Car fraud scam-FAO of all ppl trying/thinking of selling car

[n8047035 0]

Hello all,

 

I thought that i would let you guys hera about this just in case you are trying to sell your car. I advertised my C for sale a few weeks ago and recieved an email off some guy wanting to buy it. The price he offered was reasonable and so i accepted. He said that his business associatein the UK would send me a cheque/bankers draft and that once I recieved it, I was to take my cut for the car and then forward the rest onto the shipping agent through Western union so they could collect the car and ship it to him. I thought this was all ok until yesterday, when i recieved a call from his associate in the UK and some African/Nigerian guy (sorry if this offends anyone) was asking for my bank detials so he could transfer money into my account. Then he started asking if i could get a hold of a HSBC account or bank of Scotland account rather than my Barclays account and i was like no, what difference does that make. Obviously i was like 'no way' and said send a cheque to my address, even though he was adament that it would be quicker for the former method. Anyway, i refused and was fuming because i have turned down several legitamte offers for this offer, so i looked up some stuff on google and i found the following:

 

Basically, sellers of collector cars recieve emails saying that they have a buyer in a different country and they do as described above. However, what i found out was that the cheque actually usually clears and then people pay the shipping agent through Western Union (which isnt a safe way of transferring money) and also ship the car. However, the cheque is later found to be fraudulent and is cancelled by the bank so the individual loses some of their own money and their car.

 

Check out: http://www.robertprice.co.uk/robblog/ar ... raud.shtml

 

I just thought i would share this with you all and just tobe vigilant. Obviously you all would probably not be as stupid as me but i was really chuffed to get an offer because I am desperate to sell my car. Luckily, I didnt get too involved and always check the situation out fully before committing to anything, so i still have my C and havent lost any money, but from what i gather from various sites others havent been so lucky.

[Jim 2]

Thanks for the warning, though I believe this has come up on here before.

 

I think with regards to selling your car, its best to just stick to a traditional 'come round for a look over, put a deposit, and then come back with an envelope full of cash next week' type sale :)

[jedi-knight83 0]

2 of my friend have had the same thing....one trying to sell an Audi A4 and they sent hime a cheque for £10k and asked for the £5k remainder to be fowarded!!!!

 

the other happened today with a friend selling a focus.

 

Just thought id add those cause this isnt one of the *HOAX* scams that gets sent around and worries people needlessley....this actually does happen!!

[Guest]

Agreed Jim, there are so many scams (always involving the Nigerians royal family it seems). Just stick with the face to face sale :)

[n8047035 0]

Thanks for the replies guys.

jimsG60- I would not usually be so daft and at least i didnt get stung, but i am desperate to sell my car. In an ideal world id love to keep her, but ill health and haveing no job means that it cant be done and the offer was pretty tempting.

 

Im not into scaring people, and it was only after some vast searching on google that i decided to post this information. Does anybody know who i can contact about this scam as i have some mobile numbers and email addresses that may be usuful for any people investigating the scam.

[jedi-knight83 0]

my friend just contacted the police and gave them the fake cheque...wonder if its the same person or many people running similar scams?

[dr_mat 0]

There's lots of this going on, it can't be the same person(s).

Take the contact details to the police, that's all you can do, but I doubt the email addresses will be traceable (no doubt they are @hotmail freebie addresses), and I'm sure the mobiles will be pay as you go unregistered too...

[Den_VR6 0]

yeh, it's linged to the Nigerian Banking scam that was doing the rounds a few years ago - and it definitely isn't a hoax, brother-in-law fell for it but didn't sent the £3000 "extra" that the bankers draft was made out for. About 7 days after the bankers draft was paid in, his bank withdrew the £6000 back out of his account 'cos the draft had been confirmed as stolen of counterfeit.