# Sticky  Used Honda Snow Blower Scams are back



## Ziggy65

Last year we saw many ads for used Honda snow blowers that were priced at ridiculously low prices, mainly in Toronto and surrounding areas.
Several of the photos posted in the various ads last year had been taken from posts on this very forum. 
I don't know how the scam works, but it appears they are back again this year. I seem to recall they would ask for $ up front to hold the machine for you before you come to look at it or something like that.
Buyer beware, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Any ideas how these scams work?


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## crazzywolfie

Ziggy65 said:


> Any ideas how these scams work?


well i would guess it work by them only holding the machine if you give them a deposit or pay for the machines in full through e-transfer and they they ignore and block you once they get the money. also listing cheap generally gets you lots of interest so if you get 20-30 people falling for it then you make quite a bit


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## orangputeh

I'm guessing they want Venmo or something similar up front as a deposit and then they disappeer. 
Most have a buy it now feature on Facebook Marketplace with very low shipping charges.

I can't see anyone falling for this but these kind of ads are increasing so many people are.


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## Oneacer

LOl, I had one person ask me if I take Venmo .... lol, I said what the is that ....Benjamin's is what I deal in ...

I like the ones that post free ... And then in the description, I see they want big bucks ... I still message them for the address of the freebie ....


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## Brojira

Ziggy65 said:


> Last year we saw many ads for used Honda snow blowers that were priced at ridiculously low prices, mainly in Toronto and surrounding areas.
> Several of the photos posted in the various ads last year had been taken from posts on this very forum.
> I don't know how the scam works, but it appears they are back again this year. I seem to recall they would ask for $ up front to hold the machine for you before you come to look at it or something like that.
> Buyer beware, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
> 
> Any ideas how these scams work?
> 
> View attachment 200788


Was posted here in Manitoba as well. I recognized the photo from the original owner’s Reddit post that I had read about an hour before seeing this listing. I sent her/him the link and stated “weird”.

They promptly replied asking how I’d like to secure payment since she was out of town on a medical emergency. I reported the post and told the scammer that I knew she didn’t own these machines. Zero reply.


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## orangputeh

Brojira said:


> Was posted here in Manitoba as well. I recognized the photo from the original owner’s Reddit post that I had read about an hour before seeing this listing. I sent her/him the link and stated “weird”.
> 
> They promptly replied asking how I’d like to secure payment since she was out of town on a medical emergency. I reported the post and told the scammer that I knew she didn’t own these machines. Zero reply.


were you expecting a reply? like maybe her phone number and address?

I blame these selling websites that don't care about making sure these sellers are legit. If they are making money they don't care.


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## Oneacer

Any post I see like that on Marketplace I report, and within an hour or so, gone .....


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## Tseg

A couple new terms have been coined recently:

Buyer beware
There is a sucker born every minute


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## tabora

Oneacer said:


> LOl, I had one person ask me if I take Venmo


Nothing wrong with Venmo, but after the fact. I use Venmo for payments for photofinishing orders all the time, but I don't ship or upload the files until the payment clears (usually within 24 hours).


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## orangputeh

tabora said:


> Nothing wrong with Venmo, but after the fact. I use Venmo for payments for photofinishing orders all the time, but I don't ship or upload the files until the payment clears (usually within 24 hours).


I was told that someone can send payment , say 2 grand for a snowblower , take delivery , and then file a claim with Venmo claiming fraud and then the payment will be reversed.
They advised me not to take these kind of payments like venmo, pp, zelle, etc from people i don't know. it is very wide spread.

I'll stick with cash. people have offered me bitcoin ( not joking ), checks, cashier checks , money orders, partial payment with balance paid the next payday as long as they can take the blower right away and a lot more. 

The other day a guy wanted to pay with a cashiers check from a local bank 5 miles away. I said just get the cash from that bank. It would be a lot quicker, wouldnt it?
Sometimes i don't hear from these people again when they offer all this other nonsense. Then I know it's a scammer. Most times they do bring back the cash.

I had to put security camera's up in front and I point them out to almost everyone that comes over.


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## tabora

orangputeh said:


> I was told that someone can send payment , say 2 grand for a snowblower , take delivery , and then file a claim with Venmo claiming fraud and then the payment will be reversed.
> They advised me not to take these kind of payments like venmo, pp, zelle, etc from people i don't know. it is very wide spread.


Not true... "*It is not possible to cancel a payment to an existing Venmo account.* Once you send a payment, the funds are available to the recipient right away." The recipient can immediately have the funds transferred to their bank account (which we do daily as part of our cash-out procedure), prior to releasing materials.


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## Yanmar Ronin

Sticking this on top for a while... 'tis the season indeed.


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## Brojira

orangputeh said:


> were you expecting a reply? like maybe her phone number and address?
> 
> I blame these selling websites that don't care about making sure these sellers are legit. If they are making money they don't care.


I appreciate your sarcasm. I’ll leave it at that.


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## Big Ed

I hate scammers and they are all over the place today!
Find them and either put them away for a long time or save taxpayers money and just hang them.


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## Toon

Never heard of Venmo. Is it like PayPal?


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## Big Ed

Toon said:


> Never heard of Venmo. Is it like PayPal?


It is owned by PayPal since 2012.


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## tabora

Toon said:


> Never heard of Venmo. Is it like PayPal?


It is similar, but you can send money to "friends and family" without any fees on either end.
*It costs nothing to send or receive money using what’s in your Venmo account or bank account. *​*








Resources - Our Fees | Venmo


We minimize or eliminate fees wherever we can, and basic transactions like sending or receiving money from a bank account or your Venmo balance cost nothing. Where we do charge fees, they’re small (and never hidden).



venmo.com




*​


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## Toon

That sounds a bit like E Transfers here. 
You send a separate E-Mail with a password and then the E-Transfer information, but only if you know for sure who the recipient is.
I have never used it myself. but I'm pretty sure our last Tupperware order was paid in this way.


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## orangputeh

It's funny when people want to buy my snowblowers and they offer to pay by zelle, venmo, paypal etc and I say no.....cash only.

they hardly ever come back with the cash.......i guess they didnt want the blower that bad or was gonna scam me. believe me i don't like losing a sale so really looked into it and most said do not use them with people you do not know. I asked bankers and an attorney.

not saying these pay methods are bad. just saying there is too much fraud......google it. 

that's good enough for me to just stay with cash.


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## MikeySQ

Saw a few on Toronto area Kajiji a d FB Market....

So two honda HS622 $350 for the pair is too good of a deal?


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## BullFrog

Between family members or acquaintances we use Interac e-Transfer auto deposit. There's no cost to either party and the money is deposited immediately and cannot be cancelled. No need to send passwords either.


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## orangputeh

MikeySQ said:


> Saw a few on Toronto area Kajiji a d FB Market....
> 
> So two honda HS622 $350 for the pair is too good of a deal?


show up with the cash grasshopper


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## KJSeller

MikeySQ said:


> Saw a few on Toronto area Kajiji a d FB Market....
> 
> So two honda HS622 $350 for the pair is too good of a deal?


Yes it is!!!! There was a post on Kijiji last year for 2 honda snowblowers for $500 for both. Lady was busy blah blah blah and only available Monday for pickup but she posted on Friday. Said I can pay deposit via e-transfer etc to hold them. Yeah right lady nice way to make a few grand from the suckers out there.


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## Caper63

E-Transfer (Canadian Bank thing) is actually quite safe. Once you send the $$ it is gone and impossible to retract; however, the only place that money can go is to a Canadian bank account. The person receiving it must have all the login credentials for that bank account.

Banks cannot, and will not, open an account with proof of you identity. The feds have money laundering rules that they take and the banks take very seriously.

Point being is it very easy to identify who received any ETransfer.


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## KJSeller

Caper63 said:


> E-Transfer (Canadian Bank thing) is actually quite safe. Once you send the $$ it is gone and impossible to retract; however, the only place that money can go is to a Canadian bank account. The person receiving it must have all the login credentials for that bank account.
> 
> Banks cannot, and will not, open an account with proof of you identity. The feds have money laundering rules that they take and the banks take very seriously.
> 
> Point being is it very easy to identify who received any ETransfer.


Yes, but you probably won't get your money back. The Canadian banks won't help you unless law enforcement or the media get involved.


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## orangputeh

KJSeller said:


> Yes, but you probably won't get your money back. The Canadian banks won't help you unless law enforcement or the media get involved.


ya, why risk it.......even if you can get your money back it could take months and legal costs I suppose.

This is a rampant problem on FB. They suspend me for a week for making a joke but allow this fraud to proliferate.


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## JnC

Buy with cash, sell with cash.

In this case the machine is not getting shipped, there is no way around having a face to face interaction to acquire/sell the machine so why tool around with the idea of online payment? If someone says thats the only way of doing business with them then walk away.


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## Big Ed

JnC said:


> Buy with cash, sell with cash.
> 
> In this case the machine is not getting shipped, there is no way around having a face to face interaction to acquire/sell the machine so why tool around with the idea of online payment? If someone says thats the only way of doing business with them then walk away.


Sell with cash?  

Yep, money talks nobody walks, I would get a pen bill checker too.
They come over have the garage door shut, and don't let them in the house.


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## orangputeh

Big Ed said:


> Sell with cash?
> 
> Yep, money talks nobody walks, I would get a pen bill checker too.
> They come over have the garage door shut, and don't let them in the house.


I put up camera's several years ago after a couple guys came over from the city to look at one of my blowers. I noticed they were eyeballing everything in the garage
but they did not buy which was unusual.

Later that night someone tried to steal my generator off the walkway. but it was cable locked. the gen was pulled out and they must have left it pulled out.
I have video signs everywhere and point them out to visitors.

One guy wanted to use our bathroom and I said NO. Go use the tree in backyard.


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## heamicdan

Ziggy65 said:


> Last year we saw many ads for used Honda snow blowers that were priced at ridiculously low prices, mainly in Toronto and surrounding areas.
> Several of the photos posted in the various ads last year had been taken from posts on this very forum.
> I don't know how the scam works, but it appears they are back again this year. I seem to recall they would ask for $ up front to hold the machine for you before you come to look at it or something like that.
> Buyer beware, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
> 
> Any ideas how these scams work?
> 
> View attachment 200788


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## heamicdan

was thinking about a new snow blower and right on google with rest of them ther was a honda for about 1800 and next to it same thing for 89 bucks wtf-----my wife takes care of a slow adult who has bought these things twice--he tried buying quads for 399.00 we tried to talk him out of it and of course he got nothing at all--they are all being sold buy weird names




  






Troy-Bilt Storm 2600 26 in. 208 cc Two- Stage Gas Snow Blower with Electric Start Self Propelled
$86.43
Arestaner




  





Free by 12/29


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## orangputeh

That's all these scammers need. One person out of a 1000.
It's a numbers game. 

They are all over FB marketplace.........way to go zuck...i guess what can you expect from an alien?


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## heamicdan

orangputeh said:


> That's all these scammers need. One person out of a 1000.
> It's a numbers game.
> 
> They are all over FB marketplace.........way to go zuck...i guess what can you expect from an alien?


zuck blocks nobody that should be blocked


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## 2KXJ

Hilarious you posted this. I live like an hour from the GTA and often a lot of the pics you see in the scam posts are stolen from me hahaha


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## KJSeller

2KXJ said:


> Hilarious you posted this. I live like an hour from the GTA and often a lot of the pics you see in the scam posts are stolen from me hahaha
> 
> View attachment 204536
> View attachment 204538
> 
> View attachment 204537


You need to put a watermark on your pics.


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