eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection (2020)

eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection: How The Scam Works

If you buy stuff online, beware of the Purchase Protection scheme. If you're car hunting, watch out for the eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection scam.

The online shopping experience worldwide is exceeding slowly but surely the traditional in-store purchasing. If you are like most people, you probably love buying stuff on websites such as Amazon, Craigslist, and eBay.

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You may even pride yourself as being the deal-finder out of your circle of friends. However, be aware of the eBay Purchase Protection Scam, which comes in two variations. They are disguised mostly as Craigslist scams, LetGo, OfferUp scams, and Facebook Marketplace scams. However, keep an eye on all platforms. Let's take a look at some eBay scams first.

Scenario 1. Fake Notification of Bad Sellers

Imagine this: shortly after your last purchase on Craigslist, you receive an official-looking email, which seems to be from the website's Buyer's Protection Plan. They inform you that the seller in your latest transaction was a cyber crook scamming the users. As a result, you will not be receiving the goods you ordered. The message looks very realistic and mimics almost perfectly the branding of the platform where you bought your items.

To straighten the mess out, they ask you to provide your account or credit card number in order to refund your money. Of course, you probably know by now, you won't get back anything at all, as the Buyer's Protection Plan email was a fake premise created by the scammy so-called ‘seller'. It was all just a ruse to get your banking information. Plenty of eBay buyer scams work just that way.

Scenario 2. Fake Invoice of eBay Purchase Protection

This variation of the eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection Scam targets people who are in a rush to purchase items at a great price without due diligence. Hopefully, you are not one of them. How does it work?

Watch the video in this article to see the Craigslist Purchase Protection Scam exposed on ABC:

It works like this: as soon as someone is interested in buying an item on Craigslist (typically a bigger item such as a car, bike, or household products), the scammer sends a message to the buyer from a fake eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection account saying that the transaction is, well, protected. Just like in the screenshot below featured by the same ABC story.

Feeling covered, the victims rush to send money for the item so they're not missing the deal, sometimes even paying in gift cards. In the case above, a 2009 Nissan Maxima was ‘selling' for $1,500US.

That's why it's critical to know how to dodge a fake eBay email.

Last but not least, beware of a bunch of eBay gift card scams and similar other schemes when it comes to OfferUp buyer scams.

eBay Purchase Protection Scam: How To Report

Make your family and friends aware of the eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection Scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to Craigslist Support, eBay admin, and Federal Trade Commission using the link below:

Report Scammers To The FTC Here

Report Scammers To eBay Here

How to protect yourself more:

Another article we recommend you to read is the eBay Seller Scams. If you want to find out the most notorious scams every week, please subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter. You'll receive periodical emails and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other eBay scammers. Meanwhile, beware of the eBay Trading Assistant Scam, as well.

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