scam spotting with reverse image search

[anthrosciguy]

Many people may have got this figured out but it never hurts to repeat.

I wanted to leave a suggestion for people, like me, who might stumble across this post when wondering about these low-priced RVs.

I've been looking for a used rig and found some good prices, but today came across rvclassified for the first time and saw some apparently amazing deals. Naturally they raised my suspicion, like a 2004 Newmar diesel pusher for $30,000. What I did was do a reverse image search for some of the pictures of the rig and its interior that were in the ad. The first, of the coach outside, came up with nothing, but one of the interior pictures came up with several results. One was for an ad on a local site in Pennsylvania (the coach in the first ad I'd seen was supposedly in Washington, and the seller's phone number was 213 area code, which is So. California, another red flag). The other was for a real ad for the coach in question, sold on ebay for a little over $100,000. (All the exact pictures on the first ad were there so it was certainly the source for the pictures in the ad I saw at rvclassified.)

The usual reverse image search engine has been TinEye, but it's been overtaken by Google's new reverse image search, which right now is just starting. That's what I used. A good first step to try when you find one of these too good to be true (but hope springs eternal) ads.

[scenic route]

Went to Google's site. Way cool! I didn't know you could do this...and looks not to be too complicated. Thanks for the tip. Bob

[MSHappyCampers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthrosciguy Many people may have got this figured out but it never hurts to repeat. I wanted to leave a suggestion for people, like me, who might stumble across this post when wondering about these low-priced RVs. I've been looking for a used rig and found some good prices, but today came across rvclassified for the first time and saw some apparently amazing deals. Naturally they raised my suspicion, like a 2004 Newmar diesel pusher for $30,000. What I did was do a reverse image search for some of the pictures of the rig and its interior that were in the ad. The first, of the coach outside, came up with nothing, but one of the interior pictures came up with several results. One was for an ad on a local site in Pennsylvania (the coach in the first ad I'd seen was supposedly in Washington, and the seller's phone number was 213 area code, which is So. California, another red flag). The other was for a real ad for the coach in question, sold on ebay for a little over $100,000. (All the exact pictures on the first ad were there so it was certainly the source for the pictures in the ad I saw at rvclassified.) The usual reverse image search engine has been TinEye, but it's been overtaken by Google's new reverse image search, which right now is just starting. That's what I used. A good first step to try when you find one of these too good to be true (but hope springs eternal) ads.

What the heck is a "reverse image search" ??

[NLOVNIT]

It's a way to search the internet for websites where a particular photo is displayed. With TinEye, you put in a photo & it searches out the internet for anywhere that image is displayed.

A scammer could use legitimate ad photos to place a "fake ad" to get someone to make a good faith deposit or pre-pay some other monies & then vanish with that money. Leaving the buyer minus some cash & no RV.

Lori-

[clarkgriswold]

That is way awesome. I'll have to check out the google's reverse image search. Thanks for the tip, I'll use it when I run across those type of things. Actually, I ran across one similar and reported it to the site. They researched it and shortly after the RV was off the site and I received a thank you email. I got suspicious when the price was seemingly low and the seller would only take cash (not even a cashier or Money Order).

[MSHappyCampers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NLOVNIT It's a way to search the internet for websites where a particular photo is displayed. With TinEye, you put in a photo & it searches out the internet for anywhere that image is displayed. A scammer could use legitimate ad photos to place a "fake ad" to get someone to make a good faith deposit or pre-pay some other monies & then vanish with that money. Leaving the buyer minus some cash & no RV. Lori-

Thanks for the explanation! That's a good thing to know

[anthrosciguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jminyard Thanks for the explanation! That's a good thing to know

I should've put in a short explanation in the OP. It's a cool toy at times but can be very useful, as in cases like these.

In a search like that the best way is to save a copy of the image you want to search for on your hard drive -- do a right click and "Save Picture" in Windows machines, then at the search site you upload it from your drive. The Google version is at the usual Google Image search and you upload a pic to search for by clicking on the little camera at the right of the search box.

As I mentioned you may need to do a few images from an ad before you get a result. I've used TinEye for a while but Google has a much bigger image bank so their are now probably more likely to get results.

[Finhawk]

I would think that giving a deposit on a RV sight unseen is foolish. I have walked away from beautiful RV's just because I didn't get that warm, fuzzy feeling. Just my thoughts.

[Perry White]

You'd be surprised how many people don't. Probably the same 51% that don't pay taxes anymore.

[anthrosciguy]

Certainly you shouldn't send money. But you could waste a lot of time doing a back and forth with someone who doesn't have a coach to sell if you don't spot a bogus ad. Now the example I gave is a huge red flag -- too new for too little -- but with prices like they are now there are some legit deals out there and you might run into a legit ad for a very good price, or a crook with a little more brains than the one in the example I gave who prices the coach higher.

[kb0zke]

I've been looking at various types of coaches for nearly a year now, so I'm getting a pretty good feel for what we can afford. When I see something that is priced too low or too high I ask myself lots of questions. Most of the time the price is too high, and the seller either doesn't know what the coach is really worth or the seller wants to give a big "discount" so the buyer will think he is getting a good deal.

Those that are priced too low are the scary ones. Is the seller in over his head? Has he neglected the coach? Is there a problem with the coach? I suppose that there are some legitimate great deals out there, but I'd be very careful of anything that is priced too far out of line.

[raccoonman]

i found one of these scammers last winter when i replied to an ad for a GMC coach, the toronado based rig, and got the runaround from the seller as to where it was, since i saw it listed in Florida and was willing to drive down to check it out. turns out, the guy had it listed all OVER the country, when it was actually in California.... he wasn't the only one, just the most aggravating, since there was no way that coach was selling for that little.