Cosworth scams on eBay

**NEILRS2K** · 03-03-2018, 21:41

Evening all,

Just thought I would give everyone a heads up regarding fraudulent sales of YB cosworth engines recently.

I have been scowering the web looking for a YB cosworth for my MK2 and contacting various sellers for information on their ads. Had asked a few questions and got some suspect answers back about one for sale on eBay. This immediately got me thinking something wasn't right so stopped the messages with the seller.

Received an email today from eBay stating that the account holder had been hacked, the ad was fraudulent and the ad has since been removed.

This is the second dodgy seller on eBay I have been involved with in the last couple of months.

Just a reminder to stay wary and trust your gut instincts when you feel something isn't right.

Could have been been an expensive lesson for someone!

Thanks
Neil

**alancdavis** · 04-03-2018, 02:06

Scams are getting to often now ,,,look at the number of 99p escorts being posted,,, E Bay need to sort this our NOW

**Forest_rallying** · 04-03-2018, 08:56

A couple of weeks ago there was a big wing mk1 Escort on the flee bay, buy it now £7.800. advertised by a woman on behalf of a friend. Little detail was given about the car so I clicked onto other items for sale. To my amazement there were over 40 other vehicles advertised, a Sierra Cosworth, various Rs Escorts and other performance vehicles all at ridiculously low prices.

If anything's too cheap it's for a good reason and should set alarm Bells ringing,it's when their prices are the same as the genuine items it starts getting difficult to spot. Once upon a time people went to prison for fraud,now it's seems to have been all but made legal.

**Duffer** · 05-03-2018, 19:50

Hi Neil,
I did the same as you when I was looking for mine. Lots on Gumtree, usually in the far reaches of Scotland so that you are not tempted to 'pop over for a look' and certainly not going to try and collect.

I bought mine off eBay, you can usually tell the honest ones, as they are cash on collection, which is what I did.

Since then I have seen my own engine re-appear on eBay (it has an unusual cam belt cover) about five times, reported it every time, and eBay lets the ad continue to run until the end, so who knows if many people have been scammed out of thousands.

Good luck in your search, its an expensive outlay!

**NEILRS2K** · 06-03-2018, 14:16

Agreed, seems too easy for scammers on eBay. All that happens is they get the account frozen.

Although you have to watch the local ones too. I went and viewed one locally, advertised on eBay at a different location around 15 miles away. The engine was a bit of a mess but seemed a decent deal for engine, gearbox and ancillaries. Agreed with the seller that I would go back for a few more checks and was happy to meet asking price however at the last minute he text me saying it was sold and a deposit was taken. Since then the engine has appeared on eBay again twice without selling.

Very strange, obviously didn't want to sell it to someone who lives in the same area for some reason. Might have dodged a bullet with that one.