BOSTON (WHDH) - Everyone wants a great deal when buying items online.
A Boston woman thought she found the perfect used truck- but instead, she got taken for a ride.
“Every day I wake up in pain. It’s not easy even getting out of bed.”
Arthritis makes simple things a challenge for Glendoria Quarles.
“It’s all over my body,” Quarles says.
She needs a vehicle to get around.
But she doesn’t have one right now.
She thought she had found the perfect used pickup truck on Facebook marketplace.
‘It was black, it was low mileage.
“It had a back seat where I can throw my groceries instead of throwing them in the car.”
Glendoria messaged the seller to make a deal
“She said the truck was still available and that she wanted $1200 for it.
So I borrowed the money to get this truck.”
The emails the seller sent her looked legit with the words “buyer protection” across the top and what looked like an eBay customer service number.
“It looked very professional,” Quarles said.
The seller told Glendoria she would need to pay for the truck with eBay gift cards.
“I did it. I went and got $1200 eBay cards.”
Glendoria emailed the code numbers from the gift cards to the seller.
“She then emailed me and said she needed $1000 more for the truck to be delivered, for some kind of insurance.
She received $1000, she received the $1200, but she needed $800 more for customs. For customs? Didn’t you say it was in worcester?” said Quarles.
That’s when Glendoria realized she was being tricked and demanded a refund.
“I borrowed that money so whether I get a truck or not, I have to pay that money back.”
7News contacted eBay.
The company told us Glendoria’s money is gone and there’s no way for them to get it back.
“I was shocked, I was appalled, I was angry.”
eBay says there are things you can do to protect yourself from being scammed.
Only redeem gift cards at the eBay-dot-com checkout.
And if someone tells you they only accept gift cards as payment – don’t do business with them.
Glendoria hopes her story helps other people keep their cash.
“I need it to be exposed cuz I’m sure there are other people besides me that are probably going through the same thing or something similar,” said Quarles.
One more thing you can do to protect yourself in a situation like this: Ask to meet the seller in a public place to inspect what you are buying. If it’s a scam, the negotiation will end right there.
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