Pocono News Section

Criagslist Scam Hits Car Dealer For 10 Grand

Criagslist Scam Hits Car Dealer For 10 Grand - Monday, January 11, 2010 at 5:45PM EST

Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Monday, Jan 11, 2010 @ 05:45pm EST
We have a consumer alert tonight for anyone who shops online. Scammers are using legitimate-looking emails to fool you into forking over big bucks. Consumer and I-Team reporter Jeff Chirico is here with some red flags to look be on the out for.

A man in Carbon County is out ten thousand dollars after being ripped off by crooks. He thought he was wiring money to a third party who would hold it until the truck he was buying arrived. He's just the latest victim in a scam that's hitting many in our area.

Ray Fisher of Fisher Motors in East Side, Carbon County, cleans off the trucks on his lot just days after being cleaned out by scammers. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is. I should have listened to my instincts." Ray browsed CraigsList to find trucks to sell. He ran across this Chevy Silverado. He asked the seller how to pay and “she said it would go through ebay, a vehicle protection program, so we'd both be covered if something didn't go through.” He received this email from what he thought was the eBay Purchase Protection Program. It instructed him to wire ten thousand dollars to a Citibank account. He did but the truck never arrived.

“These emails can be spoofed and where it appears to be legitimate from that company, it's really not" says Corporal Bill Feissner of nearby Butler Township Police. He says these sort of rip offs are common. He gets a complaint a week. "Don't let the person you're buying from dictate who you do business with. Such as escrow account"

The corporal has another tip --don't wire money to anyone unless you know who they are." "Many times with Western Union it's like handing a stranger cash. There's very few ways to trace that...that's what the crooks know."

And since most of these scammers are from overseas, poor or extremely proper English could be a sign a seller --or buyer is trying to pull on over on you.

For Ray, it's one costly lesson... "I should have done a lot more research. I should have checked with ebay before I did transfer."

EBay was not part of this scam. The scammers were using the name and creating false emails. In fact, the eBay Vehicle purchase protection program is only available to those who buy a vehicle on eBay --not Craigslist.

To read the warnings from eBay about these scams go to