Overhaulin'

Is this a craigslist Scam?

here is what he said in the e-mail Hello, I don't have a contact number yet, I just bought a new house. I’ve been in my new house for almost 2 weeks now and things are finally settling into place. I unpacked most of the boxes, got most of our utilities setup but it would take one more week with the phone. The shipping arrangements have already been made before moving to Portugal. The car is at the shipping company in Virginia, ready to go anywhere in the United States. It will arrive with all the papers and documents required for registration and the keys. The clear title and the bill of sale will be already signed by me. The final price you will have to pay is $4,400. The payment will be done through eBay. They will act as a third party in this transaction. You will send the money to eBay and as soon as the payment is confirmed they will notify me to proceed with the shipping. I will ship the car, you will receive it and will have 5 days for inspection, both the car and the paperwork. During all this time eBay will hold the money. If you are satisfied with the car and decide to keep it you inform eBay about this and they will release the money to me. If the car is not as advertised and decide not to keep it eBay will refund you the money, no questions asked, and shipping back the car will be my concern. I think this is more than fair for the both of us. Please take into consideration that I will get paid only after you receive the car and make sure everything is as agreed. If you agree with these terms and you have the money, send me your full name and the address where you want the car to be delivered and I will initiate the transaction with eBay. You will receive all the transaction details from them. I will appreciate an answer as soon as possible. Also, feel free to ask me any question you may have. Thank you, Charlotte and the first e-mail said this Thank you for being interested in buying my 2003 Cadillac Escalade EXT AWD, Automatic Transmission, 72 000 MILES, VIN 3GYEK63N93G114695. It is in EXCELLENT condition; the body and paint are great, no scratches and no dents; the interior is clean; it has never been involved in an accident; the title is clear. I have recetly moved to Portugal. I was hoping to take my car here but when I found out how much shipping and registration would be i've changed my mind. As I'm unable to travel in the near future and I don't have anyone in the US to help me with the sale I decided to make this transaction through eBay. I believe this protects both buyer and seller and it's the right way to do this. The final price is $4,400. If you decide to buy this car or need further information please get back to me as soon as possible. Thank you, Charlotte

Public Comments

1. I have seen this a thousand times YES notify Craigs list they will pull it.
2. it's a scam. Unless it was sold on Ebay, there is no way Ebay will protect the sale. No way Ebay will do anything with Craiglist. He cannot initiate anything with Ebay if it's not an official Ebay auction. Everything he says are lies so far.... Ebay does NOT hold money, in fact Ebay does not do any money stuff, only Paypal does... They probably use fake Paypal/Ebay emails to fake sites to try to fool you into thinking it is ok. I always spot the fake by pretending to be in the city where the "product" is, so I would email them and say "Hey, what luck, I'm in Virginia, can I go see it first?" They will respond with some excuse, usually that it is "packaged up" and not available for viewing... Bottom line, if it's too good to be true, it's a scam..... I notice all scammers sell expensive stuff below $5000. Must be some legal difference between major crime and minor crime at the $5000 level.... I once saw a tractor worth $40,000 being sold on Ebay for $4500 - same story as this Escalade, same scam....