is this a scam?

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Bill Kratzenberg

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so I have my max on ebay and I got this message today..

I am a motorcycle collector in panama. I have bought more than 10 bikes on ebay, and I do have a bike carrier company that will pick up and deliver to Miami if I win. I can pay the first 1,000 via paypal and the rest by wire transfer to your account or bank draft drawn on u.s. bank, I can not pay cash.

so I said cash or paypal the whole amount

he said ok I can try to pay by paypal, but do not know if they allow to pay this large amount.
if I sent you the bank check, you can ask your bank how many days to clear the check and I can wait.

I looked at his feedback and he has 741 @100%

my first impression is a scam, any thoughts?
 
Not necessarily a scam IMO. My brother just sold one of his cars to someone in the Netherlands and the deal sounds very similar. He wired the money and arranged for the car to be picked up.....went off without a hitch.




so I have my max on ebay and I got this message today..

I am a motorcycle collector in panama. I have bought more than 10 bikes on ebay, and I do have a bike carrier company that will pick up and deliver to Miami if I win. I can pay the first 1,000 via paypal and the rest by wire transfer to your account or bank draft drawn on u.s. bank, I can not pay cash.

so I said cash or paypal the whole amount

he said ok I can try to pay by paypal, but do not know if they allow to pay this large amount.
if I sent you the bank check, you can ask your bank how many days to clear the check and I can wait.

I looked at his feedback and he has 741 @100%

my first impression is a scam, any thoughts?
 
Yes, this is a classic scam. I wouldn't be surprised if he is bidding from a hacked account and that is why he has good feedback.
 
Not necessarily a scam. I have sold a couple over there & sent them to Miami. A bank wire transfer is pretty safe a lot safer than pay pal. I would not take over about 400 thru pay pal & would do the rest in a wire transfer. Paypal can take money back if a buyer says its not what they expected. Once a wire is done there is no way for him to take money back.
 
well i have paid over 5g on paypal. so if he can paypal you the money or wire transfer the amount....run with it. just dont give address and personal info like bank along with phone number....know what im getting at.. wire transfer info he can't do anything with except give u money.
get his number and chat live for a min...
 
It can take up to 8 weeks for a bank to recall your check/money order that you cash - especially if it's an overseas deal. Even a wire transfer can be reversed if the account holder complains to the bank when they get their statement.

Offer to have one of our guys here meet up with him in person (where ever he is at) and get that deposit in person. Odd's are he will give you an excuse or say he's not around. Insist that doesn't matter and you'll have someone you trust from your worldwide club meet him in person (which isn't too far from the truth anyway).

Sean
 
I did just that once Sean. ...."implied" I was a member of an international bike club and could get someone to meet any where in the world.....buyer vanished....
 
Oh yea...this is a scam. Tell him he can disguise the money by taping cash to sheets of paper (4 100's to a page and then about 30 sheets on each side to make it look like a document and then fed-exing it to you overnight. tell him to use only fed ex and don't insure it.

He will refuse for some reason.
 
Why would someone take the time and email if it was legit? Wouldn't you just bid like everyone else?

Of course I'm bias, because I want to buy your bike. :rofl_200:
 
There are plenty of scams out there.....and for quite a while too. The EBay 2nd chance offer is a good one.

I lost the auction for Rich Croce's VMax to Bill Warner. I knew it was Bill who outbid me in the last few seconds. I spoke to Rich within hours to let him know if the deal fell through for some reason I was ready to buy. He said it's a done deal Bill had already sent the money.

Imagine my surprise when I got a 100% legitimate looking 2nd chance offer from Rich a day or so later. It was completely fraudulent ......confirmed by Ebay when I alerted them.
 
I appreciate the feedback guys, I really am skeptical and would kick myself in the ass if I got burnt.. would much rather see someone local or paulibiker buy this bike.
 
I appreciate the feedback guys, I really am skeptical and would kick myself in the ass if I got burnt.. would much rather see someone local or paulibiker buy this bike.

Probly better off listening to your 'inner voice' Bill, it's usually right!

Altho, can you imagine the crowd that would gather to see you kicking your own ass!! :rofl_200::rofl_200::rofl_200:
 
he emailed me again and said he could send a cashiers check and wait until my bank clears it before he arranges pick up. can anything possibly go wrong by doing this?
 
I got burned by a cashiers cheque when I sold a set of Porsche 911 rims. Hell, I even helped the prick load them into his van. I should have taken note of the licence plate but I was naive. I suppose if the bank transfers the money with no issues you should be okay though.


Chris.
 
he emailed me again and said he could send a cashiers check and wait until my bank clears it before he arranges pick up. can anything possibly go wrong by doing this?

As long as you wait until it clears I don't see a problem. I don't know about other banks but my bank said they would not reverse a wire transfer either they said once it cleared your account it was there to stay. You might check with your bank. I use Chase & have had about 15 people From Australia buy bikes from me this way.
 
I use Key Bank and have been told by different employees that everything is reversible.....the only sure way is cash.

There is no PayPal limit if your account is verified, if not verified the limit is $10K so you're covered either way thru P/P. Have him kick in the P/P fee (think around $150), and you'll cover fleabay.
 
Every payment but CASH is reversible and Cash can be counterfeited. I have been told that it can take as long as 8-12 weeks to clear a counterfeit payment if it's overseas. A check can be cleared much more easily and wire transfers (again from a U.S. bank) is much more quickly verified.

Sean
 
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