Why so many CL scams for MINIs?

It seems regardless of the city, a CL search for a MINI Cooper will reveal several scams right near the top of the list. I've seen hundreds of them.

It will be a low price, usually under $3K, late model (like a 2005 or so) with great pics almost always posted in multiple cities. The pic will frequently have an gmail address imprinted on it.

If you respond to this, you will get the same sorry Nigerian scam response. Always needs a quick sale, funds will be handled by EBay Motors or Google Checkout, needs funds sent first before seeing the car. The story almost always involves a woman in a stress position selling after a divorce, or a member of the military about to be shipped off to Afghanistan.

My question is why so many MINIs? Is there something special about this car that makes scammers really like to try the same old tired routine?

I've been hunting for a budget MINI for a long while now over a broad geographic area. There are so many of these scams that it is difficult to find ads that are legit. They are buried under the scams.

i can only assume that people who buy minis are dumb enough to fall fo it....... lol. i keeeed.

i see it a lot. annoys me.

go one recently when i tried to sell my phone. text message "ive got a buddy abroad willing to buy your phone. ill pay $490 (100 more than im asking) do you have a paypal i can send this to?" i replied YES! gof--kyourself @ yahoo.com

'Cause "MINI" is easier to spell than "Camaro"?

Because old people...they're much less hip to this internet fad and a better target for the Fresh Prince of Nigeria.

Are you suggesting old people like MINI's, or that young people are smarter?

Don't think I can agree with either assertion, but it may take a few decades for younger people to realize their own foolishness (just like it did for their older counterparts).

It's not just MINI. Lately Civics and Altimas have been popular in SE Michigan.

http://annarbor.craigslist.org/fod/3368088050.html

Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any deal involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, cashier check, money order, shipping, escrow, or any promise of transaction protection/certification/guarantee.

i just love how they put this on top of page and people still fall for it.

Maybe that's why ours sold so quickly. It was actually a legitimate ad. I miss it sometimes, but right now I'm glad I don't have find shelter for it...

Ian F wrote: Maybe that's why ours sold so quickly. It was actually a legitimate ad. I miss it sometimes, but right now I'm glad I don't have find shelter for it...

Are you Nigerian and going through a divorce?

Seriously, I was actually selling a large piece of equipment and was contacted by someone speaking broken English that offered to buy it. The only catch was, they didn't have the money right now but they would send someone over to pick it up and gladly pay later in the week when they get paid. You gotta love CL!

SVreX wrote: Are you suggesting old people like MINI's, or that young people are smarter? Don't think I can agree with either assertion, but it may take a few decades for younger people to realize their own foolishness (just like it did for their older counterparts).

Having owned a MINI myself, I guess I'm saying old people have better tastes, a higher degree of tolerance for breakdowns, and are perhaps quick to trust. ;)

In reply to Feedyurhed:

I understand we had a few of those "offers", but finally got a legitimate email from someone reasonably local.

Same for both MINIs we've sold recently, now that think about it. Our '07 vert and the heavily customized '03 owned by a late friend.

It could be worse.

One of the local to me CLs that I monitor is the St. Augustine, Fl CL. One weekend I counted 20% scam ads on saturday....usually Altimas and Accords.

Last weekend someone posted an "ad" saying "Beware, the ad for the $5700 Camaro MAY be scam" It was an ad for a split bumper 1970 Camaro in pretty good resto-mod shape. ANYONE who saw the car knew it wasn't the kind of Camaro that would sell for less that $20K....except for the guy who placed the BEWARE ad. He actually answered it.

Tyler H wrote:

SVreX wrote: Are you suggesting old people like MINI's, or that young people are smarter? Don't think I can agree with either assertion, but it may take a few decades for younger people to realize their own foolishness (just like it did for their older counterparts).

Having owned a MINI myself, I guess I'm saying old people have better tastes, a higher degree of tolerance for breakdowns, and are perhaps quick to trust. ;)

I know more old people that own MINI's than young people. Even my doctor drives a MINI Clubman.

There are a lot of them for range rovers too. My sister e-mailed about a vanagon that seemed legit other than having blanked out plates in the pic. The reply was actually pretty good, but a little too generic and mentioned some service that would handle the payment that "I'm sure you have heard of if you buy and sell online" but according to google there was no such thing. I think it just depends on the type of car, there aren't any for Italian or French cars for example, but tons for other stuff.

Ive been seeing the scammers branch out into things like quads, boats and trailers.