An Email Conversation with an eBay Scammer

Sometimes we receive copies of email messages from eBay members alerting us to a scam. Luckily, this member didn't get scammed and has given us permission to post the email messages. We are protecting the eBay member's identity.

This particular scammer is an idiot, he never answers the questions ~~ of course, he doesn't have the answers. This exchange of email conversations took place recently.

Date: Apr 23, 2007 9:00 PM
Subject: 2006 YAMAHA RHINO 660 - eBay Item No. 150115165589
To: "rich7840s@aol.com"

Hey man,

Like the looks of your Rhino and wanna put a bid on it. My eBay ID is INTENTIONALLY DELETED. Looks perfect for my small landscape business in ME. I might wanna do a BIN. Tell me how to make payment and let me know about the shipping.

Can you email me the service record and copy of the title? I'll need to register it.

Thx,

Kevin

On 4/23/07, rich7840s@aol.com < rich7840s@aol.com> wrote:

Hello,

First let me say that the 2006 YAMAHA RHINO 660 PLUS EXTRAS is available for $3800. You will receive your RHINO by DAS (www.dasautoshippers.com) at your home address. It is insured in case of damage and it takes 3-4 days to be delivered at your door. I will send the unit with all the papers you need to register it (bill of sale, odometer disclosure statement) unit is in perfect condition,the machine is in a perfect cosmetic and engeen conditions, no leaks of any kind and it is ready for work now. Because I want to deal as soon as possible I am ready to cover the shipping costs and insurance. If you agree with this price we can start to complete the transaction, you won't pay any additional taxes, just the price for it ($3800). I am a private seller not a dealer and I had (for the moment) the privilege to buy this unit for a low cost from a bankrupt store and we bought it along with others in order to make a showroom, but life had another plan for us. My wife was promoted and we do not have time to open the showroom anymore, besides there are a lot of things which have priority now, so this unit has to go, you have now the opportunity to purchase the atv from me at great saving from the original price. The payment we will be made safely under ebay's purchase protection program and the most important thing is that I have a purchase protection account for $10,000 and I assume you know what this mean. In case we will close this deal, you are protected by ebay. How you are protected by ebay, well, in case you will not receive the atv as I described to you, ebay will refund you 100%. If you are interested in purchasing this atv provide me with your FULL NAME and EBAY USER ID so we can start the transaction.

Thanks

Date: Apr 23, 2007 10:26 PM
Subject: Re: 2006 YAMAHA RHINO 660
To: "rich7840s@aol.com"

Thanks for the email message. Sorry for getting back to you so late, but my daughter was in a school play this evening and this is the first opportunity I have had to check email.

Is the Yamaha Rhino still available? I am pretty sure that I had it on my eBay watch list, but it isn't there anymore. I checked the listing number I referred to in my message to you - 150115165589, but it doesn't show up when I do a search.

My eBay ID is INTENTIONALLY DELETED and my name is INTENTIONALLY DELETED. You can get my shipping address from eBay/PayPal. My PayPal account is verified.

If the Yamaha Rhino is still available, can you do better than $3800? I know the opening bid was only $100. Also, I asked you to email me a copy of the service record and title. I want to get it registered fast, so I need to give a copy of the title to my insurance agent so that he can get the paperwork ready to go to the DMV. Can you get that information to me ASAP?

Where will you be shipping the Yamaha Rhino from? How do I pay you? Do you accept PayPal, credit cards or a bank transfer? Can you ship COD so I can pay DAS at delivery? Does DAS accept credit cards? I'd be happy to work this out through Escrow.com and pay the fee for the protection of both of us.

Thx.

Kevin

On 4/24/07, rich7840s@aol.com < rich7840s@aol.com> wrote:

Dear INTENTIONALLY DELETED

You are the only approved buyer for this Rhino. Your details have been forwarded on to the ebay purchase protection program. Now, in order for me to ship the unit to you and go forward with this deal, you must complete the payment process as you have been instructed by ebay. As soon as I receive the confirmation from them that you have made the payment, The item is located in 2008 Downing, Oklahoma City OK. I will have the item sent to you and you will receive it in about 3-4 days. A complete service/safety inspection has been performed to ensure everything is up to par and of course it passed with flying colors! If you are no more interested in purchasing this item from me, please let me know ASAP because I have another 2 clients waiting for this item but I need your agreement to sell it to someone else.

Let me know if you receive the invoice with payment instruction.

Thank you
Jamee Legge

Date: Apr 24, 2007 2:00 PM
Subject: Re: 2006 YAMAHA RHINO 660 You are the only approved
To: "rich7840s@aol.com"

The eBay invoice I received is for a deposit to be made to eBay's payment representative in Florida. I am very confused. How much is the deposit and who do I pay the balance to? Do I make a small deposit and then the balance on delivery to DAS? Why am I paying a deposit via Western Union to an eBay employee in Florida? eBay is in California and eBay owns PayPal, so why can't I make payment via PayPal? Why does an eBay representative have to be paid via Western Union? Who is paying the Western Union fee?

What is the final price? I can't find a listing 150115165589 on eBay. What is the correct listing number so that I can place a bid or BIN on this? I am really confused and I want to get this Rhino ASAP.

Please get back to me with the answers to these questions and answers to my questions in the email message I sent you earlier. Maybe it would be better if we talked on the phone.

I am not sure if my wife is right or not, but she said that I have to bid and win or use the eBay Buy It Now to get an eBay invoice. She also said that the invoice is supposed to come from "eBay.com" and not payment@checkoutebay.com. I don't know, but since you have a lot of feedback, maybe you can explain this to me.

Thx.

Kevin

Date: Apr 24, 2007 2:29 PM
Subject: Re: 2006 YAMAHA RHINO 660 You are the only approved
To: "rich7840s@aol.com"

Hi --

Thanks for having eBay send me an invoice, but I am confused.

First things first. You didn't answer my questions in the email I sent you.

I asked you to send me a copy of the service record and title. I need the title so that my insurance agent can begin the paperwork to register the Rhino at the DMV and I want to look at the service record. In fact, my insurance agent asked for pictures of the Rhino to make sure that there isn't any body damage and he asked that you send a picture of the serial number too.

You didn't explain why I couldn't find the eBay listing that I saw. The listing number is 150115165589.

I asked you if the price is negotiable, but you automatically had eBay send me an invoice. Why does payment have to be made via Western Union? I have a PayPal account and I am verified, or I could pay via a bank to bank transfer, COD to DAS, or even through Escrow.com.

You might as well read my email message again. Once you answer the questions, email the photos and documents and we discuss the payment method, we can close the deal. I might have some more questions, so send me your telephone number so that I can call you.

By the way, don't I have to bid on the item or use the Buy It Now feature? I never got an invoice like this from eBay.

Thx.

Kevin

On 4/24/07, rich7840s@aol.com wrote:

Hello again,

I have used escrow services before and they blocked my money for about two weeks due to an error they called it "routine" and for the moment I cannot accept having my money stucked for weeks. At this price that I sell the car I am literally overwhelmed by the number of offers I have received. So please let me know if you are ready to finalize our transaction trough ebay.

From: INTENTIONALLY DELETED
Date: Apr 25, 2007 8:47 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: You are approved for the eBay Item: 2006 YAMAHA RHINO 660 PLUS EXTRAS (150115165589)
To: "rich7840s@aol.com" < rich7840s@aol.com>

I will be happy to complete the transaction once you send me the information I have asked for.

The things I need are:

1. Copy of the service record for the Rhino.

2. Copy of the title.

3. More photographs, showing that there isn't any body damage.

4. Photo of the serial number.

My insurance agent needs this information in order to begin the paperwork to transfer the registration. I am sure that you understand the reason that I need these documents.

Also, the eBay invoice said that I am supposed to send a deposit to the eBay representative in Florida and that it must be sent via Western Union. How much is the deposit? Then do I give the balance of the money to DAS when they deliver the Rhino to me?

Please explain to me why I have to send the deposit via Western Union? If I am sending money to an eBay representative, why not through PayPal? eBay owns PayPal so that is why I am confused. As I mentioned earlier, I am PayPal verified.

You also never explained why I can't find the listing number for the Rhino on eBay.

Please get back to me ASAP. I want to complete the transaction today, if possible. But, you need to get the items above to me immediately so that I can get them to my insurance agent to begin the process.

Thx.

Kevin

From: INTENTIONALLY DELETED
Date: Apr 25, 2007 3:06 PM
Subject: 2006 Yamaha Rhino
To: rich7840s@aol.com

Since I haven't heard from you and I want the Yamaha Rhino, I went to Western Union to send a $100 deposit to the eBay representative in good faith. Western Union refused to process the wire transfer as soon as the agent saw that I wrote on the form that this was a deposit for an eBay listing. The agent said that the listing might be fraudulent, but she wasn't sure.

I wanted to make a deposit of $100 to your PayPal account, but PayPal doesn't recognize your email address.

I will send the money once you send me the items I have asked for in my other email messages. Please let me know if the $3800 should be sent to your PayPal account or if I should pay DAS upon delivery. It's too late today to get the documents to my insurance agent, so if you want the money sent to your PayPal account, it will have to be tomorrow, but only after I get the documents and photos I have asked you for. I don't know what the hold up is on your end, I thought you wanted to make this a quick sale.

Kevin

On 4/26/07, rich7840s@aol.com wrote:

Hi,

Can you please update me on the status of our deal?
Thank you.

From: INTENTIONALLY DELETED
Date: Apr 26, 2007 8:33 AM
Subject: 2006 Yamaha Rhino
To: rich7840s@aol.com

Update you? I sent you two email messages yesterday, and you haven't answered either of them. You don't even answer the questions I have asked you in the other email messages.

I keep asking you for documents and photographs. Are you going to send them to me? My insurance agent needs them to register the Rhino at the DMV.

I told you the invoice eBay sent me only mentioned a deposit. I wrote to you before and asked how much is the deposit, since it wasn't specified. I suppose the balance is to be paid on delivery to DAS.

I went to Western Union yesterday to wire $100 to the eBay representative as a sign of good faith, but the agent stopped the transfer because I mentioned eBay. The agent said that many eBay listings are scams, but she didn't know for sure if this one is. So, my wife tried to send $100 to your PayPal account. For some reason, your email address rich7840s@aol.com isn't registered with PayPal.

If you don't send me the documents and photographs I asked for today, then I will continue to look for another Rhino. I don't think you want to sell it to me, I think you want to jerk me around. You are delaying this deal, not me. If you don't comply, then I will make a complaint to eBay.

INTENTIONALLY DELETED

From: INTENTIONALLY DELETED
Date: Apr 26, 2007 12:07 PM
Subject: 2006 Yamaha Rhino
To: rich7840s@aol.com

After I emailed you this morning, I was talking to one of my clients about purchasing the Yamaha Rhino from you and described what was happening. My client told me that you are trying to scam me.

You have been vague and haven't answered any of my questions; that should have been the first clue. The eBay listing disappeared. I never bid on the Rhino, but I received an invoice from eBay. The invoice was fake; it didn't come from eBay but from payments@checkoutebay.com. You wanted me to make payment via Western Union to some phony eBay representative.

Lucky for me Western Union wouldn't allow me to make the wire transfer to you yesterday, otherwise, I would have lost my money.

My client told me to do a Google search for your email address to see if you have been reported as a scammer. It shows up at http://nekkidtruth.blogspot.com. The email address from the fake invoice and the fake domain are also listed on the blog. You're nothing more than a thief. At least there are people on the web trying to protect us from thieves like you. All of the warning signs about a scam transaction are posted on that blog.

I hope you get caught and are prosecuted. You deserve to be in jail. Get a life.

We discovered www.checkoutebay.com when another member sent us a copy of a fake eBay invoice and found that the domain was registered on April 24, 2007 and that Yahoo was the host. The domain was under construction, and it was probably only going to be used to send out fake invoices. We wrote to Yahoo and the domain was disabled within a few hours.