Scam, or no scam

[RoadRunner220]

So, I've enquired about a car I'm interested in, and the first alarm bell was the email address that replied to me wasn't the one I was asked to contact in the advert.

The second alarm bell was the first line of their reply which was "Hello, I still have car van for sale,". It's definitely a car, and not a van that I've enquired about.

The third alarm bell is that the advert states the car is in Yorkshire (which is close enough for me to drive to, to look at) but I've been told the car is actually in Scotland due to work commitments. Although it does state in the advert the sale is due to relocation, so I guess that kind of stacks up. But not stating that in the advert, and finding out afterwards is at least irritating.

Now that I've written those three things down it doesn't sound as suspicious as I suspect I'm making it sound, but you know when you just have a general feeling........

Anyhow, the thing is, they're stating that payment would be made by ebay/paypal, and that ebay would take care of delivery. I've never heard of them doing that, and when I queried it this was the response.

email said:

the best way to complete this transaction is to use PayPal&eBay. They will handle everything for both of us, including transportation and the transfer of the car papers to your name. You don't have to pay anything extra,

and

email said:

Here is how the transaction will go on:

-I will make a private eBay listing for you.
-You will have to click "buy it now", fill in the forms and follow the instructions.
-eBay will send you an invoice with all the transaction details and the payment instructions.
-You will have to secure the funds to PayPal&eBay.
-After the funds will be secured to PayPal&eBay, the delivery will begin and the car will arrive to you in max. 48 hours.
-When the car will be in your custody, you will have a 7 days inspection period. If everything is alright, the transaction ends and PayPal will release the money to me. If there is something wrong with the car, you will be fully refunded and I'll get my car back too, without any extra fees.
Everything is covered by PayPal&eBay. I will get paid only after you confirm that you received it. I would need your ebay
username so I can send you the link. I'm waiting for your reply.
Thank you.

And when I replied saying I'd never heard of ebay actually arranging delivery they said

email said:

the car will be delivered to you with Shiply, eBay's official shipping company with a lorry. You are not resonsable for any damage that could happen on the route. Also you will have 7 days to inspect and test the car before the money will be released to me by eBay & PayPal. If there is something wrong with the car, you will be fully refunded and I will get it back too without any extra fees. The shipping procedure will begin only after the funds will be secured to Paypal . Also the paperwork has been all ready sent to ebay that is why they have agreed to include me in the seller protection program and the possible buyer in the money back guarantee protection program. Thanks

So I guess my question is does that seem legit ?

I've never bought a car on ebay before, so do they arrange delivery, and if so, is the procedure mentioned the way it happens ?. Also, paypal is fine right ?, I mean, even if I decided to go ahead and actually buy the car, if I sent payment via paypal, and no car ever arrived, I'd get my money back wouldn't I ?

[RoadRunner220]

davamer23 said:

If you have to ask.

Yeah, I know.

I know all about the "payment into an escrow" account scam. It's just I've never heard of it done via paypal, and they're really protective with buyers.

[RoadRunner220]

TankRizzo said:

Hint: You'll get an email to pay by "Paypal". Only it won't be Paypal. It'll be www.paypalescrowebay.com/paypal/login.aspx.

I see, thanks.

To all the other'helpful' replies - of course I was suspicious, I stated as much in my opening post, I just didn't know how it would be done via paypal so I thought posting here somebody might educate me rather than insult me, but thanks for taking the time to reply anyway.

So, next question. This is a Pistonheads advert, is there a process for reporting an advert you suspect isn't genuine ?

[RoadRunner220]

TankRizzo said:

By the way, if you are EVER in doubt about this then google chunks of text from the seller's email. They just use cookie cutter email templates.

Cheers, I hadn't thought about doing that.

I had a feeling that the text I was receiving was possibly a template of some sort. That first line of "I still have the car van for sale" made me immediately think it had just been copied and pasted from somewhere and they'd forgotten to delete the "van" part out of the text.

Thanks for the advice though, I shall definitely do that in future should I stumble across anything similar.

[RoadRunner220]

750turbo said:

Use the "Report" flag on the sale page.

Hadn't noticed that before, thanks.