Anyone been a victim of an equipment scam?

[CM1995]

But charging tax on top of a fee, is taxing labor, and that's technically illegal, in some states...

Oh labor is taxed here in AL.

 

[horassrod]

Has anyone heard of All Road Machines from 1276-1298 Shepherd Rd N, Havre, MT 59501, USA? Sounds too good to be true. Satellite pic is from 2006. Just a junk field with trucks and vehicles. Website was registered in September or October of 24. I might call a real-estate agent about the address or maybe the authorities to see. It's a small town. Spoke to a person "from the company". They've called back. Sent e-signature contract. But they asked for wired money. So, no can do until I find out.

 

[Joe H]

Scam for sure. Click on their page, click on skid steers, click on the bobcat & right click "search by image' gets you here https://www.google.com/search?sca_e...AFHZVeKFQQpOwNegQIQRAA&biw=1920&bih=955&dpr=1

That same bobcat is everywhere and according to Iron Planet sold in Pittsburgh

 

[Joe H]

Any of those sites you can do the right click image search and find the machine elsewhere.

Facebook ads too, image search will show up a dozen other ads for the same stuff.

Real estate ads for rentals, all about $800 a month are all zillow ads the scammers use, all day every day all over the country.

Joe H

 

[Shimmy1]

Any of those sites you can do the right click image search and find the machine elsewhere.

Facebook ads too, image search will show up a dozen other ads for the same stuff.

Real estate ads for rentals, all about $800 a month are all zillow ads the scammers use, all day every day all over the country.

Joe H

I am VERY hesitant to post here, I think we all remember the last spring, but that outfit in Montana is DEFINITELY not on the up and up...

 

[Shimmy1]

Whatever you do, DON'T CALL THE PHONE NUMBER

 

[JD955SC]

Has anyone heard of All Road Machines from 1276-1298 Shepherd Rd N, Havre, MT 59501, USA? Sounds too good to be true. Satellite pic is from 2006. Just a junk field with trucks and vehicles. Website was registered in September or October of 24. I might call a real-estate agent about the address or maybe the authorities to see. It's a small town. Spoke to a person "from the company". They've called back. Sent e-signature contract. But they asked for wired money. So, no can do until I find out.

Why waste the time on such an obvious scam?

 

[92U 3406]

If I'm buying anything I'm laying eyes on it first. The moment money changes hands its coming with me. Deposit to hold it? Nope, I'll pass. Whatever it is you're selling I can find it somewhere else if somebody beats me to it.

 

[Vetech63]

A fool and his money are easily parted

I have some ocean front property in Arizonaaaaaaaaa…..

 

[CM1995]

If I'm buying anything I'm laying eyes on it first. The moment money changes hands its coming with me. Deposit to hold it? Nope, I'll pass. Whatever it is you're selling I can find it somewhere else if somebody beats me to it.

No doubt. I always get a chuckle when you're trying to buy a truck and the salesman says "That's the last one I got and somebody's coming in the morning to look at it." Always reply "Good deal hope you sell it."

Last RAM 3500 we bought was that way. Tried to buy one locally from a RAM, Jeep, non-commercial dealer which was our first mistake. Walked in and told the salesman we wanted a specific truck on the lot and give me a OTD price with all the BS fees and what not added in. He and the sales manager hemhawed around and wasted a good 30 mins of our time then came back with a price that was several thousand dollars higher than what we can buy the same truck for just across the line in GA right off I-20, 1 hour away.

As I am haggling with the salesman the boss (wife) called the dealership in GA and got Big Country on the phone - real name, true story.

Boss tells Big Country what we want and he gives her a price. Boss ask's what other fees will be added on and Big Country replies "Ma'am if you bring XXX dollars over here you'll drive home with this truck. Price was several thousand less than the yahoo's I was dealing with.

Wife comes back in and says "Looks like we are going to GA tomorrow to buy a truck". I thank the salesman for his time and tell him we found a truck in GA cheaper and were going to buy that truck. On the way out the door the salesman said "Let me know soon if you change your mind, I've got a guy coming to look at it this afternoon". I chuckled OK and we left.

Next day Boss and I drive to GA, meet Big Country and buy the truck. On the way back home the original salesman sends me a text asking if I was still interested in the truck. I replied that we just bought a truck in GA like I told you I was going to do yesterday. His only reply was OK. lol

Hate dealing with "retail" salespeople for vehicles. After buying and selling so many trucks over the years I've heard every BS sales pitch. All I want to know is the out the door price for that specific vehicle I'm looking at.

At least with these scam equipment websites you can tell right away it's a scam and move on. Real live humans - not so much, takes a little time to vet them out.

 

[dstatz]

So this person used the identity of an equipment dealer that used to exist, that no longer exists, with their address, owners name, etc. out of Missoula, Montana. Spoke to him on the phone a few times, agreed on a price and delivery, he sent me a BS invoice. Turns out, he never owned any of the equipment he was selling, stole all the info from Purple Wave Auctions and used it as his own. I was one of 8 victims in this particular scam. I am working with the FBI and a special wire fraud task force as I paid via wire transfer. I never would have done this deal had I not found the ad in Machinery Trader magazine. I thought they were reputable.

I have learned some lessons through all of this, albeit at a very expensive price tag. It appears I am out the money. The FBI and a wire fraud task force is supposedly working the case. No idea when or if I will ever see my money again. I wired it to their account and it was withdrawn shortly thereafter. It was a ring of people involved, some in the US, some not in the US. I keep my fingers crossed that I get some type of restitution but who knows. I am just over 8 months in with no real promising news yet. I did find out they were running multiple other scams on top of the equipment scams.

I did learn that Machinery Trader only verifies a phone number in order to "vet" a seller. This person assumed the identity of someone who used to be a legit seller so he cleared with Machinery Trader. I contacted them and they basically said "have your lawyer contact our lawyer" so I am working that route as well and have no issue slamming them as they could care less and to this day have never posted about this scam, so who knows how many other scams have been run through their magazine/web site that they have no interest in notifying their customers about. Had this ad been on craigslist, I never would have done the deal, I thought Machinery Trader was legit, lesson learned.

I tried to do my homework, I called CAT with the serial number to get as much info as I could from them and to ask if it was stolen. Since the machine was not stolen (guy never had actual possession of the machine, just the photos he stole from Purple Wave Auction) it never came back as stolen or any red flags.

Good morning. Could I ask how you contact the FBI wire fraud task force? We lost $9500 to a fraud where we were buying a John Deere tractor a few hundred miles away and it was to be delivered. We went to our local bank and we paid $25 to have the money wired. They did not warn us that it is very risky to wire money.

 

[CM1995]

Good morning. Could I ask how you contact the FBI wire fraud task force? We lost $9500 to a fraud where we were buying a John Deere tractor a few hundred miles away and it was to be delivered. We went to our local bank and we paid $25 to have the money wired. They did not warn us that it is very risky to wire money.

In addition to contacting the FBI, I suggest you get a new banker as well. Seriously you need a better banking relationship.

 

[Nige]

I suggest you get a new banker as well. Seriously you need a better banking relationship.

I agree with CM. Any bank that prioritizes charging $25 for a wire transfer as opposed to one that instead asks "Are you really ******* sure you want to do this.?" or maybe even "*** are you smoking.?" is not really an organization to which you should be giving your business, IMHO. YMMV.

 

[DIYDAVE]

A fool and his money are easily parted

I have some ocean front property in Arizonaaaaaaaaa…..

Did I hear a request?

 

[crane operator]

My banker is resistant to me wiring $$$. But its a useful way to transfer funds.

I think the important thing, is to know who you are wiring money to. Go look at the equipment in person. Or know the sellers. When the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

You should have no trouble getting ahold of your local FBI office, but they really aren't going to be able to do anything. Your money is gone overseas.

 

[Joe H]

And here they charge sales tax on the wire fee.

Overseas wire fee is $75 + tax.

Joe H

 

[DIYDAVE]

Its a big forum, here, ask someone in the area in question, to volunteer to verify that the equip is at the address in the ad. Several years ago, I volunteered to do this on another forum, the location was like 6 miles from me, and at my convenience, I dropped by, talked to the seller, then contacted the prospective buyer and told him what I saw. I'm sure that someone here would likewise volunteer to do something similar. One thing we HFers hate is to have someone scammed!

 

[Shimmy1]

Its a big forum, here, ask someone in the area in question, to volunteer to verify that the equip is at the address in the ad. Several years ago, I volunteered to do this on another forum, the location was like 6 miles from me, and at my convenience, I dropped by, talked to the seller, then contacted the prospective buyer and told him what I saw. I'm sure that someone here would likewise volunteer to do something similar. One thing we HFers hate is to have someone scammed!

That site is nothing but a scam. I g00gled about 3 pics, all were Iron Planet items.

 

[dstatz]

Good morning. Could I ask how you contact the FBI wire fraud task force? We lost $9500 to a fraud where we were buying a John Deere tractor a few hundred miles away and it was to be delivered. We went to our local bank and we paid $25 to have the money wired. They did not warn us that it is very risky to wire money.

 

[LCA078]

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