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RSS Quirkee James,

What I love even more is messing with a bad scam artist! I spent several years running my own business on eBay after I started staying home with my son and got my fair share of scam artists from around the world. The first one (and only one) I got ripped off on looked like a legitimate purchase until the owner of the eBay and PayPal accounts found out his accounts had been compromised, which meant he fell for a phishing scam. I was fairly new to the game of eBay and was too trusting of people I had never met and looked in the eye. It all changed after that pair of $450 Gucci shoes ended up in the hands of a scam artist.

Fast forward to today. I have a habit of searching online for vehicles for sale even if I’m not in the market for one at the time. With the rising cost of gas and the 16mpg that I currently get in my truck, I looked around on AutoTrader.com for a sedan that my wife could drive to work and back and I would just take over the minivan full-time. We currently split the time driving both depending on our moods or where we are going.

One of the first cars I noticed a great deal on was a 2005 Acura TL. We previously owned a 1991 Acura Legend that we loved and the price on this 2005 TL was eye-grabbing to say the least - $8,000. Normally these used models (fully loaded) go for $20,000 and above depending on mileage so I had to email the seller to ask about the condition. This one said it had just over 45,000 miles on it, which would put it in the higher price range since she claimed it was fully loaded with leather and more.

“Hello, is this car still for sale? What is the condition of the car? Any body/engine damage? Is the mileage of 45,187 correct? Thanks! James”

Her reply:

“Hello,
My name is Kate Toncray i own the 2005 Acura TL, acces this link to get a better view of it http://2005.acura.tl.navigation.googlepages.com/home. Price i’m trying to get for it is $8,000.00 and as you can see from the photos the condition is verry good. Clean title no problems overall. Location of the vehicle is Sacramento California i just moved from Cali to NY at a new job new house and new car. Because i have no experince in selling cars and don’t wanna lose time with this my lawyer arranged everything to make it as easy as possible for me and for the buyer. Shipping anyware in the US will be included in the price that means the buyer will get free shipping to his nearest airport. As I listed the car with Auto Trader and Yahoo Autos, they will handle the financial transaction.

Let me know if you’r interesed and i will send you all the details.

Kate”

I don’t even know where to start with this one. I guess I’ll begin with my reply:

“Kate Toncray the actress that died in 1927?
Sure, send me the details. I’m interested in hearing more about this car.
James”

How many Kate Toncray’s do you think exist(ed) in this country, let alone the world? Always do a Google search if a buyer or seller gives a name. The next scam clue to look for is the location of the other party. She claims she moved to New York from California to start a new job with a new house and a new car. Apparently this new job does not require her to be able to spell correctly or have good grammar.

Clue #3: the phone number provided in the listing is a 270 area code, which is in Kentucky. Why would a person who lived in California and moved to New York have a phone number with a Kentucky area code?

Clue #4: “Because i have no experince in selling cars and don’t wanna lose time with this my lawyer arranged everything to make it as easy as possible for me and for the buyer.”

Is there anybody in this country who has not heard of Carmax? You could take that fully loaded 2005 Acura TL to any Carmax location and they would give you at least $18,470 for it according to Edmunds.com. You don’t need any experience in selling cars to be able to drive to a Carmax and accept their offer. If “her” lawyer was smart he/she would have bought the car from her and driven it to Carmax for a tidy profit.

Clue #5: “Shipping anyware in the US will be included in the price that means the buyer will get free shipping to his nearest airport.”

WOW! What a great deal! Especially since vehicles do not get shipped to airports in the United States (unless you want to pay a ton of money) and travel by train or truck - and that can easily cost at least $1,000.

I’m eagerly awaiting “her” reply so I can get all the details on how to proceed with this transaction. I don’t expect a reply, though.

May 19, 2008 |


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10 Comments so far

  1. avatar
    Nessa    , Moms May 19, 2008 8:42 pm   

    LMAO, some people!!! I actually work for a company that ships vehicles.
    A big thing to watch for is even when the offer isn’t obviously ” too good a deal”, Never let them arrange your shipping. The morons who do this will call me to get a quote, then set up a dummy email address making it look like they work for my company and send the quote to their victim after doctoring what I send out. So the customer thinks we are shipping the car to them and when the delivery date comes and goes & they still have no car, THEN they call to see what’s going on only to find out they were scammed. I feel SO bad for people who are caught in this, and usually no mater how hard we try to help there’s little that can be done after the fact.
    If only people would use their powers for good instead of evil………

  2. avatar
    RealWorldMom    , Moms May 19, 2008 8:53 pm   

    That’s pretty scary. And totally slimy! Good catch, James!

  3. avatar
    trysh    , Crafting May 19, 2008 9:57 pm   

    I love how you handled this one! Cracked me up! I’m sure the ’seller’ is saying to him/herself….oopsie, messed up there!
    Don’t mess with Quirkee James!!

  4. avatar
    Jason    , Beer May 20, 2008 8:49 am   

    Thanks for this post. I found this thread after also being responded to from my inquirey about her 2005 bmw 5 series which she is now selling for $8150- same reply as to the acura. A little “google search” can go a long way. Watch for these types of “deals”. They don’t even make sense!!!


  5. Charles May 20, 2008 10:58 am   

    I had the same scam happen to me. They responded with the same exact email. See below. > > Hello,
    > > My name is Kate Toncray i own the 2005 Honda Accord, acces
    > > this link to get a better view of it
    > > http://2005.honda.hybrid.accord.googlepages.com/home. Price
    > > i’m trying to get for it is $7,800.00 and as you can see
    > > from the photos the condition is verry good. Clean title no
    > > problems overall. Location of the vehicle is Sacramento
    > > California i just moved from Cali to NY at a new job new
    > > house and new car. Because i have no experince in selling
    > > cars and don’t wanna lose time with this my lawyer
    > > arranged everything to make it as easy as possible for me
    > > and for the buyer. Shipping anyware in the US will be
    > > included in the price that means the buyer will get free
    > > shipping to his nearest airport. As I listed the car with
    > > Auto Trader and Yahoo Autos, they will handle the financial
    > > transaction.

    Then with this email after I stated I may be interested.

    Here is what you have to do:
    First i will register you with Yahoo Autos as the legitimate buyer for the vehicle
    Second you will have to make a deposit of at least 33% from the price of the vehicle or the full amount. The deposit or full amount is refundable in case you don’t like the vehicle. The deposit or full amount will go to a secure Yahoo Autos account.
    Third Vehicle will be send from it’s current location to a near by airport in your area with all the documents, owners manual and 3 keys. To move forward provide the following:
    -Yahoo e-mail address
    -Full name
    -Airport nearby (for delevery)
    -Phone number
    -Fax number

    Kate

    And between all the mis-spellings and asking for money up front and the way the were removing themselves from the transaction by using a ” lawyer, money to go to yahoo. auto (which was real strange since I told her I lived down the street from the new york zip code she provided we could have just met up and exchanged funds), shipping to an airport and spelling mistakes. I knew it was something fishy so I googled the name and found this. Thanks for posting your issue. It solidified the fact it was a scam. Becareful everyone and always make sure you double and triple check things before any money is exchanged.


  6. Quirkee James May 20, 2008 12:01 pm   

    ^ I just got that same reply. I’m going to string them along for a little longer. Stay tuned!

  7. avatar
    Jason    , Beer May 20, 2008 1:07 pm   

    I sent them the link to this thread with the reply, “Smells like a scam. I’m pretty sure there are legal ways to make money…” Wanted them to know other people were on to them, too.

  8. avatar
    stewartallyn    , Dads May 20, 2008 9:10 pm   

    Sounds like it’s time for some fun.


  9. Timpala June 1, 2008 1:00 pm   

    Here’s another version or possibly the same scam. The phone number listed here is a FAX machine in Illinois…

    http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=244948445&dealer_id=62645535&car_year=2006&model=A6&num_records=25&systime=&make2=&start_year=2005&keywordsfyc=&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=100&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&make=AUDI&keywords_display=&color=&page_location=findacar::ispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceDESC&address=28025&advanced=&end_year=2009&doors=&transmission=&max_price=10000&cardist=67&LNX=ESTAFSRCHUSDTEXT

    I’m going to send the link to abuse@autotrader.com and to abuse@ftc.gov. My daughter has had the same email exchanges as above with this person.


  10. fast truck with good gas mileage June 1, 2008 11:34 pm   

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