Complaint Review: ebay - Internet

I was looking on Craigslist for a used (2001-2004) Ford Explorer for sale in my price range, when I came upon this 2002 Ford Explorer for sale for just $2,800. The ad didn't have to many details about the car, but the picture looked like it was in perfect condition. Since I wasn't getting my income tax till the following week, I didn't bother to persue that car because with a price that low, I knew it would be sold by then. A couple days later, I decided to go back on craigslist to look for more explorers and/or SUVs. The same explorer from days earlier was still for sale. The price still didn't seem correct for me so i looked for a contact and the only contact was an email address. I emailed the person asking about the conditions of the car. The distance between me and the car owner(Ellijay,GA) was about three hours. I was willing to travel the distance to get the car i had been wanting. She emailed me back within hours telling me that the 2002 Ford Explorer had 30,833 miles on it, never been in a accident, no dents, no scratches, inside looks great, no additional repairs, and the car was in perfect condition. In the same email, she wrote that she selling the car at a low price because she works as a dealer on a cruise ship so she cannot enjoy the car. Then she go on and say she will use an eBay vehichel protection program and asked for my name/address. I was excited about the deal, but she was rushing me into it without me having my money. The next day she told me the car was in Orlando,Fl ready to be shipped and sent me an eBay invoice with both of our names and address on it. The deal was for me to send the money to the eBay agent that was listed on the invoice, the seller to ship the car to me, I was to have the car for 5 days to test it, and if i was to approve to the agent to keep the car, then the agent was to send the money to the seller. I told my mother about it and she said it seemed to good to be true and it could be a scam.

So I looked online for signs of a car scam and most of what they listed was the same thing going on between me and the seller. *She never gave a phone number, *she wanted me to send money through Western Union, *She tried rushing the deal, *She gave a reason without me asking about the car price being so low, *and instead of me sending money to the business itself, i was to send it to a so called Peter Anderson(the eBay agent). I went on several scam website and noticed that i was most likely being scammed. So I got in contact with a eBay customer service and they was asking if the seller gave me an "item number". Item number? I never heard of it and didn't know what it was. I never was given one and that caught me off guard. They informed me not to go through with the deal until i get a item number and actually talk with the seller on phone or in person. I then emailed the seller (now more educated about online purchases) and wrote her about how I hope this isnt a scam and can she prove it with a phone number to get in contact with her and a item number. I never got a response back. It was a scam that I was about to be a victim of if I would have had my money in the beginning of us communicating.

Before making any purchases that involve a lump sum of cash online, go and lookup the signs of being scammed. It saved me $2,800.