so heres the story...
i placed my bid not really thinking i would win so was a bit surprised when the auction ended at such a low number. got a message from the seller asking how i would like to proceed, so i asked him to give me a call to discuss the next steps.
got a call the next day from 786-408-0433 from a guy with broken english. not the typical Nigerian accent but a broken Spanish accent. asked if he could bring the truck to the local Ford dealer for an inspection and he hesitated stating it had a clean car fax and eBays guarantee so I would be cover either way.... said let him think about it with his tight schedule and will call me back.
throughout the day we are texting other options and I offered to have a mobile inspection come to him OR set up payment through escrow. he then offered to send me the truck and title first with half payment upfront and the other half once the car is delivered. up to this point my scam radar was already up but this just confirmed that something was off. asked for ID and Title and he sent it along with BOFA wiring instructions(see pics). he also forwarded me several other pics of the truck along with the window sticker(a physical window sticker not pdf online)
upon looking at ID, title, bank info, and carfax everything looked to match up such as dates/title numbers and what not but as I dug into things started to point to major scam.
His phone number is a FL based number (fraud central)
Phone number also is a VOIP so is being forwarded to another number
Address on ID and Title go back to an elderly couple in Lebanon TN. Called them and they confirmed its their home and they don't have a Raptor nor do they have anything to do with seller.
Contacted my BofA connections and acct for wire does match the same name, BUT DOB (12/16/1975) does not match the ID provided to me and the only thing they have on file is a Venezuela passport for act holder....
I contacted Ebay security dept. this AM and forwarded them what I found so far and they said they would terminate the act until the figure this out.
I've been contacted many times with scams on vehicles/items i've purchased or sold and to be honest this by far is one of the most sophisticated one i've seen to date. None of the pictures on the auction or the ones he text me are found online. He has possession of several pictures and paperwork for someones Raptor and and ID/Bank Act to match.
Hopefully if someone googles this info in the future runs across this thread and doesn't fall for it...
Keywords for Scam:
vin:
1FTFW1RG5HFC35694
name used:
YONATHAN DANIEL YSEA
Phone # used:
786-408-0433
email used:
[email protected]
Probably left some minor stuff out but be careful everyone. Moral of the story, if you can't see the car and seller won't allow you to have someone else see the car walk away.
All pictures sent to me are included!
