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Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - 6:43 am ET
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eBay Dropoff Stores Being Used In Internet Scams

Internet scams come in many cleverly packaged disguises, from the popular widow of the deposed dictator who wants to share millions to the overseas buyer who wants to buy your stuff on eBay or Craig’s list.

FranchisePick.com readers recently complained they had been ripped off by Online Outpost:

Cameron wrote:

Hi. I tried to buy a bike from a guy selling through Online Oupost. I sent him $2000, and recieving nothing….

 Rich wrote:

Someone tried to scam me the same way on Craig’s List, selling a boat worth $13,000 for $3000. Wouldn’t give me the VIN or let me see it. He wanted me to pay him through the Online Outpost, but I went on the website and called all the phone numbers . They were all fake. The addresses were fake too. Beware!

However, another reader explained that it is an overseas scammer using the Online Outpost name, not OO itself.

Support wrote:

There is a person overseas that is using the Online Outpost name and is scamming people. Here’s the gist of it. You contact a person on Craigslist about a “too good to be true” cheap item. They email you back stating that they are out of town and they dropped it off at The Online Outpost to finish the transaction.

Then you get an email but if you look closely, it’s not from theonlineoutpost.com, there’s probably a – or 0 instead of an O in the address. They ask you to wire transfer the money. That should be a red flag right there!

The Online Outpost does NOT accept wire transfer AND you can always stop by the location (if there is one where these scammers are advertising) and you are allowed to see the product, pick up the product and pay over-the-counter.

To sum it up Cameron, this is a scam not by The Online Outpost, but someone using their name.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - 6:43 am ET
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8 Comments

  1. LISA

    IT HAPPENED TO US, ON THURSDAY MY HUSBAND SENT 1500 DOLLARS TO NEVADA OUTPOST CAUSE THE WEBSITE LOOKED LEGIT, DIDNT KNOW UNTIL TODAY WHEN I CALLED THEM AND THE POOR GUY SAID HE IS GETTING CALLS LIKE CRAZY FROM PEOPLE WANTING TO KNOW WHERE THERE STUFF WAS, HE SAID THEY ARE USING HIS ADDRESS AND HIS PHONE NUMBER, WISH I WOULD HAVE CALLED HIM BEFORE, SO BEWARE OF CRAIGSLIST, SAYING PEOPLE ARE OUT OF TOWN AND THERE SELLING THERE ITEMS

    Reply

  2. Just for the record…

    You should export yourself. My god.

    Reply

  3. Patti New

    I bought a “travel trailer” in March for $2000.00. The guy was “in Hawaii on his honeymoon”. He said he was using the online outpost to handle the actual sale and delivery of the item. Needless to say, I was stupid and sent the money and of course, I just love my invisible trailer. My husband and I got a loan to be able to purchase it. Now, we are still having to pay that off.

    Reply

  4. Dennis

    For those that were scammed by the guy using craig list and the online outpost ebay store to steel your hard earned money well he tried it with me this time it was a camper i was interested in luckily i checked this site and read what happened and it is the same person everything he or she did to you that person tried on me but the person did not realize i use a email tracer just for people like that and if you want the information so you can bring this person to justice and maybe get your money back you can contact me at [del] and i will give you all the information on the person that i have the person is in the united states not africa like everyone suspected so it is possible to get this person and bring him or her to justice.

    Reply

  5. wilton

    LOOKS LIKE I HAVE BEEN SCAMMED ALSO. BOUGHT AND PAID FOR A CAMPER THRU ONLINE OUTPOST FROM PERSON IN CANADA. PAID MY MONEY, CANNOT GET A RESPONSE FROM THE SELLER, ONLINE OUTPOST, AGENT OR ANYONE ELSE. $1700.00 DOWN THE DRAIN.

    Reply

  6. ONLINE OUTPOST Craigslist Scam. Beware! : Franchise Pick – Picking the Perfect Franchise

    [...] June 10, 2009 at 6:22 pm [...]

    Reply

  7. David

    Hi Dennis; Unfortuneatly I did get scammed, tried to purchase a peice of equipment off of cragslist, thru online outpost paying thru money gram. After money was sent there was no further contact from seller or online outpost. Discovering after the transaction that all the links to respond to where not ligeate. Such as misspelled words in those links and not the correct spelling for the online outpost website. I am not sure what information you have that could help me but anything is worth a shot. Thanks for your time. Dave

    Reply

  8. wilton

    MINE WAS A CAMPER FROM A PERSON IN CANADA. LOOKS LIKE I HAVE BEEN SCAMMED….CAN’T GET A REPLY FROM ANYONE, SELLER, ONLINE OUTPOST, AGENT OR ANYONE. LIVE AND LEARN
    WILTON

    Reply