The 2022 CATERPILLAR Skid Steer 259D3 as advertised

The listing on badgerbluffmachinerysale.com offered a 2022 CATERPILLAR Skid Steer 259D3 described as used with 17 engine hours and an asking price of $48,500. The seller's page for the unit includes specification fields naming the year, make and model, the hours figure, and the condition marked used. The site publishes a street address in Phoenix, a phone number and an email address under the trading name Badger Bluff Machinery Sales.

The listing URL supplied to us is the 2022 CATERPILLAR Skid Steer 259D3 inventory page on badgerbluffmachinerysale.com. The site homepage responded with HTTP 200 and shows a homepage title of "Home - Badger Bluff Machinery Sales." The domain was registered on 2026-10-28.

What the buyer reports

A buyer reports paying $48,500 by bank wire after agreeing to purchase the 2022 CATERPILLAR Skid Steer 259D3 shown in the site listing. According to the buyer's account, the machine was never delivered following the payment. The payment method the buyer reports using is a bank wire transfer. The buyer's account supplied this publication with those details; they are reported here as filed.

Checking a CATERPILLAR skid steer before you pay

These checks are for any skid steer purchase and apply to a CATERPILLAR 259D3 advertised online.

  • Confirm the machine identity. Locate the machine identification plate and PIN on the unit in person; on skid steers the plate is commonly on the frame or inside the cab area. Match the PIN shown on the machine to any PIN visible in the listing photos and to the PIN on the bill of sale.

  • Have a dealer check the PIN. Ask an authorized Caterpillar dealer to look up the PIN to confirm the machine's model year, recorded hours and service history and to check whether the PIN has been recorded as sold or registered elsewhere.

  • Inspect hours against wear. Where photos are provided, compare the advertised 17 hours with visible wear points such as seat and control wear, tread or track condition, and hydraulic hose condition. Very low hours should show minimal wear; ask for close photos of the cab, undercarriage and engine area.

  • Verify ownership and liens. Request a current signed bill of sale that names the seller as the transferor and shows a vehicle identification number or PIN. Search for liens filed in the seller's stated state and obtain a UCC report for the machine. If the seller lists an address in a state, check filings in that state.

  • Check theft records. Run the machine's PIN through national stolen-equipment databases where available and ask the seller for proof of lawful possession.

  • Insist on inspection and pickup options. Arrange a physical inspection by you or by a local inspector before sending funds. For large equipment, a short in-person inspection or independent inspection report is the single most reliable step.

  • Prefer payment methods with protections. Avoid wiring funds until the machine is verified as present, titled and free of liens. Where a seller will accept other payment methods with buyer protection, consider those instead.

How the payment was taken

The buyer reports paying by bank wire. Wire transfers are typically final once settled and do not offer a chargeback path like credit cards. A bank may attempt a recall after a fraudulent transfer but that depends on timing and the receiving bank's cooperation. The buyer's account supplied to this publication says the wire was sent and that the machine never arrived.

What we have and have not verified

We have verified the following from public scans and the buyer's submission:

  • The listing for a 2022 CATERPILLAR Skid Steer 259D3 with 17 hours and an asking price of $48,500 appears on badgerbluffmachinerysale.com.
  • The site homepage returned HTTP 200 and bears the homepage title "Home - Badger Bluff Machinery Sales." HTTPS is available for the site.
  • The domain badgerbluffmachinerysale.com was registered on 2026-10-28 via the registrar WebNIC and uses nameservers ns1.he.net through ns5.he.net.
  • The site publishes a trading name, a Phoenix address, a phone number and an email address as given above.

These checks are outstanding and have not been completed by this publication:

  • No independent confirmation that the machine exists at the published Phoenix address.
  • No response verification from the published phone number and email or confirmation that the seller answered inspector queries.
  • No verification of the machine PIN with an authorized Caterpillar dealer or service history check.
  • No lien search results for the seller's stated state or a UCC report for the machine.
  • No confirmation the bill of sale or title documents were produced by the seller.

This record is published as filed. A right of reply is open to the trading name shown on the site and this entry will be updated as further checks complete.

If you have already paid

If you wired funds for a machine from this listing, contact your sending bank's fraud or wire department immediately and ask whether a recall or reversal can be attempted. Submit a report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov and notify your state attorney general's consumer protection office. Preserve every message, receipt and bank record connected to the transaction.