Apparent eBay Scam

This stream was recently noticed by a friend of mine. He points out that the listing looks very much like a scam designed to get your money and your eBay identification. The listed car was a beautiful, original, low mileage 1967 E type roadster in British racing green.  It was an open headlight version, which detracts a little, but otherwise a very desirable car.  I would peg the value of this car at well over $50,000 based on the pics and description.  The seller was offering it for $14,800. One peculiar aspect was that I looked at the bid history, and he had received a number of higher bids….all of which the seller had evidently cancelled.  I guess he wanted to keep the price low to make it more appealing. The first paragraph below is the email complaint which my friend sent to ebay.

Complaint emailed to ebay:
This listing clearly seems to be a set-up for fraud. The seller has cancelled lots of bids and is looking for a healthy deposit BEFORE any info is released. Also car is in U.S. and he is saying he is temporary in UK. Also it shows an unrealistically low price. Item number: 280214680491
Thanks

This is the seller’s response to a bidder’s inquiry:
Hello and sorry for coming so late but I had some problems with my internet connection. My name is Jxxxx Lxxxxx and I’m glad that you are interested in the car. I know that you have many choices on eBay and I appreciate that you contacted me. The car is in perfect condition, never raced or abused and has a clear title. The price for the car is $14,800 including shipping costs anywhere in the United States. The car was my brother’s who passed away 2 months ago in Iraq, it only brings me bad memories and I have no use for the car as I don’t have driver’s license. The car is currently located in Virginia and it will be shipped from there. I’m a veterinary, specialized in thoroughbred (horses) and for the next three months I will be located in England at a special training program. There are no other costs regarding this transaction. The transaction will be carried out through eBay, it’s the safest and the only system I trust, we will both benefit of their purchase protection policy. They will act as a third party in our deal, they will hold the money until the transaction is carried out. You will have to make a deposit of $ 2,800 to an eBay agent, and confirm your deposit to eBay. As soon as they validate your deposit, they will inform me and I will be able to initiate the shipping process. You will pay the rest of the amount only after you receive the vehicle and confirm everything is alright. I require your full name, address for shipping and eBay user ID. After I’ll send them all the info, eBay will contact you and give you all the details about the transaction.
Kind Regards,
Jxxxxx Lxxxxx