[YSS]

got an inquiry on my F430.  after one email, check out the response.
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Hello,
 
Thanks for your timely response.I have forwarded your vehicle information to my customer,and i am delighted to inform you that he has concented it with keen
interest,after evaluating it.I have also discussed the payment issue with him and due to time constraint,he has instructed me to carry on with this transaction immediately.
Secondly,he instructed me to inform you that your payment will include the shipper's charges and trips for pick up of your vehicle and other items.You will recieve the payment IN YOUR NAME,IN A US BANK CERTIFIED CASHIERS CHECK of $380,000, The amount has to be so,for record and account purposes in his company.So you are required to deduct the cost of your vehicle $340,000,when payment gets to you and forward the balance of $40,000, to our shipper and his agent for them to be able to offset shipping & tax charges, and other cosmetic repair costs.
 
After payment has reached you and balance sent to shipper, the shipper's agent will come for pick up (of vehicle & signing of title papers), make some cosmetic touches and drive to the prepaid shipper to be shipped to my customer.
 
Please confirm this and forward the following informations,for your payment to be sent to you asap;
 
Names:.......
Address:.........
Phone number:........
 
 
Kindly bear in mind that your honesty, understanding and co-operation will be highly demanded and appreciated in this transaction.
Have a wonderful day.
 

[app]

copied first line in google, first result came up with this

http://forums.hemmings.com/viewtopic.php?p=7983&sid=2e75ed676bdc778825c9f49ef4d24288

[cy101432]

I followed the link, and yes, this does appear to be a scam.

My question is this:
From what you've posted, these people appear to be wanting to transfer to you quite a significant amount of money, prior to inspecting or collecting the car.

If you were to allow this, then they came, checked, and took the car, how have you been scammed?
I assume you would wait for the cheque to clear.

Then, if it all falls thru, you still have your car, haven't lost anything.

I don't know if the amount mentioned is what you asked/advertised, though (haven't been looking at prices of cars I can't afford!)

Have i misread something?

I see, as I stated above, that the link posted shows you're not the only person to receive this offer/email, however it seems they be the ones to be risking money, paying prior to sighting the car.?

Or is the money somehow non-existent, and this is an attempt for someone to transfer around, between accounts, dirty money, with you becoming an accomplice?

[app]

from my understanding, from what has been said on the internet (i'm trying to find the link i found on google), they're not really after the car, they're just after money.

they are offering amounts above the cars' market value which includes the shipping cost. they send a fake US Bank Certified Cashiers check so that car seller can put it into the bank for it to be processed.

while it's being processed they try and get the person selling the car to pay the shipping cost which i assume will eventually make it's way back to them. apparently it takes up to three weeks for a US Bank Certified Cashiers Check to bounce so they could potentially have your money by the time you realised they sent you a fake check.

EDIT: here is the link from where i got the info: http://forums.hemmings.com/viewtopic.php?t=152

[dkabab]

from my understanding, from what has been said on the internet (i'm trying to find the link i found on google), they're not really after the car, they're just after money.

they are offering amounts above the cars' market value which includes the shipping cost. they send a fake US Bank Certified Cashiers check so that car seller can put it into the bank for it to be processed.

while it's being processed they try and get the person selling the car to pay the shipping cost which i assume will eventually make it's way back to them. apparently it takes up to three weeks for a US Bank Certified Cashiers Check to bounce so they could potentially have your money by the time you realised they sent you a fake check.

EDIT: here is the link from where i got the info: http://forums.hemmings.com/viewtopic.php?t=152

yes but whos going to be stupid enough to send them money while waiting for the obviously fraudulent cheque to clear....

[cy101432]

Right.. so they're counting on your trust that the money is good, and hope to get the shipping cost" amount out of you before you realise you been fucked over..

Got it. Makes sense now.

Is it illegal to kill these people?

[AshSimmonds]

There's a huge thread on this going back four years:

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=4739

Here's a basic explanation of how it works:

http://www.autoshippers.co.uk/car_shipping_scam.htm

There is a growing car shipping scam on the internet which has been targeting sellers of cars, boats, motorbikes and other single high value items, even horses !

We first came across this  in January when we were approached by a car dealer in Australia who had been directed to a website purporting to be on of 1st Move International's car shipping sites.

Car Shipping Scam: The hook
Fraudsters had copied aspects of our site and were advising potential victims that they would buy their vehicle and ship it via their approved shippers, pointing the victim to this so called shipping site which they had published themselves.

Once the seller had been "hooked" the fraudster then sends a cheque to the seller for the cost of the vehicle and, very kindly, includes in this payment the costs for shipping the vehicle overseas.

Car Shipping Scam: The Con.
Say the car is being sold for £ 4000.00 and the shipping costs are £1000.00, you, the seller, get a nice little cheque for £ 5000.00 which you duly bank. The bank may even advise you that the funds are in your account, cleared  and safe.

Car Shipping Scam: The Sting.
Within a few days you will be asked to send  a slice of this money to the shipping agent in order to pay for the shipping. ( the shipping costs of £1000.00)  You are requested to send this money by Western Union or Moneygram which you do as you have been paid.. This transfer is untraceable and cashed immediately. Meanwhile your bank tells you 10 days later that the original cheque has bounced and promptly takes the money out of your account.

You have been conned For £ 1000.00 ! or dollars, yen, euros whatever, this scam is worldwide.

NEVER SEND MONEY BY WESTERN UNION, LEGITIMATE COMPANIES HAVE BANK ACCOUNTS. BANK ACCOUNTS ARE TRACEABLE.

[app]

Right.. so they're counting on your trust that the money is good

well a genuine US Cashiers check is basically a Bank Cheque - ie it's guaranteed by the bank so the person who is receiving the cheque doesn't have to worry about the cheque clearing because it is guaranteed by the bank.

a lot of car dealers will take Bank Cheques on the spot to take the car straight away before the cheque clears, simply because it's guaranteed by the bank.

here they're leading you to believe it's automatically guaranteed by the bank so that you can pay the "shipping fee" before the check clears. only here it's fake

[mondi]

I had a fun experience about 6 years ago. I know a bloke who exports old Falcons and Kingwoods, etc, etc over to the USA. You would not beleive how mad they used to go over these. Anyhoo, I had an old XB 2 door GS that this guy just had to have and he was willing to pay eveything up front including the shipping with a "US Cashiers cheque".            And stuff me, it bloody cleared!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

It was so much fun playing with this guy when he realised that I had his money, I was getting 30 emails a day and messages on the phone asking for the money to be returned. He didn't know what to say when I told him I knew it was a big dirty scam and he F'ed up by letting the Cheque clear.   

[mondi]

Couldn't remember if we had a scam thread or not.


Got this email.......   

Thanks for the mail,i will like to know the present condition of the car and how much you are willing to sell it to me cos i am buying the car as a birthday gift for the general overseer of my church and i am out of town at the moment on missionary work as i am an evangelist and i really want the car to be a surprise for him,so i wont let him know anything about it until it gets delivered to him ,i am sure he will be very happy with it.I will pay you with my paypal account because i don't have access to my bank account as i don't have internet banking where i am here,i will need you to give me your paypal email address so i can make the payments asap for the car and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to www.paypal.com.au and get it set up , after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with paypal so as to put the money through.I have a pick up agent that will come and pick the car up after i have made the payment.
 
Thanks and God Bless.
 
Thomas.