It has happened TWICE in one week! The first was an All-Terrain-Vehicle that had all the 'toots and whistles'...custom paint job, dump bed in the back, fully loaded. The Buy-It-Now price was about a fourth of what it should be! (Listed as $2,900 BIN!) I'd emailed to ask why it was so low, etc. I next got an email from eBay, stating the listing had been pulled and to be wary of the seller. Sure enough, they contacted me, telling me the ATV was ready to ship and I would receive an invoice from eBay. I next got an email claiming to originate from eBay and SafeHarbor, asking me to send funds via Western Union (which is a dead giveaway...eBay does NOT condone using Western Union!!!). I  wrote back and said I wouldn't pay via Western Union, but would send a relative to pick it up. Of course, they disappeared after that! LOL! All of this was sent to my private email address...not through eBay! I sent the info to eBay, and was, of course, told it was bogus.

Next, we found an ATV (Raptor 660) with a BIN price of $4,100.  I received yet another bogus email in my 'personal' email...not the eBay one. This one had the Raptor's item number and title, with a statement to the effect the listing had ended, because someone did a Buy-It-Now. It went on to say the deal had fallen through, and I was being offered a 'Second Chance Offer'...that they would "accept the $3,000 bid I had made." First of all, the listing is still on eBay as I write this, secondly I didn't offer $3,000. I'm wondering how this person would have gained my personal email address, though. I'm not saying the seller of this particular ATV is bogus, but someone posing as him is.

A couple of years ago there was a red corvette convertible offered for a really, really low price. Just for fun, I showed interest in it. Sure enough, they wanted me to wire funds via Western Union. Said the owner was overseas and having trouble getting the car sent over or some such story. Bottom line, if it seems too good to be true, proceed very, very carefully! These crooks can be pretty convincing, but don't fall for it. NEVER pay outside of the eBay system. If the email isn't in your messages section when you log on, be assured it didn't originate from eBay.

Oh, one more thing. If you get ripped off, be sure to leave the appropriate feedback so other potential buyers will know to stay away from that seller! Speaking of feedback, I always check their feedback before bidding. If it isn't 100%, I usually will check through to see what the negatives involve. But, sometimes even that doesn't work. There has been a time or two where the seller had a great feedback...until about the time I bought something from them! But if a seller has been registered with the same name for a long time and has a lot of feedbacks, with a rating in the upper 99s at least, I feel pretty confident to bid.

UPDATE: A couple people have tried asking me questions through the eBay system. I've tried to answer them, but for some reason the 'security code' doesn't show up and I can't answer! I contacted eBay and told them of the problem, but all they said was to try updating Java, which I did. SO, if you asked a question, I did see it and have tried to answer. Now that I know I can add to this, I'll answer them on here. Thanks! Vicki =)

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Received July 11, 2006:

I just got scammed by one of the guy's you described. It was the atv for 2900.00 it was a polaris ranger it looked just like e-bay to me as i don't use e-bay alot. after receiving the money he pulled all his information off my email.
all i have is the name r----- c------ from chicago ill. do you have any more information about this guy? I have contacted the chicago police.

thanks for any help you might be

wesley

Wesley,

If that's the same one I saw awhile back, they were pretending to be in New York at that time. It may be the same, or it may be a copy-cat. Unfortunately, they prey on people who are new to eBay (and also manage to scam 'seasoned' eBayers at times!).  Do you have the address payment was sent to? How about the listing? Or was it ever listed on eBay? Be sure to contact eBay and Paypal if you paid that way. (But I bet they wanted payment via Western Union, didn't they???)

I downloaded eBay's Toolbar with Account Guard. It lights up green when you are on an official eBay site. Never, Never, Never send money with Western Union. Seems that is a preferred form of payment the scammers use. EBay will NEVER suggest you send funds that way. I almost always use Paypal, which offers protection should you get ripped off. EBay also has protection. Check both to see if you qualify. Also, require sellers to contact you through eBay only. Their messages will show up in your eBay mail after you log onto eBay. If you get something in your 'personal' email account, and it isn't also in the eBay one, be very, very cautious. If you get anything purporting to be from eBay in your personal email account, ALWAYS log onto eBay and check there. If it's not on there, it's not legit.

Let me know what happens and I'll put it on here, so it may help others in the same situation.

Good luck!

Vicki

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Received July 8, 2006:

Hi.
I was wondering if you could help me. I have recently purchased a 110cc ATV for my son from (name removed) on e-bay in May. I paid through pay pal but I have not recived the item as of yet. I noticed on their feed back that I am not the only one having problems. I read your article on ATV scams and was hoping that you could help direct me to finding answers or what if anything I can do to resolve this issue. Thank you for your time.
Mike.

Mike,

If the seller hasn't responded, file an 'item not received' claim with Paypal. Log onto your Paypal account to find the links for it. At least you're lucky and didn't pay with a money order or check. With Paypal, you do have some protection. If you'd paid with check/MO, I believe you could have filed with eBay. I pretty well just deal with Paypal, though. Fortunately, MOST sellers are honest on eBay. Oh, and I almost always pay for insurance. That way, if it gets lost in the mail, I can hopefully recoup my money. (One guy I bought an item from didn't insure it, even though I paid for insurance and made a note of it to him. The item was shattered in the mail. Thank goodness, he did refund my money. I felt bad for him, but it wasn't my fault.)

 Let me know what happens and good luck!

~Vicki

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Received July 20, 2006:

(I) was reading ,scam report. i wrote one of those crooks he must have cut and pasted a good ebayers ptofile,also he emailed me with bogas ebay and paypal logos and said pay now idid not resspone any more. i now will only pay with paypal when i go to ebay and use there links

arnold

Arnold,

I'm glad you didn't fall for their scam. They can be pretty convincing at times. Thanks for sharing your story!

Vicki

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Received July 24, 2006

You wrote a review on ATV scams, and I would like to respond. I listed an ATV and the high bidder has not returned my phone calls, but this is not the bad part. I received a phone call from one of my other bidders stating that he received a second chance notice and wanted to know the details. The e-mail they received wanted the bidder to contact them at an e-mail address that was not mine. Now that I have not sold the ATV I seriously doubt anybody will even give me the time of day if I send them a second chance offer after already receiving the bogus e-mail. It looks like I am just stuck with the listing fees and still have the ATV. Ebay cannot tell me if someone does get scammed using my auction, that I will not be held accountable.If you could add this to your review I would appreciate it. Thanks

Yes, these scammers hurt both the buyer AND seller!  You can  file a 'transaction not completed' or 'nonpaying bidder' (I'm not sure exactly what they are called, but you can find the info on your 'My Ebay' transactions) with eBay and re-list your ATV. This time, you might add the above notice with the listing, and advise people to only deal through authorized eBay channels. If you re-list it, and can't recover all your fees from the first time around (but I think you can), you can always add that to the price.

As far as a seller being liable for a bogus sell made by a scammer using their name, that's a good question. I'm not a lawyer, so can't answer that as far as legalities are concerned. But, I would think if the buyer only went through the eBay channels to pay (such as Paypal, etc.), both the seller and buyer would be protected from fraud. When a buyer sends payment for an auction, eBay provides the address to send it to, through their 'My eBay'. If a buyer chooses to deal outside the 'eBay world', it seems to me it would be hard to hold the seller of the legitimate listing responsible. But, as I said, I'm not a lawyer and I know our laws sometimes border on the ridiculous. Anyone who receives suspicious requests from eBay should forward them to: spoof at ebay.com. They will investigate it and let you know right away if the email originated from eBay. The same holds true for Paypal. Just forward the email to: spoof at paypal.com. Not only have I received bogus 'second chance offers', I've also gotten the 'Update your information within 3 days or you will be suspended from eBay (or Paypal. And sometimes banks I don't even bank with! LOL!)' emails. Same story. Forward them to the spoofs. NEVER click on the links they provide. ALWAYS log onto Paypal or eBay before sending any personal info, etc. If they actually sent you a notice, it will show up when you log on.

Good luck and thanks for sending a response from the seller's point of view!

Vicki

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Received July 27, 2006:

 this is about the fraud taking place on ebay.
a friend of mine also bought the polaris ranger for 2900.00 and sent money vix western union.
who should he contact to report this to ebay and can he call ebay. if you could help it would be appreciated.
Bryann

Tell him to go to his 'My eBay', then find 'Items Won' part, where it lists the auction. Go to the right-hand side and find where it has 'mark item paid', etc. On that drop down part, there is a 'report item not received'. Click there and follow the directions. If he has the address, etc., where he sent payment to, report that to the police. Also, check into filing a report with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). He'll need to make copies of all correspondence with the scammers.

Good luck! Let me know what happens!

Vicki

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Received July 28, 2006:

Hi,
That guy and girl also tried to scam me for a john deere Gator. Seller screen names are p---_k----- and P---990. This was the $2900 1 day deal pay by Western Union. Also the woman who said she was with ebay and was going to pick up the money was named C--------  D----.

Copy the listing and send it the ebay security system. Maybe they can do something about it. I put dashes in where some of the letters were, since I didn't want to display names of people who might actually be innocent and the scammers stolen their identities.

Thanks for sending this!

Vicki

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Received July 29, 2006:

I did not know how to add to your guide so I'm trying this way. There looks to be an ATV scam on ebay right know. YFZ 450 start bid 17.00 free shipping. Listed july 29 ITEM # 140013282556 Seller has no feed back but the description says perfect feed back. Ebay says nothing about reseve, but listing says buy for low resever 2900.00, Description says get his permission before bidding or you will lose bid and get negitve feed back. None of this sounds right. One of the pictures is of a motorcycle not a quad. I just read your guid about quad scams and then saw this just a few minutes latter, if you could just let people know about this item so they can keep an eye on it and be careful if they bid. Thanks, Mike

I forgot about that! They DID want bidders to be 'pre-approved'!!! Another part of the scam! THANK YOU for reminding me! REPORT THEM TO EBAY!

Thanks for sending the info!

Vicki

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Received August 8, 2006:

Hi there, I was reading your alert on ATV scams as I have just been in touch with a member in the US selling an ATV for the now magic 2900 USD. After mailing him for some info on shipping I became suspicious as it all sounded too good and more importantly couldn't find the offer on ebay anymore. After reading your report I thought I'd mail you with info I had received hoping it might help the member who'd laid a complaint with the Chicago PD. By the way the person I was in touch with also claims to have the product in Chicago and only used it to drive around on his farm. In Chicago. Or maybe residing in Europe my knowledge of the geography aroung Chicago needs to be updated. Nontheless I will be happy to forward you the correspondance from this individual if you feel it would be helpful. Many thanks Michael G., Czech Republic.

Used on his farm in Chicago???? LOL! Maybe waaayyy out in the suburbs! The listing I saw also had some really NICE cars in the background. And the ATV was red, black and silver, as I remember. Thanks for the info! I hope the individual you mention reported this activity to eBay. I'll be sure to forward this info to the other person with complaint filed with the Chicago PD.

Vicki

Also received August 8, 2006:

I'm new to eBay, but sure have the ATV thing figured out! Glad that your review is out there but too bad people don't see them in all the clutter on the eBay site. Last night alone I reported probably a dozen of those listings of $2999 'side by sides'(Mules, Rhinos...)..'don't contact me through eBay, contact me somewhere else'..most times the email contact listed in the description is the same on a number of the rigs listed.
It can't be stressed enough, if it looks like too good a deal to be true, it probably isn't!
Kathy

Kathy, you are sooooo right!!!! Vicki

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Received August 18, 2006:

Another entry for your ATV Scam warning. Two months ago I purchased a Polaris Ranger from a seller in Arizona. Transaction went smooth as silk. Before I got home with my new toy, someone else had the exact same item posted as being for sale. Now, this is a one of a kind, custom machine. The paint is custom, the detailing is custom, and the upholstry is custom. The fake ad even used the same pictures! Ebay was notified and listing was removed. Now I check daily to see if my toy is for sale! So far, it has been listed a total of 11 times! If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!

WOW!!!! 11 TIMES?!?!?! Wonder if it is the same one I saw.