Car buyers/scammers

[troppo]

Ok so there are several threads warning of scammers wanting to buy cars they have found advertised via paypal. Mine has only been on the market less than 48 hours and have recieved a few already. One though, has offered to do a bank transfer from a Canadian bank for the full amount in Aus dollars. My scam detector is off the scale but right now I can't think of any way to be scammed if I give account details for an account that is almost never used and only has about 20c in it. Any ideas besides ID theft?

[Ben73]

Why would someone from Canada be looking on a Australian car website.

It's a scam defiantly

[bungarra]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Why would someone from Canada be looking on a Australian car website.

It's a scam defiantly

Probably the same reason Australians look at American, Canadian and UK websites, to find a car that may not be available or is cheaper to import yourself. Then again, a scam id very likely though.

[Road Games]

Dont do it Leon .... go with your gut instinct !!

[ba-uteiful]

They might track your ISP and load a keystroke logger, that is all I can think of, apart from what bungarra said, they might be genuinely interested

[chevypower]

Ahhh that scammers have reached Australia. I am selling my truck and all I have had so far are scammers. They act interested and then they say "for a small upfront fee of $500, we can guarantee you a sale at your asking price." I have had at least 5 of them. They always call from a 1-800, 1-866 or a (702) area code (Las Vegas). It's never been anyone local. I have had AT LEAST 5 of them.

Also I have another scammer who said "she" is buying my car. I haven't had a phone call from her, but she will send a cheque for larger than the dollar amount I am asking for (by $8,000) to cover shipping and other costs. Also, I didn't get the cheque when she said it would be here (and still don't have it), but apparently the mailing company (which she would know is US Postal Service if "she" lived in America), and "she" guarantees the cheque will be here on Thursday, Nov 25th. (Which she would know is Thanksgiving). But of course 99% chance this scammer lives in another country somewhere. I have just been stringing this person a long for the heck of it. They are not getting my car or 1 cent from me.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Just use an email account that allows you to show 'full headers'. Then you can enter that info into a search engine available online that will track back the email to the source.

Not 100% fool proof, but if they say they are from the UK / USA and it traces back to Kenya you know something is amiss.

Perhaps it is a legit buyer wanting to move here?? Doubt it. If I was to buy something substantial from another country I would use a registered buyers representative, or sus out my 'friends of friends' who may be able to handle the transaction for me at the other end directly.

[ThaFlash]

when i was looking for a car recently I came across 3 cloned adverts on the carsales website.

the ads were copied from ebay word for ford, pic for pic and the only diferrence was the price which was too good to be true and the contact details which was always only an email address.

so i would enquire via email and the bullcrap story goes the car is interstate and ready to shipped to you for inspection, you can keep it for 3 days and if you don't like the car you don't have to buy it. naturally they want you to pay the shipping cost up front which varies from a several hundred to a couple of thousand dollars.

when i received the replies via email i would use my trusty whois and ns lookup tools and find they were always from the uk.

my advise to anyone looking to buy or even selling, check to see if there is a clone advert, check carsales against ebay and vice versa, even type in the rego or mobile number in google to see if something comes up.

and above all, if the price is too good to be true then it probably is.

buying a car is a simple process, we don't need any soap opera drama storyline attached to it's sale.

go see the car you want, go have a look, take it for a spin, do all the security checks then buy it or not.

don't wait for ebay's or carsales "anti-fraud" policy to protect you, that's your job!

GOOD LUCK!

[Bushbasher]

I found that one simple sentence usually sends them packing never to be heard of again.-

".However you want to organise it is fine with me but the car and keys don't leave my sight till the money is cleared in my account"



Bushbasher

[pulpist]

The guy doesn't want the car and he will never deposit anything into your account.
Eventually he will want you to pay his "shipping agent" a handling fee which he then runs off with.

[302 XC]

pulpist,
Your bang on the money

They dont want or never want the car
They are chasin any monies you put in their bank of choice

[Franco Cozzo]

I'm a Marine Biologist from the UK, I'm currently interested in your $2000 VR SS Commodore, I will pay $10,000 to cover the shipping via paypal, my agent from Nigeria will come and pick up the car on the 35th of December.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I'm a Marine Biologist from the UK, I'm currently interested in your $2000 VR SS Commodore, I will pay $10,000 to cover the shipping via paypal, my agent from Nigeria will come and pick up the car on the 35th of December.

Big Damo. How'd you know I was selling an SS? I can't really make that date, but 29th feb 2011 would be OK with me.

[bungarra]

I wonder if this guy got nailed by the scammers?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1976-FORD-COR...item3362ba4fae

[BA Baracus]

Might be an over-payment one where they pay you with fraudulent money (stolen acct details) but the amount is more then you were asking, then they ask you to refund the difference to another account. Bank then reverses the transaction and you are out of pocket from giving them their "change".

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

I found that one simple sentence usually sends them packing never to be heard of again.-

".However you want to organise it is fine with me but the car and keys don't leave my sight till the money is cleared in my account"



Bushbasher

Thats the silver bullet mate. Works every time. Car & Monies do not leave my possession until Im paid in full.

[troppo]

Thanks for replies. I expected him to run when I said no to paypal and when he agreed to a direct deposit I briefly entertained the idea of stringing him along to see how far he was prepared to go, hence starting this thread. I've since thought of better things to do with my time and didn't bother sending him account details. Needless to say, he hasn't chased it up with me either.

[sandmanls1]

be careful of repairable write offs as well always do a check on revs before leaving a deposit, it the price is too good to be true it usually is...