people come to me with cash I ask them to come with me to the bank while I pay it in. That way if there are any fake notes the cashier can tell us both about it and there's no arguement. If the notes are fake and the cashier doesn't notice then it's the bank's problem.
Never provide bank info for a "wire transfer" period. You can usually verify funds on a cashiers check by calling the issuing bank, still should deposit or cash it and set on it for a couple of weeks to make sure it clears. Good luck, I think you'll never hear from this joker again.
you could find out the bank where the check or money order was drawn from and call the bank manager, he'll let you know right away with the check is good, i sold a car that wne t to hawaii and i called the 7-11 where the money order was written and the manager check the log book and it was good to go.. the problem with your bank, they can tell you that it's good but two weeks after the funds clear your back the check could come back as a fake.
This sounds like a great idea. You got a big ol' scammer on the line, once your car leaves you'll be left holding the bag.
Snetence one above is paranoid wrong. A wire transfer is as safe (maybe safer) than (bogus) cash. "I told him if his friend wants to pick up the car, have him bring cash and he can take the car and title right then....." If the buyer is using personal funds, doesn't he trust his "friend" to carry cash to you? You are doing the right thing. Stand your ground, and report the scammer.
Anytime a buyer tells me they want to pay with a cashiers check I just tell them hell you are at the bank anyway to get the check so just get the cash. Your buyer is 100% just scam scum. You can report them to E-bay but E-Bay will do nothing,not even close his account.
ebay does not care. buyers are golden, sellers are all cheating scum. if they spent as much time and effort getting rid of bad buyers as they do screwing sellers it would be a much better place to sell. not exactley sure how ebay motors works, but I would start the non paying bidder process so at least you can get your final value fee returned. they will do nothing to the "buyer"
bingo! if hes at the bank tell him to get his cash while hes in there and give it to his friend.....then everyone will be happy.
I had an ebay 'winner' tell me he'd send me a cashiers check for $5,000. more than the sale. Deposit the check to my account, then hand his 'agent' the $5K in cash. He'd have the car & signed off pink slip picked up that day, his agent would be here with the car hauler. I said, "Yeah, right. Are you sure $5K's enough?" The guy got real upset... I laughed.
I went round and round with a scammer for a while on CL, I was trying to figure out how he was working it. I found out basically that they send you a fake check thats $50 or whatever over what you were asking (to bait you into going along with him) plus he pays you to ship it, but using his shipper, tom johnson at 1234 st (he gave me a real address). You deposit the check and since its your bank they auto credit your account, you pull the shipping money and send it off, then you bank tells you the check wont clear and you are screwed. Sure this is some variation of that same scam, only this time they get the car too.
Isn't that the truth ! I hate Ebay anymore and at one time I bought and sold a lot of stuff on there. They have become very greedy and do NOTHING to protect the seller. We can't even put in negative feedback when someone stiffs us any more. And don't ever try to get a human being on the phone at Ebay to help you resolve a problem, they don't exist, you just keep getting recording after recording and you talk to computers. I just wish there was some alternative to Ebay, other than Craigslist. Don
Hey even cash is not always legit, sold a car for 20k to a guy, his agent came with 20 k in cash and I said before we give you the paperwork I will deposit it in my bank, guy was legit but the bank he withdrew the funds from that morning gave him a fake 100 dollar bill in amonsgt all of them, my bank cought it when checking the bills, he had to go back to his bank for the 100 bucks as my bank took the counterfeit bill, I know this was not a guy trying to rip me off but one bank can also make a mistake...........to err is human to find it in time is cool!!!!!
I sell a lot of stuff on Ebay and I've been burned by buyers and sellers. Ebay is the devil as far as I'm concerned, but contacting them immediately is the only way to go. If you go into the resolve issue/report a problem feature, you will be given a phone number. Eventually I always get a real human on the line. But, they always speak very broken English with a heavy foreign accent to the point that there is always a communication issue. I suspect that they aren't in the US even though they say they are. I would just contact Ebay and tell them the situation with the scamming buyer and get the car relisted and the fees voided.
Yeah, give this guy a swerve - his story has more holes in it than swiss cheese. Keep the car and report the guy to eBay
And make sure that this time in the Ebay ad to clearly state CASH only! I had a buyer send me a cashier's check once and then he put a stop payment on it a few weeks later after I met him in person and gave him the car parts. It was a total scam, and Ebay refused to back me up after I showed them the stop payment in my bank statement because I didn't have a tracking number! Paypal is a rotten scoundrel as well. CASH CASH CASH is the only way to deal.
I won't accept cashier's checks either. Cash, and we meet at the bank (for anything more than a grand or two) or a wire transfer. If he's got funds at his bank for the cashier's check he can wire you the money and it's guaranteed and fast. I know some people feel that wire transfers are giving out too much information, but all the information necessary for a wire transfer is on every check you write (account number, routing number, bank name, and your name/address). Tell him to wire you the money or no-go.
Scams like this are on the increase--had a similar incident recently with the same scenario-guy wanted to buy a car via ebay. The guy was really urgent and pushy and had a very good ebay rating but somehow it wasn't his--he somehow hijacked another ebayer info who had a good rating. Don't know how he managed it but it was obviously a scam. Got upset when I told him to come with cash or forget it and never called again.
Make sure all of your communications with him go through the ebay email. Anything outside of that (personal email, phone calls, texts, etc) will absolutely NOT be convered by ebay. And yes... it is 100% a scam.
Reading through your entire situation it all sounded plausible as being legitimate UP UNTIL the russia excuse and his combativeness. I've had folks insist on cashiers checks over cash, (for reasons of not wanting to travel with that much cash, avoiding a miscount, etc.) and I've had to fill out lengthy paperwork for buyers using a loan to purchase my vehicles (keeping in mind this was not a preferred payment method in your listing. So I've done both without issue. However the "international" work story and aggression for not submitting to his demands, both of those are just huge red flags.
Sounds like a fresh load of BS. Those Russians don't need any more of our Kool american cars anyway. Need to keep em here so our kids can do this someday to.
I'm pretty sure that if the bank can determine just who provided them with the counterfeit money - the problem comes right back to you. Whoever posted that it was the "bank's problem" once they accept it doesn't really understand the Federal banking system and the rules for counterfeit money. As to the myth that wire transfers are bad - nonsense, they're one of the safest ways to send/receive legitimate funds. Just use a separate account opened specifically for that transaction. Your bank knows what to do, leave them to it. I bought a hot rod several years ago - sent the guy a cashier's check for the deposit, he cashed it (large, well-known bank), then while he was trailering the car here, I strapped on my concealed .45, went down to the bank, took out $20k in hundred dollar bills (geez I sure miss the $500 bills, made it much easier to buy major items from private sellers), put it in my briefcase, then into the gun safe until he arrived. Once the car was here and accepted, I gave him a manila envelope stuffed with that money (we both counted it twice) and he and his pals were on their way after a quick soda pop toast to the deal. Cash can get unwieldy in larger amounts, so although I have complete confidence in my ability to protect myself in most situations, those boys took off for Texas with just a manila envelope and a tank of gas. Traveling with that much cash deserves a lot of thought, and in most cases a wire transfer saves a lot of worry.
Contact ebay, get your final value credit fees back, re-list the car, block this guy from bidding, sell the car to a non scammer, live happily ever after.
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