CL Ad w/ MY PICTURE of MY CAR in it!!

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Turk

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Ok, this is weird..........

Looking at Craigslist this morning, found an ad for a car that has my picture of my car in it!!
shocked2.gif
I took that picture last Summer!

Saturn did not make a Red Coupe with a Black roof in 1997, so it's blatantly incorrect.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/cto/4958604177.html

Sooooo.... What should I do??

- CL-Mail him asking why he's using my picture of my car?

- CL-Mail him demanding he take down my picture?

- Something else??
 
I flagged it.

To be clear, it's not your (former) car?

Guy owned it a month, he's flipping it, no doubt.

Either he's not astute enough for digital photography or his car's a junker and he wanted a pic of a nice one.

Google image search is great for detective work on this sort of thing. I saw a CL car I liked, did the "search by url" thing, and it found other pics that were the same pic. This one at least has a local (to you) license plate (yours.)
 
You flagged it? Can I still e-mail him on it now??

THAT car is sitting in my garage right now.

THAT picture was taken in front of my house.

As soon as anyone sees it in person, they'll know it has no black roof.....

EDIT: It's being sold in a city 1 hour away.
 
That sounds suspicious. I'd report it to CL and the police. I wonder if this isn't one of those scams where the seller asks someone to wire them money.

The police (or you) could contact the seller to make an appointment to see the car, and see what he says. (It'd be funny if you drove up in the actual car. Lol)
 
Options:

1. CL mail the seller and ask that they use a different pic

2. Flag it and demand it be taken down

3. CL mail the seller as though you're an interested buyer, set up a meeting in person, and then have the conversation in person


I'd probably do #2, but #3 could be interesting...
 
Honestly, I don't think there's much you can do about it. When you post pics on the Internet, anyone can download them and use them.

Nothing the police can do about it, it's not illegal.

You could email him, but he could just tell you to [censored] off.

Not sure what the "magic number" is, but it takes several people flagging an ad for it to be removed, not just one. He'd probably just put the ad right back up anyway.
 
I sent him this e-mail.....

"Hello,

The picture you are using is a picture I took of my car. You are not selling my car.
Why are you using my picture of my car??
Please remove it and post your own pictures, of the real car you are selling.

Thank you."
 
Set up an appointment to buy it, tell him your bringing cash and you are hot for the car, then show up with your car. LOL
 
Last edited:
Show up with your car and the Police!
And the documentation that you currently own your car and of written email
Did you notify CL?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Turk
I sent him this e-mail.....

"Hello,

The picture you are using is a picture I took of my car. You are not selling my car.
Why are you using my picture of my car??
Please remove it and post your own pictures, of the real car you are selling.

Thank you."




That's probably about the best you can do. Maybe he'll take it down, maybe not.

BTW, Your pic may have been way down the list when you did an image search for "Saturn SC2", but I just did a search for "Saturn SC2 Red MN" and it's right up near the top.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Set up an appointment to buy it, tell him your bringing cash and you are hot for the car, then show up with your car. LOL


Haha that's exactly what I was about to post,that'd be AWESOME!!
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Set up an appointment to buy it, tell him your bringing cash and you are hot for the car, then show up with your car. LOL


crackmeup2.gif
Yup, that would rock. If it was way closer, I would do that!!

He didn't even hide the License Plate!!
crazy2.gif


*** What are the odds I find my picture of my car on CL....???
crazy2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Turk


*** What are the odds I find my picture of my car on CL....???
crazy2.gif




Do you play the lottery? Consider buying some tickets today.....
wink.gif
 
This is a common trick in Minneapolis and Columbus, though we all know it happens worldwide on CL. The responsible person(s) are oftentimes from a certain group of people who come from a country on the east side of their continent known for maritime piracy. This same thing happened to my parents with their 2003 Impala in Columbus. My dad actually witnessed the individual take pictures of his car. They will snap pics of your car or take form the web. Total scam.
 
I imagine it was just used as a "stock" photo for the ad. Its a clean straight car. Of course its the wrong thing to do, but the majority of CL people aren't too bright anyways. The license plate in the picture is a bit more of an issue, but since it was posted on the web, not much more can be done with it.

It'll be interesting to see if he replies and if so, what he says.
 
Originally Posted By: Turk
He didn't even hide the License Plate!!
crazy2.gif


This is the real problem, IMO.

Also, yes the picture is public -- BUT because what's in it isn't actually for sale, I'm pretty sure that still constitutes fraud. Hopefully someone better informed can chime in.

I'd really push hard to get this taken down. It's not cool.
 
Another problem is I wonder if this is a scam to get a person into their garage/etc.
just to have something very bad happen to them!!
shocked2.gif


I know the local police chief and I may call him to get his perspective...
 
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