Who called from 2016144676

Autotrader needs to do something about this. I also contacted Gmail's abuse department. Received a group text message from this number to me and 9 other people:

"
Hi,is your Vehicle on Autotrader still for sale?Pls email me at. ([email protected])
it;s not a scam sir.
i;m a private buyer
just making inquiry
"

This text comes minutes after my post goes live on Autotrader. I am not even sure if my phone number is available to users on Autotrader. My, "Vehicle" is a very specific one, more specific than anyone would generalize with the world, "Vehicle". Who texts to ask to email? It's sad this  has been going on since at least November of last year and Autotrader, nor Google has shut them down.

What exactly would you have "Autotrader" do?  Not put you ad up?  Exactly what action do you think a private corporation with no law enforcement powers is able to do to stop these people?  Also, what do you expect anyone to be able to do to stop them when they are in a foreign country that accepts bribes to look the other way, simply because they don't care if Americans get scammed.  Now as to Google, did you report the email address to [email protected]?  Did anyone else here do that?

This is a well known scam here that happens on Craigslist, Kiji, Autotrader, etc. perpetrated by foreigners to steal money.  Has been going for years by multiple crooks.

BigA that's a fantastic question. Thank you for asking. From all the information I have at this point I can conclude with pretty high certainty that there is a bot being run that is scanning the website for new ads and scrapping phone numbers. Having done security on WordPress sites now for a decade I can tell you that this is a pretty obvious pattern. The fact that this has gone on this long specifically with this one phone number and Gmail account tells me that Autotrader is either not interested in fixing this security issue, or they don't know it exists --- or they don't care but I have too much faith in humanity to think that is what is going on.

So. What do we know. People are listing their cars on Autotrader. Within minutes they are getting a scam text message from someone who clearly is not that intelligent (no offense to whoever is doing this). Without knowing exactly what stack Autotrader is on, it's not clear how to implement a change but there are a few ideas that come to my head immediately to help mediate this kind of abuse.

1) reCaptcha. Unfortunately it causes a slightly less desirable UX however I use it for sites with far less traffic
2) Authentication via email & text message or phone call. This could be automated.
3) A slew of other third party security services that handle protecting their paying customers.

Neither of those are perfect. They are deterrents like locks on the door of your home. Yes, I notified Google's abuse department as this is a violation of the terms of service before posting here. I have been posting things on Craigslist for years and actually think their security system works well. I don't receive emails and text messages immediately after posting on Craigslist. Ever. It's just so blatantly obvious that there is a pattern here their security team could find and execute a solution for.

Who knows. Maybe it is negligence.

You seem to be lucky with Craigslist since there are probably hundreds of posts here stating they received text messages within minutes or even seconds of putting their item up for sale, and it is basically the same scam.

Craigslist, Kiiji, AutoTrader, Etc. Scam:

The scam works like this.  Communication is always by text or email for some made up reason such as they are deaf, they deployed and can't use their phone (then how did the text get out?), etc.  They think your item as described is perfect.  They might ask a few questions about it, and then will pay your asking price, sight unseen, because they are never around close by to come look at it (they use the stationed somewhere in the military a whole lot, or working overseas, or on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean, or simply fill in your own job here).  They will give you an extra $40 or $50 to hold it for them.  Then they tell you they will send a cashier’s check or money order for that amount plus extra for the “shipper”.  They ask you to wire that extra money by untraceable means such as Western Union or Moneygram.  The check or money order turns out to be bogus and you end up out the money you sent plus the bank fees.  Also, if the check is big enough you may end up being charged criminally.  Take the check and the envelope it came in to the post office and have them forward it to the postal inspectors.
In the case of them using PayPal, the same thing happens.  They send a fake email looking like it came from PayPal, get you to pay the shipper, and then find out that the e mail was fake and no money is available.

Just received the same text and sob story about being in the military and can't talk.  It came within 24 hrs of my posting a new ad on Autotrader.  Beware.