Poker....gambling.

I'm buying a new car from a guy and its too far to drive so it needs to be shipped. Does this sound like a scam to anyone? I feel like this sounds a bit "shady"
But his car was posted in a used car mag. and then i emailed and he replied...


The 1st email is at the bottom, then i reply.. and then this is his latest reply


Mitch,

As I told you the shipping is free. You will not have to pay anything extra. In case you decide you don't want the car you will send it back on my expense. You see this is why I can't afford to lie about the condition of the car. I assure you that the car is in top condition and I am very certain that you won't have any reason to send it back. I look forward to hear from you with the info requested so we can proceed with the transaction.

Regards,
Brian


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Brian,

First, Thanks so much for the quick response and photo's. Second, i have a few more questions and concerns. Is there going to be a shipping fee I will have to pay if the car arrives and its not to my satisfaction?
I am familiar with moneybookers as I have dealt with them for several years. (bascially since they first launched).
My only concern is the mechanical aspect of the car, since its already packed to be shipped, I would have to wait until it arrives here to have the car inspected. Which might incur a shipping cost?

please let me know
cheers
Mitch


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Mitch,

I have attached all the pics I have. You will receive all the documents along with the car, also the bill of sale signed by me and the car will be accompanied by an escrow manager that has the power of attorney to sign the papers in my name. The car will arrive by truck and I will ship through DAS. Right now I am in business trip out of the town. When I left town I took the car at the shipping company in Calgary, AB. It is already packed up and ready to be shipped. Because it is a large transaction we will complete the deal only through MoneyBookers.com . You will have 10 days from the time you receive the car to inspect it and decide if you want to keep it or not. Here is how it will work:
1.First of all I will need the following details from you:
- Full Name
- Full Shipping Address
- Phone #
2. After I will receive the details from you, I will forward them to MoneyBookers.
3. After they will process your info, they will send us both invoices. The invoice will send you the details on how to make a refundable payment. You will make the payment on the name of an MoneyBookers agent and they will keep the money until you decide you want to buy it.
4. MoneyBookers will contact me and I will ship the car to you. After you receive the car you will have 10 days to test, verify and do whatever you need to it. If you will buy, then I will receive the payment details from MoneyBookers so that I can pick up the money.
I don't have a phone right now as my cell phone wasn't getting reception worth a darn out here so we canceled them. I have a cable modem though and check my e-mail very regularly so if you need to get in touch with me for anything you can shoot me an e-mail.
If you wish to make the transaction, please send me the necessary info so that we can proceed.

I look forward to hear from you
Brian

Insta-no ... I bet it's an unusually good deal too..

It's dodgy, and you should avoid at all costs...

The quoted line above was one of the biggest clinchers for me. Stay away, imo.

No such thing as a refundable payment with Moneybookers.

People have their Moneybookers accounts hacked into and the money sent out and Moneybookers does nothing to get it back for them. You actually think they have escrow services ?

If you do this you will 100% be ripped off.

i wanted to believe bob. i waaaanted toooo!!

p.s. you move my threads like you move my heart, so gentle yet so open.

the price of the car isnt.. but the free shipping aspect is.

considering i work for a shipping company for tyhe last 5 months, i know to ship cars from his destination would run close to a grand

http://www.moneybookers.com/app/faq.pl?gid=11&qid=745


Bob.

moneybookers does offer escrow services

My bad.

I didn't know they offered that since they are such screw ups when people have problems with their money being stolen from their accounts.

Are you insane?

Emma would be so dissapointed in you.

Maybe 1 in 3,841 "I'm out of town so will have my car shipped to you and we can do an escrow deal" attempts are for real. Good luck with those odds.

It all depends on how much you trust the escrow service. If you do it though I'd be very careful to ensure that you're paying through the escrow service and don't get tricked into sending directly.

PS Shipping is never "free" it's just "included".

And don't trust the escrow website...I've heard of scammers duplicating the sites (so the number on a site he links you to would be fake as well).



SCAM!

Yes, it sounds like a scam to me.
Buy a $150 plane ticket and go pick up the car.

I wouldn't do it. I'm guessing this isn't a junky car, so who would get internet but not even the cheapest land line package out there with it as well? And if they're from Calgary, the whole cell reception thing doesn't make a load of sense.

if you are actually seriously considering this it is a direct indication that poker skills do not reflect any life skills; how can you not see the downside and the high risk of this being a scam

if you want the car, as noted above, it is one hundred percent worth driving there to inspect a person; if the deal is good enough it will be worth the flight; if the deal is not good enough to spend flight money to check it out, then don't bother anyways and find another car at home


you can lay down aces full no problem, but you can't get away from this car?????

don't do it.

lol.

poker skills actually ruins life skills IMO. cause now i'm always thinking about the gambling aspect of situations and as long as there is some EV, i'm in.

but ya. this doesnt seem legit. i just wanted to get everyones opinions.

it sucks because i was looking for a car, i found the car, then i have this to deal with.

I don't have a phone right now as my story is hard to keep together on the spot so I will need time to think to to double/triple check my responses to you. Also, you could easily trace/track the number and find out too much info to help you after I scam your face off.

Is he charging you for S+H?















sw

Didn't sound shady until there. If he had said, My telephone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX and my physical location is 1234 Main St then I wouldn't have any reservations.

I don't feel like ordering from a guy who's camping right now. Also, this guy seems like he has his shit down, which the average Joe selling his car wouldn't sound this well versed. If he is a legitimate business/car dealer then he'd have a telephone line or office that you could at least speak with since he's out of the office.

Craig's List is full of identical rip offs like this. (Yea I know this didn't go down on Crag's List.) I've dealt with literally dozens of listings where the deal is too good to be true but I contact the seller anyway. The car always ends up being somewhere else and seller says shipping the car to me will be completely free. He then goes on to say he'd like to do the transaction through an online service of sorts (paypal, monetbookers, etc.) and tell you to make the payment and the payment will be in escrow until you receive the car. All lies!

Just for kicks, sometimes I'll tell the seller that I have a brother in the city that they say the car is in and I tell them I'd like him to go pick up the car. Guess what? I never hear from the seller again.

Anyway, beware! 100% not legit.

Easy fold.

why buy a car like this when there are so many options the old fashion way..

Unless you are saving a LOT of money, there is no reason....And if you are saving a lot of money I think you are being ripped off..

IMO

Please don't fall for this scam.

If however, you like these high variance deals, then I have a better one for you. I will sell you a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 for $1,000 (this is a crazy sick good deal! It normally sells for $1.2M!!!). Shipping is free (just send me the money over to my Stars or Tilt account).

I assure you that my offer is 99.9% a scam... But let's do the EV calculation:

99.9% of the time, you lose $1,000 and 0.1% of the time, you gain $1,199,000:

EV = 0.999(-1,000) + 0.001(1,199,000) = -999 + 1199 = +$200

You are gaining $200 just for taking me up on this deal! How can you *NOT* go for this once in a lifetime opportunity???

Due to the fact your math is flawed. 100% of the time, it's a scam. So, the EV is -$1000 always.

Royal for what it's worth I manage a car dealer and sell cars to people all over the country.

Most people either fly in or rent a car and complete the process here after seeing and test driving the cars. Occasionaly people will hire an inspection service to come inspect it prior to purchase. I believe carfax offers such a service. This would assure you the car was legit. You can also do a title search online with that state to see if it's a valid title or just run a carfax (which doesn't always show everything but helps.)

If the car checks out and has a clean title you should be good to go. When the car is delivered pay them and move on.

I won't ship nothing without being paid upfront with a cashiers check or wire transfer and even wait 10 days on a cashiers check since they can be forged.

I does seem a tad odd that he's offering this for free but if he isn't a dealer then it might be the only way he knows how.

Have it inspected. Have him fax a copy of the title. Run carfax. Pay upon delivery and if he's willing to do the service who cares?

I think he gets it by now...