Ebay scam

[john.mitchell]

A non member contacted me asking if I could confrm registration details regarding this bike which was the subject of a Buy it Now listing on Ebay. (The listing has now been removed). It was clearly a scam. But would it have been so obvious were the price to have been £8500 for example. I imagine the advert details were taken from a bone fide earlier listing. CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!!

This was a mail he received

"The bike is still for sale and available for viewing in Inverness. Al paperwork present. It belonged to my father who unfortunately passed away 3 months ago. The price is £4,750 incl. delivery anywhere within the UK mainland.

See below some info on the bike:

1957 MK2 Ariel square four. Restored in the early 80's to a high standard. Starts very easy and has plenty of get up and go. The engine is mechanically very quiet with no hint of smoke or anything else untoward.
Also included is an original dual seat. An excellent opportunity to own a good honest and slightly underrated motorcycle and when compared to Vincents very under valued."

And then he subsequently received the following:

Shop in comfort, buy with confidence.
Pay After Delivery lets you see what you're buying before you pay for it, giving you real peace of mind when you shop online.


Item Title - Ariel Square Four 1957 4 Pipe 4G MK2
Transaction ID - 52943-ARIEL
Item Price - £4,750.00

Buy safely using eBay's Money Back Guarantee Program
This vehicle is eligible for up to £20,000 in Buyer Protection when your transaction is completed through PayPal

For any questions contact eBay Live Support by clicking here

Complete the transaction in 5 easy, secure and safe steps!

1. eBay accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer (if the transaction is declined, no further action is required from either the buyer or the seller);
2. All information received will be processed by PayPal under the direct review of eBay Inc.
3. The Buyer follows instructions and sends the payment to the assigned PayPal verified trust account.
After the payment is cleared and verified by PayPal under the review of eBay Inc, it will be secured into a non-interest bearing trust account. Payment being secured, the Seller is notified by PayPal to deliver the vehicle to the Buyer. The Seller has 5 (five) business days to start the deliver procedure. The seller must deliver the vehicle for inspection along with the certificate of title, signed Bill of sale in the Buyer's name, all keys and all ownership documents. The vehicle must be delivered along with all documentation requested by the Buyer in order to allow him to change the registration in his name as soon as he will decide to accept it after the inspection period will be over.
If no delivery procedure is started, a full refund is immediately sent to the Buyer.
As soon as the delivery procedure will start, the Buyer should wait for the vehicle and documentation to be delivered.
4. After the inspection period is over, the Buyer must contact PayPal with the result of the inspection of the vehicle.
The Buyer receives the vehicle and has 5-7 (five-seven) business days to inspect it. The inspection period will not begin until PayPal has confirmed delivery of the vehicle by either Buyer’s or shipper’s notification.
5. If he refuses it a full refund is immediately sent to the Buyer if the reason that determined the Buyer not to keep the vehicle is strictly related to the vehicle's condition i.e (different from what the seller has advertised, described and agreed to sell to you).
The Seller will have the obligation to make all necessary arrangements in order to take the vehicle from Buyer’s possession in maximum 3(three) business days.
If the vehicle and documentation are as advertised, described and agreed, the Buyer should accept it. If the Buyer accepts the vehicle, the payment will be sent to the Seller within 3(three) business days.

How to proceed from this moment?

The payment must be transferred via international bank transfer to the PayPal - Pay after delivery account. The payment will be insured until the Buyer receives, inspects and accepts the vehicle. Or, if it is the case, PayPal will refund the payment to the Buyer.
Pay after delivery (PAD) bank account* :
Bank of Ireland*

IBAN: IE94BOFI90009271677078
SWIFT/BIC: BOFIIE2D
Account holder: I G
Bank address: Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland
We recommend the online transfer system, because it saves a considerable amount of time. Online banking saves you the trouble of going to a bank and wasting your valuable time plus it's safe. Please note that it is extremely important to use the exact details of the account. The beneficiary name must be as written above. Include "52943-ARIEL" on the "reference" field of the wire transfer instructions. Failure to use the exact information as stated above will result in your wire transfer being returned to you at your own expense.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT

* Do not disclose any information related to your PayPal purchase agreement to any third parties (i.e 1. your seller, 2. your bank)
1. Of to where your funds are being sent.
2. The actual reason the wire transfer is to be sent to your assigned verified trust account.
Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, click here to enter eBay Live Support
Sincerely,
eBay

[dave.owen]

The last time was on I reported it, it was then removed to reappear yesterday.

Dave

[GuyH]

There was someone going by the name of Tommy Baxter about three or four years ago who was operating this scam and he must have made a huge amount of money going by the number of times he was mentioned in blogs etc. It wasn't just ebay he was using - wanted ads in the Old Bike Mart, karting and other magazines would elicit a phone call from him offering the impossible to get parts. They were always of course in the North of Scotland or somewhere inaccessible.

Baxter was eventually caught and was found to be a serial fraudster. Coincidentally when he went to prison for a pathetically short length of time a lot of the vehicle scamming on ebay stopped. Then it suddenly restarted on an almost industrial scale - sometimes 90 posts were made for all types of vehicles. If you see what you think is a scam on ebay click on 'see other items' and you'll often see the seller is 'selling' everything from tractors to motorcycles - all at good or bargain prices. A reported scam will usually be removed within a day or two but this is all these people need to make their money.

Another scammer - a member of the VMCC preyed on people on this forum, the VMCC magazine wanted section and probably other clubs as well. He was the subject of a letter in the VMCC magazine a couple of years or so back as he had defrauded three people in the club (and probably more) including a vulnerable old gentleman. He was visited by the Police but of course they said it was a 'civil matter......

[simon.holyfield]

The guys seems to like Ariels:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ARIEL-SQUARE- ... Sw~oFXKKYX

[grahamhibbs]

He's got 44 items listed 5 to 15 thousand pounds and no feedback whatsoever

[martkey]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/end- ... ike-dealer

Not an ebay scam but something/someone to be aware of. This persons son now 'runs' the business.....

[GuyH]

Selling something on someone's bahalf and not passing on the money has got to be fraud. But if someone's a director of a Ltd company for some reason they don't get prosecuted for it. About ten years ago I worked with someone who had somehow got himself a job as head of operations but was completely incompetent. It took over a year to get him out at which point it turned out he'd lied on his CV, got friends to give him references and had been the operations director a company in London from which he took £250,000 in 'loans' which he never paid back and solicited money from investors which he spent on himself. He admitted all this in court and was banned from being a company director for 11 years - that was it. He had in effect got away with stealing humdreds of thousands of pounds.