So many scam cars on Marketplace!

knightstyle

DD needed a cheap car so I have been looking on various sites.  I have contacted over 10 sellers on FB marketplace and 9 of them simply told me to contact a Gmail account.   I did this a few of times and each time the car is now in Glasgow and they will deliver it when I pay.  There is no chance of seeing the car before buying and all requests for location are ignored.
Does anyone fall for this?

soolin

knightstyle said:

DD needed a cheap car so I have been looking on various sites.  I have contacted over 10 sellers on FB marketplace and 9 of them simply told me to contact a Gmail account.   I did this a few of times and each time the car is now in Glasgow and they will deliver it when I pay.  There is no chance of seeing the car before buying and all requests for location are ignored.
Does anyone fall for this?

Yes people do fall for it, people will fall for the most obvious of scams- I even think if the scammer put 'this is a scam' some people would still go ahead. It is a sad fact of life that some people seem quite determined to be ripped off.

I have mentioned before that I have been removed from some facebook groups and warned on others that I face removal due to my over zealous warning of scams. Really obvious ones like the garden furniture one that will probably start doing the rounds again soon, and the hot tub one in lockdown. Apparently I should give people the benefit of the doubt, and apparently asking for a bank transfer upfront sent to a name different to that on the account is not suspicious at all!

Some years back local groups were hit with a Michael Kors handbag scam that made the press, apparently it was foolproof and there was no way of knowing it was a scam according to the victims- yet warning about that one was one of the ones that got me banned from some groups. 

MalMonroe

knightstyle said:

DD needed a cheap car so I have been looking on various sites.  I have contacted over 10 sellers on FB marketplace and 9 of them simply told me to contact a Gmail account.   I did this a few of times and each time the car is now in Glasgow and they will deliver it when I pay.  There is no chance of seeing the car before buying and all requests for location are ignored.
Does anyone fall for this?

Hi, if you, or your daughter, is looking for a cheap car then I'd be very careful. 

In my experience (I've been burned a couple of times!) I feel that the best way to buy a used car is through a dealer. Then at least you have some comeback. If you buy cars privately, trying to get your money back when they inevitably go wrong or blow up is an absolute nightmare. 

I'd never buy any vehicle (or anything else, really) from a Facebook marketplace. Whether I'd seen it or not. People lie and they publish photos that don't match up with the products they advertise. Then those people magically disappear in a puff of smoke - taking other folks' paypackets with them. 

Any car for a daughter of mine - or any other relative really - would have to be roadworthy and safe rather than just cheap. Safety has to be the number one priority. You get what you pay for and I've seen some posts on this forum where people have bought rogue cars from cheap places and they are unable to get their money back. 

When buying used cars the saying 'caveat emptor' (buyer beware) is more relevant than ever.

My advice - buy any used car from a trusted source. That's something I've finally learned from making quite a few errors in the past. 

Soot2006

I was selling my used car via Marketplace, and had the reverse scammers. Absolute nightmare, although it did sell locally in the end, after I shared my Marketplace advert on local sales groups.

knightstyle

Well the one add that was not a scam turned out OK, little Corsa, 9 years old and low milage checked with MOT history.  Previous owner sold it to a retired mechanic as the timing belt was very noisy, now running well and we have the bills for parts he used to fit new chain etc.