windchaser1942
Well-known member
I have a good friend who wants to buy a “trike” . The other day he calls me and sez', “ found one”! He gave me the link to the bike on Motorcycle Trader. Com. So, I took a break from what I was doing to look it up on the website. Sure enough, there it was...and it was a beaut. A Honda Valkyrie, red with a knock out price. However the price raised a red flag..
I called my buddy to discuss this new found “treasure”. Before I could even discuss the details of the bike he tells me, “I'm buying it and I have already called the owner; he wasn't home so I left him a message to call me”.
Well, two or three days go by without a return call. So my buddy calls him again. This time again there is no answer but the recording states that the seller is in the military and bound for Iraq in three weeks. Some delay may be understood but I fear another “red flag”.
A week later my friend gets an email saying the seller is now in Las Vegas (not Corpus Christi, Tx as originally posted) and he has the bike with him. The seller writes that he can't talk by phone and the deal will be made on-line. He further states that my friend will receive an email from a broker with instructions of where to transfer the money and provide shipping instructions with a tracking number. Now the field is filling with “red flags”....and they are all waving vigorously!
Two days later I get a call from my buddy who has received the instructions of where to send the money and the name of the shipping company. So, I looked it up and it was “OFF SHORE IN ENGLAND”! By now I am on my buddies case......STOP....this is a scam! To which he replies: “ Look they have been in business for 22 years.” So tracing the name of the website via WHOIS we found the site is less than 30 days old and gives an address In Sussex England of “Cheapstreet”. Now there are so many flags flying the field is solid red. Finally convinced that he was about to be duped he gives up the hope this bike will ever be his.
A call to Motorcycle Trader .Com resulted in the bike ad removed from the site. A few weeks later it is back again on the site but with a different set of numbers and names. A further search found the sad stories of other people who had fallen prey to this scam. All of the victims “thought they had found the motorcycle of their dreams”.
Buyer Beware!
I called my buddy to discuss this new found “treasure”. Before I could even discuss the details of the bike he tells me, “I'm buying it and I have already called the owner; he wasn't home so I left him a message to call me”.
Well, two or three days go by without a return call. So my buddy calls him again. This time again there is no answer but the recording states that the seller is in the military and bound for Iraq in three weeks. Some delay may be understood but I fear another “red flag”.
A week later my friend gets an email saying the seller is now in Las Vegas (not Corpus Christi, Tx as originally posted) and he has the bike with him. The seller writes that he can't talk by phone and the deal will be made on-line. He further states that my friend will receive an email from a broker with instructions of where to transfer the money and provide shipping instructions with a tracking number. Now the field is filling with “red flags”....and they are all waving vigorously!
Two days later I get a call from my buddy who has received the instructions of where to send the money and the name of the shipping company. So, I looked it up and it was “OFF SHORE IN ENGLAND”! By now I am on my buddies case......STOP....this is a scam! To which he replies: “ Look they have been in business for 22 years.” So tracing the name of the website via WHOIS we found the site is less than 30 days old and gives an address In Sussex England of “Cheapstreet”. Now there are so many flags flying the field is solid red. Finally convinced that he was about to be duped he gives up the hope this bike will ever be his.
A call to Motorcycle Trader .Com resulted in the bike ad removed from the site. A few weeks later it is back again on the site but with a different set of numbers and names. A further search found the sad stories of other people who had fallen prey to this scam. All of the victims “thought they had found the motorcycle of their dreams”.
Buyer Beware!
