I guess even the scammers are hurting these days. For those of you who aren't familiar, there has been a 1970 Green Cutlass listed nationwide on craigslist for $3700. Now the listing is for $2940. These listings have been going on for the better part of the year. I have never contacted them but apparently they will ship the car to you for free once you send them the money. What a great deal!

 

Here is a copy of the listing.

 

One of my fellow workers bought a boat that way. He paid for the boat but is still waiting two years later for it to show up.
It should arrive any day now.....

 

You can always tell who wasn't around back in the day. Rare Sherwood Green? Color was common as dirt back then along with Aspen Green, Bamboo and Azure Blue.

The rare colors I remember from back then were Platinum, Nugget Gold, Reef Turquoise and Aegean Aqua. Or were in this area anyway. You didn't even see Astro Blue much here.

 

Hence the craigslist "OFFERS TO SHIP VEHICLES ARE 100% FRAUDULENT" at the top of the listings :P Before I got my first 98, I was looking at a '62 Continental for 2,500... "oh I don't live near the car it's being stored... I'm divorced and my ex is in the military... I can ship it to you!" Sounds waaay to good lol. I still want a Continental... so sexy.

 

Interesting. I've seen that listing many times. I never noticed that they offered to ship it though. I always thought it was a good deal; however, I wouldn't be so dumb to fall for a scam like that. It's really too bad. I wonder who's car that is? It would be funny to run across it at a national car show like Goodguys or Power Tour. Then you could let everyone know the guy was a scam artist.

 

I don't think the guy that owns the car is the guy trying to scam people. I remember seeing the car on another forum same pics. The way the add reads doesn't sound the same as how the owner posted about his car. I don't remember what site I found it on. I would say someone copied the pics and started scamming.

 

I have seen some RE:'s to the ad posted at different times around the country and the person who was trying to warn others usually posted something like this: This guy says that he won a free automobile shipping anywhere in the country and that he would pass that along to the person who purchases the car. The car is located in Montana or Maine and there is just no way you can see it but just go ahead and send or wire the money....

 

Yea I see that car on craigslist all the time and flag it everyime. I did contact the guy one time and you he said he would ship the car COD no money due until the car was delivered...looks like a nice car and we wis we could get a car like that for that cash

 

This scam has been back again lately. I've flagged the ad in about 10 cities tonight but he's posting them every day. What a jerk! I've noticed that he's mixing up the wording a bit for different cities. Here's one example:

http://newlondon.craigslist.org/cto/2618971717.html

 

I have seen that ad here in Atlanta before. I notice it says call for info but there is no phone number.

 

I've noticed that too. I'm sure he wants to make it look like he just forgot to include it. I hate these idiots!

 

Saw it here in St Louis also!!!! lol smh!!!!

 

It's listed in Charlotte NC also. I was thinking the price was too low and something was up! Thanks for the heads up. I wouldn't go for it, but I'm glad you're putting the word out there.

 

This type of scam happens all the time with snowmobiles also. I've seen some late model sleds for less than 2 grand! It would be nice if they were true!

 

I emailed them when the deal came to Indy ^_^ haha, i knew it was too good to be true but i figured id get a little info from them, here's what i got guys, ENJOY!

Dianna Perez (perepidins@gmail.com) -
Hi,
The vehicle is well maintained, no damages or scratches. You will inspect the vehicle before the payment will be made. You will also receive all necessary documents in order to finalize the purchase. I am selling the vehicle under market value because I need to pay the mortgage. I recently moved in Glasgow, MT with my new job and I have the vehicle here with me. The shipping and insurance are included in the price because I won a promotion at uShip (1 free shipping). Email me back if you're interested and have further questions.
Specs: 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass HARDTOP // VIN: 336870M316420 // 94,200 miles // 1 Owner // Clear Title // Fully Loaded // Body type: Coupe // Engine: 8 Cylinder // Ext&Int color: Green with White // Transmission: Automatic // Fuel type: Gasoline // Non-Smoker // Garage Kept.

 

it is interesting that they sent a VIN. any law enforcement on here that can run the number to see who really owns it?

 

I can
Wont say how...but I can
haha

 

You're not assuming that they actually HAVE a Cutlass, and that they actually posted its real VIN, are you ?

Anybody can make up a real-sounding VIN, and unless there is another car with that same number actively registered somewhere, nobody can ever tell (the odds are 999,999 to 1).

The proper response to a scam like this, of course, (for those who have more free time than I do) is to scam the scammer. Contact them, sound stupid, offer to send money, get their information, come up with a problem, delay, offer to send it again a different way, have another problem, try to send it again, etc., etc.

Pi$$ the scammer off so much that he refuses to continue scamming you.

- Eric

 

do I think they have a Cutlass? NO. do I think that looks like a VIN? Yes. if it is a VIN someone may own it and might like to know that someone is using it to scam people. just thought it would be interesting to know if it is a valid VIN.

 

It is back here in Calif again.
Gene
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/2618867301.html

 

It's in Michigan. Metro Detroit Craigs List for $3940.00. I knew it was a scam, my friend was asking me about it. I told him to run away. Also no phone number either.

 

I have seen that ad too. I didnt even bother e-mailing them since I could tell it was a scam.

 

I heard that there is $500,000 in the trunk from Nigeria or something like that.....

 

yes but it is a cashiers check and you have send part of it to them before they ship it to pay the driver.

 

I live in Sacramento. I should call this guys bluff and ask to see it.

 

He's going to tell you it has to be shipped. He'll only want half the money up front and you can pay the other half once the car arrives. What an @ss. It's back on my local CL today (cleveland)! This guy doesn't give up.

 

We aught to play a game with this guy by having him quote insurance + shipping in an inclosed climate controlled trailer as this is really a rare car, most likely one of 20 still know to survive. See what he comes back with

 

Here ya go:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/2625635740.html

 

Ok, im pretty sure this "guy" is actually a computer bot of some kind. It just seems a little too time consuming to me to be doing this. Also when you contact them you get a very automated answer (you can ask specific questions but all you ever get is a very computerized general answer) and they also never respond back to the 2nd email, now since the 1st email doesnt have a phone number either i dont see how they could ever make any money off of this. So i feel like its just a web bot someone sat up as more of a joke or annoyance or something.

(please see my other posts here for that computerized response im talking about haha, i posted it up there somewhere)

 

When this same ad was posted a year or so ago, I did hear back from somebody. I got the typical story about how the car was out of state and it needed shipped.....knew it was a scam right there.

I think you're right though about a bot of some type posting these ads...they are all over the country and I'm flagging a bunch of them every day! Can't seem to beat this bot!

 

This guy is still posting 50+ ads per day! I'm flagging them like crazy but many of them are still up...not sure whey they're not being pulled. I have an .html file that opens up in a browser that lists all of the ads nationwide....is there a way to upload an .html file?

 

here in atlanta. pretty sure this is the same one.
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/2673568307.html

 

There's another one that's just started in the last couple weeks. It's a 70 Cutlass convertible, bamboo with brown seats. The car is actually for sale in New Jersey, but now it too is listed all over the country. I emailed the guy and he said he got with craigslist but they won't do anything about it.

Funny how craigs is always saying beware of scams, but then when one is discovered they don't do anything.


Mike

 

All they have the resources to do is flag/delete an ad, and ban the email address it is coming from. the most likely scenario here is that it is a bot, and they could care les about sellin a car, what it IS doing, is harvesting good email addresses for spammers to inundate with tons of other junk mail. Spammers pay for lists of known confirmed email addresses so they have legit targets to send to. What better way to do this than posting a "too good to be true" ad that hundreds, if not thousands of people will respond to.

I NEVER respond to a CL ad with my main email address. I have a "spamtrap" email account set up that I use for this, and any other website that wants me to register for it that I give them. Anyone can do this by setting up a yahoo/hotmail/msn/aol/etc. account, and then only use it for those purposes. Once you are sure there's a live human a the other end of the conversation, and not a bot, then you *might* feel comfortable sending someone your mail email account address, but by then, it's usually reached the telephone me for details stage and not needed.

helpful tips from another CL reader. :-)

-Jeff

 

Those pictures definitely look like ones I saw on ebay about 6 months ago. Probably copied them off of that site and now scamming on craigslist.

 

Several years ago I spotted a 78 Cutlass Supreme for sale at Carlisle. Pa. It was in mint condition, fully optioned and with only 30k miles on it! I made my offer and the guy accepted. Off to the notary we went! As soon as the notary saw the title, she informed me that it was not a clean title, the owner's signature not having been notarized! "Surprise" the seller was not the owner! The notary said that I could buy it, but it could be challenged later by the original owner! I stopped the sale, but took the seller's phone# and called him a week later! He still had the car and was willing to sell, so I offered to come down to New Jersey and have the original owner sign the title in front of a notary! Guess what? The seller claimed that the original owner was a recluse and was deathly afraid to meet people! Enough red flags for me!

 

It's back... I remember seeing these pics 5 years ago on CL. Does anyone actually know who's car this is, where the pics came from?

Everyone flag this:

http://boise.craigslist.org/ctd/3033425744.html

http://boise.craigslist.org/ctd/3029939779.html

 

In Austin too.
http://austin.craigslist.org/ctd/3037183212.html

 

Damn! I remember that SOB!
That ad had been floating down in TX
3 or 3 1/2 years ago. By the responses we
are sharing, seems everbody saw it at one
time or another. Sorry bastards, shoot 'em.