RV scammers on craigslist

ComplaintsAutomotiveRV scams

Complaint

+2
skamkilla
Country: United States
Recently, there has been a rash of fake ads on craigslist in nearly every city that has a craigslist, claiming to have RVs and campers for sale.  The scammers have no actual RVs to sell, they steal photos from other sites.

Here is how to spot a phony RV ad:
An out-of-area or out-of-state phone number.
There is a phone number on the photo of the RV.
They want you to only contact them by text or email.  (Especially if it is a free email like Gmail or Hotmail/Outlook)
The price is too low or unrealistic (for instance, $2000 for an RV or camper less than 10 years old).
There is a lot of random punctuation in the subject headline, often between words and letters.

When you reply, they will ask you to wire money to a fictitious "mover" or "shipper," or they will send a fake Paypal or eBay email, or direct you to a fake eBay/Paypal page.

Flag the fake ads, by clicking "prohibited" at the top of the CL ad (next to the "reply" button).  It takes more than one flag to remove an ad.
And, most importantly, NEVER pay for an RV (or camper, car, truck, motorcycle) you can't see and inspect in person!

Comments

  • +1
    WARNING !!!!!!!
    | 1 reply
    A fake motorhome Ad on Portland Oregon Craigslist from Vancouver. First the pictures are all fake and once you contact the seller she claims "someone " changed her Ad and it's not the same Motorhome and then gives a sob story asking for any help you can give.
    • +1
      WARNING !!!!!!! replies to WARNING !!!!!!!
      The Ad is to trade for a car or payments.
  • +1
    McC
    | 1 reply
    Found an rv ad on CL In Delaware, with a photo and map attached. Supposedly the rv was local, price a bit low but responded by email. An immediate response came back about his aunt being the seller so I gave one of my emails to respond to. The response was quite a tall tale- a divorce, cheating husband, no money and gotta sell the rv! When I said I wanted to inspect the vehicle, an airstream sprinter, I was told it was with a company called Iowa Vehicle Shippers in Sioux Falls Iowa. Now I suspect a scam but played along.  “Just send money to shippers escrow acct, rv will ship and if you don’t like it, return it and get your money back!” This is getting better!

    Pulled the shippers site up, full of nice photos, nice facility, lots of satisfied customers! Spoke to a gal who sounded a bit “foreign”! I requested the VIN to secure insurance and financing. Plugged the vin into google and found the rv in spring city TX, had been sold 6 months earlier! Plugged the shippers addr into google and found a big vacant lot! Um, musta moved!

    Plugged sellers addr in and found a little old ranch house with a couple of junk cars out front! Called the shipper the next day and found a different number to call but the same “foreign” lady on the phone, this time in Kentucky!

    Emailed the seller but she must have died! By the way, her name was Maria Friese in case it pops up again.
    • +1
      crookbusta replies to McC
      What is their phone number or email?

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