Car buyer scam - see what you think!

S

Steve101

Guest
Hi all,
i placed an ad in a well known magazine and website only last week. I received an e-mail initially enquiring about the price, which was followed by this:
Titled PRICED ACCEPTED
Thanks for your mail, I am a South Africa auto broker that is speacilized in finding autos for our client around the globe and making arrangement for it to be paid and deliver to them here in Africa.
After going through the ad over and over my client have agreed on the price of €13,900. I want to make sure on how the payment will be, Because the amount in the bank cheque is more than the price of the vehicle. So the payment will cover both shipping and agent fees. I will explain detail of the payment in my next mail after dicussing with my client on phone, Get back to me on recipt of this mail for more clearification.

I replied tell him to explain himself and that i suspected a scam, and this is what has returned today:
Titled PAYMENT AND SHIPPING DETAILS
Thanks for your mail, As i told you in my previous mail, My client instructs that the cheque payment will be made out of you name, Providing that you have to pay the agent via western union so that he can be able to pay shipping company and also come for pickup. The payment will get to you in a bank cheque of €20000, You are required to deduct the cost of your vehicle of €13900 and send the remaining balance of €6100 to the agent via western union international money transfer and western union charges should will be deducted from the agent's balance,On receive of the money from you he will secure some vital documents need and proceed for pickup and drive to a prepaid shipper to be shiped to my client here in South Africa. After payment has reach you and balance send back to the agent so that he will come for pickup while all the paper and documents will be sign and handed over to him.

Please confirm this and provide me with your
1.NAME ....
2.ADDRESS....
3.PHONE NO..
Once i get this three things the payment will get to you via air mail.

Now folks i'm only new to this site, but this stinks of Money laundering to me. I'd really be interested in any views

Cheers

Steve
 
Not moneylaundering, just thieving. If you were to follow the instructions, by the time you'd send on the €6100 as requested in your own cash, you'd discover that the original €20000 cheque wouldn't have cleared, leaving you out of pocket.

For more similar schemes (including one on B&Bs which is very similar), check here on AAM.

Just ignore it all.
 
Definitely a scam - and a well known one at that! Some suckers who have fallen for this found that the cheque bounced AFTER they had sent the excess monies back to the originator.

Steer well clear of this.
 
it isn't money laundering it is simple fraud. They'll send you a fraudulent draft and you'll refund them the overpayment. The only real money here is the €6100 you'll send them. Tis a standard scam, lots about it on d'internet.
 
Hi
I came across a similar scam when I advertised a car for sale on a certain popular irish website - some guy called Charles Duke was sourcing cars for foreign buyers.

You should report this to the people you are advertising with so that they can alert susceptible clients.

Kane.
 
I got the same type emails through advertising in the buy and sell last year i think they have a warning about this in the magazine
 
its a well known scam..... just delete and move on.

Do a google search on a few of the key terms in the email....
 
Honest John has been warning about this for years in his Telegraph column. Not sure if this also applies to Ireland, but the UK banking system has a flaw which allows foreign issuers to cancel cheques after they have been cleared. So in situations like the above, the emailer sends on a cheque to cover the cost of the car and shipping. Once this clears, the vendor ships the car only to have money withdrawn from their account several days later. So not alone do you lose the car, but the caash you've wired to them as well, and there's no come-back on Western Union.

Think about it, second hand cars aren't that cheap here in the first place, why would someone be willing to pay nearly 50% over the odds to buy your car and ship it to South Africa? Search the web for SA car dealers and you'll find prices there are not too far of prices here.
Leo
 
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