Suspicous Listing

[Rifleman]

I was interested in this car, but suspected a scam, so I called the Beaverton city office to ask about these guys. The person I talked to immediately told me that they are running a an unlicensed car dealership, and do not do business with them, as they have received countless complaints already. She also encouraged me to file a complaint with the state about them.

 

[seanjohnsonrn]

I just had a friend who works near Beaverton go by to "set eyes" on the vehicle. The "Jeff" was very odd and rude. The address that "Jeff" included led my friend to an abandoned building (apparently for sale) but no one around. It's a total scam.

 

[TEG]

Abandoned,... or a data center with equipment inside humming along with little need for visitors or cars in the parking lot.

 

[Chickenlittle]

Yep. 8th digit = "N" which is the base motor. If it was a P85, that digit would be a "P". Interesting that on all the photos of it on cars.com, not one shows the rear badging.

Also, does 06513 seem like a low VIN for 2013 manufacture (10th digit = "D" which indicates 2013)? Not sure what VIN they were on by the end of 2012.

Also, how come the car doesn't show up on the inventory list on their website but is only on cars.com? Agree that it all seems suspicious.

Actually my vin in low 5000 and was 2013. Back then no badging done either. Not saying listing ok but those two items don't indicate anything amiss

 

[pgiralt]

Abandoned,... or a data center with equipment in side humming along with little need for visitors or cars in the parking lot.

Looks like a Telco Central office. Probably Frontier based on that trailer.

 

[TEG]

Looks like a Telco Central office. Probably Frontier based on that trailer.

If you read back through this thread a bit you will see that I had posted this before:

It looks like 4155 SW Cedar Hills Blvd is some kind of data center / internet POP...
Carrier Directory | Networks Cloud
Verizon Communications Inc. Business Profile in Beaverton, OR | Credibility.com
FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS, 4155 SW CEDAR HILLS BLVD, BEAVERTON, Oregon (OR) - Company Profile

 

[Igotscammed]

Hi all
well I hate to admit this but I have been scammed by this listing. Always thought I was smart enough and that it couldn't happen to me. Well I was wrong. Boss wanted to purchase a tesla for a company car, someone found this on cars.com, the rest is history. We are out a lot of money but I guarantee you that we will do everything in our power to get these guys. I wish we were joining this site to talk about our new tesla, unfortunately that's not going to happen.

- - - Updated - - -

Wish I checked earlier, yes we got scammed by this. Sucks, but if anyone has a suggestion that could help would be much appreciated

 

[AudubonB]

OOOOOOHHHhhhhhhhhh NNNNOOOO! That's terrible. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[bollar]

Hi all
well I hate to admit this but I have been scammed by this listing. Always thought I was smart enough and that it couldn't happen to me. Well I was wrong. Boss wanted to purchase a tesla for a company car, someone found this on cars.com, the rest is history. We are out a lot of money but I guarantee you that we will do everything in our power to get these guys. I wish we were joining this site to talk about our new tesla, unfortunately that's not going to happen.

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Wish I checked earlier, yes we got scammed by this. Sucks, but if anyone has a suggestion that could help would be much appreciated

I'm sorry to hear this. Can you tell us more about how the transaction worked?

 

[Igotscammed]

Someone in our office found the listing on cars.com, from there my boss wanted to inquire more so he had his secretary email them. The sent pictures via email. Car looked great, then I came into play when boss had to leave to go to convention. I spoke to a "Jeffrey" and he had all the right answers, so we negotiated a price (should have been the first clue), price was to good to be true. But not knowing to much about tesla I went ahead and did as I was asked and wired the money. I personally take for ever to buy any vehicle for myself and I wouldn't ever buy online without touching the car, but my owner has done this before with other classic valuable vehicles, so I didn't think anything of it. Until yesterday when we were suppose to receive the vehicle @12:00 then when it got to 2:00 I started calling. "Jeffrey" called back and said sorry someone else purchased the vehicle for a higher price and they were returning the vehicle back to Oregon. Then I knew something was wrong, and well it really was not easy to sleep last night. This is by far one of the most embarrassing things that can happen to someone. I have a lot of resources involved now, but i think we need to try and find this vehicle first, maybe that can lead to something

 

[GoBlue88]

Hi all
well I hate to admit this but I have been scammed by this listing. Always thought I was smart enough and that it couldn't happen to me. Well I was wrong. Boss wanted to purchase a tesla for a company car, someone found this on cars.com, the rest is history. We are out a lot of money but I guarantee you that we will do everything in our power to get these guys. I wish we were joining this site to talk about our new tesla, unfortunately that's not going to happen.

- - - Updated - - -

Wish I checked earlier, yes we got scammed by this. Sucks, but if anyone has a suggestion that could help would be much appreciated

Oh man, that sucks. Is there any recourse through cars.com? They advertise on TV and seem legit - this kind of thing can, and SHOULD, sully their reputation if they don't do anything to help you.

 

[TEG]

I suspect that they will disappear soon and resurface later under a different name with different phone #s.

The phone #s provided so far seem to be pre-paid cell phones...

If a dealership provides you a phone # that is a pre-paid cellphone that should be a warning sign.

---

I suspect that these (and probably many others) were previous instances:

boisemotorcars.com
actionautoeverett.com
marietta-motors.com

 

[Igotscammed]

I didn't think about going to cars.com. Will give them a try. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Doug_G]

I have a lot of resources involved now, but i think we need to try and find this vehicle first, maybe that can lead to something

Did the car actually exist in the first place?

 

[yobigd20]

Someone in our office found the listing on cars.com, from there my boss wanted to inquire more so he had his secretary email them. The sent pictures via email. Car looked great, then I came into play when boss had to leave to go to convention. I spoke to a "Jeffrey" and he had all the right answers, so we negotiated a price (should have been the first clue), price was to good to be true. But not knowing to much about tesla I went ahead and did as I was asked and wired the money. I personally take for ever to buy any vehicle for myself and I wouldn't ever buy online without touching the car, but my owner has done this before with other classic valuable vehicles, so I didn't think anything of it. Until yesterday when we were suppose to receive the vehicle @12:00 then when it got to 2:00 I started calling. "Jeffrey" called back and said sorry someone else purchased the vehicle for a higher price and they were returning the vehicle back to Oregon. Then I knew something was wrong, and well it really was not easy to sleep last night. This is by far one of the most embarrassing things that can happen to someone. I have a lot of resources involved now, but i think we need to try and find this vehicle first, maybe that can lead to something

I'm assuming you've already contacted the police? In fact, if this went across states this is a federal offense and you should contact the FBI. You obviously wired the money to somebody's account so the FBI can start pulling warrants and finding these guys. This is no petty theft. These guys have obviously done this before. Clearly you have an account number, email address, phone number, name (probably fake)....should be easy for the FBI to trace.

 

[MassX1317]

I'm assuming you've already contacted the police? In fact, if this went across states this is a federal offense and you should contact the FBI. You obviously wired the money to somebody's account so the FBI can start pulling warrants and finding these guys. This is no petty theft. These guys have obviously done this before. Clearly you have an account number, email address, phone number, name (probably fake)....should be easy for the FBI to trace.

The people who ended up with the money are probably not in this country and most likely there is no way to recover the funds, even with FBI involvement. Most insurance policies will not cover this type of fraud either. In any case, good luck.

 

[Igotscammed]

I am assuming I shouldn't be talking about what is going on in this forum. I tell you though this has been an eye opener and a real life lesson, I don't wish this on anyone (well except the people who did this ). Thanks all and enjoy your tesla's.

 

[Seven7]

Did the car actually exist in the first place?

Even if you find the car it's probably someones legit car ad that the scammers used to steal the pictures and make a fake car add. Hopefully you called the police fast enough and they might have been able to contact the banks and wire transfer service and stop the money before it left the country.

Scams are the new crime of choice for all types of scum bags out there, use extreme caution when dealing with internet sales, sometimes even a little searching on the web can turn up inaccuracies in ads and raise a red flag.

You might try calling the bank that received the wire transfer and talk to their security / fraud department and see if they will hold the money or freeze the account, you will probably need the police to help with this but it's worth a shot.

 

[GoBlue88]

I am assuming I shouldn't be talking about what is going on in this forum. I tell you though this has been an eye opener and a real life lesson, I don't wish this on anyone (well except the people who did this ). Thanks all and enjoy your tesla's.

Let us know what happens once you can.

 

[TEG]

Did the car actually exist in the first place?

I think their MO is to find legit car listings, scrape the details, then republish them later so that things seem to check out. So, I suspect that the car in the listing is real and exists somewhere, but they may not have it.
They also seem to make a "casual background check" seem legit with a web site, pictures, fax #, street address (which they don't occupy), & copied testimonials, so that more people start to feel comfortable enough to send money. Since this seems to be happening over and over, I think one should avoid any transaction where:

#1: The dealer # is a pre-paid cellphone.
and/or
#2: They will give you a reason why you can never see the car in person.
and/or
#3: They request you wire deposit money without having seen the vehicle.
and/or
#4: They refuse to consider money brokering services and expect direct funds transfer.
and/or
#5: Any indication that they are "out of the country" for whatever reason.
and/or
#6: Any deal that just seems impossibly too good to be true.


I have seen similar things done with deposit money for rental properly too. Exercise the same cautions even if you see interior pictures, street address, and other details.
It is too easy to copy someone else's eBay or Craigslist posting and just republish it with new contact info for someone else that doesn't own the property in question.