Car History Report Fake Request: How It Works
A vehicle history report contains important information about a used vehicle's past, indicating possible issues with the vehicle's safety and value. The report typically shows title records, along with salvage and insurance total loss records and accident records, ownership changes, and vehicle details decoded from the VIN, such as year, make, model, and odometer history.
However, beware of one of the newest car buying scams out there. Someone online requires you to get a car history report from websites such as VINAutoChecks.com, Audit and Registry Reports, or WheelHistory.com. Did you get any requests like this? If yes, share in the comments, please. So, how does the scam work?
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Watch the video below to see the Car History Report scam exposed:
How does the scam work? Let's say you want to sell your car and post an ad on sites like Craigslist, Kijiji, Oodle, Auto Trader, etc. Within a few hours, you receive an email with a question about the car, such as “Is it a non-smoking car?”.
Nice opener, right? As you reply, the scammer continues:
“My name is Miranda,
I want to buy the car. I will only deal face to face and I will pay cash. The car looks good from the pictures. I must have your last price because I have a loan approved and I must know from the start how much to pick up. Please be fair about it.
Thank you”
Recommended Read: DMV Refund Scam
Nothing unusual for far, but as you continue the chat saying a price, she requests:
“I agree with the price and I will ask my loan broker for that. I'd like to check the car with a friend who is a mechanic. My friend will check the car for me if that's ok with you. I will pay you cash after I will inspect the car.
Do you have all the service docs and the history of the car?”
Of course, your answer is affirmative, so you want to get this done as soon as possible, maybe asking her to meet or to have a phone conversation. However, here is what she replies:
“I want to know if you have all the things ready to sell the car. It's because don't want to make the trip twice. I want to be clear from the start and please understand that when we will meet you will need to have the history report and the rest of the docs for the car.
My friend who is a mechanic will check the car and if all is in the order I will pay cash or certified bank check (if you don't want cash). Please get a national vehicle report approved by the Gov from any car dealer or you can pull one from: [she gives you a specific website here] for 10 bucks.
I can refund you for the history report if it is too much to ask but I think it is common sense. You can pull one from any website you want but all are asking over 30 bucks but all those reports are good. I am serious about seeing and checking the car so once you have the report please tell me so i will take a day off from work and I will call you to set up a meeting.”
Then the scammer continues:
“I think tomorrow is a good day and I hope you can meet me too. You will show me the report in person (face to face) or you can send it to me PDF format by email.
I hope you are serious too, thank you.”
This is where the scammer goes for your naivety. As she plays the safety card, she offers you the alternative of getting the report from any other official sources, but in reality, she sells you on the website she attached, by saying it's cheaper. Her website is legitimate, but she gets an affiliate commission every time she sends a customer their way. Either way, if you purchase a report from any other website or from hers, as soon as she gets her commission she will say she changed her mind and not want to buy the car anymore.
Car History Report: How to Avoid the Scam
Look for the red flags from the beginning. She plays the perfect card, mentioning she's bringing a mechanic friend or she'll take a day off for you. In reality, nobody buys (or says “I want to buy the car”) without even a test drive, let alone seeing the vehicle.
Also, if the scammer finds reasons not to meet too soon, that's another red flag. Look at the website she sends you to and search to see if they have an affiliate program. If you find one, wouldn't you wanna send your friends there and make a buck, too?
Tell the scammer you purchased the history report already and you're ready to meet. If she refuses (after seeing that her commission is not in her account), then you know it's a scam. When it comes to purchasing car history reports online use only reputable agencies.
Since we are talking about car-related fraud, beware of schemes such as the Leather Jacket Scam.
Vehicle History Report Scams: How to Report
Make your family and friends aware of the Car History Report Scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:
How to protect yourself more:
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You'll receive periodical emails and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers.
Recommended Reads:
How to Tell a Real Diamond Scam
Burial Insurance Scam
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Unfortunately fell for this also. “Alan” loved my vehicle for sale on Craigslist but was adamant about seeing a report from “www.goautovin.com”. After I generated the report, he ghosted me. His number was (647)491-1632.
Same on for me, “alex” phone number (825) 413-3613
Hi i try http://www.goautovin.com they provide legitimate a vehicle history reports and one time i was charged twice for a report and they provided me a refund so i don’t think its a scam website …
vinnercheckhistory.com is another fraudulent site
I’m afraid I fell for one of these scams today.
Sites that are fakes:
canadavehiclerecord.com
http://www.autoreportslab.com
Всем привет !
the first day i listed my truck, i got a whole bunch of interest, but i had been warned from a car dealer friend of mine, this would happen, most are scammers trying to sucker you in. about 3 of the 8 i dealt with wanted to use PayPal, i don’t have it & don’t trust it. most text, emails or messenger replies, just asked ” is it still for sale, i would reply yes & nothing happened.
But one texter, in particular, in particular insisted i use http://WWW.WheelHistory.com, to get a car report. i said that i had paid for a Carfax, national recognised, by all dealerships, vehicle report. she said she had never heard of it an again insisted she wanted me to get this other one. i said i wouldn’t, then she or maybe he??? got a little more aggressive. Anyway, i did a bit of reading about this site & after i texted her that this looked like a scam, she never replied back, go figure!
Vehicle history report scam?
I’m selling a car on Craigslist and had a strange interaction with a potential buyer (or scammer?) that looked a lot like the vehicle history report scam described at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/10/steering-clear-vehicle-history-report-scams, but had some notable differences. So I’m wondering if perhaps I overreacted and turned away a legitimate buyer, or if it’s definitely a scam.
TL;DR: the "buyer" wanted me to purchase and provide a vehicle history report from (not linking to prevent accidental traffic if it’s indeed a scam site), _before_ seeing the car. I provided autocheck.com and NMVTIS reports but the "buyer" insisted on the one, and refused to even meet if I didn’t provide one.
First contact, the "buyer" texts me with normal introductory pleasantries, in good English. He asks a couple reasonable questions about the car (have any repairs been done recently? What part of town are you in?) Nothing suspicious.
We coordinate a time and place to meet so he can see the car. He insists he’s ready to make a deal, and can pay cash or we can go to his bank to get a cashier’s check. Again, nothing too suspicious. At this point we haven’t talked about a sale price, so I’m expecting to meet, do a test drive, and then negotiate a price.
This is when things start to look suspicious. I’ll list the actual text messages here verbatim.
Buyer:
Ok lets meet at 5 pm. I will take a day off from work. Anyway could you send me the AHT REPORT now?
Me:
Works for me. Let’s meet at <redacted>.
I’ll send you the reports I have [autocheck.com and NMVTIS] later this evening.
Buyer:
Its the report which you as the owner can pull by the way I’m <redacted>, can I get your name?
Me:
I’m <redacted>. I’ll send you what I’ve got in a bit.
Buyer:
Nice to meet you <redacted>, I’m at work i’m waiting for you to send me the AHT report so I can take time off work before I leave today.
The report i need to see i sent you the link for it
Me:
<photo of autocheck.com and NMVTIS reports>
These are the two reports I have.
Buyer:
just the report i wanted WWW AUTOHISTORYTOOLS
Me:
That report costs $25. What’s wrong with the two reports I already have?
Buyer:
I asked you for AHT right?because autocheck doesn’t provide all the history as you can read on the first page of the autocheck they mention they doesn’t shows the history from the dmv
Me:
You’re welcome to run the AHT report if it would make you feel more comfortable with the sale. I’m happy to knock $25 off the sale price if we end up making a deal. I of course want you to be confident that I’m not screwing you over. But I don’t see how it’s my financial responsibility to buy reports for you. Ifyou take it to your mechanic, you wouldn’t ask me to pay for his time…
The VIN is <redacted> if you want to run the AHT report
Buyer:
It is NOT my vehicle report be running a report on.. your selling it you should be able to show the buyer the history of what you expect them to paying you thousands in cash. I’m serious ready to buy with cash in hands. Let me know if you want to make a deal.
Me:
To be honest, this whole interaction smells fishy, like you are getting a commission from this site. If you are serious, we can meet tomorrow and if you like the car I will run the AHT report right there from my phone and email you the PDF.
Buyer:
no, I’m not working to company. i’m a private buyer, I just trusted to that report.
Me:
That’s good, but I’m still not buying the report until we are face to face and we are ready to make the deal. If the contents of the report scare you off, so be it – I’ll be out the $25 for the report.
Buyer:
well, sorry, i cant make my plans without seeing the AHT report and i already sent you the link for it what i need
Me:
sorry we couldn’t work it out. But you can surely see that this interaction has hit nearly every red flag for this being a scam: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/10/steering-clear-vehicle-history-report-scams
<no reply>
What do you all think? Was this just an eager but cautious buyer that thought perhaps _I_ was trying to scam him? Or did I deflect a scammer?
Look out for [email protected]. She tried getting me to use. Her email was a lot like the others reported here…needed to bring her mechanic…ready to pay all cash…blah, blah, blah. Glad I checked here.
I received this email from a "[email protected]"
Hi
thank you for replying to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but it would be great to take a look at vehicle history report before making final decision as I had some bad experience with buying used car in the past. Do you happen to have such a report?
If not and you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
I hope you understand this and it is not a big problem for you.
Best regards,
the phone number that asked for my email was: 801-695-6503
Glad I was suspicious enough to do some digging and found this article and comments. I can add the following rec’d just today regarding a vehicle I’m selling …
“thank you for replying to my text.
I am interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
Kind regards,
Jessica.”
Well, Another Craigslist Scammer, busy at work!
From "Sam Nelson" @ [email protected]:
"Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that wer interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided – it will definitely help you with the sale.
Let me know if this helps. Thanks!"
&%-@*#& Creeps!! Grrrr!!
SCAMMER OF NEARLY CLONED POST BELOW
Hi,
thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? I would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site:
Quality Vehicle History Report – InsightVIN
Need free VIN decoder or quality Vehicle History Report? Use our VIN search to check history of your car. Vehicle history report by vin.
. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know when you get a report so I can take a look at it.
Kind regards,
Mary.
Started with a phone call from Bethesda MD, "Is the car stil for sale?", which sounded like a recording. As soon as I answered Yes, the call dropped. Within a minute the same phone # //443-338-5766// texted me the following:
"Everything looks good but I have a couple questions for ya.", " What’s the price for your 2011 Chevrolet?" Really? So I respond…"The price is listed?", next response, "can you also get a copy of your cars history report? You can get it from vincheckplatinums.com, please send to me at [email protected]"…I say sure to keep it going…next text "When I get a clean report from platinumvinnchecks.com maybe we can schedule a time to meet for a test drive"…this person gave me two totally different websites. Next text(and I am not responding at this point)…"Imk after you’ve pulled the report and we can make a time to meet up". I responded "Are you in [my state]?". Next text, " Thanks look forward to seeing the report 😉 ive been thinking about getting a 2011 Chevrolet for a little bit now."
I start my due diligence and while I’m checking the sites mentioned and immediately find the word ‘scam’ after it I get another text…"…hey don’t mean to bother but are you still here?". I respond, " I just checked and I already have my report, it’s in the car." The response I get to that is, " I know that is NMVTIS approved and that’s what my friend who’s an auto dealer told me to ask for" …. I respond, "Like I said, I have a report."….final response to my text…"I will check my email throughout the day today. Thank you!!"
That’s it.
I posted my car on Craigslist. Within an hour or so I got a phone call that sounded like a recorded message. It was a normal sounding guy saying, "Is your car still for sale?" Then the phone cut out. After that he texted saying, "sorry my phone cut out" "How many miles" etc. We discussed the condition of the car and he sounded like he wanted to arrange a visit to come see it. Then he said, "Do you mind getting a vin check from and sending it to me?" That URL redirected to "officialvin.com" it looks like a legit site. It costs, $18.95 for the VIN report and they even had sample reports to read. However, I’ve been told they steal your identity after you pay. The article above says it’s a commission that the scammer makes. Either way it’s a scam and a believable one at that. Be careful out there! I’m glad my spidey-sense was telling me not to trust this guy.
Add ‘Freddy’ to this list. His #: (702) 899-8142 "Pleas send me a backgroun cehck on your car for me and email it to [email protected] – thanks."
Thank you for this website!
Just went through this today:
‘Buyer/scammer’ responded to my Craigslist ad. Texted me officialvinreport.com that led to Vinchecked.com. I replied that I hadn’t heard this this site but, he reiterated that I use it. I tell him it looks like a scam, he sends a second address — Obviously, these are scams!
Yep – I got a phone call that I sent to vm – cause I don’t answer any calls that aren’t ID’ed. I got a text "I’m calling about the BMW. I think I want to buy it. Is it still for sale?" First red flag – no one says that. I tell her Yes. Then I get, "Do you mind running a VIN check on your car for me and emailing it to [email protected]? That would be great."
So I searched around for this site and found it was all of one day old and listed as not trustworthy. I sent her a copy of the CarFax I had….. Now I know it was a scam after finding this site!!
I just had the same experience. Almost word for word copy and paste from above. I thought it was fishy that Ellen Vinnitsky wanted to pay me cash full price for a 19000 car without even seeing it. She said she needed a History report with todays date on it for her loan officer. She gave me 3 options to go to with the third being considerably cheaper (20.00) I went to Carproof instead and got one. I sent her proof that I had it. She then sent me an e-mail saying her loan person needed it. I told her I went with Carproof because they where the most recognized and if she or her loan person wants any other one they can get it themselves. Also told her that her original e-mail said I could get it wherever I wanted. Lol. I then thought out of curiosity I would google this company and I found this scam. Just another example of having to be alert and trust your instincts!
Add LENA VINNITSKY to the list; [email protected] – word per word tactic but refers you to
Add Lena Vinnitsky <[email protected]> to the list.. way the same emails as other and pushes you to use which i believe has been mentioned a few times in here.. luckily the bullshoit radar went off before she got any information whatsoever..
Came across your site shortly after filing a complaint with the FTC regarding an attempted vehicle history report scam against us. Received a text (from number 435-383-1887) and email from a Monica Richardson, with a follow-up email from [email protected]. Text read as follows:
"Hi, I’m interested in buying your vehicle. Can you send me your e-mail address because I have some questions, but can’t really talk right now. Monica"Email read as follows: "Hi, Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on ksl before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
Kind regards,
M.R."
This seemed so fishy, and just felt strange compared to other experiences and buyer contact when selling a vehicle. I responded to her email and told her I wouldn’t be purchasing any history report for her, and that as a buyer she needs to understand that obtaining a comfort level with a vehicle and/or needing a history report is her responsibility if she has concerns.
Shortly after sending her an email, I did a simple web search to find out this is a complete scam! Makes complete sense because it felt so off to begin with. Always trust your gut, and glad we did.
I just heard from SandrineW [email protected] who was directing me to. The web site title was "Vin history".
The wording of the pitch was very similar to what we see above. I did obtain a history from our local insurance agency because I was suspicious of being directed to an unknown web site. I was uneasy about supplying my car’s VIN to a stranger as well.
Same email. Same person. But a different scam website
Thank you so much for this I got one of those fishy texts this morning stating: Hi, I’m interested in buying your vehicle. Can you send me your e-mail address because I have some questions but can’t really talk right now. Monica.
I sent them my email and about an hour later we got this:
Hi,
Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on ksl before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
Thank you for reply,
M.J.
Needless to say checking them off as spam we have a CarFax on our used car that we listed. We may just take the dealer offered trade in after all so we don’t have to deal with the scammers anymore.
Same as below, first received a text requesting my email and then received this email from [email protected]
"Hi,
Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on ksl before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
Thank you for reply,
J.H."
Copied this e-mail I got on 04/12/2017 about a local listing I put up.
"Jessica Hayward <[email protected]>
10:27 AM (26 minutes ago)
to bcc: me
Hi,
Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on ksl before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
Thank you for reply,
J.H."
.End E-Mail.
I told them to come see me in person and I’ll show them what a Carfax report looks like.
Never responded.
I advertised a car for sale on craigslist. I have saved an email chain that started, allegedly, with the scammer’s daughter. It appeared her father was interested in the car but no phone number is provided; he obviously prefers email (via a throw-away mailbox – I checked their IP vs. the ARIN Whois database). He claimed his creditor wouldn’t do a loan for him without a report from his specified web site. Though I was able to provide a VIN Report, he insisted I get the report Unbeknownst to him, I located a free history report from another web site but have dropped communication with him since a few hours ago. Given the sketchy nature of his email address; no phone availability; and insistence of using his favored VIN Report, I decided to dig deeper and found you guys, fortunately!
Another one : Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do+you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest+getting one
When I was selling my car I got there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40). It will=show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus*too.
It will verify that it has not been in any*bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams^out there. People are more likely to look at a vehicle with a report provided.
Talk to^you soon. Thanks!
His email : [email protected]
Posted my car on KSL.com classifieds last night. Received this text today from Kath @ 435-255-3958 "Hi, I’m interested in buying your vehicle. Can you send me your email address because I have some questions but can’t really talk right now". I responded with my email address and said I would be happy to answer any questions. Recieved this email:
Hi,
Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on KSL before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
Kind regards,
Kathy.
I looked at the website she sent. Luckily I did a quick google search for her email address, and found this page. Glad I did that before emailing her back saying I already had a CARFAX for the car. Damn scammers….
AVOID THIS NUMBER/EMAIL:
Kathy
435-255-3958
[email protected]
Three people, at least, are involved with phony "getvindetails; they are trolling Craigslist for high end cars . Two days after their request to use getvindetails.com, I had someone try to open a credit card in my name and they had my ssn and dob. Please post a blog if you have experienced new credit card fraud where they tried to open up a new credit card, after you got inquiries about your car. Many thanks
I had the identical experience to the previous reports, using [email protected]
That site at least was perfectly happy to ask me to pay 19.99 for a report on a bogus VIN 1VXB4127X731A3213.
https://www.scamadviser.com/is-checkstitlehistory.com-a-fake-site.html was helpful.
Here’s another dirt bag scam
To be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it .
I need the report because the loan company ask for it get one . will not make sense for me to get one because i can`t re use it like you can , you will be able to give it to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok i will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $19 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok report where will i be ?
If the report will be ok you can consider it sold .
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $20 to the final price
I put an ad in Craigs List and had a reply :
From: Christian Weber <[email protected]>
Sent: Wed, Feb 1, 2017 8:55 am
Subject: Re: 2005 BMW x3 3.0i Silver
Hello, I saw your BMW on Craiglist and I have some questions: Is everything ok?
Are there any bad things on it, like bad suspension, oil leaking or something like that?
Sorry for emailing but I prefer this way of communication, I hope you don’t mind that.
Thanks, Chris
SO I emailed him back that all was okay and then he wrote this:
Sounds good! I would like to come and see it before I move forward but I would like to make sure the BMW and all is OK and legit and for that I need to see a recent report from bc in the same way this is what my lender asked for and needs for getting the loan faster than usual. I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report and also to get it fast than usual. So let me know if you can get it. Thank you
So I sent him the Vin number and this was his response:
I’m sorry but I thought you will send the history report. i don’t need the vin#. i’m ready to buy but seems like the loan company asks for a vehicle report from this website. please go to and get one. like i said, it’s pointless to buy one because you can reuse it, i can’t, you can give it to all your interested buyers. for me it’s a different story, if the report it’s not clean i’ll have to search and buy another one and another one and so on.. if the report looks ok you can consider it sold.
Regards P.S if is about the money i will add the $30 to the final price
So I told him my husband preferred that we use car fax and asked if it would be okay – his response:
I’m sorry but I already told you which report I need. I tried with the other reports a few days ago and he rejected my request and told me once again he need a recent report from if i want the money faster than usual . My lender it’s one of my friends and he know I need a car sooner. I hope you understand me, I really like your car but without that report I can’t buy it. Let me know
Regards
I knew by then it was a scam because I found this site – so I played around with a few more emails but never bought the product.
Add Samuel and Haley Schwartz and to your list.
Email wording was :
I’m interested and ready to come , see , test and make a deal for it .
I need something rather soon , but i would like to make sure you/vehicle and all is ok and legit .
For that i need a vehicle vin report ,don`t send an old one or get something you find , get me the report . is what my loan officer asked for and needs .
I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I’ve had friends and family get shafted before.
Pretty sure I saw this exact wording farther down in the comments..
Glad I was cautious enough to triple check the website and do my research so I didn’t fall for it. And very glad I found this article first!
Thank you!!
Add "Christian Weber," interested buyer, and Eduard Popescu, payee at to your list. Paypal sent an email questioning the payment and prompted a search which led to this site.
Had someone that called himself William Baird email me from CL for my car and pretty much did the same as the other scammers. He originally asked if I had a spare tire and jack with the car to open the conversation. Then he asked for a vehicle report to which I gave, and he emailed me back saying that the place I got my report from isn’t reliable and to go to to pull the report with my VIN. I said you have what you need, go get the report you want. They emailed me back saying," I really like the vehicle and the price is acceptable but I really need to be sure it’s clean." I checked the address of the "company" and some info they provided on their website and found they have supposedly 11 or 18 people working there, and its in an apartment building in New York that’s "pet friendly". SURE.
Just had someone try to scam me, too. He told me to go so his lender could "get the report faster than usual." I told him I thought it was a scam and his response was, "I offered you cash in hand. I didn’t scam you." I responded, "No, a loan is not ‘cash in hand’ and there’s no need to get the loan faster than usual."
His name was Alex White ([email protected]).
I got one this morning! I posted my car on ksl.com last night (without photos because I hadn’t cleaned the car, yet) and got a text this morning from "Jane" at (385)200-2923 saying, "Hi, I’m interested in buying your vehicle. Can you send me your e-mail address because I have some questions but can’t really talk right now. Jane." (um, how is emailing easier than texting when you "can’t talk" and how do you know you’re interested when I haven’t posted any pictures, yet?) I gave her my email because it was already listed on the site I posted the ad on and then got an email from [email protected] saying, "Hi, Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on ksl before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out. Thank you for reply, J.B."
Again, her info is:
Jane Bass
(385)200-2923
[email protected]
"Paul Anderson" swindled me through Craigslist.
Yes a scam indeed. Here is the email for my attempted scammer. [email protected]; on behalf of; Sandra <[email protected]>
and here is the contents of their last email.
|_think tomorrow_is a good_day for a meet|ng. | can pay you cash or
certified bank check if you want. I do hope you have all the things ready because i don’t want to make the trip twice. I will need a vehicle history report for my lender with the owner signature on each page so do not send me the vin no because you will need to get that history report.
I depend on your help so please don’t let me be disappointed.
You can get the history report from any website you want like carfax or carproof or you can get one from:
for 20 bucks.
I am willing to refund you for that report if it is too much to ask from you or if you want i can send someone from my family to a post office to transfer you the twenty bucks so you will have the funds to pay for that history report.
I am very serious about seeing the car so once you have an updated vehicle history please tell me or reply with the pdf and I will call you or give you my number to arrange a meeting
I hope you are serious too, thank you
The interesting thing here is that my ad was only posted on Usedvictoria and the query from Sandra was vi1GnDuDeqa Kijiji/ the first red flag. Anyways beware out there .
<[email protected]> going by the alias Larry M tried to scam me as well. Here is the email below:
1st:
I want to come look at it,is anything wrong with it?I would like to arrange a meeting in few days.
Sorry for emailing but I prefer this way of communication,I hope you don’t mind that. Hope everything will be great and make a deal
2nd:
I would like to come and see it even make a deal but i need something rather soon .
For my peace of mind and to have the certanty that the car is ok i need a vehicle vin report but don’t
send an old one or whatever you find get me the report .It’s what my loan officer asked for and needs .
I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report .
3rd:
Don’t get me wrong the car looks amazing is what i want but i need the report i need proof.
After this I tried to call him out on the scam by asking him to meet before I purchase the report however his last reply is here below:
4th:
As you wish man but without it we have no deal.
You can go ahead and order up what you need from that company, if you’re interested. Your email address and name are coming up as a scammer on public searches. Please do not contact me further.
Hide quoted text
On Jul 30, 2016 2:55 PM, "mark derter" <[email protected]> wrote:
iscamdetect_m interested and ready to come , see , test and make a deal for it .
i need something rather soon , but i would like to make sure you/vehicle and all is ok and legit .
for that i need a vehicle vin report ,dont send an old one or get something you find , get me the report . is what my loan officer asked for and needs .
I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I’ve had friends and family get shafted before.
From: DeAnn Mershon <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2016 9:32:01 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: 2005 Toyota Corolla
Hi Mark, your email went to spam. Sorry for just getting back to you.
We never have had an issue with the car beside the normal, routine things that go bad as it has gotten older.
When do you want to take a look?
On Jul 29, 2016 6:15 PM, "mark derter" <[email protected]> wrote:
I’d like to come look at it. Is there any bad things on it , like bad suspension, oil leaking etc?
I would like to arrange meeting in few days.
Sorry for emailing but I prefer this way of communication, I hope you don’t mind that. Hope everything will be great and we will make a deal
mark derter – [email protected] is still scamming as of late July, 2016. Wouldn’t accept any VIN report except. The thread is similar to others reported here. Very funny!
"I’d like to come look at it. Is there any bad things on it , like bad suspension, oil leaking etc? I would like to arrange meeting in few days. Sorry for emailing but I prefer this way of communication, I hope you don’t mind that. Hope everything will be great and we will make a deal"
Next time check the header txt in his e-mails from Craigslist or Outlook.com. Looks like Washington D.C/Virginia area.
First email:
"I’d like to come look at it. Is there any bad things on it , like bad suspension, oil leaking etc?
I would like to arrange meeting in few days.
Sorry for emailing but I prefer this way of communication, I hope you don’t mind that. Hope everything will be great and we will make a deal"
Didn’t seem too suspicious until the last line. Replied back like everything was normal. Told him about the car and gave him my hours of availability for him to come see it.
Second email:
"iscamdetect_m interested and ready to come , see , test and make a deal for it .
i need something rather soon , but i would like to make sure you/vehicle and all is ok and legit .
for that i need a vehicle vin report ,dont send an old one or get something you find , get me the report from is what my loan officer asked for and needs .
I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I’ve had friends and family get shafted before."
First red flag goes up here when he asks for a VHR from this specific website. Searched around the internet and learned about the History Report Scam. I replied back and let him know if he would like to view the Carfax I have already paid for to see if he really wanted a History report or if he was just trying to steal my credit card info through his suspicious website.
Third email:
"to be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it .
i need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to and get one . will not make sense for me to get one because i canscamdetect_t re use it like you can , you will be able to give it to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok i will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
i know is only $19 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok report where will i be ?
if the report will be ok you can consider it sold .
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $20 to the final price "
Obviously that email is nearly identical to other emails people have received from this type of scam but I had not realized that just yet so I emailed him back one more time explaining that I have already purchased a Carfax report and I would send it to him at his request. At this point I’m just confirming what I already think, that he is a fraud.
Fourth email:
"im sorry , that you did not read my emails, i can`t use it .
the bank is expecting me to provide a VIN report for the vehicle i will like to buy in order to approve my loan application .
regards"
I’m not sure anywhere that wouldn’t accept a Carfax report so this was the nail in the coffin. It’s obvious he was trying to scam me out of 20 bucks at best so I called him out on it. He wasn’t happy and tried to defend himself. Here is his reply.
Fifth email:
"Huh?? What makes you believe this is a scam? I didn’t ask you shipping like scammers do, i didn’t offered a payment via Paypal like scammers do and i didn’t offer a fake cashiers check like scammers do.. you get me?
I offered you cash in hand. I didn’t lie or scam anyone in my life"
I replied with every piece of evidence that led me to believe this was a scam.
The email that matches other emails on Google. Asking me to purchase a history report from a specific website. The fact that his website was created only 6 days ago. The fact that he is more worried about this history report than anything else. Never tried to negotiate price, etc.
Bottom line is be careful. They are getting creative and even if you call them out on their illegal shenanigans they will still try to convince you they are a legitimate car buyer. Car buyers will not send you a link to anything. And if someone tells you Carfax isn’t good enough that should be a red flag right there.
Here’s the one I got today from this email address: [email protected]
In order for me to come and make a deal face to face , i need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it .
i need the report because the loan company ask for it, get one .
Doesn’t make sense for me to get one because i can`t reuse it like you can .
You can give it to your potential buyers . Me on the other hand , if the report isn’t ok i will have to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $20 but if i run 5 reports until I find the right one where will i be ?
if the report will turn out to be all right ,you can consider it sold.
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $20 to the final price.
Below is the email from a Robert Smith. We never talked price and he asked 1 quesiton. He was more interested in having me run this report for $20.
I need to see the recent report before i move forward. Send me the report, i’ll take a look and if everything looks good you can consider it sold and i would like to come with my mechanic for a detailed inspection. Sorry but without the report i won’t repeat the same mistake by losing mine and mechanic time for a lemon and this is what my lender needs. I hope you understand me , please let me know.
Regards
Christopher Tiede [email protected] says:
Sounds good , i would like to come and see it before move forward but i would like to make sure you/vehicle and all is OK and legit and for that i need to see a recent report bc this is what my lender asked for and needs. I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I’ve had friends and family get shafted before here on Craigslist.
Let me know
Here is the email I got, I was afraid of the link he sent me was virus so I went to ICBC website to check how to sell a used car, where you can get the report from their official website.
On 6/1/16, Sandra <[email protected]> wrote:
> |_think tomorrow_is a good_day for a meet|ng. | can pay you cash or
> certified bank check if you want. I do hope you have all the things
> ready because i don’t want to make the trip twice. I will need a
> vehicle history report for my lender with the owner signature on each
> page so do not send me the vin no because you will need to get that
> history report.
> I depend on your help so please don’t let me be disappointed.
>
> You can get the history report from any website you want like carfax
> or carproof or you can get one from:
>
>
> I am willing to refund you for that report if it is too much to ask
> from you or if you want i can send someone from my family to a post
> office to transfer you the twenty bucks so you will have the funds to
> pay for that history report.
>
> I am very serious about seeing the car so once you have an updated
> vehicle history please tell me or reply with the pdf and I will call
> you or give you my number to arrange a meeting
Same story.
I am interested in buying it from you this week sometime. Have you ever run a report on its history before?
Can you please run a report from first I just have to make sure its got a clean background before buying it.
Im at work until pretty late this evening but this is my e-mail: cisnerostameraabk at.yahoo dot com once I see that ill come whenever you’re available this week for me to buy it.
Sounds good. Thanks!
… responses were not to the questions and comments I respond with. This tells me the responses are automated (probably via a computer program)
Don’t fall for this crap!!!
Phone # (323) 524-9011
Similar scam email sent to me 10/19/2015. I have a car for sale on Craigslist and I received this email:
"I checked7 out your ad on Craigslist for the vehicle for sale. I am interested.
I have sent a few messages through Craigslist but I have not received
a response. I have a couple of questions.
Lets make sure we can get in touch – ScottAllen8599(at)gmailcom – I
only deal locally – just being upfront!
Thanks,
Scott"
His next email:
"I am very interested. Do you have a current_vehicle history report available? I would like-to know if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I^suggest getting one. I have used_them in the past when I was selling a vehicle and it was half the price of other vehicle report^companies (only $19 – others are charging $40 or more).
I would feel more{}comfortable buying the vehicle*with an official report. In the past some of my friends got scammed on Craigslist, so I would rather be safe-than sorry. I am very interested but I cannot move forward without seeing the VIN*report first.
Honestly, it is a good selling>point for any potential buyer that may contact you. I just want to make sure that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it<has />Craigslist.
Shoot me a message when you get it so=that I can take a look at it. Then we can make arrangements to meet up. I work odd hours, so please bare+with me – sometimes I cannot respond immediately. Talk=to you soon. Thanks!"
Note the technique – "very interested" in your car: "his friends have been scammed on craigslist cars"; "wants a vehicle history report" that you pay for: get it cheaper through "lookupvin.com" "works odd hours and cannot respond immediately"
This is a scam. The scammer is not an interested buyer, he is only trying to get you to buy a report from that website, and he gets a commission for his fraudulent activity.
That’s exactly what I got from a guy Dale after I posted my Chrysler 300 on Craigslist Minneapolis. He tried to get me to buy the report\.com Here is his first email:
"The ad for the Chrysler 300 you posted on craiglist looks pretty nice. The price is within my range and I am very interested in buying it. I just need to know some basic information about it before I come to see it myself. Does it have some interior damage, how does it handle, how many owners did it have? Do you have history report, because I would like one to check some details before I come to you?"
After I respond he goes:
"Paula, thanks for the honest response. But I really can’t make a further decision without a report, since I’ve had some really bad experience with buying cars. So, I’d just really appreciate it if you can get a report and that you get it from carvinanalysis.com since my mechanic wants to see that specific one, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out. I would like to see it tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is okay with the report) In the end I would like to know how it rides? And how many keys are included?"
Beware!
"Robert Smith"
Date: Sep 28, 2015 4:01 PM
Subject: Re: 2011 Ford Flex SUV
To:
Cc:
First of all, i need to see the report, i’m the buyer. After i accept what i see i will forward myself to my lender.
—- On Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:24:39 +0300 craigslist 5220136292 wrote —-
i can send to the bank just give me their fax info
On Mon, Sep 28, 2015 at 11:14 AM, Robert Smith wrote:
I’m interested in getting it and I need something rather soon but do you happen to have a report on it? I would like to make sure there haven’t been any serious issues with it.If not please get one it’s much cheaper and is what my loan officer needs. I feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report bc of too many bad stories about car sales on CL.Sorry for emailing but I prefer this way of communication.
Got this while selling a car on Craigslist last week and it smell bad immediately. Could not figure out what the scam could be, except maybe skim the credit card info. But the site seems legit.
Commission on $20? How much could that be?
James Stach
I’m coming from Orange and i’m interested in buying your lexus. This will be the first time I have bought a vehicle myself thru craigslist and I need it immediately. Are there any major issues? Do you have the vehicle history report for it? If u don’t i’d recommend getting one it’s cheaper and i’ll need it for my bank.
I heard a lot of pretty scary stories about car sales on craigslist you know.. ?
If everything looks ok, I definitely want to buy it. I looked through the pictures and everything looks great. I believe in 2 or 3 days i should have the money from my bank and most probably.. Friday i’ll be there
I prefer to pay cash if you’re ok with that
Thanks
Have a person asking to purchase a report from lookpvin.com which redirects to with a referral id provided.
My first hint was that "Maureen Salinas" loved the car sooo much. Then the website was not secure.
Thanks for posting this!!
Via craigslist…
***
I want to buy the car and i will be paying in cash. However, I’d really want to inspect history report before i come to check it out. I’d really appreciate if you can get it from cardetailcheck.com because I’d like to repay you if we cut a deal, and they’re a lot cheaper than carfax or something else. If everything comes out clean on the report we will set up a meeting and I am getting the car.
***
This scam is active in Canada, also. Just so you know.
I purchased a new vehicle this week, and the old one went up for sale on Craigslist. I’m used to Internet scams but this one was pretty good.
Yep, I fell for it too….
"|_think tomorrow_is a good_day for a meet|ng. | can pay you cash or certified bank check if you want. I do hope you have all the things ready because i don’t want to make the trip twice. I will need a vehicle history report for my lender with the owner signature on each page so do not send me the vin no because you will need to get that history report
You can get the history report from any website you want like carfax or carproof or you can get one from: http://car-facts.ncd-canada.ca/ for 20 bucks.
I am willing to refund you for that report if it is too much to ask from you or if you want i can send someone from my family to a post office to transfer you the twenty bucks so you will have the funds to pay for that history report.
I am very serious about seeing the car so once you have an updated vehicle history please tell me or reply with the pdf and I will call you or give you my number to arrange a meeting
I hope you are serious too, thank you"
I’ve been trying to sell my car for three weeks now and I’ve received four emails that have all been some sort of scam. I’m tired of all the dirty sad people in this world who are willing to take advantage of anyone. Just awful.
A Vehicle History Report is Not a Pre-purchase Inspection
Limitations and Problems with Carfax or any Vehicle History Report
A history report is like any tool, and there is a limit to what each tool can accomplish. For example, you can’t rebuild an engine using only a screw driver, and you can’t determine the current condition of a vehicle with a history report.
1) Not all totaled vehicles end up with negative “reconditioned or salvage” titles.
A Carfax report will show if a vehicle was totaled only if two things happen. First, someone has to create and submit the paperwork which changes the status of the title, and second, Carfax must retrieve that information. If the paperwork was never submitted to the State’s DMV, the title will never be changed. For example, State Farm was sued for not reporting 32,000 to 40,000 “totaled” vehicles to the State’s DMV. Since the titles were never changed, these totaled vehicles were patched together and re-sold to the public with the original "clean" title and a "clean" Carfax report. State Farm was found guilty and agreed to pay $40 million in fines. Automotive experts estimate State Farm made between $60 to $80 million buy not reporting these vehicles to the DMV. This is an easy way to achieve high profit margins and this is not an isolated incident.
In addition, Carfax fails to inform their customers that there are States that do not report negative comments on their titles. These titles will not show any past problems such as “salvage, rebuilt, true miles unknown, theft recovery, etc…" Carfax’s buyback guarantee is not enforceable since the title was never changed to “totaled”.
2) There is no centralized database for accident reports or accident repairs.
Not all insurance companies disclose or share their accident information to Carfax. Carfax admits that there are thousands of accidents each day which will never show up on a Carfax report.
Even if Carfax reports an accident, it cannot inform the buyer the extent of the accident damages, or the quality of any repairs.
3) There is no centralized database for automotive repairs.
Carfax does not have any type of reporting mechanism to obtain automotive repairs that are performed each day by franchise repair facilities, independent repair facilities, used car dealers, auction reconditioning, wholesalers, shade tree mechanics, and the millions of do-it-yourselfers. Many Carfax reports show little or no repair information compared to the hundreds of thousands automotive repairs performed each day. Even if Carfax reports a repair, it cannot tell if the problem was fixed correctly or if there are additional mechanical/electrical problems with the vehicle.
4) Carfax does not verify its information.
Carfax does not verify the information provided by its sources. Today’s vehicle identification number (VIN) is comprised 17 letters and digits. It is easy to input an incorrect VIN or mileage or other identifying information. Any mistake can cause a Carfax report to wrongly show "mileage discrepancies, airbag deployment, accident damage, salvage, ect…" Any database manager will tell you, “garbage in, garbage out”.
5) Used car dealers know the limitations of a Carfax report.
Some dealers knowingly buy vehicles with frame and accident damages but have a "clean" Carfax report. They sell these damaged vehicles to unsuspecting buyers by showing a Carfax report with “no structural damage reported" and “no accidents or damage reported to Carfax”.
6) Carfax can’t tell you who owns the vehicle.
Carfax does not tell you who currently owns the vehicle. Carfax only displays the registration state. You have to contact the DMV to determine the registered owner.
7) Any State’s annual safety and/or emission tests are very limited.
A Carfax report might show that a vehicle passed a States’ annual safety and/or emission test. However, these annual safety and/or emissions tests do not cover most mechanical and electrical systems. A previous safety and/or emission test cannot tell the buyer the current condition of any component or systems.
8) Carfax is a "history" report, not a “current” report.
There will always be a time lag from when a negative incident occurs and when (or if) it get into a Carfax report. This time lag can be significant and allow a damaged vehicle to be re-sold before Carfax reports the negative information.
9) Carfax reports are expensive for the small amount of useful information.
A Carfax report sells for $40. Pay that amount and 1) you can’t be 100% sure if the vehicle was ever in an accident(s) or totaled, 2) the quality of any previous accident damage, 3) if the vehicle was abused or well maintained, 4) the existing condition of ANY mechanical or electrical system.
10) Carfax is not consumer friendly.
Internet sites are full of complaints and problems with Carfax. If you have a complaint or see a mistake on a report, you must contact them via email and wait for them to respond (Carfax does not allow phoned in complaints). Carfax will not perform an investigation when you dispute a negative report. Carfax requires the consumer to get documentation disputing what Carfax has in its database. Obtaining proof is usually tedious and time consuming. Some errors are impossible to dispute especially if the reported information is erroneous.
11) Carfax hides behind their disclaimer.
Many Carfax customers have purchased used vehicles with a “clean” Carfax report only to discover existing problems and accident damages resulting in a financial loss. When confronted by their customers, Carfax refers them to their disclaimer.
The perception created by Carfax, suggests their history reports contain comprehensive historical information on used vehicles. Carfax touts it has over 34,000 data sources of information. However, that’s less than 10% of the estimated automotive industry sources.
For years, Carfax advertised itself as “your best protection against buying a used car with costly, hidden problems”. Currently, Carfax advertising states: Don’t run the risk of buying a used car with costly hidden problems. Get a detailed vehicle history report from our nationwide database within seconds”.
Consumers are led to believe that if the Carfax report is “clean” they eliminated the risks when purchasing a used vehicle.
So glad I searched for scams on vehicle reports. I was asked to purchase one and they would reimburse me when they came to look at my motorcycle. I said I would provide the VIN number so they can get a report themselves because the bike was in pristine condition. Here is the email I received: "Paul Lewis <[email protected]>
Wed 10/23/2019 6:40 PM
"Thanks for the additional info. The thing is I have a really long drive to you so i want to make sure everything is fine with the bike, before I come. That’s why I asked for the report. Would it be possible to send me bike history report from upvin-us.us because my mechanic told me to ask for that one, and since I asked for it, I will repay you money for it when i come to look at the bike. If you send me the report and if everything is ok, I could come on Monday so we can discuss about the price and get everything done.
Please let me know what you think."
Then the next one received:
"I am sorry but i can not get report for someones else bike because you know the condition of your bike better then i do, if something is not fine, we wont make the deal and then i do not have any use from that report. If everything is as good as you say it is i will refund you money for it once i come to see the bike and make a deal with you. Hope you understand that. Let me know if you get it so we can organize everything."
Received a text message from "David" at (619) 356-2360 asking me to use http://www.vinlookupreport.com and to email him the report at [email protected]. Said that he didn’t feel comfortable doing it himself because he is not the legal owner. I sent him a couple of replies and each reply I received didn’t match the conversation and were obviously automatically generated. BEWARE!
Received a text from a 570-284-5878. He said wanted to buy my vehicle but to first go to htt://vinreported.com and email him the history report to [email protected], I told him that I had the report already and that we could meet right away. I never received a response back.
I declined to pay for any reports and instead offered to give him the VIN and he could run whatever report he would like and I would reimburse him for it. Did he take my offer? No. Thanks for you post. It must be some sort of auto-response text message application that some clever scammer has written. I found your post very useful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Also from Dorothy J. ([email protected])
Just received scam email from a guy named Michael Williams([email protected]). Watch out!
Received a text message from "David" at (619) 356-2360 asking me to use http://www.vinlookupreport.com and to email him the report at [email protected]. Said that he didn’t feel comfortable doing it himself because he is not the legal owner. I sent him a couple of replies and each reply I received didn’t match the conversation and were obviously automatically generated. BEWARE!
I don’t think the sites itself are dangerous. The scam doesn’t involve a drive-by-download of a virus or anything. The site is "legitimate" in the sense that if you go there and buy a vehicle history report, you’ll get an actual report back. But the scammer has a kickback contract with the site (or may own the site itself), so the scammer gets money for every unique VIN that gets entered on the site.
I got the same email – even from the same address – as one already posted in the comments here.
Here it is:
"To be able to come ,see,test and make a deal for it face to face,i need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it.
I need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to http://www.cthreport.com and get one . will not make sense for me to get one because i can`t re use it like you can , you will be able to give it to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok i will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $24 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok report where will i be ?
If the report will be ok you can consider it sold.
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $24 to the final price"
September 2019 – Almost got caught by a scam from cardetailcheck.com. The email replies to my Craigslist posting were very well written but something did not seem right. Callum did not listen when I said he was second in line behind someone already coming to look at the vehicle. He wanted to pay full asking price, sight unseen, but only if I run a vehicle report from cardetailcheck.com since they were cheaper than Carfax. Thanks very much for all the posts that popped up when I researched this a bit. Seller beware!
email from Jon Lyons asking for a clean title report.
They asked for my personal email at first which I thought was okay as it was someone posing as the daughter who was looking for her father. The email interaction with Jon Lyons seemed okay but once they brought up the web site link and mentioned a loan – I sensed it was a scam. Anyway – I checked the IP address in the email and sure enough – it was from Romania . . . 86.122.233.102
The other sure sign tell . . . they are not able to mention anything about your local city. Even if you offer to meet them at some run down side of town – they will have no idea as to the type of neighbourhood. Notice how all the content is lowercase.
to be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i=20
need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he=20
will allow me to buy it .
i need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to=20
https://cthreport.com and get one . will not make sense for me to get=20
one because i can`t re use it like you can , you will be able to give it=20
to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok i=20
will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report.
i know is only $24 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok=20
report where will i be ?
if the report will be ok you can consider it sold .
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $24 to the final price
>>Husband would like to talk to you!
>>
>>What’s the email where he can contact you?
Jim Carson <[email protected]> Mon, Jul 29, 2019 at 6:50 AM
Reply-To: Jim Carson <[email protected]>
I’m interested and ready to come , see , test and make a deal for it .
I need something rather soon , but i would like to make sure you/vehicle and all is ok and legit.
For that i need a vehicle Title report ,donscamdetect_t send an old one or get something you find , get me the report from https://www.vtreports.com/ is what my loan officer asked for and needs .
I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I’ve had friends and family get shafted before.
Jim Carson <[email protected]> Mon, Jul 29, 2019 at 9:59 AM
Reply-To: Jim Carson <[email protected]>
To be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it .
I need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to https://www.vtreports.com/ and get one . will not make sense for me to get one because i cant re use it like you can , you will be able to give it to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok i will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $24 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok report where will i be ?
If the report will be ok you can consider it sold.
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $24 to the final price
—————————————–
We better be cautious of this type of scam!
Full on scam. Too eager.
———
From: "scott sewall" <[email protected]>
To be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i
need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he
will allow me to buy it .
I need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to
https://www.vtreports.com/ and get one . will not make sense for me to
get one because i can`t re use it like you can , you will be able to
give it to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not
be ok i will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $24 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok
report where will i be ?
If the report will be ok you can consider it sold.
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $24 to the final price
Husband would love it!
What’s your email where he can contact you?
I really like your vehicle. Can you give me some details about it before I come to see it? Do you have any suspension problems ? Or oil leaking ?
Thanks.
I appreciate your answer, you have a really good vehicle! I am planning to get a personal loan to cover the price and I will not try to negotiate it. I will come to test it and close the deal with you in the same day with cash in hands. in order to get the money faster than usual, my loan officer is asking for the vehicle history report from https://www.vtreports.com/. I know that this a secure website and the report can not be modified. Let me know if you can get it.
Their email is: [email protected]
Identical message as the one received by Aron below. This person is Jon Lyons.
Of course first they asked for the personal e-mail, Craigslist may have screened them out. Here goes their spiel:
Husband would love it!
What’s your email where he can contact you?
I really like your vehicle. Can you give me some details about it before I come to see it? Do you have any suspension problems ? Or oil leaking ?
Thanks.
I appreciate your answer, you have a really good vehicle! I am planning to get a personal loan to cover the price and I will not try to negotiate it. I will come to test it and close the deal with you in the same day with cash in hands. in order to get the money faster than usual, my loan officer is asking for the vehicle history report from https://www.vtreports.com/. I know that this a secure website and the report can not be modified. Let me know if you can get it.
Their email is: [email protected]
I listed a vehicle and received two scam emails almost word for word as the above regarding a VIN checks.
1. FROM [email protected] (initial request from Diana for her step father)
I appreciate your answer, you have a really good vehicle! I am planning to get a personal loan to cover the price and I will not try to negotiate it. I will come to test it and close the deal with you in the same day with cash in hands. in order to get the money faster than usual, my loan officer is asking for the vehicle history report from https://www.TitleInfoCheck.com . I know that this a secure website and the report can not be modified. Let me know if you can get it.
2. FROM [email protected]
A. Hello. Have you been getting all your messages on Craigslist? It seems like they have been hit and miss going through lately, it’s strange.
I saw your ad on Craigslist and I am interested in getting in touch with you. Has it been in any accidents? Go ahead and contact me direct at my email below instead please.
My email: GregKline456(at)Gmail_com
Talk to you soon. I can help. Thanks – Greg
Sent from my iPhone
B. Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
http://www.vinhistory.report
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided – it will definitely help you with the sale.
Let me know if this helps. Thanks!
Red flags on more than on a few things with this guy. Should have stopped sooner.
Cutout wanting an email address. Overeager. Email address has a name, which any name search for social profiles show results San Diego California, (I’m in Oregon). That led to checking the name and the suspicious titleinfocheck link which brought me here. Thanks for the clarification!
On Tue, Jun 11, 2019, 3:25 PM Summer <[email protected]> wrote:
What’s the email where my husband can get in touch with you ?
From: [email protected]
I just saw your vehicle and I have to say this is what I wish to have. I’m really interested to come and have a look in person. Before this what can you tell me about it? Have any problems ?
…..
Thanks for the answer! I will buy for sure your vehicle if everything is as you said! I am taking a personal loan and to get the money I need to share with my loan officer the vehicle history report from http://www.titleinfocheck.com . I don’t want to get it by myself because if it’s bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out to be.Before closing the deal with cash in hands I will be there for a test drive. I will appreciate if we can go further. I hope to hear from you soon.
Was just hit by this number, he even used a name that is post as being scammed by.
Sasha – I believe http://www.titleinfocheck.com is a scam site. I received the following message (which you can see is about exactly the same as one mentioned below). It all started with a gal who sent me an email asking for my direct email so she could have her "father-in-law" contact me. I also was never able to speak to a person at http://www.titleinfocheck.com, in spite of the fact that they said their customer service is 24/7/365.
To be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , I need the report so I can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it .
I need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to http://www.titleinfocheck.com and get one . will not make sense for me to get one because I can`t re use it like you can , you will be able to give it to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok I will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $24.99 but if I have to run 5 reports until I find an ok report where will I be ?
if the report will be ok you can consider it sold .
Thank You!
P.S if is about the money I will add the $25 to the final price
Has anyone heard of http://revealvin.com/? Someone asked if I would get a vehicle report for my car and suggested this website. I really doubt that it is real.
6504199737 — this number tried to scam me too with the same schpiel that everyone else listed below
6504199737 — just tried to scam me too. same schpiel as everyone else.
Another fake websites https://www.vtreports.com, https://www.threport.com
Running a vehicle history report and vin check website myself at https://www.lemonchecks.com I can attest to the fact this is a real scam that sadly cons used car buyers out of money every day. Thank you for sharing this advice on the car history report scam as I will be sure to link out to this article to make visitors to Lemon Checks aware of this fraud! So thank you for sharing this knowledge!
Cheers,
Chris
Watch out for cardetailcheck.com
If it has an exclamation point next to html ..avoid it
Has anyone heard of http://www.titleinfocheck.com and know if this website is a scam?
Thanks AZ (19 March 19). Just had exactly the same one. Word for word (including the typo!).
This is alive and well on craigslist referencing http://vinhistory.report . Received the same emails from [email protected] and [email protected]. They asked that I not reply through craiglist but instead used their gmail address.
Hello. I am interested in getting in touch with you. Has it been in any accidents that you know of? I have been having problems with messages sending on this site – they must be having site issues. Lets try this another way. Go ahead and message me at my email instead please –
BradHope732(at)Gmail_dot_com
That is probably the easiest and safest way for us to communicate for now. Check your spam folder also. Mail has been going in there from Craigslist. OK, looking forward to speaking with you. I can help. – Brad
Sent from my iPhone
Same thing on Kijiji Montréal! From Valerie Nitsche <[email protected]> or Lena Vinnitsky <[email protected]>. For the French folks, here is the conversation history:
modifié de quelque façon?
Je aime la voiture et je suis sûr qu’il est O K.
Je suis d’accord avec le prix de votre liste, donc je vais aller de
l’avant obtenir les fonds de ma banque.
Je vais aussi venir à vérifier la voiture. Je veux apporter mon
mécanicien avec moi, alors il verra aussi.
je vais inspecter la voiture. Je suis très sérieux
Avez-vous tous les docs de services et l’histoire de la voiture?
Je pense que demain, ce est une bonne journée pour une réunion . Je peux
vous payer en espèces ou par chèque bancaire certifié si vous voulez .
Je espère que vous avez toutes les choses prêt parce que je ne veux pas
faire deux fois le voyage. Je aurai besoin d’ un rapport d’historique de
véhicule pour mon prêteur avec le propriétaire signature sur chaque page
afin ne pas me envoyer le vin non parce que vous aurez besoin pour
obtenir ce rapport d’historique
Vous pouvez obtenir le rapport d’un site Web que vous voulez comme
Carfax ou historique CarProof ou vous pouvez en obtenir un à partir de:
http://Vehicle.LeaseCa.pro/ pour 20 dollars .
Je suis prêt à vous rembourser pour ce rapport se il est trop demander
de vous ou si vous voulez, je peux envoyer quelqu’un de ma famille à un
bureau de poste pour vous transférer les vingt dollars de sorte que vous
aurez les fonds pour payer que l’histoire rapport.(Je peux faire le
transfert Maintenant, si vous voulez)
le rapport d’historique du véhicule doit être d’aujourd’hui pour que
celui que vous dites ne m’aide pas
Je suis très sérieux de voir la voiture une fois que vous avez un
historique du véhicule mis à jour se il vous plaît dites-moi ou répondre
à la pdf et je vais vous appeler ou vous donner mon numéro d’organiser
une réunion
Je espère que vous êtes sérieux aussi, je vous remercie
F*CK THESE SCAMMERS!
334-231-2533
Great, how long do you have it? Anything you’ve done in terms of repairs on it? What area you in exactly?
Okay,is it possible to meet tomorrow? would like to come down to your place and make a deal if all is well. Cash, cashier check or we go to my bank (BofA) however you wish
Alright we can meet tomorrow at 5 pm.. I will take a day off from work. Anyway could you send me the VRC report now?
OK, Its the report which you as the owner can pull online http://www.vehiclesrecord.com by the way I am david.. can I get your name?
I asked you for the report and never heard back.. if you arent sure about selling or changed your mind please let me know i’m looking at others but prefer yours
I got the exact same phish from "Jessica" that J. Thompson posted below. Literally the exact wording.
Got the exact same emails posted here from
[email protected] so steer clear. People suck.
Just posted my car for sale and got two scam responses requesting a car fax report. One from Leah Lyman 814-540-0806 and the other from 310-402-3285.
Just posted my car for sale and got two scam responses requesting a car fax report. One from Leah Lyman 814-540-0806 and the other from 310-402-3285.
Got the same scam: the phone number is 310 467-8650
The scam vin site was : checkvins.co/?485738
I am guessing the HTML number at the end identifies the specific scammer.
The scammers are still at it. Received a similar text and continued text convo up until he gave me the website vinlookupreport.com (last commented here in 2015). I googled it and it was not a known site, so didn’t fall for it. Number the dude who said his name is Fredie (douchnozzle doesn’t even know that this name usually has two D’s) is (405) 254-8495. I did a search on the number and found it to be a landline in Oklahoma. The real owner of the number probably doesn’t even know some schmuck is using their number for scamming people!!
I decided to write here, because I would like to see more detailed information about HOW to report to the FTC at the link provided. I started to several times, using different categories from the listed choices. NOTHING comes even close to matching what it is we would be trying to report. First, I know reporting the phone number does no good since the ability exists to change it to what a scammer wants to show you. My concern is that the website given is gaining access to a persons credit card information. I couldn’t find an affiliate program associated with this one, so I feel this is the reason for the scammer wanting me to use this website. Scam Detector… please edit this thread with more specific instructions for thee reporting process.
this is the info of one of those scammers. 610-600-2376
WOW. Good thing I found this site. Life saver!!!!
856-200-0341
Asked if car was still available by text. After I confirmed availability: they stated that they were very interested and then asked me to ‘try to get a vehicle VIN report for me from vinreports.co/?36750.’ I politely declined and said I would gladly supply the VIN number for them to perform the check. No response to that. I then added that if they came and saw and drove the car and liked it, i would then consider a VIN report on my dime. Still no response. I then googled the website and it came up as some other affiliate site. I guess i could’ve googled it prior to my response, but i already knew i wasn’t clicking on any link a stranger supplied to me. TRUST NO ONE
Same deal here. Called me then hung up after asking if the car was still for sale. Then started getting the following texts to my phone.
570-608-3160
"Sorry at a mall and lost connection!"
"How many miles are on it" (Clearly stated in my ad)
"Would be nice if I could get a history check on your car from vehiclevinncheck.com" (which redirects to official.vin)
"This shows the vehicle accident history and makes sure there are no major accidents or title issues"
"If you can do that and email the report to [email protected]. I will keep an eye out for it then schedule a time to come meet you"
"I look forward to potentially buying the 2xxx Car after I see its 100% clean from that report."
"I’ve had my eye on this make/model for a while now."
Checked the official.vin site and they wanted $18.95 and CC info.
Thank you all for posting. I would have fallen for this.
Got the text:
"Hey sorry my phone service is very spotty today! Anyway I had a few questions about your car is it still for sale?"
When I responded yes, they asked how many miles (a number clearly in my short craigslist ad).
Then asked me to provide a history check from lookupyourvin.com – which redirects to official.vin.
Asked that I send the report to [email protected] and then he’d shedule a time to come meet.
Ten minutes later they texted again "Sorry to bug you, are you still there though?"
I said I was looking at the site.
They responded "I look forward to buying the 2005 toyota after I see what i need to see on that report. I’ve had my eye on this make/model for a while now."
And then it felt weird. I’m just going to tell them the car is sold.
Thanks again everyone for sharing their experience. Saved me $20, possibly having my card number stolen, and maybe even protecting my car’s title.
I should have known something was up when I got this email on craigslist.
On Jul 28, 2018, at 9:01 PM, Sophia <[email protected]> wrote:
Can you provide extra information relating to this
What’s your email ? I have my husband wanting to email you.
2006 Buick Lucerne CXL
Seemed legit then I got the exact email someone posted. "To be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it .
I need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to http://www.threport.com and get one ."
This type of Car history report scam is heppenning due to the lack of knowledge regarding the vehicle history report amongst both buyers as well as sellers. Every buyers & sellers should know about the details of VIN Check report and from where to buy it securely & legitimately, which will result in such type of no scam.
For more details just visit the following blog regarding every details of vehicle history report and boat history report.
[email protected]
Posted an ad on Craigslist selling my car. Get an email asking If my car is still available. Then asks about any issues. Then I get an email asking to purchase a report from a specific website that her loan officer requsted for loan history. After questioning it and saying that a legit loan officer could just check the vin#(which I already provided in a vehicle history report) for loan history, I then get this email.
To be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i
need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he
will allow me to buy it .
I need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to
https://threport.com and get one . will not make sense for me to get one
because i can`t re use it like you can , you will be able to give it to
all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok i will
gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $24 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok
report where will i be ?
If the report will be ok you can consider it sold.
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $24 to the final price
I then reported it to craigslist
?+1 (240) 817-5706?
They originally called and when I tried to call back it didn’t ring but they quickly texted that it wasn’t a good time to talk and asked if we could text.
They asked me to use vinreportgold.com and later vinreportsupreme.com which both redirect to https://official.vin. Said to email the report to SueRamplingkh(at)yahoo.com and then we can meet up to discuss. I am so sick of these scammers!!!!
Just received a text today asking for a "history report of the car to show the title is clean and no major accidents."The "best place to get one (report) is vinlookups.net send it to me at [email protected]." I asked her where she was located and she said about 30 minutes from where I lived. Said she would come to me to see the car which I had posted on Craigslist. She said once I see a clean report from lookupmyvin.org maybe we can setup a time for a test drive.After you’ve got the report and we can make a time to meet up. I said OK, give me some time to get a report. She said awsome look forward to seeing the report; ive been thinking about getting a 2009 for a little bit now. I continued the conversation and she said, I will check my email throughout the today! Thank you. I found this sight and everything popped out in my conversation as was the case in others.
[email protected]
Emailed me about my car on craigslist.com. after a couple back and forth emails, they wanted me to hop on https://threport.com. After I filled everything out and paid, it said it would take 2-24 hours for the report. yea right! Scam! beware!!!!!
BEWARE – Scam from: [email protected]
To be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it .
I need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to "www.threport.com" and get one . will not make sense for me to get one because i can`t re use it like you can , you will be able to give it to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok i will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $24 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok report where will i be ?
If the report will be ok you can consider it sold.
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $24 to the final price
570-303-5047,
Got a text from this number basically saying the same thing all of the other comments have posted. Was asked to pull report from asapvinchecks.com. Hope this helps
SCAMMER
From [email protected]: thank you for replying to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I’ve been shafted in the past. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site: http://vinunlock.com/. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
Regards,
Amy.
Beware of [email protected]. Scammer.
Scammer
From: James Wall <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, May 18, 2018 at 8:50 AM
Thanks for your response. Please understand that I am not around for inspection due to the nature of my job, I serve in the U.S Army as a CAS(Civil Affairs Specialist (38B)) currently on active duty and its been quite busy on the field these days with lots of restrictions, strictly no calls for security reasons but we have secure access to the internet as our major means of communication for now. I am OK with your asking price and if you don’t mind, I can only pay through PayPal at the moment be cause its the most secure way to make or receive payment online this is why I’ll prefer using PayPal to pay you, all you need to do is send your Paypal email and PayPal name to make the payment and if you don’t have a PayPal account, its pretty easy to set up at http://www.paypal.com. I have a few questions for you.
Are you the original owner? How long have you owned it? i need more pictures of all kind you can get. What’s its condition, any damages and what is your reason for selling? I hope you consider my offer. I am ready to buy. I’ll arrange for pick up after you have confirmed and received payment. Thanks for understanding, hope to read from you soon."
Scammer – phone 804-805-0820 Asked for a vin report. Keep asking and we have said no. Phone number is on east coast.
Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
SafeVinCheck.com
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided.
Talk to you soon. Thanks!
Same shit, different day. No contact info for the company either.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. 2 Days ago I got the same message from [email protected]. It said:
"I am interested in talking to you about your vehicle that is for sale. Are there any issues with it?
I have been having problems with my messages getting through on here, so if you could, please message me at my personal email:
BruceDent86(at)Gmaïl..com
Looking forward to speaking with you – Bruce"
I am interested in talking to you about your vehicle that is for sale. Are there any issues with it?
I have been having problems with my messages getting through on here, so if you could, please message me at my personal email:
KyleDent96(at)gmaíl..com
Looking forward to speaking with you – Kyle
Mine was basically the same as the others. Initiated by text. Regarding my Craigslist ad for my vehicle for sale. Mine was "Alex" using email address
[email protected]
BRUCE DENT RIDES AGAIN!!
(no subject)
craigslist reply 5d86 <[email protected]>
3:58 PM (2 hours ago)
to 8c2f5-65809456.
I am interested in talking to you about your vehicle that is for sale. Are there any issues with it?
I have been having problems with my messages getting through on here, so if you could, please message me at my personal email:
BruceDent86(at)gmail-com
Looking forward to speaking with you – Bruce
————————————————————————
Original craigslist post:
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/6580945631.html
About craigslist mail:
https://craigslist.org/about/help/email-relay
Please flag unwanted messages (spam, scam, other):
https://craigslist.org/mf/e4453c793e06f9e2ea96441485608921fbfbefb6.1
————————————————————————
[email protected] same exact message
I got a similar email from this Dent guy.
On Thursday, April 26, 2018, 11:36:07 PM PDT, Jason Dent <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
SafeVinCheck.com
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided.
Talk to you soon. Thanks!
This is my email from him… what a scammer!
I am interested in talking to you about your vehicle that is for sale. Are there any issues with it?
I have been having problems with my messages getting through on here, so if you could, please message me at my personal email:
JasonDent62(at)gmail.cøm
Looking forward to speaking with you – Jason
Thanks for kyledent95@gmail! When I did an Internet search on that it talk me right to this page! Nice job guys.
I received an email from the same KyleDent96(at)Gmail.com Same line "I have been having problems with my messages getting through on here, so if you could, please message me at my personal email:" Also received one yesterday from [email protected] Add this email to the list…Does anyone use yahoo anymore?
Looks like he’s been pretty busy. I got this email from him.
I am interested in talking to you about your vehicle that is for sale. Are there any issues with it?
I have been having problems with my messages getting through on here, so if you could, please message me at my personal email:
BruceDent86(at)Gmaïl..com
Looking forward to speaking with you – Bruce
I just got one too. Randy Dent.
I am interested in talking to you about your vehicle that is for sale. Are there any issues with it?
I have been having problems with my messages getting through on here, so if you could, please message me at my personal email:
RandyDent56(at)GMAIL..com
Looking forward to speaking with you – Randy
This person is at it again. It looks like they like this name as I’ve seen it posted here twice. ylena trotsky also named Lena Vinnitsky and email is [email protected] I had posted my car on Leasebusters, and she emailed me with the right car information, but said it was found on Kijiji (like a Canadian Craig’s List service). Glad I found this site.
Message ID <CAKA9eoWBW7Y6VmRw4b-VgOECROdNgXFJbGPPAhY+iTLtriHoSQ@mail.gmail.com>
Created at: Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 4:49 PM (Delivered after 1 second)
From: Bruce Dent <[email protected]>
Bruce Dent
Apr 12 (7 days ago)
to me
Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
SafeVinCheck.com
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided.
Talk to you soon. Thanks!
Same scam sent to me today from Kyle Dent, [email protected] Of course, it was a red flag immediately when he wrote "I have been having problems with my messages getting through on here, so if you could, please message me at my personal email: KyleDent95(at)Gmail..????om" Yup, having problems with my message on here, sure!!
Got an email from [email protected] asking me to e-mail him there too. Scammer.
Please add the following email and phone number as I was scammed today. Unbelievable!
805-678-1737
[email protected]
I got an email asking about the condition of my car. And then his next email was "Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
SafeVinCheck.com
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided.
Talk to you soon. Thanks!"
Sucks that there so many scammers out there. Hope they are able to sleep peacefully at night after cheating people on a daily basis.
I’m selling a truck on Craigslist and got the same hustle. They first posed as a daughter (Sorana) who sent me a message in CL saying she needed an email (outside of CL) to give her dad who was interested. I then received an email from somebody called [email protected]. We had some small talk about the state of the vehicle health and whatnot. Then he pulled the scam saying "For that i need a vehicle vin report ,don`t send an old one or get something you find , get me the report from https://www.threport.com . is what my loan officer asked for and needs". To which I replied "I have already run the Carfax and can show you that. I don’t know this other site. Is there a cost involved? If so you should be willing to pay for it because I paid for the Carfax which is what most Banks require."
Since then – Crickets….
Randy Dent SCAM ARTIST
Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
SafeVinCheck.com
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided.
Talk to you soon. Thanks!
This is the email I got from the email address [email protected]
"To be able to come , see , test and make a deal for it face to face , i need the report so i can pass it to my loan officer and make sure he will allow me to buy it .
I need the report because the loan company ask for it .please go to https://www.threport.com and get one . will not make sense for me to get one because i can`t re use it like you can , you will be able to give it to all you potential buyers , me on the other hand if will not be ok i will gave to look for a new vehicle and get a new report .
I know is only $24 but if i have to run 5 reports until i find an ok report where will i be ?
If the report will be ok you can consider it sold.
regards
P.S if is about the money i will add the $24 to the final price"
It all started like Isaac below said, with a woman asking for the email, so her husband could contact me about the car
Adam texted asking for us to buy an MRI report, a vehicle report nobody had heard of, from http://www.myinstantreports.com. He sold his vehicle and wants it first before he drives down. Wanted to meet in the middle of the day during work. Don’t fall for it. I didn’t buy the report.
Add Fred at 573-227-8903 to the scammer list. He tried this very scam and demanded a report from used vehicle reports.com. One time reports are $25 JMG
Just like Mike below me, had a guys daughter (Sabrina) contact me needing my email so her dad could get in touch later. Guy emails me, saying I’m interested and ready to come , see , test and make a deal for it .
I need something rather soon , but i would like to make sure you/vehicle and all is ok and legit .
For that i need a vehicle vin report ,don`t send an old one or get something you find , get me the report from https://www.threport.com . is what my loan officer asked for and needs .
I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I’ve had friends and family get shafted before.“
Guys email is [email protected]
Add these to your list of scammers:
[email protected] 573-544-9399
[email protected] 601-667-0063
Johnwalker
Beckyhorne
Here is the conversation I had with a scammer, from the first to the last message, when I decided to stop:
On Wed, 11 Apr 2018 at 09:19 I wrote:
Hi
I received your sms. Yes, the car is still available.
Thank you.
On Wed, 11 Apr 2018, 22:24 Chen Yaqin, <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello, I am Chen Yaqin. I am interested in your Vehicle for my Son studying for his BSC in Singapore.
I would like to know all this following details about your vehicle:
1.) What is the listed price for your Vehicle
2.) What is the mechanical and physical condition of the Vehicle
3.) I would like you to send me the recent picture of the interior and engine of the Vehicle.
I won’t be able to contact you by phone at the moment because i am currently working on Oil rig offshore in Sarawak.
On Wed, 11 Apr 2018 at 18:43 I wrote:
HI Chen
All your questions are answered in the posting on Carlist.my.
See here :
https://www.carlist.my/used-cars/hyundai-santa-fe-2-4-high-spec-top-condition/4720782
Thank you
On Thu, 12 Apr 2018, 08:35 Chen Yaqin, <[email protected]> wrote:
Thanks for the pictures and information,It was a great help. I am really interested in buying it and i want to go ahead with the purchase,i am pleased with your asking price. but what is the current working condition of the Car,is there any mechanical and physical fault?
On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 at 01:35 me wrote:
Dear Chen
The car is to best of my knowledge in very good condition. I drove it since we bought it (registered under my wife), and I have done always all the services.
On the outside there no dents or damages. Maybe some very minor scratches on the bumper which probably can be polished off and are hardly visible.
The onky thing I should say is that the electric folding mirror on the left side is currently disconnected as it was making some noise when it was folding in (electronically). I did not have the time to get it checked and repaired.
Otherwise it basically new as I bought it.
You (or maybe your friend) is welcome to review and test the car. Just let me know when.
Thank you
Regards
me
Chan:
Thanks for the pictures and information,It was a great help. I am really interested in buying it and i want to go ahead with the purchase,i am pleased with your asking price.
What is the current mileage of the car and what is your reason for selling it,I’m asking all this question because i will not be able to
come to inspect it because i am currently working in Oil rig in Sarawak and this is the reason i have been asking for the full picture and information about the vehicle from you. I believe that i can trust you based on your information and explanation given to me
about the Vehicle and you will have no reason to lie about anything.
The vehicle will be shipped to him in Singapore by a reputabl shipping company from United State Of America (USA) that handles international shipping of Vehicle worldwide and have shipping agent all over the world to handle the pick up and transfer of ownership after you have received your payment.
Just got the following as an immediate auto reply after "Kyle Dent" requested I email him some more pics on my car for sale on Craigslist…
[email protected] (must be Frank’s brother from down-thread Lol)
Hello, I was reaching out to you about your vehicle for sale. Do you have a current vehicle history report for it? If not, I suggest getting one at:
SafeVinCheck.com
When I was selling my vehicle I got one from there to show people that were interested. It was only $19 which is half the cost of Carfax($40 or more). It will show if there are any issues with it. The peace of mind it gives for such a large sale is a bonus too.
It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams out there. People are more likely to look at it with a report provided.
Talk to you soon. Thanks!
One more scammer: [email protected]
Phone (435) 200-1834
Asking to login to vinunlock.com
Please add Nancy Carter 435.200.1834 ([email protected]) – sent me a text asking for my email, advising she was interested in a car we are selling on KSL but couldn’t "talk" to me. Sent her my email address and she asked if I had a VIN report for a car we are selling on KSL then advised I should pay for one from http://vinunlock.com/. When I asked Google what @mypost.one was – your article popped up w/ the scam info.
Please add Nancy Carter 435.200.1834 ([email protected]) – sent me a text asking for my email, advising she was interested in a car we are selling on KSL but couldn’t "talk" to me. Sent her my email address and she asked if I had a VIN report for a car we are selling on KSL then advised I should pay for one from http://vinunlock.com/. When I asked Google what @mypost.one was – your article popped up w/ the scam info.
I have had multiple scammers try this on me! I have a vehicle report that I have provided myself, and after they find that out they stop messaging me.
Names:
[email protected], Frank Dent, requesting Safevincheck.com
[email protected], Jessica Walker also phone number 573-242-2412 requesting vinofficial.com
Anonymous, 816-253-6933, requesting vin-lookup.us
Anonymous, 720-216-0209, wanting to having someone pick up my car after their check clears WITHOUT ever seeing it.
SO tired of scams!
You can add Louis Pierce AND Dominic Davidson to the list. I received 2 of these requests in the same day. Thank God i thought to look up this scam before falling for it. I’m sorry so many people fell for it, but I thank you all for posting your encounters so that I was able to avoid this scam.
Aaron here from W.V., he tried to scam me too. Ordered one from cyclevin and he said he specifically wanted one from bikevinusa.com. Did a few internet searches and found a few pages on what that company and their employees are about. I sent him a link to one. What a turd!
Forgot to say that the website "NICK DARBY" used was vinroadfax.com – I feel like a real idiot.
Hi – yes I fell for it also. Fake buyer for a motorcycle on craigslist "Nick Darby" – pretty much the same words as others here – but I need to know – can they steal my debit card info? I just reported my card lost and haven’t seen any unauthorized charges but I am wondering if something is going to show up?
Thank you for this article. I just had the exact same experience – word for word emails. Lena Trusk, [email protected]
got a message asking if the car was still for sale and saying they "really liked it" asked me to get a car report, which I was happily going to do, asked if I would run it through usavinreports.com and send it to [email protected]. Sent them a screen shot of the report I already had and nothing then got nothing in return! Problem is, I didn’t see the message about the specific site to run the report through until it was too late, or I would have known it was a scam. GRRRR
Yes, scammer for VIN CHECKED. Name was Rob from 760-709-3044 and email was [email protected]. Beware!!
This scammer actually called to ask my vehicle and his phone disconnected and he texted saying that he is at work holiday party. Anyways
he says his name is Rob
His phone number 631-257-0791
email [email protected]
he wants you to buy Vin check from vin-checked.com and vin-checked.org
Well… another lowlife trying the scam people.. so be careful!
Yep… likely just got scammed for $25 VINCHECK1.com
I have had 3 different interested buyers trying to get me to get a report from bikecheckupvin. Definitely a scam.
Trying to sell a motorcycle and It seems this Barry guy is trying to scam me as well. Same exact email response from craigslist trying to sell a bikecheckupvin report. His name comes up as Barry Maloney.
Watch out for this one also. I tried to sell a motorcycle and this is the response from potential buyer. I looked up site and it also has complaints of ripping off people.
"Thank you for honest answer. However, I would really like it if you can generate the report and that you get it from vincheckupusa.com because they’re a lot cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I don’t want to pay it myself because if it’s bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out. I would like to see your bike tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is okay with the report)
Looking forward to hearing from you, Barry"
She tried with me. Thank you I found this story when I searched her addres
Just got pinged by one of these scammers but , caught his scamming a$$, told him I was a federal officer and worked for homeland security, he couldn’t get away fast enough. He calls himself "Frank" 213-302-7141. Keep vigilant friends.
Same deal here just no name associated with it. Received a text. Phone number clearly listed. Bringing his mechanic…….didn’t fall for it.
Ellen Vinnitsky is a exposed scammer who just tried to do the same thing to me, as she did to Doug in the comments. Line for Line the same. You can tell by the bad spelling, the all over the place email, the urge to buy it and take a loan out for it without seeing it. The list goes on.
Known scammer please watch out.
I got scammed just as u said! Almost word for word. Pathetic! Ellen vinnitsky u were just too good to be true! U didn’t even haggle on my price
In response to a Craigslist ad for a car I’m selling, I just got a text from 336-395-5837 asking me to get a report from lookupvin.com. So far most of the messages about the car have been scams, so I googled everything first and found this. Thanks for the info!
Shit I just send my CARFAX to the scammer!!! What Can I do?
Glad I found this website. You can add [email protected] to the list. "She" just tried this on me.
[email protected] just tried the same with us.
Indeed, the following email tried the same SCAM: [email protected]
I am currently selling my car online and two scammers contacted me. One of them asked me to provide a report from vinhistoryfacts.com He claimed he drives from 400+ miles away, but he had local area code. The other one called herself/himself "Josephine Cruz" and asked for a report from usacheckvin.com
Be aware of these two websites.
I just got one from 443-258-9053. It stated "Hi, I am interested in the 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse listed for $4000. My mechanic wants to see a vehicle history report before we set up a meeting. I will appreciate it if you could get it from safe-vehicle.com and if the report is clean we will make a deal. I am from Baltimore". When I told him I wanted to look up the sire, I got no response. Then I found this article with the exact same wording he used. When I told him to come drive the vehicle first to see if he liked it, he said "Thank you very much. Here is my email just in case you would send me a report… [email protected]"
It just happened to me and I’m so stupid. I fell for it. It was so much like Jenny’s post below. It was all through text. His name was Luke, 719-426-4331, email [email protected]. Asked if he lived in Colorado Springs (because of the area code). Said no, Fort Colllins. Asked how old, any major work, does body have any dings or dents. Said he’s interested and just got paid by insurance for his accidents from two weeks ago, so he needed something asap. Wanted to meet the next day. Said he was working but will arrange a day off before leaving. Said the price is fair so he thinks we have a deal. Then asks for the DMS report. Wanted it emailed to him before he left his shift that night. Dumb me!!!! And I’m out $25.
Just rec’d a offer to buy my car from [email protected] in Vancouver. It was copy and paste from the example above. "I like your car and I want to buy the car. I will only deal face to face and I will like to pay cash!
The car looks good from the pictures. I need to know the last price! I have a loan approved and I must know from the start how much to pick up. Please be fair about it"
Just received the exact same text as below for my Craigslist ad.
Hi, I am interested in [your car] listed for [$$]. My mechanic wants to see a vehicle history report before we set up a meeting. I will appreciate if you could get it from lookupvin.com and if the report is clean we will make a deal. I am from [your city].
Thank you, Jenny, for the info on #406-233-9102. He/she/they did the exact same thing with me using the exact same wording! They actually sound legit but I saw too many red flags and once I told them that I will look into it and get back to them, haven’t heard back. Total scam.
I had someone from phone #406-233-9102 contact me via text and asked if I still had my car for sale. Then proceeded to ask how long I have had it and has it had any work done on it. Then hows the body any issues? Any dings or bumps that aren’t easily noticeable? Then said he/she couldn’t call me due to being at work but very interested and is between my car and another but likes mine due to lower miles. They just sold their vehicle earlier this week so needs to get out of this rental. Can we set up a time tomorrow or day after? What time works for you and where are you located? They proceeded to say that they will arrange a day off of work tomorrow and get a ride down (it would actually be up not down). I think the price is fair so unless you haven’t told me something I think we have a deal.Then he/she states one more thing…can you send me the report as well. I told him what report. Then he gave me a link of http://www.dmvcarfacts.com. I said I don’t do the report you will need to pay for that. Then they got snotty with me and said "Look its not my vehicle to be purchasing a report for its for 20 bucks and carfax is 40 I already checked. You are selling the vehicle…I didn’t haggle or negotiate nor do I need too. Just need to see a report before I pay someone to drive me and take a day off work." I then said I would run the report but need to know how he is going to pay me either by cash or cashiers check. He then said Cashier Cheque. (red flag) I asked if he banks locally and he said Chase (well the town he said he lived doesn’t have a Chase bank. Another red flag). So I said need cash then. Then he said he is working on it but send me a report ASAP cause I don’t want to make efforts for nothing. I asked him for his email and he sends it to me like this. georgeharry3381atgmail.com (another red flag. who spells out at?). Then I told him I ran the report and will show it to him tomorrow when we meet up (I didn’t really run one). He replies right away.. I’ve sold my vehicle so I’ll literally be paying someone to drive me down (again it would be up)…its the only reason I want to see the report as we’re not talking about small sum of money. Just want to be sure as if all is well. I’ll take if off your hands and we can do the transfer simple as that. I again tell him I will show him tomorrow and I didn’t use his link as there are too many scams. I used a different one. Guess what he didn’t reply at all back to me!!! I googled the website and saw this site and read everyone’s comments even tho that website isn’t listed. I also googled his email address and it is to someone in Canada. No wonder he kept saying "down". Just beware. I had too many red flags and thought scam now this just confirmed it.
Almost an exact copy from Jessica’s post below and the phone number is only 2 numbers different – Hi, I am interested in the 2012 BMW 335 listed for #24000. My mechanic wants to see a vehicle history report before we set up a meeting. I will appreciate if you could get it from lookupvin.com and if the report is clean we will make a deal. I am from Charlotte.
Phone number: (336)477-8880
Here’s a variation of this scam, from number (816) 253-6942
Hi, I am interested in [your car] listed for [$$]. My mechanic wants to see a vehicle history report before we set up a meeting. I will appreciate if you could get it from lookupvin.com and if the report is clean we will make a deal. I am from [your city].
Happened twice in one day, first was Marcus phone#580-713-0589. He asked about spare tire.Second # 518-205-6535, asked for report from lookupvin.com.
Just happened to me.
AutoReportVin. [email protected]. SCAM
Same email strings and set up, different person used [email protected] they recommended vin.nard.ca which switched to vinhistory.co, I became skeptical so googled the name and saw bad info about this. I told them I have the report which I actually got from a friend at NC, I asked them for their number to call so we can set this up. no response of course.
Another website : http://www.dmvautoreport.com , stay away ! SCAM !
Beware –contact from 518 205-6535 about using lookupvin.com. after posting on Craigs list. Same MO as everyone below. Also sent an email address of [email protected]. So glad I found this site first!
Just posted my car for sale on Craigslist. Got a text a few minutes ago and figured I would Google for scams and here I am. This is what I got.
Hi, I am interested in the 2002 Honda Civic listed for $3300. My mechanic wants to see a vehicle history report before we set up a meeting. I will appreciate if you could get it from lookupvin.com and if the report is clean we will make a deal. I am from Greensboro.
Phone number: (336)477-8822
getvindetails
I fell for it. dmvautoreport.com. I paid $25 for the report & it appears to be accurate. I then sent it to the supposed buyer, who later responded they are no longer interested.
happened with (619) 493-2092, for carhistoryfacts.com
I posted a car on Craigslist and I’ve had three different people email me wanting me to use Vincondition to check vehicle history. The last guys name he used was Bade Arp
Christian Weber [email protected]
is still at it.
Thanks for your website which came up when i googled his email address!
I just received (2) identical responses from different people on different vehicles that read….. Thank you for the reply. I have a really long drive to you so i want to make sure everything is fine with the bike, before I come. That’s the reason i asked for this report.. Could you send me one from junctionreports.com because my mechanic told me to ask for that one and since I asked for it i am going to repay you when i come to see the bike. If you send me the report and if everything is in good order, I can come on Saturday so we can discuss about price and finalize everything.
Please let me know what you think
So I responded with the following….. I assume you are a salesperson for junctionreports.com .. I’ll be happy to supply you with the VIN #, but we are not interested in paying for any report. Have a Blessed day and hope to see you Saturday.
I got the exact same text and email as Kayla except this is from Irvin Connell. [email protected] 435-200-3894
TEXT: "Hi, I’m interested in buying your vehicle. Can you send me your email address because I have some questions but can’t really talk right now."
EMAIL: "Hi,
Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on ksl before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site: http://www.vincheck24.com. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out.
Thank you for reply,
I.C.
Thanks for writing this up. My ad on craigslist just got a response that seemed fishy, and your article provided all the answers I needed!
Add checktitlehistory.com and Greg and Arlene Hosman to the list of interested buyers.
thank you so much for posting – I knew it sounded very fishy but you also never know how weird some people are 😉 Sandrine W used this email [email protected] and I posted our truck on http://www.usedvictoria.com
This was the second email I received when I told her we had another buyer already interested (who I think is some sort of scammer too to be honest)
"i like the chevy truck and i am sure that
it is O K
i am fine with the pr ice from your listing
so i will go ahead get the funds from my l oan broker.
i will have to come and see and also
check the truck. I -will bring also my mechanic with me, so he will see it too.
i will be able to pay you cash after i will
inspect the truck. i am very
serious and i deal only face to face with cash.
Do you have all the service docs and the history of-the_truck?"
Here are another scammers phone numbers
Edward +1 438 -788-2172
Donald +1 438 – 968 – 8253
Thanks guys for the advice and thanks for your comments ! Because of your comments I could detect the scammer called Sandrine W
Leave your here her google+ profile and another emails addresses she/he is using
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Hi!
I received the same but translate from google translate form english to french !! Thank you very much!
I too received a inquiry from "Sandrine"
[email protected] on behalf of
SandrineW <[email protected]
SCAM!!!! thanks for a heads up!!!
I just received something very similar as well from Sandrine W with email address : [email protected]. Thanks to this site i will no longer correspond with this individuals! Thank you very much everyone!
I just received an email almost exactly the same as above from a "Sandrine", email address [email protected]. Thanks to this site and comments posted below I will not be corresponding with this scammer. Thanks everyone.
Same thing here. Add posted on Lespac. This "Sandrine" aka [email protected] contacted us…
We did not use the link and provided a Carproof report instead. Never heard from Sandrine again…
Same story… Different name! The person goes by «Sandrine» and the following email adress: [email protected] ….
Just received a scam as listed in the comments below from a Dan Pond ([email protected])
I had a Sandra Wozniki ([email protected]) interested in my car. Pretty much verbatim what was posted above. I sent and ICBC report and she emailed back that it was "not good enough." I did not end up paying for the history report she wanted and blocked her from my email.
Had a "Freddy Hoffman" respond to my CL ad for my motorcycle. First email was friendly and he wanted to know when he could come see it. He requested a vehicle report. I responded and told him to come to my workplace as I am riding it every day this week and that I did not have any reports available. He responded saying that he was coming from a distance and that his mechanic asked him to get a report prior to making the trip. He directed me to junctionreports.com and said he would pay me back. At that point I knew it was a scam. I responded and told him to provide me the name and business number of his mechanic and that I would call his mechanic and provide the VIN and they can order the report. I doubt I will hear back.
I was also asked to use http://dmv-checkvinloan by [email protected]. Almost fell for it. I already had a carfax that I sent in response then they got pissy and insisted I use their site.
Grumpycars.com and grumpyclassiccars.com also look like scams. The former is a young website, actually based in Panama city, portraying themselves as based in the States. http://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/grumpycars.com . I was texted a scam message, I asked the sender to email me through the website I posted my car on and no answer. Then I figured out the scam.
Im interested in the 2008 Outback you put up on craigslist. Would you mind emailing me the Vin to [email protected]? If you could include the url to the post so I can keep track, that would be great! Thanks!
https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/5729425969.html
I was just scammed today by someone saying they were interested in buying my car on craigslist. They wanted me to get "a vehicle report from http://dmv-checkvinloan. Not to use an old one or get one from a different site." They went on to say I could get one from this site for $19. And that it makes no sense for them to get the report. Their email was [email protected]
Thanks for this page which came up when I googled [email protected], who wrote:
i am fine with the pr ice from your listing
so i will go ahead get the funds from my l oan broker.
i will have to come and see and also
check the car. I -will bring also my mechanic with me, so he will see it too.
i will be able to pay you cash after i will
inspect the car. i am very
serious and i deal only face to face with cash.
Do you have all the service docs and the history of-the_car?
I’m pretty upset that i didn’t look here before falling for this scam. I had posted a bike on Craigslist hoping someone might want to buy it. I’ve never sold a car or bike before to an individual so I went to DMV site to review what is needed. The person sent me an email almost word for word that someone else on this site received. They sent me a link which I usually google a business I’m not familiar with just to be sure. There was no info about the site and then I found this site about the scams. I’ve used Craigslist forever as a buyer and my experiences have always been great. Now, as a first time seller I’m bummed to have been scammed.
Received the following from a CL ad. I knew it sounded a little odd. Followed the link but the site seemed fishy. I’m glad I didn’t fall for this scam.
Email is from Louise Westcott Aug 10 at 5:05 PM
Hi again Lois, thanks for response. My mechanic has special request, he wants to see car report before we come to see the car. I will appreciate if you can send me report from junctionvin.us so he could check. As everything like you mentioned in the ad and if report is clean we will come to see the car and we will make a deal easily. Also, I will refund you money for report! Hope you understand.
[spam alert] If you are looking for vin number, check vin-location.com it is quick and free
Here is the one I received, and dealt with today 8/18/16:
First he contacted me through Craigslist (on 8/16/16), which got marked as spam by Gmail, and I didn’t see it until today. Which of course I thought was odd, since I had received other Craigslist inquiries without any issues (flag one). After some thought, another flag kind of popped into my head, as he said that he had been trying to get in touch with me – umm there was only ONE email from him, so he didn’t try very hard! lol (I thought to myself).
Anyway…
Fred Howe (based on Adam’s post here, I am guessing Fred is Sam Howe’s brother 😉 ) wrote:
I have been trying to get in touch with you regarding your vehicle for sale, but I have not heard back from you. Go ahead and shoot me a message at my personal email: FredHowe735(at-gmail) – It will be easier to get in touch with me. I have a few questions. Thanks.
*So then I responded back to Fred through CL, apologizing for my delayed response and why I was delayed do to his email going into my spam folder.
I waited all day for a response back from Fred through CL, and nothing. So giving him the benefit of the doubt, I thought maybe it was a CL issue or bug, and so I responded to his Gmail that he had included.
Within 0 seconds, I get a response – I thought wow! He must have had a response just waiting for me, to copy-cut-n-paste to me (as no one is that fast of a typist! lol
Anyway, Fred’s response was:
Do you have a current vehicle history report_available? It will show if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I suggest getting one_here: http://americanvin.net – it is half the price of Carfax (only $19 – Carfax_charges $40 or more for a report).
I have heard of people getting_scammed online. Honestly, an official report is a good selling point for any potential buyer_that may contact you. It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a_clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams online.
*So I replied back (still giving Fred the benefit of the doubt) with:
Well you’re definitely right about all the scams online, it is just sad and scary. Anyway, thank you for the info, and tip – I will look into getting this tomorrow, as I had not thought to do this. Then I will email you back, when I have this report. 🙂
* Sometimes Google is my best friend, as I did a search on the link Fred provided – as I always research a company for reviews, legitimacy and scams etc. before I buy, and that’s when this site’s article popped up. In fact, I did not even click on the link Fred provided, so he won’t even get traffic visited credit from me – as I typed the link in the search box.
Anyway, I was kind of pissed that he was a scammer (and relieved at the same time that I didn’t fall for it), so I replied back to him one last time 10 mins later with…
Wow! YOU ARE the SCAM! LOL
http://scam-detector.com/auto-scams/car-history-report-scam
Now I know why Gmail has you flagged as spam. Good thing I am smarter than that, and I research links before I click on them! Nice try though asshole, but I am not your sucker today! Blocked & Reported again! Karma is a bitch, I hope she gets back at you good!
*I know Fred probably will never see my last response, but it still felt good sending that last reply anyway – just on the slight chance that he does see it – and letting him know that I am not his sucker! 😉
We had the exact thing happen to us yesterday, August 8, 2016 by Sandra. It was word for word as per the report above and as posted by Mathieu Clement below. We let the texts go back and forth for a bit then insisted that they call us or the whole thing was moot, mine was the last text.
Just got one very similar. Here’s the email from "Sam Howe,"
Do you have a current vehicle^history report available? It will show if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I suggest^getting one here:
http://americanvin.net – it is half the price of+Carfax (only $19 – Carfax charges $40 or more for a report).
I have heard of people getting+scammed online. Honestly, an official report is a good selling point for any potential buyer*that may contact you. It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title*and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams online.
Talk to*you soon. Thanks!
The real tipoff with this one was that this email came to me IMMEDIATELY after I sent one to this person. I mean not even a delay of a second. That’s how I knew something was fishy and looked up the website.
I was a victim of the same fraud report carproof by Sandra has the same email address as another post on this site: [email protected]. Do-it has nothing else to do.
Mathieu
I received a fishy looking response from a Sandra Wilkamak ([email protected]). Listening to my spider sense, I googled her name and ended up here. Here’s the "text" of her message. I imagine if I keep responding, I’ll get the same replies as others here have encountered:
i like the mini and i am sure that
it is O K
i am fine with the pr ice from your listing
so i will go ahead get the funds from my l oan broker.
i will have to come and see and also
check the car. I -will bring also my mechanic with me, so he will see it too.
i will be able to pay you cash after i will
inspect the car. i am very
serious and i deal only face to face with cash.
Do you have all the service docs and the history of-the_car?
Just had a person text me from phone number 385-206-3625. "Hi, I’m interested in buying your vehicle. Can you send me your email address because I have some questions but can’t really talk right now. Jessica
She then sent an email from [email protected], "Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on ksl before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site: http://www.vincheck24.com. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out. "
It seemed suspicious to me from the get go. Knew it was a fraud. Posting her information here so no one else falls for it.
I got scammed today and I fell for it I paid 20$ for a vehicle check. What can they do with it? I’m actually so scared. Help
Arion motors inc- in Hollywood Florida 5920 Plunkett Street Hollywood Florida 33027 are scammer’s at a used car dealership they take your deposit and then sell you a lemon car or a car they know you’re not going to be financed on and keep your deposit
This type of Car history report scam is heppenning due to the lack of knowledge regarding the vehicle history report amongst both buyers as well as sellers. Every buyers & sellers should know about the details of VIN Check report and from where to buy it securely & legitimately, which will result in such type of no scam.
For more details just visit the following blog regarding every details of vehicle history report and boat history report.
http://buyvehiclehistoryreport.blogspot.com
[email protected] is in on the scamming as well judt received the same emails listed on here. SMH glad I looked up vin reports scam before i purchased one for $19.99
I knew it! I just had someone ask me to get a report from a specific vin site. This one was carvinfinder.com. Everything else was the same. Let’s meet tomorrow, etc. I had not heard of site so I googled it, I did not want to use a link from a stranger. 4th page into google – no page. Put the complete address in google – nothing. I just told ‘Stella Cannon’ no. I think the site gets your info & uses it for who knows what. In all seriousness, where does anyone sell a car these days? Autotrader got me zero responses. Not even scams. Craigslist has been nothing but scams.
Just had someone try to get me to run a VIN check through vinleakdetection.com. Fortunately I was immediately suspicious. Here’s a copy of the email dialogue and the email from which it came: I don’t live near your place and it’s not worthwhile to coming without report. So I’d just really appreciate if you can pull it from vinleakdetection.com because my mechanic wants to see that specific one. And above all they are half cheaper than car fax and show the same information. If everything is fine with it we will make a deal easily and I will refund you money for it. Also I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is okay with car report)
Hope that is okay with you – See more at: http://scam-detector.com/auto-scams/car-history-report-scam#sthash.NQCdPGM2.PUjAI3xR.dpuf
Also, the person name was Chad Anderson.
Someone just asked for report from vinleaked.com. It looked like scam so be careful!
JessicaThorton at [email protected] tried this from a KSL ad.
Yes, Carfax is not the best investment. why pay $34 for a vehicle report, whereas, many other trusted options available @ much lower price.
Just encounterd report scam, be aware!
New Craigslist motorcycle report scam. This is how my recent encounter went:
"Sorry for late response, thought i found a good bike, but apparently it wasn’t and i drove 4 hours for nothing…
Thanks for the additional info. That price is fine. The thing is I have a really long drive to you so i want to make sure everything is fine with the bike, before I come. That’s why I asked for the report..Would it be possible to send me bike history report from junctionreports.us because my mechanic told me to ask for that one, and since I asked for it, I will repay you the money when i come to look at the bike. If you send me the report and if everything is ok, I could come on Sunday so we can get everything done.
Please let me know what you think."
Haha good try. I knew right away what was going on so I replied:
Because of the current scams going on Craigslist right now with motorcycle reports, no I will not run a report and just take your word for it that you will pay me back. You can run it yourself. I gave you the VIN in the last message. In fact, I do not think you are authentic at all. I think I’ll report your name to Detective Weimer who has been assigned to fraud cases involving the use of your name "Jerry Nelson". You should probably be ashamed of yourself, but I know people like you are incapable of any basic human emotion. Hopefully one day you will end up holding a loaded firearm in your mouth trying to figure out how things went so wrong.
All the worst to you,
C.
Just had the same experience as Steven (5/27/16) below. Here’s the e-mail dialog: "Thank you for frank answer and for interesting facts. Actually I don’t live near your place and it’s not worthwhile to coming without report. So I’d just really appreciate if you can pull it from vinleakdetection.com because my mechanic wants to see that specific one. And above all they are half cheaper than car fax and show the same information. If everything is fine with it we will make a deal easily and I will refund you money for it. Also I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is okay with car report)
Hope that is okay with you
Ben (Mccullough)
Got another one from another variant from wilkamak…. Very bad french from: [email protected]
Asking (in french) whether the car has an emission test. At least 2 months back (according to the post in this forum) he/she was at least trying to lure us in a bit…
If you are really into buying a reliable used car, you might as well check out VinAudit. It’s vehicle history reports are filled with vehicle information compiled from NMVTIS, NICB, and other vehicle authorities making each report available for very reasonable price. You may even get it for just $1
Purchased used car in February 2016. It’s been a month now and I still haven’t been able to drive the car. No tail lights. White smoke pouring out of the back tailpipe pipe all the time. I mentioned the white smoke coming out of a tailpipe day one. Used car lot said that was typical, all cars smoke. Two days later check engine light, came on. Meanwhile, tail light driver side still out. Took it back to use car lot. They said they’d fix the light. They made three attempts and on those three attempts one of the guys at the used car lot was saying that he could fix everything for me, "baby just go out with me" and mentioned a lot of other sexual graphic things. I’m appalled. I’m pissed off and I still don’t have a working vehicle and I lost a job over it because I miss so much time.
It was a used, as is, no warranty vehicle, cash only which I paid over 5000 cash for. It took it to 3 places, had it diagnosed O2 sensor and it needs valve guides intake manifold and that’s just what they uncovered from the diagnostic. Used car place said "bring it back. I’ll send it to my mechanic. Will get rid of the white smoke but you have to take care of the tail light. Will give you a loaner car for 2 days." I had originally said give me my money back. "I will give you your car back" they said. Here’s the deal. You got an estimate for $2,500 + to fix the white smoke with check engine light O2 sensor. Those kind of places are all about money. He said "I don’t trust them." Well the place I took it to was a certified Mini Cooper mechanic in business for 35 years. Sorry but I do trust them and not the used car place. Plus I really don’t want to have to deal with all the sexual BS that I know that I’m going to come up against.
I tried to record him but my memory was full on my phone. I tell you this because just because you buy used car, as is, no warranty, used cars are not protected under the lemon law. There is still legal recourse. If they knowingly sold you a car that had problems, it’s fraud and you can sue them for fraud. I’ve purchased all of the warranty problems with the car and these issues existed and previous owner declined to have work done and just sold it. Used car place picked it up, cleaned it up, and they just put in their lot. Of course they had a CARFAX report that they gave me when I got the used car. The Carfax report or worthless Carfax reports are only as good as what the dealer and the insurance companies report. To them if someone takes it to an individual mechanic they don’t report all those issues. Therefore it doesn’t go on the CARFAX report.
So CARFAX sucks and so does Mini Cooper S I and I have three different diagnosis on the vehicle. I’ve talked to so many certified Cooper mechanics in a dealer of many and they all say the same thing. White smoke coming out the back all the time. Get rid of it. These cars are very finicky and they are costly to fix. What a mess, what a big big mess. To be continued. I’m sure taking the car back to the used car place to let them attempt to fix the white smoke, that’ll be a whole other story. I’m sure I’m contacting all the news media if they don’t get it fixed. I don’t trust them. They couldn’t even fix a tail light, how the hell are they supposed to fix something major. But what choice do I have. I don’t have any money left and I lost my job over all this mess and more sexual crap to endure.
Helpful?YesNo
With regards to CarFax, I have this simple thing to say: Caveat Emptor – "let the buyer beware". I personally found out that CarFax is not the best investment. Back in 2009 I purchased a 2008 Honda Civic from a car dealer with a "clean CarFax". Jump to July 2010 and while at the dealership in Orlando, FL I was having a couple of warranty items fixed, and I wanted to see what the car’s current value is. They ran an AutoCheck (like CarFax BUT more thorough – from the company Experian, the credit reporting company), and it shows that the car had "significant unibody frame damage". I contacted CarFax and their "guarantee" – you have to pull another CarFax within the next 12 months or this doesn’t apply. They neglect to tell you this when you agree to purchase CarFax. This dropped the value by over $2000 on the car. I threatened action if the dealer didn’t help out – they agreed to take the car back; I got back more than half – not as much as I should have, but I didn’t want to deal with the lawsuits and traveling up to Atlanta, GA. Bottom line, don’t trust CarFax.
As for the Carchex, get in writing what their warranty is, and what they actually do for the money. Find a local mechanic that you can trust, and that knows what they are doing. Good luck in your search!
How do I cancel this? My niece fell for it.
I told "Samantha" and "Christopher" to order their own report and figured it was a scam. The web site they referred me to want even secure https and they ignored my direction to order it themselves.
They used this email address [email protected]
Don’t be scammed by these people.
Very much like Jeanne. My scammers were Jennifer the daughter wanted my email for her father at adamrose1976@hotmail Christopher Teide wrote and wanted to communicate by email only.
Christopher Tiede with the email address [email protected] The initial email came from Jennifer, who was supposedly his daughter!!! I wasted $20 for the report, a whole lot of time, had to cancel
Just had someone try to get me to run a VIN check through vinleakdetection.com. Fortunately I was immediately suspicious. Here’s a copy of the email dialogue and the email from which it came: I don’t live near your place and it’s not worthwhile to coming without report. So I’d just really appreciate if you can pull it from vinleakdetection.com because my mechanic wants to see that specific one. And above all they are half cheaper than car fax and show the same information. If everything is fine with it we will make a deal easily and I will refund you money for it. Also I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is okay with car report)
Hope that is okay with you
Ben Mccullough
Thank you for this info. I am feeling pretty stupid, as I actually fell for this scam today. I received a text from (435)268-1463 asking for my email address because they had some questions but "couldn’t really talk right now". I texted back my email and later that day received an email from [email protected] requesting that I purchase a VIN report because she had friends and family that had been "shafted" on KSL before. She recommended LookupVIN.com and sent me a link. I went to her requested website and purchased a VIN report for my car for $19.99. I had a bad feeling later about it and google her email address and found your info on the scam.
I am worried about what will happen now. I called my credit card company and had my number changed and let them know what happened. My question is… is the actual LookupVIN.com website I used fraudulent and/or "clickbank" unsecure that the charge was through? Will I be susceptible for other fraudulent charges on my account because they have my information? Or am I just out the $19.99 to "Jessica Thomas" who is part of their affiliate program? Am I in any danger that she has my email address now? What do I do now, that I already fell for this scam?
Thanks for your help,
Jennifer
This happened to me today. Received a text from Jessica at 435-268-1463 . She asked for my email since she "couldn’t talk right now" and had questions. I sent it over, and received the scam email: Hi, Thank you for answering to my text. I am very interested in getting your car but do you happen to have a report on the vehicle? Would like to make sure there have not been any serious issues with it. I do just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I have had friends and family get shafted on ksl before. If you do not know where to buy this kind of report I can recommend you this site: http://www.historycheck24.com. When I was selling my truck I used it and it works well. I hope this is not a big problem for you. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out. Thank you for reply, J.T. Don’t do it folks.?
I too have received emails from <[email protected]> to go to historycheck24.com the link sent me to a vinunited.com. Then when I got back in her email, the link to history check was no longer viable.
Thank you for the heads-up. I am dealing with this right now… her e-mails (Sandra) were somewhat unusual (but almost verbatim to the sample) so I was curious to say the least. Curiosity led me to this site.
I got a scam email from Jessica Thomas <[email protected]> asking that I go to historycheck24.com?
I was approached in much the same way as described above. ("Ariana said her father did not have phone service and wanted me to give him my email address. I didn’t bother to mention to "Ariana"that "Dad" could get the email address from Craigslist just as she did) I knew it was a scam from the beginning but I figured I would string him or her along. I didn’t quite understand how the scam worked but if the scammer is working for a kickback from the dmvcheck.org site it couldn’t be more than about five bucks. I hope I got five bucks worth of his or her time composing the dozen or so eMails that went back and forth.
Stay away from AutoCheck, use CARFAX.
I thought they are the same, but they are not.
I bought the ‘ultimate’ subscription with AutoCheck and used it to run the report for the few used cars that I was considering to buy from. The report shows the score of 93 out of the 100, where the 90 consider to be the great band. The history seems clean and no accidents was reported at all.
Time comes to purchase at the deal ship, right before sign up on the paper work, the deal says, hey by the way, you did read the car report beforehand right, yes – of cause i did, i have autocheck, it looks clean; – wait, it does not bother to mention the accident it had last month? the front was crushed ant air bags pop out, we had to go through to replace all of those, including the roof top and all its 4 wheels because they were out of shape. in fact we just got it back from the workshop today so congratulations you got the whole deal almost brand new out right! – wait, what, you didn’t know? the accident was clearly listed in the CARFAX report that hang off on our website, for free…
hence my request to AutoCheck, can i please cancel and get my money back, the information you sold me wasn’t really intellegence… what? I can’t? It’s has been 3 days into the subscription? what, i have ran the report more than one vehicle already? but wait, i thought by definition, the ‘comparing’ part involves more than 1 vehicle right? what, you don’t care but it’s the AutoCheck policy…
I am dying laughing when I see fake testimonials for AutoCheck and CarFax like the ones below, all in one day. you clowns, be smarter a bit…
Vehicle history reports list salvage titles and other potential problems with used vehicles. The information is a good first step for used-car buyers
You’re shopping for a used car and you think you’ve hit pay dirt. The car is only five years old, with low miles and a great price. You’re about to make an offer when you have a troubling thought: Is the seller hiding any problems? Was the car ever in an accident? Who owned it before this seller?
Years ago buyers could only judge a used car by inspecting its mechanical condition and maybe leafing through the owner’s file of service records. But thanks to improved record collection combined with the power of the Internet, the vehicle identification number (VIN) can reveal if a used car has a checkered past. Experts describe the VIN as a car’s DNA.
Car buyers can purchase vehicle history reports from a number of different companies, some of which even concentrate on specialty markets such as trucks. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) lists a number of the companies that provide its vehicle history reports, some of which cost only a few dollars.
NMVTIS provides title information drawn from participating state motor vehicle registries. At this point, 88 percent of U.S. DMV data is represented. Run by the federal Department of Justice, the system is the only one that’s publicly available in the U.S. to which all insurance carriers, auto recyclers, junk yards and salvage yards are required under federal law to report on a regular basis.
However, companies such as AutoCheck, which is owned by Experian, and Carfax, which pioneered the process in 1986 by faxing reports to customers, provide more detailed reports.
Most vehicle history report companies work in a similar way. A used-car shopper types a VIN into the company’s Web site and immediately receives a report on the vehicle’s history. Most companies sell either a single report for a set fee or, for a higher price, a subscription to run multiple reports for a limited time, which is usually a month.
A vehicle history report provides information drawn from an ever-expanding variety of databases. Most importantly, the report tells shoppers if a car has a "branded" title. Branding means an insurance company has declared the vehicle a total loss and given it a salvage title because of an accident, flood damage or other catastrophic event.
Typically, the information on a vehicle history report includes a summary and an overall evaluation of the vehicle supported with details, dates and locations. The report makes it easy to see if the car has been registered in numerous states. Other information can include a description of the vehicle, number of previous owners, accident information, verification of recent mileage (which could include an alert for odometer rollback) and lemon and recall checks. For definitive information on recalls for any used car that you’re considering, use the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s free VIN Look-up Tool.
Some vehicle history report companies provide additional features or information. For example, AutoCheck provides a vehicle "score" — a number and a range — like 85 out of a range of 60-90. This shows how the vehicle compares to other similar cars built that year. Carfax reports sometimes have information other vehicle history reports don’t list, such as service department records.
The mileage verification that a vehicle history report provides is especially important for buyers. Mechanics record the mileage each time there is a smog check, change of registration or other event in the vehicle’s history. If the mileage recordings are not sequential, meaning that they get higher each time, it could mean someone rolled back the odometer.
Although it’s illegal, a quick trip to a "spinner," who is someone who turns back odometers, could be worthwhile for an unethical seller. Turning back an odometer 10,000 miles can increase the sale price of a typical car by at least $600. And contrary to popular belief, it’s easier to roll back a digital odometer than it is a mechanical one.
Test-Driving Vehicle History Reports
The editors at Edmunds.com have extensive experience using vehicle history reports. That’s because we steadily buy used cars for our long-term test fleet. Additionally, as a test, the editors run vehicle history reports on cars known to have salvage titles to see what comes up. In nearly all cases, vehicle history reports from AutoCheck and Carfax have caught those problems and flagged the pertinent information. (NMVTIS wasn’t fully up and running at the time of our tests.)
For example, we entered the VIN for a 1998 Corvette, which we knew had a lemon title. Sure enough, the vehicle history reports clearly flagged the problem by stating: "LEMON LAW VEHICLE. Repurchased by manufacturer."
In another case, an Edmunds employee’s husband was about to buy a 1995 Acura. He test-drove the car and felt it was in good mechanical condition. However, a vehicle history report showed the car received a salvage title in 1996. When the seller was confronted with this information, he said, "Oh yeah, I thought I told you about that."
In yet another case, a vehicle history report for a test car listed an "accident involving left side impact with another motor vehicle." Apparently the accident was serious enough to report to authorities, but did not result in a salvage title. However, the report would show potential buyers that the car was in an accident. They could then check to see if the owner had properly repaired the damage.
As our informal tests showed, there are few major title or damage problems that slip through the vehicle history net.
"Occasionally, we do hear of a false positive on a vehicle history report, but it is rarely a problem," says John Van Alst, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit organization specializing in consumer issues. A false positive is when the report came back clean when, in fact, there was an accident or the omission of other pertinent information. Some vehicle history report services will buy back a car or provide a guarantee in such cases.
However, there is a time lag between when an event such as an accident occurs and when it is reported, Van Alst says. While going to NMVTIS is an "excellent first step," Van Alst still recommends car buyers take a vehicle to a mechanic and a body shop for inspection.
How To Use Vehicle History Reports
Vehicle history reports alert buyers to hidden problems with used cars for sale and can save them time when they’re shopping, too. Edmunds.com recommends that consumers buy a subscription for one of the services as soon as they start the shopping cycle. Always run the vehicle history report before calling the owner and especially before driving across town to see the car in person. In most cases, online car ads will include the vehicle’s VIN. Sometimes an advertised car will come with free access to its vehicle history report.
Also, keep in mind that dealers have subscriptions to the large vehicle history report services — usually either AutoCheck or Carfax — and will run a report for interested buyers. This becomes a valuable source of third-party information. If the dealer refuses to run a vehicle history report, or provides an outdated report, this could be a red flag.
Finally, keep in mind that a vehicle history report is only one step in the used-car buying process. A mechanical inspection is still a good idea. But running a report is a valuable first step that will save you time and money. And it could protect you from buying a car with a checkered past.
Please help me I been scammed by toro auto in ct can anyone help me
To Karl Ferguson, Edward Wilson and Dina James below, nice spamming with your fake testimonials. These are not even probably your names, are they?
There was a time when nearly every customer asked, “Does it come with a clean Carfax history?” It came to a point where I would just routinely leave them on the driver’s seat so that the questioner could peruse what they thought was a complete ownership history. Then certain things happened in the marketplace.
Dealers began targeting vehicles that ‘did’ have frame damage, but were not mentioned on Carfax. Not every insurance company or state police agency agency had (or has) a relationship with Carfax… and some of the nastiest of damage came with the most expensive of vehicles. Carfax got blamed, threatened, sued, and dragged through the sensationalistic dreck we now find on network news. The price of Carfax subscriptions went up while this was happening, and as a result dealers and individuals began to seek alternatives. Autocheck became a de facto standard at the auto auctions, and now it is the leading competitor to Carfax. But is it better?
After going through thousands of different Carfax and Autocheck histories, I can vouch for the following… but first the disclaimer…
1) The best money any car buyer will ever spend is having their vehicle independently inspected.
Neither of the two central databases can tell you how a car was driven, whether the repairs were substandard, or if there are any major cost issues on the horizon.
The bang for the buck you get from having the vehicle looked at by an established independent garage is by far the best investment you can make. I feel so strongly about this that I wish both firms would begin their history reports for consumers with the following…
“WE ENCOURAGE AND RECOMMEND THAT YOU HAVE YOUR VEHICLE INSPECTED BY A PROFESSIONAL AUTO REPAIR FACILITY BEFORE BUYING IT.”
Disclaimer made. Now back to the comparo…
2) Carfax is far better when it comes to verifying mileage and whether a vehicle has been maintained by a fleet company or a dealership.
Registering vehicles does not require a mileage disclosure. You pay the tax, get back a sticker or a license plate, and that’s it. If you have avoided accidents, and don’t need to have emissions done, chances are your car will have no mileage history with any government agency. In my work I find that an awful lot of vehicles fall into this category. Autocheck and Carfax are both fairly comprehensive when it comes to government databases. But that has little bearing in many states.
However if the owner went to the dealership for maintenance, or an auto repair chain, the Carfax report will usually have those services recorded along with the mileage and a phone number to contact to verify the repairs. For those of you looking at a vehicle with some well known and expensive weaknesses (transmissions on certain minivans for instance), the information you get on a Carfax history could be worth thousands more than the Autocheck report.
3) Carfax and Autocheck do a fairly decent job when it comes to accident histories.
In the last couple of years I have seen a vast improvement in the recording of accident histories for both firms. In fact, it’s rare that I find any real differences between the two and when I do it’s only for ‘slight’ or ‘minor’ accidents.
People often look at these histories as a shangri-la when it comes to recording accidents. The histories do help… but it’s not the entire picture. A minor accident with some vehicles can result in major alignment and drivability issues. While moderate accidents may only require the replacement of a few body panels. Also, if an accident did not involve the police or an insurance claim, you won’t find it recorded. Sorry.
The only accidents I ever take seriously are the severe ones and even then, I look more at the quality of the repair than the type of accident. Related to this, an older car that was in a moderate or even minor accident may have been given a salvage title due to the fact that the value of the vehicle was so small. Is it an unsafe vehicle? Maybe. For these types of vehicles you definitely want to consider having it inspected by two repair shops.
If accident history is your big concern I would favor Autocheck. Autocheck offers a more comprehensive listing of vehicles with frame damage due to their relationship with dealer-only auto auctions. Levels of frame damage can also vary from an insignificant ding on one panel to two cars that have literally been Frankensteined together. If you consider any vehicle with an accident history make sure it’s inspected.
4) Carfax and Autocheck both do a very good job with emission histories. But emissions mean absolutely nothing unless they are recent.
I had a Camry for 12 years and 239k miles before selling it. The car ran like a top and had been an absolute ‘dealer queen’ since day one. It also flunked emissions at least a dozen times. Some cars are just privy towards emission issues… and in my experiences older Toyotas and Volvos often need a carbon remover such as ‘Guaranteed to Pass’ every few years.
Should you trust the mileage recordings from emission centers? On Carfax and Autocheck, the short answer is no. I see plenty of errant fingers on these databases that make a 22,000 mile vehicle a 222,000 mile vehicle. The fact that such a jump happened within a six month period should turn the lights on for certain enlightened people. But that doesn’t always happen. For dealers and individuals trying to sell their cars, errant emission readings can be a grade A headache.
For those of you who prefer to buy their vehicles from owners, please note, individuals ARE allowed to sell vehicles with non-current emissions in certain states. If you don’t verify the emissions are current, you may be looking at some serious repair costs in the near future. Carfax and Autocheck both do a good job with verifying this. But you can also find emissions information for free online as well.
Carfax and Autocheck are tied when it comes to the emission histories.
5) Carfax is usually better in showing how many owners a vehicle had.
There are certain vehicles that are quickly discounted at the auctions. Cars that came from title pawns and buy here pay here dealerships. Cars with cheap parts and cheap tires. Repos that have been trashed inside and out…. and most especially, vehicles that were owned by the owner for less than one year.
Chances are that if the owner unloaded the vehicle in such a short period of time, there is a reason why that took place. Mechanical issues and failed emissions tend to be the top two reasons. A reliable and fairly recent car simply is not unloaded unless the owner was dissatisfied with the vehicle in some way.
Carfax does a better job at distinguishing whether a vehicle has stayed with the owner in cases when they have moved to various states. You will see a notation within both Carfax and Autocheck for this. But Carfax usually tends to do a better job at showing whether the change in scenery also came with a change of ownership.
Does this really matter? I think it does. A car with only one or two owners will usually be in far better shape with one that had five to seven owners. Maintenance is usually better for cars that were owned by a ‘keeper’ and I frequently see higher quality parts used on these vehicles as well.
Overall I prefer Carfax over Autocheck. But I don’t believe either one is really a necessity when it comes to buying a used car. A long test drive with someone who knows cars and an independent inspection with an established repair shop, can tell you far more than the incomplete history you see on a piece of paper.
For certain types of auto purchases, a Carfax history is valuable. Finding a ‘dealer queen’. A car that perhaps may have a strike against it that is superficial. The Carfax report can help you decipher that vehicle.
But that’s not the total reality. I have also seen one owner vehicles with no accident histories that were absolute deathtraps due to rust, substandard repairs, and undercarriage damage. If you do decide to use these reports, get a professional. As Tom Cruise once said about Porsches, “There is no substitute.”
CarFax vs AutoCheck: 3 Differences You Must Know
AutoCheck History Report, CarFax, Vehicle History Report
experian-autocheck-reportWhen you buy a used car, it’s important to get an accurate and detailed vehicle history report and know the differences between CarFax vs AutoCheck reports. It can save you big in the long run.
CarFax and AutoCheck vehicle history reports are two of the most prominent options, but it can be difficult for shoppers to understand the differences between the two choices. Although both reports can offer plenty of useful insight into the history of a used car, AutoCheck reports have a better reputation among used car lots due to their ability to thoroughly track vehicles sold at auctions.
In general, AutoCheck and CarFax reports offer many of the same advantages. Both reports will provide a fairly reliable account of the emissions history and accident history of any given car. This means that with either report, you can be confident that you have a good idea of any problematic aspects of the car’s history.
Tracking Auction Cars with AutoCheck
The most significant difference between AutoChecks and CarFaxes is that AutoChecks are far better at tracking auction cars, while CarFaxes are known for not being able to effectively track cars at auctions. This obstacle makes CarFax much less useful since many used cars have been auctioned off at some point in their history.
So why can an AutoCheck vehicle history reports successfully keep track of auctioned cars? AutoCheck currently maintains exclusive access to data about important auctions at the two largest auction houses in the United States. That means that no other report can come close to the accuracy that AutoCheck reports provide on used car lots. If you’re buying a used car, look for dealerships that offer AutoCheck reports in order to ensure that you have a fully accurate report before you make a purchase.
drivetime-inspection-center
All DriveTime vehicles purchased from an auction pass through an inspection center.
How the History Impacts Market Value
This is another area in which AutoCheck wins again. The “AutoCheck Score” provides you with easy-to-understand analysis of how the vehicle’s history impacts its current market value. With one glance, you can gain a better understanding of the significance of past accidents.
On the other hand, CarFax reports don’t provide this type of score, so you may not gain a clear picture of the true market value of a used car if you rely exclusively on a CarFax report.
Reports Based on VINs
If you choose to subscribe to AutoCheck, you can take advantage of the opportunity to run a limitless number of reports based on VIN numbers. This benefit allows you to thoroughly check out a variety of used cars from different used car lots before making a final decision. Again, CarFax doesn’t offer this type of service. If you are planning to purchase a vehicle through DriveTime, you can view a live AutoCheck history report for free on any of our vehicles online.
CarFax vs AutoCheck – who wins?
Although many used car lots prefer AutoCheck, CarFax reports do offer some advantages. For instance, CarFax has a better record of successfully verifying mileage and reporting how many owners the car has had.
However, it’s important to remember that neither vehicle history report can provide a guaranteed history of a vehicle. Both providers can only provide information that has been recorded or reported. Regardless of what the report says, it’s important to ensure the vehicle has been thoroughly inspected before purchasing.
Just want everyone to beware that if your choosing to sell a used car and wish to get a veh history report do it. However, if you receive a out this world better than life email from someone wanting to buy you car, that will pay cash and or certified check don’t respond it is a scam. They make it seem good but all they are in it for is the commision they recieve off of getting you to provide a history report. I ended up not using the site that they provided the link for and got one through CarFax, but I believe because I provide them with the report they still get commision. What is this world coming to. Oh well someone made some money off of something I was planning on doing anyway.
We found that the reports were most likely to be incorrect for vehicles that had serious damage but for various reasons were not declared a total loss.
"Salvage," or similar branding on the vehicle title, is required by many states for vehicles with extensive damage. Wrecks can maintain clean titles if the vehicle doesn’t have collision insurance, is self-insured as with many rental and fleet vehicles, or has damage falling below the "total loss" threshold, which can vary by state.
Clean-title wrecks, especially those with clear history reports, are popular at auctions because buyers can repair the vehicles and then resell them to unsuspecting consumers.
Based on our findings, Carfax says that it will begin looking at online advertisements for such vehicles and see if it’s possible to include the results. Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, would like to see all commercial history-reports services follow that practice
Carfax and AutoCheck guarantee that they’ll buy any vehicle that customers purchased based on an erroneous report they provided. But there are many gotchas.
To take advantage of the program, you’d have to prove that the vehicle had a branded title and that the branding information had been on file with a state motor-vehicle agency that provides data to the reporting services. Vehicles branded as "recovered stolen" or "theft" aren’t covered. In addition, the guarantees are valid for one year after the report was issued, and apply only if you registered the vehicle purchase with the history report provider within 90 days. Finally, vehicles with titles that were branded less than 60 days before the history report was issued are excluded from coverage. That’s because of the delay between the time a title is branded and the event is reported to the reporting services.
Reports are nonetheless useful. Despite the problems, we found the reports useful for what they might tell you.
For example, for vehicles that we knew had branded titles, the services usually reliably reported the problem, especially Carfax and AutoCheck, which didn’t miss any. Moreover, there were several cases in which damaged vehicles with clean titles were nevertheless flagged by Carfax and AutoCheck based on accident reports the two providers receive from some police departments and other agencies.
There’s also a good chance that the services will know about a previously branded title, even if a clean one has since been issued. Scammers sometimes patch up wrecked vehicles and re-title them in states with less-stringent requirements, a process known as "title washing."
Thank-you for this site and glad I felt something was odd about her emails -same scam different name :Sandra ([email protected]) ** when I send back emails its directed to [email protected]
From: [email protected]
|_think tomorrow_is a good_day for a meet|ng. | can pay you cash or
certified bank check if you want. I do hope you have all the things
ready because i don’t want to make the trip twice. I will need a
vehicle history report for my lender with the owner signature on each
page so do not send me the vin no because you will need to get that
history report
You can get the history report from any website you want like carfax
or carproof or you can get one from: http://Vehicle.PrivCheck.com/GMC
for 20 bucks.
I am willing to refund you for that report if it is too much to ask
from you or if you want i can send someone from my family to a post
office to transfer you the twenty bucks so you will have the funds to
pay for that history report.
I am very serious about seeing the car so once you have an updated
vehicle history please tell me or reply with the pdf and I will call
you or give you my number to arrange a meeting
I hope you are serious too, thank you
I got a Jessica Riley doing the same scam – beware!!!
If you want real car history reports but doesn’t cost 40 bucks, VinAudit is the best choice. It offers $4.99 per full copy or $1 if you signed up for a business or dealer account.
I am so glad that I checked out this site!!! After emailing with "John Flowers" several times and this is what we got today:
Hello again, That price suits me well. As I mentioned I’m willing to pay in cash for it. I’d just really appreciate it if you can get report and that you get it from checkvinreport.com because i’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then i just wasted my money,but you can still use it however it turns out. I would like to see bike tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is ok with history report)
Looking forward to hearing from you,
John Flowers
Amazingly he used the exact same verbiage in some of the sentences from other posts on this site – they need to get smarter if they think this will work on everyone!!
But I am sad that my 2013 Harley Trike doesn’t have a true buyer 🙁
Well, someone tried to pull one on me a few minutes ago as well. I got a text from (602)223-1294.
"Hello, just curious if the car you posted on CL is still available"
Me : "Yes, its available"
"This weekend if you are around I would love to come buy it. I was wondering if you have any type of report run on its history?"
Me – "Yes, I have the Carfax report generated. I can share it if you send me your email id"
"Would you please run one from this website verifyvehicles.com. I m only interested in buying if this report comes clean."
I checked the website, immediately saw there are no certificates. Googled a little bit and found that domain verifyvehicles.com was bought like couple of weeks back.
Decided to mess with the scammer a little bit.
Me – "Are you sure this website address is correct? It keeps saying my VIN is invalid. 🙁 "
Got the reply "Tonight I work the late shift but if you send that to my email, camilaspyresbq5025 at hotmail . com After I receive that id be happy to come over whenever works best for you this weekend with cash".
Obviously, a bot.
Same scam still going. Here’s what I received:
Scammer: Hey there. I messaged you a few times regarding your vehicle for sale on CL and I have not heard back from you. Is it still for sale? I have a few questions. Please message me direct – DanCole422[at/gmaildot/com] – Lets make sure we can connect. Thank you
Me: Replied.
Scammer: I am very interested. Do you have a current vehicle history report available? It<will show if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I suggest getting>one here:
http://americanvin.net – I have used them in the past=when I was selling a vehicle and it was half the price of Carfax (only $19 – Carfax charges $40 or+more for a report).
I have heard of people getting scammed*on Craigslist. Honestly, an official report is a good selling point for any potential buyer that may contact you. It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams on Craigslist.
Shoot me a message when you get it so that-I can take a look at it and make arrangements. I work odd hours, so please bare with me – sometimes I cannot respond immediately. Talk to you soon. Thanks!
Here is the other leach that scammed me
Mark Smith <[email protected]>
Apr 17 (1 day ago)
to ppwgq-55323528.
I’m interested in your Mercedes . Are there any problem or issue I should be aware of? Does the vehicle leak any fluids such as oil, antifreeze or any other important fluid?
So I provided a report and I received this next
Thanks for providing me the report. However I really don’t believe VHR because I’ve had bad experience (my brother and his girlfriend had accident with his car and that report didn’t show that). They are showing only what seller want to see. I’d just really appreciate it if you can get report and that you get it from vinleaks.us (one colleague has suggested me it he had good experience with it) because I’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal. I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out. If everything is okay with car report I would like to arrange exact time of our meeting.
I hope you consider this and get it, hope to hear from you soon,
Mark
I received the scam twice before I caught on. What a bunch of leaches to say the least.
this is the poet
Hey there. I messaged you a few times regarding your vehicle for sale on CL and I have not heard back from you. Is it still for sale? I have a few questions. Please message me direct – JimCook855[at/gmaildot/com] – Lets make sure we can connect. Thank you.
I am very interested. Do you have a current vehicle history report available? It-will show if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I-suggest getting one here:
http://americanvin.net – I have used them in-the past when I was selling a vehicle and it was half the price of Carfax (only $19 – Carfax-charges $40 or more for a report).
I have heard of people getting_scammed on Craigslist. Honestly, an official report is a good selling point for any potential_buyer that may contact you. It will verify that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it_has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams on Craigslist.
Shoot me a message when-you get it so that I can take a look at it and make arrangements. I work odd hours, so please bare with me – sometimes I cannot_respond immediately. Talk to you soon. Thanks!
Now the name used by the scammer is Jessica Rilley, beware!!!!
Selling my motor cycle on Craigslist. This happened to me and I fell for it. Researched after. Smh…. Should I cancel my bank account? This was the email:
<[email protected]>
Date: Apr 16, 2016 7:22 PM
Subject: Re: Honda offer
To: <[email protected]>
Cc:
Thanks for sending me that report. However I really don’t believe them because I’ve had bad experience (my brother and his girlfriend had accident with his bike and that report didn’t show that). They are really expensive and they are showing only what seller want to see. I’d just really appreciate it if you can get report and that you get it from usavindetector.com (one colleague has suggested me it he had good experience with it) because i’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then i just wasted my money,but you can still use it however it turns out. If everything is ok with history report I would like to arrange exact time of our meeting.
I hope you consider this and get it,hope to hear from you soon,
Got a text today from guy wanting buy my car without seeing it. His number was +1 (818) 217-8679. He wanted me to send him copy of report through vincheck. Even after I told him I wasn’t stupid and to leave me alone he still wrote me back an email to send it to. "Please send it to uic12ax@ yahoo [dot] com I am stuck working late tonight but once I see that in my inbox ill come buy it this week from you whenever youre available." Dang he persistent…he must be dealing with multiple people at same time and didn’t even read my message or didn’t care. I really hope people don’t fall for these guys. It’s not just email scammers. They text, call whatever.
I tried to purchase a truck from craigslist, and I asked the seller if we can meet in a public place to conduct business about the truck. Their reply was, " I have to work tomorrow, and I don’t want to make a trip there and you change your mind." Why would I change my mind if I already told them I was interested in the vehicle? I was thinking that something is wrong with the vehicle and if they drove it to me that I can tell something was wrong with it after they pulled up. I just politely told them, "Thank you for the opportunity," and declined from buying it.
Same story here . This guy won’t buy without report has to know its not a LEMON. called from 619-332-3082 and wants me to email him at [email protected]
A Robert Hutton (Obvy, not a real name) emailed me and told me to use US VIN Inspect, because "Carfax lies". I KINDA fell for it; I went to VinInspect.com, which is real and only $8.99 per report, compared to Carfax at $35…so THANKS Robert! But, of course, he wasn’t happy with that report. Again, he said those guys lie too. To use the one he told me to use. That was when the red flag went up for me. He’s all ready with cash in hand to buy my truck…sight unseen…if I would only send him the report! So I told him the windshield broke, the tailgate fell off and all the tires got slashed… Idiot said no problem…AS LONG AS THE REPORT CAME BACK OK!! What a moron! LMAO!!!
If you are in the market for a used car, you must get a Vehicle History Report AND have the car inspected by a certified mechanic on a lift. Do not buy a used car without these two very important pieces of information. Making an educated decision on a used car purchase can save you thousands of dollars. Don’t make a huge mistake. You have been warned!
With the recent flooding in Texas and Oklahoma, we are sure to see an increase of flooded and salvaged cars hitting the used car market. Be on your toes and know what to look for when it comes to flood damaged vehicles!
Why You Need a Vehicle History Report?
It gives you a window into the car’s past.
According to the US Government roughly a half million cars are sold with fraudulent odometer readings annually, costing used car buyers over a billion dollars. Our research indicates many more go unreported!
The Office of Odometer Fraud Investigations has reported a sharp increase in odometer fraud. Elevated used car prices coupled with a tight supply of low-mileage used cars, has made odometer fraud more profitable than ever.
Natural disasters such as Super Storm Sandy damaged over a quarter million cars! Many of these cars get cleaned up, rebuilt and put back on the market.
What is In a Vehicle History Report?
A used car history report contains vehicle records including data from state DMV’s, auto auctions, manufacturers, car dealers, police reported accidents and repair shops. A history report may reveal more about that used car than the seller is willing to tell you.
Larry Kinney sent me a message with the same scam.
Very informative article! I will def consider before purchasing my next car history report.
https://lookupvin.com is a total Scam. It took me several months to sell my car, and about twice a week I got an email from some guy with a plane american name, referring me to this site before he would speak wth me or email me.. I fell for it once, after buying a report and then never heard anything from ‘Wanda’ after long dialogues. These guys should go to jail. Is there any recourse with these guys?
Im glad I checked you out I had 2 cars for sale and had 2 different callers from 818 area code wanting me to use vincheck Im glad I checked you guys out!! So sick of people scamming!!
Yes, looks like Han Ricenberg is a busy fella trying to scam many. He tried it with me as well.
Beware, These scammers are all over Craigslist. I got ALMOST scammed twice in 1 week, but luckily detected tell-tale signs and avoided being scammed. Don’t accept any links somebody sends you that checks your car. And also emails sent with the amount for your car via PAYPAL, they try to get you to pay shipping fees for the sum of $990 via Moneygram/WesternUnion, they ask you to go to Walmart and make you think you have money on the way to your PAYPAL. It’s a scam.
In the process of something very similar. Potential buyer sent me a link to something called VINCHECKED. I got suspicious and before using the site ckecked for scam alerts. Glad I did. Thanks.
Sadly, yes, and scary, another scam involving a link to "lookupvin.us".
Received an email today from ("Han Ricenberg" ")
about my ad placed 2 weeks ago. The email appeared suspicious–poor use of English and excuse to use only email because "phone is dead, but I’ll get new one in few days". The 2nd email included a link to lookupvin.us that I did NOT click on. In my reply to "Han" I said that I had a printout of the carfax, and that I could meet him at the local police dept. or city hall, then if we make a deal, I and my police officer neighbor would meet him at his bank, to exchange cash for the car’s title, etc. I also said that his emails don’t sound right, and I am suspicious that he is for real.
I’m reporting this to craigslist.
I have not yet scammed with reports when I used vehicle history reports from Vinaudit.
I am selling my van and got a similar text just now. This person actually said they saw the picutes on CL and wanted to buy it! Right! I didn’t fall for that. Big red flag when they say they want to buy it before they even see it in person?!? They asked me to run a history report from some site; gave me a link. They added they wanted "to be sure it was clean". I wrote back questioning what they wanted it for and so far, they haven’t responded. SCAM! 🙁
602 497 3128 is the number. Same story. Suspicious immediately. Questioned about out of state area code (always dead giveaway) no response to that. [email protected] was the email address to send report to. Bit disappointed my scammer was pretty lame. Didn’t get any good story to help sell it. Just came right out and asked me to get report at the website. Lazy I guess
Craigslist for automobile, received friendly email from Adam Johnson interested in my vehicle, did the sales pitch for "LookupVin,com" , I bit, once i printed it off, i myself questioned the validity of the "vague" report absent of normal vital information, but page of positive check marks. I also was lacking ANY corporate contact information regarding who the company was, not how to contact them.Sadly "after-the-fact" i found the number of reported similar scam reports referencing commission agents working for "LookupVin,com". I have since disputed the charges and reported the incident to Craigslist. And ive admitted that i fell for this one, i need to question first any more before spending my money.
I posted in craigslist poway California i received a text from 2132634541 to buy my car they asked to to go to ivincheck as well i already paid for a carfax report and told them.No. they said they would 100% buy my car if I did. Watch out people
Same thing happen to me today. There number is 347-229-9743 if you would like to tie up their lines with text messages. They tried to send me to a fake Web site that was named Vin Checker.
My friend is selling his truck via Craigslist and received a similar text. The person claims to be interested in buying the truck and sent him a link to get a report of the car’s history. This sounded suspicious so I did some research and now we know it is a scam. We downloaded an official VIN report from a reputable website accredited by the Better Business Bureau and sent it to him in an email and there has been no response since. The number my friend was contacted from is (602) 497-2715 and the scam website linked was http://www.vinchecked.com. He was asked to pay $12.95 for a report and send it to [email protected].
I’ve heard of "Buyer Beware" but now it seems that Sellers must Beware also! I hope this comment helps keep scammers from taking advantage of other honest people.
Got the same. Number associated is 602-497-2551. they send you a link which is attached to an affiliate code embedded within their link that links them to the online sale which give them the commission. I see a lot of Arizona numbers. Chances are if your on the east coast and you see a 602 prefix, they are not coming to pick it up.
Watch for a "James Stach" as he’s up to the same thing.
From: James Stach
Sent: ?10/?20/?2015 5:15 AM
I’m not doing the same mistake.. sorry for wasting your time
________________________________________
To: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2015 17:44:02 -0700
No, I’m not buying the report.
________________________________________
From: James Stach
Sent: ?10/?19/?2015 3:55 PM
I bought a history report a few days ago for another vehicle and, when I was ready to finalize the deal, the seller replied back with a "sorry, sold" email. I hesitate to buy another report for a car when someone could come in with a better offer like last time.
I know it isn’t much money, but at least you can reuse it for other sellers in the event our deal falls through.
Please let me know whether or not you will buy the complete vehicle inspection report. I have another seller who offered to buy one, but I put him on hold to see if this deal could be finalized.
Thanks
________________________________________
To: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2015 15:11:42 -0700
Your request just seems very odd. The VIN is on the Craigslist ad so if you or the bank wants to check out the history, no one is preventing you from doing that. If you buy the car I will deduct the cost of the report from your purchase price but I’m not going to order the report on you or your banks behalf. Sorry.
Same thing that happened to Christine, happened to me this morning. Same BS. Scam text came from 602 area code.
Same thing happened to me today and im thankful my gut feeling sent me researching instead of falling for it right away. It started out with a text if my specific car was still for sale. Then said he wanted to buy it. red flag #1, who knows they want to buy a car before even test driving it first. Then proceeded to text me a website link where I could get a vin check on it then email it to him. The website was http://www.tiny.cc/fzfw4x saying he "needed to be completely sure its clean." I said i would check into i. Red flag #2 i asked for his name but it was ignored. Red flag #3 i asked when he would like to come out since he was so bent on buying the car without even seeing it… later in the week he said. It was only monday. He also ended the convo with "ok, sounds perfect" just like other people have pointed out. Similar terminologies used by other scammers and my gut told me this was a scam. im going to have fun with it and string him along lol.his number is 602-497-2627. I said i had a carfax report i could email him…..nothing so far. Bastard!
I GOT THE SAME EMAIL
Thanks
Got an email from a Danny Phan asking about my car for sale on craigslist, yesterday he sent me this message:
Hi again Mark.
Thank you for detailed answer, I believe that the vehicle is in good shape. Also, thanks for sending me vin number. However I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out. I’d just really appreciate it if you can get it and that you get it from lookupvinreport.com because I’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is ok with car report).
I hope you consider this and get it, hope to hear from you soon, Danny
Got an email from a Danny Phan asking about my car for sale on craigslist, yesterday he sent me this message:
Hi again Laurie.
Thank you for detailed answer, I believe that the vehicle is in good shape. Also, thanks for sending me vin number. However I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out. I’d just really appreciate it if you can get it and that you get it from lookupvinreport.com because I’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is ok with car report).
I hope you consider this and get it, hope to hear from you soon, Danny
Being naïve I got the report from lookupvinreport.com and sent it to him, such bull that people cannot get real jobs and make people do this crap so they can make money. Emailing him and telling him I know he is a scam and I posted it on the internet. Ridiculous.
The world has gone crazy! So many scams, so many dishonest people. I am reading these stories and they are almost verbatim as with my recent experience….
"I don’t trust CarFax, I will only trust lookupvin.us. My coleague (yes spelled with 1 L) said this is for buyers, CarFax is for sellers…. Thanks for the information and word of warning! Love many, trust few, paddle your own canoe!
Sheri and Paula, thank you so much for your information that you posted about scam vehicle history report websites like "lookupvin.us". I got a "Carfax" on my car that I posted on Craiglist and the person "James" only wanted the history report from "lookupvin.us" because he did not trust "Carfax." I had a feeling something was not right when I asked him many times to call me on my cell. If it wasn’t for me doing my research and finding this chat list, I would have been SCAMMED too! Again thank you!
I just experienced this same problem and I thank you all for your posts on here – which saved me from wasting my own money. I was contacted about my car I’m selling on Craigslist. I got an e-mail from an "interested buyer." It was initially pretty vague. I responded about meeting in a very vague way as well, to see if he was even knew which car/ad we were discussing. He of course was not from my area, but don’t worry about that – he’ll come to me! He really doesn’t want to be scammed on Craigslist so he needs a vehicle report from the "trusty" Lookupvininfo.com. Well, that trusty site has a D- rating from the BBB, an illegitimate mailing address, and numerous complaints about scams. Clearly, he gets a commission for every person who buys his bogus car report. I sent him a snarky little e-mail response. I got quite a bit of joy out of writing that. 🙂 Also, Robert Smith needs to work on his English skills a bit…
Good luck! Hope you all find this site before falling for the tricks! Sad how the world is these days. Just trying to sell my car and I’ve been exposed to an ugly world that I never dreamed would come of a tough decision to finally sell the car I loved for most of my adult life. Maybe I should have just accepted the low-ball offer from the dealer to save the hassle!!
Got a text asking about my dodge I’m selling was told if you can prove its has a clean vin report from vin check he’d buy it on the spot an then started to ask questions about this and that I figured give them a call I call the number and was told it’s not an active number so I knew something was up I mentioned it to my brother who is a state pd detective and he told me about the scam I told the person I will not use my card online but if they wanted to meet up and liked the car I’d match them on a car fax they then said they wouldn’t come with out that report first and I called them out on the scam.
This same thing just happened to me. The lady asked for a report on the car first. I told her I had a CarFax report already and she said they only give the information that works in favor of seller. She recomended lookupvinreport.com that she trusted. This all took place over three emails (most of content is similar to what others are saying). I looked up scamAdvisor and found this site. I will not be responding to anymore of her emails.
I have recieved the same experience with almost the same wording and same website, my phone is broke,every dollar counts, i’ll reimburse you"
i have a carfax on it, all the maintence records-allready i reply, guess what ? no reply
[email protected] is my address or if you want to just text a pic of the report. I have to be completely sure it is clean.
I am set on buying it if you can please run this for me http://tiny.cc/6mve4x and send it over.
He text and it look so interested that I did run my report
Got the same response, but from a different number (202) 765-3532. The guy said he was interested in my Dodge Charger and asked immediately for a vin check from a funny looking URL-http://goo.gl/V3ZIXF and then email it over. I knew something was funny when I asked for the email and didn’t get a human response. In addition the whole conversation seemed botched. As a former intel person with the government, something didn’t seem right after having a few other conversations with other potential customers. Also, he used the email [email protected], which didn’t even seem real.
Just got a text from 915-228-3116 saying "is your car still for sale?" I say yes..they say "That’s great. I would like to buy it from you. Do you have a report on the history of it? I say No, I’m the original owner" They say: Can you please get one at http://goo.gl/79wqdi and send it to me thew email?" These people need to get a real fucking job, pieces of shits!!!
OK they almost got me too.
ALMOST fell for it but no one is getting my $20 that easy. here is the convo I had over the last two days.
—–
Steve Roberson
3:02 PM (22 hours ago)
to tpsn2-52494721.
Hello ,
I have seen your advertisement for Kia . I must say that I really like what I see. The car seems good. Is it still for sale? If it is, I’d appreciate if you could send me car report for it so I can see all details about the vehicle. I hope we can communicate here because my phone is currently broken and I must wait few days until it is repaired.
I’ll be checking my inbox for your answer, Steve
—–
8:34 PM (16 hours ago)
to Steve
Hi,
Unfortunately I don’t have the car report, but I’ll tell you up front what’s happened with the vehicle.
(I explained what’s happened)
——
Steve Roberson
12:01 PM (1 hour ago)
to tpsn2-52494721.
Hello again Clara ,
Thanks for your answer. Glad to hear the car is in good shape. Also thanks for offering me vin number. However I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then i just wasted my money,but you can still use it however it turns out.I’d just really appreciate it if you can get it and that you get it from lookupvinreport.com because i’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is ok with car report)
I hope you consider this and get it,hope to hear from you soon, Steve
—–
1:03 PM (1 minute ago)
to Steve
Here it is: http://bit.ly/IqT6zt 🙂
—–
I was going to curse them out but instead I sent a Rick Astley link. For now.
My scammer was a lot less wordy and pretty believable, but the area code was from Washington so I was super skeptical to begin with. I knew it had to be a scam, bit I didn’t get what they wanted since the site looked legit, thank you for this page, it is very informative.
Just got a text from 313-241-3739 saying "is your car still for sale?" I say yes..they say "That’s great. I would like to buy it from you. Do you have a report on the history of it? I say No, I’m the original owner" They say: Can you please get one at http://goo.gl/0lBiPt and send it to me? [email protected] I have to verify that its clean.
I hate scammers.
They just got me about a few minutes ago.
"Hi again,
Thanks for response. I’m interested in seeing a history report for your car.
If you don’t have one, I’d really appreciate it if you can get it from lookupvin.us Because I’d like to pay you back if we make a deal, and they’re a lot cheaper than carfax.
I’d get it myself but I don’t want to risk it being bad and just end up wasting my money. If everything is okay with report, I would like to see the car as soon as possible.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Rick"
Got one from Sam Harrall in Dbq, IA… Car was posted on Craigslist.
If I used my computer to read my e-mail I would have caught on sooner…
I’m really glad to hear these facts. If you don’t have one, I’d really appreciate it if you can get it from lookupvin.us because I’d like to pay you back if we make a deal, and they’re a lot cheaper than carfax. I would like to see the car tomorrow if you are free?
—————————————————–
Hello Sam,
I do have a pet, small pomeranian, that has never been in the car.
No teenagers have driven it since we’ve had this van.
We received a recall in the mail for the airbag, which will be replaced at no cost.
I do not have a car report, but I can look into this.
I am available after 5:30 pm the rest of the week if you are interested in coming by to see it.
–Tori
——————————————————-
Hi,
I’m considering your Honda. It looks nice, can you tell me do you have a pet(it is not a problem, but I want to know)? And who drove this car, like is it some granny, or some teenager whit lust for showing? I hope you know why I’m asking this. Are there any upcoming services or repairing on it? Do you have car report for it, it shows many things I’m interested in. I’m hoping that you don’t mind for emailing, my phone is broken and it will be fixed in few days (I hope).Â
Best regards,
sam
Yup, I just got one from John Rowley.
Dirt bag!
John Rowley is still at it. He emailed me today. Still scamming…
Car listed on Craigslist in Michigan. Received this today. Red flags all over it!
Greetings Jeff,
Your Ford is very nice, I really like it. I was wondering is it still available? I want to see it. Can you tell me who drove it? Like is it only work-home vehicle and somebody easy on pedal, or someone who loves fast? Can you send me report I want to be sure in some stuff. I apologize for sending email, but my phone is dead, I’ll buy new one in few days. I hope to hear from you again,
Han
Thanks for your honest answer Donna. But I really can’t make a further decision without report, since I’ve had some really bad experience with buying cars. So, I’d just really appreciate it if you can get report and that you get it from lookupvin.us because I’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out. I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is okay with car report) In the end I would like to know how it rides? And how many keys are included?
I look forward to hearing from you, Han
Same scammers still out there here is my dialogue:
Hey is the 2011 HONDA PILOT EXT SILVER still available/
me: Yes just put it up yesterday.
Great, definately looking to buy it. Any chance you have the report on its history?
me: What kind of report? Original owner dealer maintained. No accidents – you can order a carfax if you want i’ll het the vin…if that’s hwat you are asking
I don’t feel comfortable funning it myself because I am not the legal owner
me: Ill check if we have a carfax – just ran one last week so i may have a trial months on it…
Thisis where you can geet one htt;://goo.gl/Y0VrJu then if you send it over, ill have to make certain it is clean.
me: Not sure what that link is. If you want a report youare going to have to get it yourself.
Just a pic of the text of the report or emailed [email protected] thanks
me: ?? What
Perfect. Thanks!
me: ? For what
Same EXACT thing happened to us yesterday. Person insisted they wanted to come buy our truck, but asked if we had the history report. We said we did not but offered up the VIN so they could run the report themselves. They said they didn’t feel comfortable doing that since it wasn’t their car.
Long story short, after several more texts back and forth we insisted we are not buying them a report. Final text said, "Perfect, thanks."
Came from number 619-356-2278
I got the same scam almost word for word.I sent my own report from another service ( suspicious but hoping to sell vehicle),never heard from them again.Googled phone,862 205 5957 and email ,both bogus.
They are still at it was contacted by 862-206-5957 below are the texts::
Scammer:Hi, Is your BMW 323CI CONVERTIBLE still for sale?
Me:Yes I just listed it today
Scammer:Ok perfect. I would like to buy it from you. Has the history on the vehicle ever been run?
Me:Yes, I ran it myself in June of this year, it’s clean
Scammer: Could you please grab the history http://goo.gl/5AsQl5 and send it over? I have to be certain it checks out ok.
Scammer: I don’t feel comfortable running it myself because I am not the legal owner.
Me: Not sure what that means, I ran about 15 cars through CARFAX that I didn’t own, and car dealers run 1,000’s of VIN checks a day on cars they don’t own, it’s your responsibility as the buyer to do the check
Scammer: [email protected] this is my address. Or just text me a picture of the report.
Me: From CARFAX sure
Scammer:I am going to be stuck at work until late, but if you email it, Id come sometime this weekend to buy it.
Me: From NJ? ( I live in Georgia)
Scammer:Ok great. Thank you.
Just got this exact thing from (213)263-5264 with the email [email protected]. She is using the lookupvin site as well.
I just received the EXACT messages from someone named Adele. My suspicion was raised right out of the gate when she agreed to buy the car without seeing it and didn’t challenge the price much. Then came the question about the VIN history. I work for a financial services org and wasn’t able to open the link she sent, which sent up a red flag as it was clearly a security risk. When I googled it, I saw the comments above, with the EXACT same email content.
Conveniently I received the SAME message as above, from John Rowley. It seemed legitimate, but my radar is sharp (thank goodness) and was triggered by his indication of not being able to move forward without this report. Press me for time? Ding Ding. Throat punch.
"I am very interested. Do you have a current-vehicle history report available? I would like to know if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I suggest getting one here – http://lookupvin.info – I have_used them in the past when I was selling a vehicle and it was half the price of other vehicle report companies (only $19 – others are charging $40 or more).
I would feel more comfortable buying%the vehicle with an official report. In the past some of my friends got scammed on Craigslist, so I would rather be safe than sorry. I am very interested but I cannot move$forward without seeing the VIN report first.
Honestly, it is a good selling point for any potential buyer that may contact you. I just want to make sure that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it
I received a Lookup VIN scam for the car I have listed on Craigslist, from a scammer calling himself John Rowland. Here’s the original email I got and the instant response below after I asked him what his questions are:
"Hello. My name is John and I have been trying to get in touch with you about your vehicle on Craigslist but I have not received any response back. I think there might be some issues with CL. Lets make sure we can connect. Message me – jhr875(at)gmailcom – I have a few questions. Thank you."
His response was instantaneous:
"I am very interested. Do you have a current vehicle history report available? I would like to know if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I suggest_getting one here – http://lookupvin.info – I have used them in the past when I was selling a vehicle and it was half the price of other vehicle report companies (only $19 – others are charging $40 or more).
I would feel more comfortable buying the vehicle with an official report. In the past some of my friends got scammed on Craigslist, so I would rather be safe than sorry. I am very interested but I cannot move forward without seeing the VIN report on Craigslist.
Shoot me a message when you get it so that I can take a look at it. Then we can make arrangements to meet up. I work odd hours, so please bare with me – sometimes I cannot respond immediately. Talk to you soon. Thanks!"
I was just scammed by someone who wanted me to use lookupvin.com to get a report on the car I was selling. I was stupid enough to do it using my bank card. Should I go to my bank asap and change my card?
I also got the same play today. It was automatically suspicious B/C in my listing I stated I had Carfax and Autocheck printouts for reference. The text came from phone number 862-206-5953, wanted me to send the report from http://www.goo.gl/IguvCb
I let him/her know they could do their own independant 3rd check…got the ‘schpeil’ about not being the legal owner…and he/she asked me to email the report to [email protected] or to text a picture of the report back.
I’m glad I already had reports because without it, I probably would not have been suspicious and looking…however, when I got home to my computer and looked up the website, my Norton Security gave me a warning against the website.
I hope this helps anybody who’s investigating.
Same type of email from Debra Davis to go to lookupvinreport.com which was only created a short while ago. Doesn’t look good. Reported to GoDaddy. Hope someone can track down this individual.
I just received this email from Debra Davis. Looks exactly like the previous one posted here:
to qmtdr-5201629376
15 hours agoDetails
Hello again,
I’m interested in seeing a history report for the Mercedes.
If you don’t have one, I’d really appreciate it if you can get it from lookupvinreport.com. Because I’d like to pay you back if we make a deal, and they’re a lot cheaper than carfax.
I’d get it myself but I don’t want to risk it being bad and just end up wasting my money. If everything is ok report, I would like to see the car tomorrow, If you are free.
Hope to hear from you soon, Debra
Scammer by the name of Harry Havens sent this to me.
Hello again,
Sorry for my late response, I was out of town. Fine, that sounds good. However I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out. I’d just really appreciate it if you can get it and that you get it from lookupvinreport.com because I’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is ok with car report).
I hope you consider this and get it, hope to hear from you soon, Harry
I just received a txt message from someone (972) 737-1866 asking me to send them a report via their link http://tiny.cc/fd672x. I clicked the link but noticed it did not reflect a BBB reputable site. I told them that they could buy the report @ autocheck.com & if they buy the car I will reimburse them for the report. The person said "they don’t feel comfortable submitting for b/c they are not the legal owner". The email address they wanted the report to go to is [email protected]. Another SCAM!
Received a text from a guy saying he is interested in buying my truck listed on CL, but wanted to see a report of the vehicle first. So I informed I would order a carfax. The interested person sent me a link saying to pull the report from this site and email to him. His number is 717-287-5305 and the link was http://goo.gl/9qZAO3 and email it to: [email protected]
Glad I did a quick research to this page from a google search. What a bunch of moron scam artists out there. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE people do your research. If it isn’t a legit carfax or like-website, don’t put your credit card info into them; you will more than likely be asking for it!
Wish I’d checked this sooner. Here is the email correspondence I got. It sounded too good to be true and it was. They are crafty, very crafty
Hello,
Your Toyota which you posted on Cg caught my eye. The car looks very nice and I am very interested in it. Can you tell me something more about it? I would really like to see the car report so I can get all details about the car. I am contacting you via email because I broke my phone yesterday and I must wait few days for it to be fixed.
Looking forward to hear from you, Joseph.
Hello again Nat,
Thank you so much for honest and detailed answer, I’m so glad to hear all these facts. I’d just really appreciate it if you can get report and that you get it from lookupvinreport.com because i’d like to repay you for it if we make a deal, and they’re cheaper than carfax, and you know how it is, every dollar you save counts. I don’t want to get it myself because if it’s bad then i just wasted my money,but you can still use it however it turns out. I would like to see car tomorrow if you are free (and if everything is ok with car report)
Looking forward to hearing from you, Joseph
*Joseph Dooley*
DON’T USE LOOKUPVINREPORT.COM!!! A complete scam. Do your homework.
lookupvin is a scam. The phone number listed "is not in service" at this time. People selling cars on Craigslist are contacted by an "interested buyer" who will not see the car unless you purchase a history report, and offer this as a less expensive alternate to Carfax. Duh, I should have checked ahead of time.
Beware sellers!!
This is happening to me right now. How can I report this person?
This is happening to me, too from 310-907-7809.
—
This is my email: [email protected] Im at work right now. That would definitely seal the deal.
I have a van for sale in TN, got a text message from CA, guy said he wanted to buy but wanted a vin check first, included an e-mail address to send it to and a link which re-routed to vincheckit.com, red flag #1, link to a web address instead of the web address. I scam checked the website and decided not to proceed with the report, sent him the one I already had from Auto Check. Said once he had the report he would come look at it, from CA, red flag #2, from CA just to look at it. I blocked his number.
[email protected]. Scammed me and sent me the following——what a con
I am very interested. Do you have a current=vehicle history report available? I would like to know if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I^suggest getting one here – http://lookupvin.info – I have used them in the_past when I was selling a vehicle and it was half the price of other vehicle report companies (only $19 – others are charging^$40 or more).
I would feel more comfortable buying the vehicle with an official>report. In the past some of my friends got scammed on Craigslist, so I+would rather be safe than sorry. I am very interested but I cannot move forward
Hi, Just saw your listing on craigslist for the 97 toyota 4runner you’re selling and I am interested in getting it. Are there any problems with it right now?
Alright, it sounds good. I’m pretty interested in getting it and I need something rather soon but do you happen to have a report on the toyota? Would like to make sure there haven’t been any serious issues with it.If not, I’d recommend getting one from here http://www.lookupvin.com I’ve used it in the past, it works well and it’s cheaper than most other places.
I’d just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I’ve had friends and family get shafted on craigslist before. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out. I’m definitely interested in the car.
"Mike Robertson"
Glad I researched it before spending money when I’m trying to make some!
I just encountered one of these people via craigslist while trying to sell my truck. I was doing some research about which vehicle history report services to use (also looking up the one the person recommended), and found a nearly identical message to emails listed on this board:
from: [email protected] (asked me to message
him via his personal email because his craigslist emails have issues coming through to him)
I am very interested. Do you have a current vehicle history report>available? I would like to know if there are any major problems with it. If+you do not have one I suggest getting one here – http://lookupvin.info – I have used them in the past when I was selling a vehicle and=it was half the price of other_vehicle report companies (only $19 – others are charging $40 or more).
I would feel<more />you soon. Thanks!
080515 6am edt
WATCH OUT PEOPLE SELLING CARS ALL OVER USA!!! CAUTION TONS OF SCAMMERS OUT THERE WANTING TO NOT ONLY RIP PEOPLE OFF BUT DO HARM TOO.I’M SURE YOU’VE READ NEWS OF PEOPLE GETTING KILLED, MUGGED, RAPED ETC WHEN SELLING ANYTHING ON GL…
———-
On Sunday, August 2, 2015 9:48 AM, Alex Skinner wrote:
Hello Chuck,
I am considering buying the car you posted on CL. Is there any bad things on car, like rust, bad suspension, oil leaking etc? Do you maybe have a report I could see? If you have a report I would like to see one before we arrange a meeting because I need to be sure in everything. It looks well kept. I would like to arrange meeting in few days. Sorry for emailing but I prefer this way of communication, I hope you don’t mind that. Hope everything will be great and we will make a deal, Alex
—————–
I am fairly certain that what you are saying is true just based on the pictures that look incredible, but you must understand that I must see the car report for the car prior to any decision making. I have had some really bad experience with car buying because I am new to this business. What I have learned in my short time of dealing with cars is that I have to see the report for it first and I cannot trust anyone online. I do not mean to offend but it is how it is. I myself am not a fan of reports do to their high cost but I have done some research and found this site vincarreport.com and their reports look the cheapest and I find them most reliable. I am not here to promote or anything I just think that this is the safest (and cheapest) option for me and you, just because I intend to repay you of any expenses of the report. I would get the report myself but I do not wish to risk it being bad, than I just wasted my money but you on the other hand can use it whenever you like.
I am satisfied with the information that you gave me and I am 90% certain in buying the car. I just need this report to make sure I am not wasting my time with this buy. I am available any time after Thursday. And please consider that I am willing to cash in at the full price for the car if we were to make an arrangement. You won’t get a better offer my friend!
================
THIS ASSHOLE THINKS HE IS SMART! HE IS NOTHING BUT A PUNK! LYING THIEF….
Another scammer similar to Not Scammed Either’s post (probably the same guy):
I am very interested. Do you have a current vehicle history-report available? I would like to know if there are any major problems with it. If you do not have one I suggest getting()one here – http://lookupvinquick.com – I have used=them in the past when I was selling a vehicle and it was half the price of other vehicle report companies (only $19 – others are charging $40 or_more).
I would feel more comfortable buying the vehicle with an+official report. In the past some of my friends got scammed onto make sure that it has not been in any bad accidents, that it#has a clean title and that it has not been stolen. There are so many scams on_Craigslist.
Shoot me a message when you get it so that I can take a=look at it. Then we can make arrangements to meet up. I work odd-hours, so please bare with me – sometimes I cannot respond immediately. Talk=to you soon. Thanks!
Stay away from carhistory.us.org, it is a complete scam.
Dealing with one now – [email protected]. Phone # is (305) 481-9098. I texted back three times that the truck had been sold and she is still asking if I can get that report so she can see the (SOLD) truck tomorrow. I was frustrated at first, but now I think I’ll have a little fun with it 🙂 Feel free to text her about her vehicle for sale… it’s a Ferrari I think… make sure you ask her for a vehicle history report 🙂
Thanks "Not Scammed"! I received the same exact email you did and went to the same web site that was forwarded to the next one. I was suspicious when I saw it was forwarded, so I knew to look for reviews. I’m glad I did my research!
July 20, 2015: Scammer Robert Goss
Hi , I’ve just seen your ad on Craigslist and I’m very interested in your Mercedes. Could you tell was it involved in any serious car accident? Do you have car history report?
I’d really appreciate if you could provide me that report because I need to be assured that everything is okay with it before I come to see car (I’ve had few legal problems with my previous car so I’m more careful now). I’m experiencing some problems with network on my cell phone at the moment, that’s the reason why I am contacting you via email but I hope that it will be repaired in next 4-5 days.
Kind regards, Robert
Obviously they’re getting more clever by mentioning the make of your car. My biggest clue was if you can afford my Mercedes, why can’t you afford to have a working phone while you’re trying to purchase a car??? Second clue, I didn’t give my phone number in my Craigslist ad, for a reason… Third clue, the Carfax Report I received from my dealership wasn’t good enough for him; he doesn’t trust any other company. Fourth clue, he waited way too long between responses for someone who is highly interested in my car.
I will be letting Craigslist know about this. Thanks for reporting your
Yep, I fell for it too….
"|_think tomorrow_is a good_day for a meet|ng. | can pay you cash or certified bank check if you want. I do hope you have all the things ready because i don’t want to make the trip twice. I will need a vehicle history report for my lender with the owner signature on each page so do not send me the vin no because you will need to get that history report
You can get the history report from any website you want like carfax or carproof or you can get one from: http://car-facts.ncd-canada.ca/ for 20 bucks.
I am willing to refund you for that report if it is too much to ask from you or if you want i can send someone from my family to a post office to transfer you the twenty bucks so you will have the funds to pay for that history report.
I am very serious about seeing the car so once you have an updated vehicle history please tell me or reply with the pdf and I will call you or give you my number to arrange a meeting
I hope you are serious too, thank you"
I’ve been trying to sell my car for three weeks now and I’ve received four emails that have all been some sort of scam. I’m tired of all the dirty sad people in this world who are willing to take advantage of anyone. Just awful.
I received a e-mail from Scott Mayers he also told me that his phone didn’t work and wanted me to e-mail him a report of my car.
I just received another e-mail from Billy Branch asking for the report.
i have received the same emails. Now the name is "Rebeca"
I got one of these suck bags on the hook right now. I’m gonna milk this out and piss them off. I love f’ing with spammers.
Same $#@! happened to me. "Kevin Thurston" claiming his cell phone doens’t work, trying to get me to use usvinreport.com Good thing I looked here before purchasing. usvinreport.com forwards to lookupvin.com – the main scam website. The phone number on the website is Ameri-trust or Ameri-lending.
Received a text from a 570-284-5878. He said wanted to buy my vehicle but to first go to htt://vinreported.com and email him the history report to [email protected], I told him that I had the report already and that we could meet right away. I never received a response back. SCAM!!
Same happened to me!
The name is Diana King!
On Craigslist
MARK TIEDE tried to scam me today with this.
Just got scammed. Almost word for word of the example posted. Then, as soon as I sent an email with a pdf of the report, all emails from the buyer and my responses disappeared. Vanished completely from my Yahoo mail history.
Received a text message from "David" at (619) 356-2360 asking me to use http://www.vinlookupreport.com and to email him the report at [email protected]. Said that he didn’t feel comfortable doing it himself because he is not the legal owner. I sent him a couple of replies and each reply I received didn’t match the conversation and were obviously automatically generated. BEWARE!
Mark Tiede tried to run the same scam on me, said his bank wouldn’t accept Carfax. I expect he gets $5 every time someone uses LookupVIN, and they likely steal credit card information, too.
on 6/26 i was contacted by txt from my craigslist add, and asked to go to vincheck.com, the website timed out after i ran the report so i clicked it again, it actually charged my bank twice $6.95 each time, fake buyer offered to come see the car next day but never texted again. i did not delete the txt history and the same cell number contacted me 2 days later directing me to an electronics buy-sell site for no reason, scammer got confused and gave itself away thinking i was selling a cell phone. then i researched and found this site.
Mark Tiede tried this scam with me as well. I googled his name and it was a man from the east coast. This guy said he as coming from Gilroy. Watch your back!
I HAD A CAR LISTED ON CL FOR SALE. THE MAN MARK TIEDE, REQUESTED FOR ME TO USE http://WWW.LOOKUPVIN.COM. HE WAS UNABLE TO GET THE "LOAN" WITHOUT THE REPORT THAT I HAD TO GET FOR HIM. HE SAID HE WAS HEARING IMPARED AND HAD FAT THUMBS; THIS PROVENTED HIM TO TALK OR TEXT….
I TOLD HIM TO USE CARFAX & HE GOT AGGRESSIVE AND SAID I MUST NOT BE SERIOUS.
I LET HIM KNOW HE CAN CALL ME WHEN HE WOULD LIKE THE VIN #.
Same scam, this website: vinchecking.com
Called from a local #. Wanted a vehicle history report from this page. It was $6.95. Got one, it was totally fake. Will be requesting a refund from my bank tomorrow.
Yup, just had one try to get me on lookupvn.com. Saw it coming. Besides commission, we should be thinking about a bogus website that any 15yr old kid with computer skills could construct, take your card information for the "VIN lookup info" and you know the rest. Beware of the NMVTA seal on the bottom of the webpage. The "T" does not stand for "Title", it actually stands for "Theft". Nice touch. Go Carfax or nothing. Never offer up VIN services after the fact. Only present the Carfax in photo on the CL ad if you must,or in person.
I just got scammed decided to check after the fact ! Web site was
http://vehicle-data.nri.ca/
DON’T FALL FOR THIS SCAMMER!!!!!
Responded to a car I have for sale on CL. As a computer programmer I investigated. CheckVinOnline.com is anonymously registered in California. When I typed in the phone #, the search engine results lit up like a Christmas tree! He is scamming all over the country.
Obviously a CL scammer trying to get either free money for the fake report you are going to be charged for or, worse, trying to get your Credit Card Number. DON’T FALL FOR THIS SCAMMER!!!!!
I had a similar experience last week except I decided to pull a carfax report when they asked fro a vindetails.tk report. They didn’t specify that was what their bank needed it was just one they had used. So when I sent them the carfax report they said the bank would not use it but it had to be from their link. Wish I would have searched for scams prior to paying for the Carfax report, but I really felt that it didn’t seem legit and after reading this I am going to pass on their offer. 🙁 I thought it was too good to be true that they wanted it sight unseen.
Hi guys, thanks for this site. You know how it goes when you post a car, you put a price there expecting people are gonna try and bargain it down. So when Sandra writes you that she’s all good with the price and will miss a day of work to come and get the car, it is fishy. Plus she answered in English to my french add. There are barely any anglophones where I live and one of the rare bilingual one, but she couldn’t know that…!
So when I got that email from Sandra it was too good to be true. I searched the Internet and couldn’t find anything about her vehicle history site, other than it seemed legit. They do show you that they have accessThat’s how they must get a lot of fish, ’cause you need to go in a little deeper and actually catch this site to find what the scam is about. So I decided to play the game a bit by replying with my own report dating a few years back and telling her that I have the rest in solid paper. I’m assuming she’ll try and convince me that she need an up to date report and blablabla. The fact that it’s only 20$ makes it appealing as well. Haa, they’re good these guys but I’m the really suspicious type, ask my wife 🙂
Thanks again!
Pat
A Vehicle History Report is Not a Pre-purchase Inspection
Limitations and Problems with Carfax or any Vehicle History Report
A history report is like any tool, and there is a limit to what each tool can accomplish. For example, you can’t rebuild an engine using only a screw driver, and you can’t determine the current condition of a vehicle with a history report.
1) Not all totaled vehicles end up with negative “reconditioned or salvage” titles.
A Carfax report will show if a vehicle was totaled only if two things happen. First, someone has to create and submit the paperwork which changes the status of the title, and second, Carfax must retrieve that information. If the paperwork was never submitted to the State’s DMV, the title will never be changed. For example, State Farm was sued for not reporting 32,000 to 40,000 “totaled” vehicles to the State’s DMV. Since the titles were never changed, these totaled vehicles were patched together and re-sold to the public with the original "clean" title and a "clean" Carfax report. State Farm was found guilty and agreed to pay $40 million in fines. Automotive experts estimate State Farm made between $60 to $80 million buy not reporting these vehicles to the DMV. This is an easy way to achieve high profit margins and this is not an isolated incident.
In addition, Carfax fails to inform their customers that there are States that do not report negative comments on their titles. These titles will not show any past problems such as “salvage, rebuilt, true miles unknown, theft recovery, etc…" Carfax’s buyback guarantee is not enforceable since the title was never changed to “totaled”.
2) There is no centralized database for accident reports or accident repairs.
Not all insurance companies disclose or share their accident information to Carfax. Carfax admits that there are thousands of accidents each day which will never show up on a Carfax report.
Even if Carfax reports an accident, it cannot inform the buyer the extent of the accident damages, or the quality of any repairs.
3) There is no centralized database for automotive repairs.
Carfax does not have any type of reporting mechanism to obtain automotive repairs that are performed each day by franchise repair facilities, independent repair facilities, used car dealers, auction reconditioning, wholesalers, shade tree mechanics, and the millions of do-it-yourselfers. Many Carfax reports show little or no repair information compared to the hundreds of thousands automotive repairs performed each day. Even if Carfax reports a repair, it cannot tell if the problem was fixed correctly or if there are additional mechanical/electrical problems with the vehicle.
4) Carfax does not verify its information.
Carfax does not verify the information provided by its sources. Today’s vehicle identification number (VIN) is comprised 17 letters and digits. It is easy to input an incorrect VIN or mileage or other identifying information. Any mistake can cause a Carfax report to wrongly show "mileage discrepancies, airbag deployment, accident damage, salvage, ect…" Any database manager will tell you, “garbage in, garbage out”.
5) Used car dealers know the limitations of a Carfax report.
Some dealers knowingly buy vehicles with frame and accident damages but have a "clean" Carfax report. They sell these damaged vehicles to unsuspecting buyers by showing a Carfax report with “no structural damage reported" and “no accidents or damage reported to Carfax”.
6) Carfax can’t tell you who owns the vehicle.
Carfax does not tell you who currently owns the vehicle. Carfax only displays the registration state. You have to contact the DMV to determine the registered owner.
7) Any State’s annual safety and/or emission tests are very limited.
A Carfax report might show that a vehicle passed a States’ annual safety and/or emission test. However, these annual safety and/or emissions tests do not cover most mechanical and electrical systems. A previous safety and/or emission test cannot tell the buyer the current condition of any component or systems.
8) Carfax is a "history" report, not a “current” report.
There will always be a time lag from when a negative incident occurs and when (or if) it get into a Carfax report. This time lag can be significant and allow a damaged vehicle to be re-sold before Carfax reports the negative information.
9) Carfax reports are expensive for the small amount of useful information.
A Carfax report sells for $40. Pay that amount and 1) you can’t be 100% sure if the vehicle was ever in an accident(s) or totaled, 2) the quality of any previous accident damage, 3) if the vehicle was abused or well maintained, 4) the existing condition of ANY mechanical or electrical system.
10) Carfax is not consumer friendly.
Internet sites are full of complaints and problems with Carfax. If you have a complaint or see a mistake on a report, you must contact them via email and wait for them to respond (Carfax does not allow phoned in complaints). Carfax will not perform an investigation when you dispute a negative report. Carfax requires the consumer to get documentation disputing what Carfax has in its database. Obtaining proof is usually tedious and time consuming. Some errors are impossible to dispute especially if the reported information is erroneous.
11) Carfax hides behind their disclaimer.
Many Carfax customers have purchased used vehicles with a “clean” Carfax report only to discover existing problems and accident damages resulting in a financial loss. When confronted by their customers, Carfax refers them to their disclaimer.
The perception created by Carfax, suggests their history reports contain comprehensive historical information on used vehicles. Carfax touts it has over 34,000 data sources of information. However, that’s less than 10% of the estimated automotive industry sources.
For years, Carfax advertised itself as “your best protection against buying a used car with costly, hidden problems”. Currently, Carfax advertising states: Don’t run the risk of buying a used car with costly hidden problems. Get a detailed vehicle history report from our nationwide database within seconds”.
Consumers are led to believe that if the Carfax report is “clean” they eliminated the risks when purchasing a used vehicle.
Hilarious. My scammer emails were word for word the same as above. But I have had fun with them today.
>> Sorry, I am at work at this time. I think the car is ok and I just like it. I am fine with the price from your listing so I will go ahead get the funds from my loan broker. I will have to come and see the car. I will also bring my mechanic with me so he will see it too. I will pay you cash after I will inspect the car. I am very serious and I deal only face to face with cash. Do you have all the service docs and the history of the car?
Me: I have all history. Mechanic is welcome.
Let me know what time works for you. I am in Mississauga.
>>I think tomorrow is a good day for a meeting. I can pay you cash or certified bank check if you want. I do hope you have all the things ready because i don’t want to make the trip twice. I will need a vehicle history report for my lender with the owner signature on each page so do not send me the vin no because you will need to get that history report
You can get the history report from any website you want like carfax or carproof or you can get one from: http://Car-Facts.nri.ca for 20 bucks.
I am willing to refund you for that report if it is too much to ask from you or if you want i can send someone from my family to a post office to transfer you the twenty bucks so you will have the funds to pay for that history report. I am very serious about seeing the car so once you have an updated vehicle history please tell me or reply with the pdf and I will call you or give you my number to arrange a meeting
I hope you are serious too, thank you
Me: Excellent. I already have a car report. No need to worry about refunding the cost.
I look forward to showing you the car tomorrow.
>> i am very sorry but the report must be up to date from today. i am at work now. i told you that you can get the report from the page that i have sent you or any website you want or local car dealer
please send me an email once you get the report and will call you or i will send you my number to talk about our meeting and you will show me the report when we will meet. (you will keep the report and present it to me in person)
Me: No worries Sandra, the report is up to date from today. Exactly as you asked.
You’re going to love the car it’s a great vehicle.
Its getting late in the day and we need to set a time for tomorrow.
I have another buyer interested in the car. In fact that’s why I had the car report done today. They also sent me a link to get a report. Too bad I didn’t see yours first, because theirs was $5 more.
But like I said I have the report, no worries there.
I do require cash however because there have been scams where buyers gave fake bank drafts as payment. Imagine the dishonesty and fraud! What is the world coming to?
Anyways I am sure you’re a really nice person and we can do a deal. Earlier in the morning is better for me.
YEsterday I got an email from autotrader saying my ad has expired. I went to Autotrader site and my ad was just fine. Fake email brings people to there fake site asking for credit card into. People ask for your emails for that and other reasons.
GREAT feedback on this thank you! So same thing happening right now, however, still waiting to hear the "decline to meet" line. I did not use their vin check service but rather did it through CarProof so I’m assuming this is the last I will hear from them. Nothing lost as of yet other than time wasted emailing them and on a plus side, got a CarProof done that gives other people some assurance from my end. What a pain though. Appreciate your posts so I have the heads up.
This person’s contact is: "Asad" [email protected]
Now the name is Rosalina !
Wow, Same thing happen to me right now.
Her name was sandar..
I have paid the vehicle history report
NMVTIS .
Paid 20 dollars by visa. 🙁
I just got emails for this one and it was the same, word for word. Email addresses used were [email protected] , [email protected] and [email protected]
exact word for word scam. Her name was also Carolina. Has anyone contacted the company she receives her commission from to see what they say about this? I tried but was left on hold until it went to a voicemail.
Exact thing happened to me today. Girl named Caroline word for word from what is posted. I figured it was a scam so I kept leading her on to see how far it will go.
Mine was a Rosa and she to used those lines word for word on Kijiji. I was pretty sure right away something was up. But how annoying.
Someone named Carolina tried to scam me with paypal.
Thank you for posting that. I received an email tonight that was quite similar and thought it was just too easy! When he mentioned paypal I started to question it even more because I’ve always dealt in cash so I’ve been searching about different paypal scams with kijiji and finally found your site!
Someone named Carolina just tried to pull this one on me. It was nearly word for word. In mine the prices were the same as other websites though.
Yep …..sure enough. If it sounds too good to be true, then be assured it’s a scam. This one played out just as described above. Just cut and paste a few lines out of the e-mail message and drop it into Google. Gets a hit every time!
Up for Robert and Edward. Actually even some dealers give you a fake vin check. And who said is the buyer responsibility to get a title check ? I mean, the seller has the car, the seller has all documents and the seller has the legal right to sell. Is sellers job to offer all documents to prove that is ready to sell. I have nothing against buying a report for every car I sell. I’m not selling my car every week !! I have a 10 pack reports this should be enough for 50 years from now on ! The real issue is not the report, the real issue is that idk who’s the scammer and who’s not !
[website] worked great for my recent purchase of a 2009 Toyota Tacoma. I used the service 4 times as I was looking at several toyotas out of state to purchase.
Placed an ad on Craigslist for my car but a man by name of Jerry Parrish keeps asking me to purchase a car report from carlookupvpn.com–he wrote again today after I told him I am not buying the report for him and said if I change my mind to let him know, but that he CANNOT buy it without that report, stating he bought a car that was in a fatal accident and not reported to carfax. He is the ONLY person who has even expressed an interest in my car lol. Be aware!
NO matter what best used car you choose, never forget to run a vin check to keep safe. Recommend [website]
This happened EXACTLY as you described it. I googled before responding to the car report request and then found this site. Sent him the link to the site and said he should read it since it’s quite entertaining. Be aware- he responded with an email first showing up as "Jess Canada" and then Adele. Refused to phone or text and kept emailing. Thanks for posting this on your site.
Jody Beckett [email protected]. Responded to a listing on a local classified car ad (SLC area).
The same thing happened to me. It turned out that the woman saying that she wanted to buy the car just wanted to have sex with me. It turned out that I really did get screwed.
lol
Same scenario happen to me, lucky i noticed it didn’t add up so I googled it and this website saved me from the scam! Thank you
This happened to me from phone number (847)221-6246
Thank you…realized it was a car report scam after I found your site. Almost word for word with a few "bullying " comments after I suggested SHE get the report herself, if she was willing to pay us back for it. Insisted we update, and sign, etc. Sandra: [email protected] stopped emailing, after I updated from another reputable site.
There are a few varieties of Craigslist car scams that await the unwary. The scams may include the use of counterfeit checks, stolen checks, selling a car that the scammer doesn’t own, dealers selling cars as individuals, or the buyer sends a check or money order for more than the selling price, and asks for a refund for the excess [the check or money order is fake and the scammer is hoping you will send the excess back before you find out the check or money order is fake].
An increasingly common Craigslist car scam is where dealers sell cars as private individuals so that they don’t have to comply with used car rules established by the Federal Trade Commission for used car dealers.
You may be wondering why the dealer would want to do this? As reported on the Federal Trade Commission’s website the FTC’s Used Car Rule requires dealers to post a Buyers Guide in every used car they offer for sale.
The Buyers Guide gives a great deal of information, including whether the vehicle is being sold "as is" or with a warranty, what percentage of the repair costs a dealer will pay under the warranty and the major mechanical and electrical systems on the car, including some of the major problems you should look out for.
So buying a car from a private individual is different from buying from a dealer because private sales usually aren’t covered by the Used Car Rule, or by "implied warranties" of state law. A private sale will usually be "as is" and you will have to pay for anything that goes wrong after the sale. So clearly a used car dealer can save a few headaches by selling the car privately.
Its not until the seller [used car dealer] offers to get the car registered for you and you get the final paperwork, that you will see that the previous owner was a used car company.
same thing here, working late but soon as I get a vin check shes coming to buy, (480)360-7236. [email protected]