This popped up on Craigslist the other day: https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/2013-bmw-640i-obo/6277523940.html
I like deals and I've been looking for a car to rent out so I called the dude and asked if I could look at it. The price is suspiciously low by about $6,000 but I've learned better than to write ads off because they're cheap.
I call and I get a generic voicemail for textnow.com. So the guy is using an internet phone. Suspicious but not overly so because I'm calling him on a Google Voice phone number. So I know why people do it. At that point I'm thinking they're just harvesting phone numbers but about an hour later I get a call. Dude says he's at work and can meet at 6:30. He gives me a place to meet and we're good to go.
So I leave from my house to make the hour and a half 10 mile drive (LA, amirate?) and I'm still skeptical but then I get a phone call from him and he changes the meeting place. So now I'm thinking, ok maybe this is real. I keep driving and then I get a text from him telling me the car is dirty because he didn't have time to clean it and just to keep that in mind when I look at it. So at that point I'm stoked because who's going to send a message like that if the car doesn't exist? That's a message you send someone when you realize you're showing them a dirty car and you want to set expectations.
So now I'm expecting to flat out buy it on the spot. The last message I get from him he tells me he'll see me soon. I arrive on time and he's not there. Shoot him a message; no response. Wait 15 minutes, send another message, no response. That was the last time I heard from him.
So at this point I'm assuming it's some sort of scam but what? Is the scam to get a stranger to drive an hour and a half? I figure if he's going to scam me he would have not just disappeared and if he's just collecting phone numbers he'd simply collect them and ignore the people calling altogether. The thing that really bothers me is that I don't know what the end game is here. What's the end game!?
I like deals and I've been looking for a car to rent out so I called the dude and asked if I could look at it. The price is suspiciously low by about $6,000 but I've learned better than to write ads off because they're cheap.
I call and I get a generic voicemail for textnow.com. So the guy is using an internet phone. Suspicious but not overly so because I'm calling him on a Google Voice phone number. So I know why people do it. At that point I'm thinking they're just harvesting phone numbers but about an hour later I get a call. Dude says he's at work and can meet at 6:30. He gives me a place to meet and we're good to go.
So I leave from my house to make the hour and a half 10 mile drive (LA, amirate?) and I'm still skeptical but then I get a phone call from him and he changes the meeting place. So now I'm thinking, ok maybe this is real. I keep driving and then I get a text from him telling me the car is dirty because he didn't have time to clean it and just to keep that in mind when I look at it. So at that point I'm stoked because who's going to send a message like that if the car doesn't exist? That's a message you send someone when you realize you're showing them a dirty car and you want to set expectations.
So now I'm expecting to flat out buy it on the spot. The last message I get from him he tells me he'll see me soon. I arrive on time and he's not there. Shoot him a message; no response. Wait 15 minutes, send another message, no response. That was the last time I heard from him.
So at this point I'm assuming it's some sort of scam but what? Is the scam to get a stranger to drive an hour and a half? I figure if he's going to scam me he would have not just disappeared and if he's just collecting phone numbers he'd simply collect them and ignore the people calling altogether. The thing that really bothers me is that I don't know what the end game is here. What's the end game!?
