Craigslist Scammer Selling a 2000 VFR

When the price is too good to be true, it's a scam. Surprisingly, the scammer sent good pictures with some palm trees in the background.


Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:43:07 -0700
Subject: Re: 2000 Honda vfr 800 interceptor for $2400
From: nuttypnt60@gmail.com

Hi again, here are some pictures. The bike belonged to my husband. He died in Afghanistan in February this year when a military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan. He was an addicted biker and babied it very carefully. Since he past away, I've been ridding it and took care of it as my husband did. My family convinced me to let it go as it's the only way to pass this huge loss. It's a very hard thing to do but I'm trying to accept this situation and get over it.
Right now I'm in Honolulu, Hawaii due to my job (I'm an Air Force MSgt) and the bike is here with me. My husband left it here before leaving in Afghanistan so all the maintenance could be performed on time.
Since this is an online transaction I want both of us to be safe. For this transaction I will be using eBay Purchase Protection program, which means that you will receive the bike in the first place and you'll have 5 days inspection period until you decide if you want to keep it or not. I will pay for the shipping taxes as the delivery will be made through our Air Force affiliated shipping company and they will take care of everything (title transfer, insurance, paperwork, etc...). A refund policy is included which means that if for any reason you do not want to buy the bike, it will be returned to me on my expense.
If you agree with these terms please let me know your name, shipping address and phone# so that I can forward them to eBay and have the transaction started. They will send us invoices regarding this transaction as soon as the info is processed.
I'm waiting for your reply as soon as possible.
Thanks.

My reply:

Unfortunately this sounds like a scam. There is no eBay buyer protection for items sold through Craigslist.

The response I received:

Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:52:32 -0700
Subject: Re: 2000 Honda vfr 800 interceptor for $2400
From: nuttypnt60@gmail.com

Yeah...extremely smart. You know that some people doubt Darwin's theory because of the "missing link"? I think I found it in you. Reply me ASAP with your directions to send a specialists team to collect samples from you... My husband died for his country...I'm serving for you a fucking retarded missing link and for our country and you accusing me that I'm a fucking scammer....great american people....fucking idiots...
FYI the bike was not listed on Craigslist...It was listed on eBay Classifieds Ads but you're so retarded that you don't remember where you found it. Now FIND ANOTHER FUCKING BIKE!!!!! JERK!!!


DON'T DARE YOU TO EMAIL ME BACK!!!!!!!!!!


Seems the scammer was annoyed that his fishing technique didn't work.

 

Include the link...Id like to take a looksee

 

Wow this has every element of a scam.
But I can't find that ad in either ebay or allofcraigs.com. Maybe this thread is a scam:tongue:

 

$2400 for the year 2000 is about right, the email seem to be fishy but without seeing the add It is hard to said.

 

I'll try to find it when I get home this evening. It's possible that they removed it. Also, I thought it was funny that they denied that it was a Craigslist ad in the first place.

I thought $2400 sounded awfully cheap for a clean, low milage 2000 model. I would expect something over $3000, but hey you never know which is why I sent a response asking a little more about the bike.

I'd post the pictures the scammer sent but I've already deleted them. If I find the ad I will email the scammer again and ask for them to send pictures.

 

Toe and I can make any bike become yellow in about Five beers or Five Gin and Juice for Toe.....
As for the quality.......guaranty she will look good from a distance. Lol

 

Would have guessed she was in the Navy not he Air Force.......she swears like a sailor.

 

Being EX Navy I take that as a compliment!!!

 

Im on Big Island of hawaii and got a pretty damn clean 98 for $2700. Honolulu, which is on Oahu, has better deals on bikes though..I think I got a pretty good deal, regardless of it being Hawaii or not - but honolulu does have great deals on bikes. Personally, I would move on if I was trying to find a bike - unless i was in fact on Oahu and I could just drive down and confirm this deal.

 

The CL ad has been pulled, the seller was clearly a scammer. Sad they use stories about our American soldiers to get people to trust them and send them money.

 

I guess I missed where she asked for any money.
Name, address and phone number were requested which would be expected.
Scam or misunderstanding?

 

charles has a point............................hmmmmmmmmmmmmotstir:

 

The ad was asking $2400 for a motorcycle they did not have. If you do a web search, you find this type of scam is pretty common these days. When I asked the seller for their information they did not respond. No doubt in my mind it was a scam.

 

touche? ya i believe a touche is in order

 

And a head to match.. Or maybe Charles is a Navy Master Sergeant..

The person making the money is the dude that probably sells the CD or DVD on how to run this scam. Usually the "deal" is on some bike (or other toy) so underpriced that only mullets will nibble at the bait. This one is just a variation on the main theme since the original scam is so old and creaky that it's probably getting little result.

One on CR in my hood of recent was a tricked out Hayabusa for peanuts. The wheels were worth more than asking price.

Basic deal? They will ask for money out front.

A couple of basic searches will show the basic scam and it's variations.

 

I worked in bank fraud and dealt a lot with craigslist.
There are two variations to this scam. First is they want the money up front, usually western union or bank wire transfer. There is no way to reverse those transfers.
Second is they send you a counterfeit check and say it is either for fees or an accident and want part of it back.
You deposit it and if your bank doesn't catch it fast you are out of the money if you send it.
I used to freeze peoples bank accounts over that. Fun times. Never deposit a suspicious check. You can always call the bank it is drawn on and tell them you suspect it is fraudulent.
But the final red flag for this was the scammer flying off the handle. They try to embarrass you into going through with the deal.

 

A great indicator that a scam is being perpetrated is a Harley, priced at $19.95 even though we know thats about right.