A friend of mine at work got scamed out of $3500 trying to by a 4wlr on e bay. Some a$$hol hacked into ebay and set up a 4 whler for sale. when my friend went to pay thru pay pal the maoney went straight into a bank account and gone. the scamer had set up a page that looked similar to pay pal but wasent. Spread the word to your friends. Hate to see anybody loose that kind of money

 

There are several signs that an ad for a quad on eBay is a scam. 1) If the price is, "to good to be true", chances are it is a scam. Check NADA.com for used motorcyle/atv prices. If you can get one for a couple hundred off it might be safe. 2) Scammers will have an email address on the ad to use and ask you not to use eBay to contact him/her for some lame reason. Something like, "my eBay email isn't working". 3) If it says, "for pre-approved buyers only, contact me to be pre-approved", avoid it like the plague. 4) Anytime you get an email from a scammer and you click on a link that doesn't take you to a www.paypal.com site or www.ebay.com site get rid of it. It is a scam. The best way to buy a quad is to ask if you can come see it. If the answer is no, I wouldn't even bother buying one on eBay. Never, NEVER pay the full price up front. It is reasonable for a seller to ask for a small part of the price as a deposit as sellers have troubles with people not showing up and completing the transaction. I've bought two quads without a problem. You just have to be careful and watch the ad. Hope this helps anyone thinking of buying on eBay.

 

When looking at quads on ebay, I generally do a 200 mile search, something drivable in one day there and back. Seen some that are very low BIN and they don't take paypal, but want cash in person. What get me is the picture of the quad has a mountain in the background, ain't no mountain within 200 miles of me. Wonder if you show up with cash, if they are going to rob you?

 

It helps if you are 6' 3" and 300lbs. or so. When I went in the past I trusted my gut. I talked to the people on the phone before going to their houses. They didn't seem like weasels or worse. Both quads were in decent residential areas open for anyone to see as we did the transaction. I'd drive by if it was a house by itself with no way for someone to see you from the street. Generally if I'm afraid of a situation I get out of there. The best thing taught in self defense is situational awareness and learning to stay out of dangerous situations as much as possible. Taking along another adult is a good idea too.

 

i got stiffed on a winch this month - paid him 200 bucks thru paypal and he never sent it.

since I used the "real" PayPal - PayPal reimbursed me so at least I made out ok. would of rather had the winch though [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Another time I won a trailer for 400 bucks - I just called him and told him I would be there on a certain day (3 days later than the auction) he was fine with no money until then and it all went good

Also won a $7,000 KTM for a freind on ebay from a dealer - deposit only was made until we could get it. Even though I did make a deposit - I had called them beforehand and they said I didnt have to. That told me right there it was ok.

If they are legit - they wont care and will understand

 

Your friend should dispute the charges with paypal, his bank, and his credit card company. It needs to be done ASAP before too many days after the transaction lapse.

 

Usually 90 days is the limit.

 

i think paypal is only good up to $1,000. to get part of the money back.

 

that and my Ruger Super Blackhawk .44

 

S+W, .44mag. It's bark is almost as bad as its bite.