Robert Fischer...David Crane...Stephen Gleason Escrow Ripoff Scam...ebay motors beware...autotrader beware Washington District of Columbia

eBay and Autotrader are legit. I searched for a vehicle on Autotrader found a deal that ultimately too good to be true. I decided to check it out regardless.

Reference report #425785. The story is EXACTLY the same. This time, however, David Crane had a 330i for sale and was selling it cheap so that he didn't have to give his soon to be ex-wife more money. The sale of the car included shipping.

He refused to use eBAY's recommended escrow service, escrow.com. Red Flag. He was defensive about me being cautious. I let it go a little further. I received an email from eBay (supposedly from eBay) that had legit eBay logos, but had verbiage and grammar that was not correct. Another Red Flag. The email stated to use Moneygram and to send the money to a Stephen Gleason in CA. Stephen Gleason was supposed to be an eBAY escrow agent.

The next day I received a phone call from a Robert Fisher who said he was from eBay motors confirming the email and wanting me to send money as directed to in the email. I was to send half of the money using moneygram and then after I received the car and accepted it, I would send the second half. This contradicted what Mr David Crane said. While on the phone with Fisher I asked him why he was doing this if eBay recommended escrow.com. He said that escrow.com was only for high amount purchases. Legit eBay recommends escrow.com for purchases over $500. Mr. Fisher hung up on me. I tried calling him back a few times, but he never picked up.

Do not fall for this scam. Do your research and HEAD the recommendations on eBAY and Autotrader. If a deal seems like it may be too good to be true, it probably is. The adage proved to be true in this case.

Stephen
portland, Oregon
U.S.A.