Advice please on a possible scam:

[Steve]

My dad is looking at getting another harley davidson, he's seen one on ebay which looks to good to be true. Its advertised at £2800 but the average price for this model is around £6000. The seller said he is looking for a quick sale but due to work it isn't available for collection (he's in inverness and we're in kent anyway!) He's mentioned using ebay services? Ive not used this before and therefore don't know much about it. From what i gather we pay £100 to have the bike delivered and have 3 days to inspect it before deciding whether we want it. Below is the emails we've recieved from him:


Thank you for your email. This HD is currently located in Inverness because I just finished the divorce with my wife and I have moved here. My bike is in perfect condition, very well maintained with no issues.
I'm asking a very good price for a fast sale + £100 for delivery. Due to my job (working on a oil rig) pick up is not possible but we can use eBay's services. Using their services you have 3 days to inspect it before paying me and I'll be sure that I have a genuine buyer who won't mess me around. You'll get the chance to inspect it, test it and everything you like while your money is safely held in eBay's account. ONLY after you confirm with eBay that you agree to keep it, they'll release the money to me. In case you don't like my vehicle you get a full refund.
Email me back with your delivery address so i can register the transaction and eBay will send you all the info regarding payment and delivery.


I'm working in the North Sea oil fields (no phone signal here) so pick up is not possible but I can have the bike delivered to you by a shipping company for £100. I am selling it under the market price as I am looking for a quick sale.
I have briefly described eBay transaction's steps below:
1. Buyer, Seller reach an agreement (price and delivery conditions)
2. Buyer sends the money to eBay and they inform the seller that the payment was received.
3. Seller delivers the vehicle.
4. Buyer accepts delivery and informs eBay about the acceptance.
5. eBay releases the money to seller.

As you can see, you'll receive the vehicle BEFORE any money is released to me. You'll get the chance to inspect it, test it and everything you like while your money is safely held in eBay's account. ONLY after you confirm with eBay that you agree to keep it, they'll release the money to me.

If for some reason, you won't keep it (I assure you that it is NOT going to happen since my vehicle is in IMMACULATE condition) I will take it back on MY EXPENSE and eBay will refund your money back.

From the moment you receive it, you will have 3 days to inspect it. If it's not like I said or something is not ok with it you can reject it and eBay will fully refund you and the vehicle will be delivered back to me on my expense.

In order to go ahead i need your full name & address for delivery. Once the transaction is registered eBay will send you all the info regarding payment and shipping.



Good morning,

I'd like to inform you that I've registered the transaction with eBay and they should have already contacted you until now. Please check your junk/spam folder because their messages may end in there and let me know if you've received their invoice.
Also, I'd appreciate if you made the payment today as I want to arrange the delivery this week.


It all sounds a bit too slick for me, my dad is eager to get another bike and at that price he's itching to get it it! But what are the risks with it?

Thanks guys.

[pete17]

SCAM!!!!!!! i only got too OIL RIG worker and thought SCAM!!!!

[MK999]

Only need to think it over for a few seconds really :p oil rig worker with no friends or family that can oversee the sale for him? How does the delivery driver get the keys for the bike? if he's working away most of the year (and well paid working in oil away from home most of the time!) I assume it's garaged, so he's going to send his house and bike keys to a delivery guy he doesn't know? What's he planning on spending this £2800 on so desperately since he can't get to a phone, is there a casino on this oil rig?

etc etc, fishier than finding out you're a Nigerian king.

[Steve]

What about this whole ebay services? Ive never heard of it before, can anyone shine any light on that??

[Jon_nova1]

it's a scam if you give him the £100 to have it shipped, if you pay a shipping company to do it, it could be genuine, oil rig workers do spend quite a long time in Scotland on the rigs and obviously you will get no signal

[MK999]

It's a good way to convince you to hand over £2800 'risk free'?

[Jon_nova1]

If its a scam its not the £2800 he's after, 10xpeople fall for it and he makes £1K, i bet with the amount of enquiries, he's got more chance to make more than £2800 and its alot easier to get £100 out of people than £2800, even if "Ebay services" is legit the buyer cancels the transaction and loses £100

[8valve-craig]

I would say Scam. The message is very generic, and could apply to any vehicle, which gives the scammer opportunity to send it to multiple potential buyers without getting tripped up by the unique details of each one.

Its also not worded the way a learned UK resident would type.

[MK999]

Its also not worded the way a learned UK resident would type.

You mean it uses full words and punctuation? :d

[Steve]

Sorry I was under the impression that the ad was on ebay, ive just found out that its a gumtree ad so how its linked to an ebay account is even more dodgy!

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2007-harley-davidson-dyna-street-bob/1009042260#gallery-item-full-5

Thanks guys, I think this guy can jog on!!

[mowgli]

if something looks too good to be true, i think you know the answer.

if he is on the rigs, i guess he is making decent money, so why would he be selling his bike in such a way??

its listed in derby, on the gumtree ad, just who, in their right mind takes a harley to inverness in the winter, then sells it?????

[bazzap8389]

My friend was looking at a civic on gumtree for a really low price, my mate emailed him and he said he would get the car delivered for £100. My mate said he wouldnt han over any thing until he's seen the car. He was also trying to get my mate to send money through eBay when it was on gumtree?

The guy then said he was an offshore worker from Inverness. My mate said he will come and see the car when he is back on shore which te guy ne'er replied to. So he emailed about another civic and got all the exact emails!

I would say its a 100% scam, that's my 2 cents anyway.

[bazzap8389]

Oh and also, the car was also listed somewhere down south, he said he split up with his wife and the car is somehow in Inverness lol

Edit- his name was mike Waller if that's any use.

[Steve]

Oh and also, the car was also listed somewhere down south, he said he split up with his wife and the car is somehow in Inverness lol

Edit- his name was mike Waller if that's any use.
lol de-ja vu!

[kent14sr]

I was looking for a labrador puppy a few years ago, and had the exact same emails. They even gave me an address somewhere in the north of scotland - I didnt even know you could ship dogs!!

It is a total and utter scam - please dont be fooled by it. Unfortunately, if it looks too good to be true - it usually is!

[turbojolt]

gumtree is full of these kinda scams, i had loads of it when trying to sell my old moped on there

[Southie]

See here SCAMDEX-CLICKYME (http://www.scamdex.com/ScamTipReports/6095)

[Steve]

Ah man thats scary, the exact same emails everytime! thankfully my dad has listened to me but honestly if I wasnt living at home still he probably would have got burned!

Just hope more people get made aware as some people are so trusting in what they hear that it probably happens more than we realise!

[Andy]

Am i the only one who read the title then read £2000 but should be 6 then laughed?

[mrT]

its a scam, but tell him i'll have a look for you on sunday as im going through inverness, on route to an oil rig lol

[L14MNP]

SCAM!!!!!!! i only got too OIL RIG worker and thought SCAM!!!!

I got to 'isn't available for collection' but only because I wanted to read the lols.

A fool and his money...

[Andy]

lalz and r0flz

[L14MNP]

I would only deal with the seller if the money would be held by an escrow service such as Western Union until the Harley had been delivered to an address of my chosing and I was happy with it.

Then I would telephone the escrow service and have them release the funds.

:)

[Andy]

I would only deal with the nigerian prince and his dad
**** his uncle,hes shagged his sister so hes not getting his 30% from western union

[L14MNP]

I will buy more Harleys than a mother fcuker once I claim my £1M GBP as rightful and sole heir to King Umambajoombo's estate.

Don't laugh. The whole family were killed in a light aircraft crash, and the family solicitor has traced the blood line and to my surprise and eternal gratitude, informed me that I am the beneficiary.

It must be true, the email wasn't even in my junk box 4 reelz.

[Andy]

Please,i regurlarly attend a memorial to dr ZOMG and his families blesssings.we get off our tits on MCat and he wishes us to do so and listen to this,,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbI3LQTNyc4
Please worship the HTID Temples

[Mike]

Lmfaoooo

#mostobviousscamevar

ebay services.... no such thing im afraid. Working on oil rigs is a 60k+ year job anyway.

[brainsnova]

Check your spam, junk mail for the eBay invoice lol

[Andy]

dont delete scott brown

[Andy]

go on 419eater Theres some pure brilliance on that site.
They have had them doing all sorts lol lol lol

[L14MNP]

go on 419eater Theres some pure brilliance on that site.
They have had them doing all sorts lol lol lol

Is that where the Macbook scam originates? lol

[scott.parker]

Lol why/how do ppl get sucked into these scams..
Reading the link of southie you can see how he's rolling in scam cash..

[Andy]

because some people are just idiotic
have a read of some of the stuff on that site i mentioned,they scam the scammers lol