Have you heard of a scam like this?

[brannyboilsover]

This trailer was advertised on my SC craigslist.

My email:
Hi
I'm very interested in your horse trailer. Are you the first owner? Why are you getting rid of it?

His email:
Hi , I have for sale a Beautiful nearly new, very little use 2006 Kingston 2 Horse Trailers BP, WB size ( previously hauled an 18 hand very well behanved Stallion in it) its truely in nearly perfect condition. No dressing room, extra tall 7'6" interior. Diamond plate front to prevent chips, perfect shape, very very little use (see tire tread..literally maybe 800 miles on the trailer) It is really a pristine condition Kingston! Extra large slider windows on sides, back door, front doors and in front of the horse for great ventillation, dual doors up front,ramp load. Great trailer in super condition! The price is $2,880. I will consider any reasonable offer for it. I can also arrange shipping as well.

The pictures have been made one week ago and the trailer is exactly like in the pictures. s1146.photobucket.com/albums/o529/Kingstonssw/?albumview=slideshow



My email:
Sounds too good to be true! Where's the trailer located? We'd love to have a look.

His response:
Thank you for getting back to me !
Please take a few moments and read my email carefully, I know it is long, but because I received too many emails, I will explain all the details about the trailer and the transaction. I work on the Hibernia Oil Rig Platform for the next 6 months and I'm unable to travel in the near future and I don't have anyone available home to help me with the sale I decided to use Amazon Payments as a third party. The financial part will be managed by them, which means that you will have a 5 days inspection period before committing to buy the trailer. In this way both, buyer and seller are 100% covered during the steps of this transaction. You will have to make the payment to Amazon Payments, they will keep the money until you receive your trailer.
In order to start the transaction, please go on Amazon Payments and register this transaction, once you do that, Amazon Payments will contact you with more information about the deal and the payment instructions.

I confirm again the total price is $2,880 with shipping included, no extra taxes. The trailer will be shipped from Tacoma,WA through DAS (Dependable Auto Shippers) directly to your home address because I had another customer who said it will buy and after I made all the necessary arrangements in advance and paid for all shipping & handling fees, changed his mind because didn’t have all the money. This is why I need to ship it since all transportation charges have already been paid by the previous buyer. If the trailer is not as advertised and decide not to keep it (I'm sure this will not be the case) they will refund you the money, no questions asked, and shipping back of the trailer will be my concern. Shipping process will be started in 24 hours after your payment is confirmed.
I consider it's fair for both of us.

Thanks, James Bryan

[Deleted]

nope, but it definitely sounds like a scam.

[audette]

Jul 8, 2012 11:03:31 GMT -5 tacom said:

nope, but it definitely sounds like a scam.

Agreed.

[emyinpink]

Scam

[315bride]

Scam.

[agnes]

How is this not screaming scam to you?

[biscoffcookies]

Agree scam.

I have heard of people selling nonexistent cars/expensive merchandise on eBay and Autotrader.com, where they will induce their victims to make the purchase by telling them they will use a (legit) third-party payment processor called escrow.com. Except the fraudsters create a spoof escrow.com website, so that when you use it to deposit your purchase money it really goes straight to the scammer.

[Deleted]

I'd suggest checking out the scam warning page on craigslist. www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Here are the points from craigslist that match the interaction you posted:

DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is likely a scammer. (I would consider Amazon payments a modern version of fund wiring)

AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAMMER WILL "GUARANTEE" YOUR TRANSACTION.

[brannyboilsover]

Yeah, we're not going to purchase it, I just wanted to know if it was a known scam. I googled it but nothing really showed.

[niq]

In fact, Amazon payments is about the worst way to send money to a stranger, you have close to no recourse if you dispute the transaction. This is actually the big giveaway that it's a scam. People think Amazon is a reputable company and they do provide some guarantees on third party sales, but not Amazon payment transactions.

If you want to see him squirm, ask him to list it on Amazon as a third party seller and send you email with the offer listing when it's posted.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using ProBoards

[dr.girlfriend]

If you google "Horse trailer craigslist scam" a few things come up.

www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-259938.html

[thatgirl2478]

sound like a scam to me... especially the part about shipping already being paid for by a previous 'buyer' -- that doesn't sound right to me.

[Deleted]

Yep, sounds like a scam for sure. Sorry! I've had several people contact me when I was selling something asking for similar shipping/buyer type stuff and with a big story about being out of the country yada yada.

[mayflowers22]

Sounds like a scam.

[jena]

Just for an extra dose of scamminess - oil rig workers work 2-3 week rotations. So he'd be offshore for 3 weeks tops and then off for a couple weeks. At which point he could certainly go home to sell his trailer.

[tigress]

Yes this is a popular scam for vehicles/etc. Flag it and move on.

[GailGoldie]

cash upon pickup for CL only. If you can't go and see it and take it with you when you leave- it's not real and is a scam.

[aspentosh]

Scam.