Payment for a trailer

[Garycamper]

My Scamp Fiberglass Egg Camper: Scamps and Scams

[Bob Miller]

That there are scammers on Craigslist, eBay and elsewhere on the internet is just a basic fact of life that one has to deal with in these times. In my searches for Molded Fiberglass Toyota Motorhomes, as well as Molded fiberglass trailers, I too have seen a number of obvious scams, almost alway easily identified by "It's to good to be true", low prices, or Free Shipping etc., and the fact that the buyer usually thinks that they are also taking advantage of an uninformed seller.
It's a tough world out there, but it's what we got.
BTW: I just turned down an Eriba Puck, it was just a little to rough. A VW nut bought it the same day.

[BCDave]

Cathy: For the low, low introductory offer fee of only $250,000 I will undertake to advise you on how best to proceed. But Wait! If you act in the next 10 minutes, I can double the foofer! That's right - for only $500,000 I can provide the best advice! But hurry - can't do this all day!

Please send me your bank account numbers and passwords so that as a token of my earnest-ness I can deposit one cent into your account just to verify the transactions.

You can then withdraw the $500,000 from your account, wrap it in plain brown paper and forward it via UPS to an address in Nigeria where the president of the National bank is unjustly awaiting trial and needs that precise amount to bribe the guards so that he can then access his vast millions so that he can afford to purchase your trailer via Paypal!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++

And by the way - if this 'purchaser" actually HAS the $$$ to deposit via paypal, then he/she can use paypal to send the $$$$ to the "agent" who will be picking your trailer up for him/her. That "agent" can then give you the cash money while standing in YOUR bank so that you can have the bank verify that it actually is REAL cash money as the bank deposits for you

[Vic&Kathy]

I had fun with a scammer who was trying to play the old game of "I'll send you a (fake) cashier's check. It will be for more than your item. Please keep an extra $500 for yourself and refund the difference to me." I replied "Sure, send me the check. My name? Efrem Zimbalist Jr. " ...and I gave them the address of the local FBI office.

[AlanKilian]

I bought my Scamp from a guy who advertised on Craigslist.

I called him up, he answered, we talked, I drove up there, hooked it to my car, filled out the title, handed him a pile of cash and drove away.

Most people are honest and reliable. Don't let the bad ones ruin your day.

[Deb & Chuck]

Originally Posted by Cathy Gale

Thank you all for confirming what I thought and felt all along. It felt like a scam and it most likely is. I too would like to scam the scammers. If I think of a good plan I'll let you know.

Only take cash, and do the final deal at a bank when all the money changes hands sign the title over.
Chuck

[john warren]

Originally Posted by Cathy Gale

I have a dilemma I am hoping someone out there has had experience with. In my attempts to sell my Escape 15' and posting it on craigslist (as well as here) I am getting messages from people that tell me they are out of the country but am willing to buy my trailer sight unseen. Trouble is they want to pay through PayPal. Now while I have used PayPal in the past for purchases I have made from eBay, I have not ever received money into my PayPal account. Does the buyer need anything other than my name? They are asking for all sorts of information from me which right off I didn’t do because it makes me nervous. One woman (and I don't even know if it is a woman) says she is in the Air Force overseas and wants my PayPal account number. I told her cash only. She says she has a courier that can come and sign papers. I told her if she had a courier they could bring cash. Am I being to cautious and paranoid? I would like to sell my trailer but I do not want my identity stolen. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

<_<

Cathy

those are scams. its your trailer you tell them how you want to be paid

[RogerDat]

It's only being paranoid if they are not out to get you. People get in more bad situations by not trusting their instincts.

A speaker on self-defense put it well. Your instincts always have your best interest at heart, they are always triggered by something real, even if you have no idea of exactly what. Failing to act on those instincts leads to more bad outcomes than following them.

The old advice of if it feels "wrong" it probably is would be exactly right.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams your buyer hits several of these points.

[tractors1]

Anyone unwilling to inspect a sizable purchase in person with a check in hand that you clear at your local bank prior to signing over title isn't worth considering (my opinion.)

[Marjorie M.]

Be careful of cashier's checks these days. They will clear your bank and all looks well - the feds have a requirement that banks clear them within 2 or 3 days.

BUT...if it's a scam the issuing bank will NOT clear them and this can take several weeks, it comes back to bite you when your bank says the check really wasn't good after all and they want their money back. Any more, it's CASH ONLY to be safe.

[jen b]

Yeah, any time there is a "courier" involved, you're looking at a scam. I wouldn't waste my time trying to return the scam, though - they are running thousands of these efforts at any given time and are just going to move on to the next potential victim.

I list stuff for sale on craigslist once in a while and the reponses that make me immediately hit the delete button (aside from the obvious courier bringing a suitcase full of too much cash) are the ones that talk about "the item" without actually saying what I'm selling. Like, "can you tell me if the item is still available?" types of generic responses. Straight to the trash folder.

[cpaharley2008]

Get a certified check on a US Bank.

[Paul Braun]

There are now scammers that will catch you with fake certified checks. Cashier checks have been vulnerable for some time. How about a wire? Unfortunately, they sometime cost extra.

Any other "safe" ways to accept money short of cash. I like the idea of going to a bank and conduct the transaction if that gives any more safe guards, what makes that safer?

[captsteve2002]

When we bought our Scamp 5er, my wife and the owners wife went into a bank, we had to drive 25 miles to find a Bank of America, and did the transaction in cash. We both were happy doing this way.

[David Tilston]

The four Trilliums I have were all purchased with cash. If I were selling, I would require the same.

[Otters]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

The four Trilliums I have were all purchased with cash. If I were selling, I would require the same.

Agree David. I purchased my Scamp by drawing the money out of the bank in cash and arranging to meet at a DMV office with the title. I wrote up an additional little Bill of Sale, and all went smoothly. They left with the cash, I left with a title to my new/old Scamp. No Scamp Scam was had!

[deryk]

Me and Harry were both Wells Fargo Customers, went to the local branch and did a transfer frommy acount to his. Its documented and the camera was rolling. Keeps it legitamate. Now I sold my other homebuilt trailer on ebay, had her pay with paypa since she isn't coming to get it for 3 weeks so transfered the funds to my own bank account... then she gets the title... not before.

deryk

[greendragon]

If U can cash is the best way to go. thats how i do it.

[Jared J]

All my craigslist deals are done with cash, and the cash stays hidden in the vehicle until I'm ready to buy, just in case. When I am ready, I have the cash in one hand, and the other hand is close to the CCW. Call me paranoid, but there are too many nutjobs out there to be walking around with thousands in cash otherwise.

That being said, within 30 seconds of showing up to buy my camper, it was 99.9% obvious I was dealing with a decent person.

If your spidy senses are tingling, there's probably a reason.

[deryk]

I sold a boat on craigslist and the guy came and looked at it, loved it, and paid me 9k in 20's on a saturday afternon lol. I ended up goin to my parents house and locking it in their safe because my bank was closed and I didn't want to make like 50 deposits into the MAC machine lol...too easy for a problem to happen.

deryk