12valve@heart

I listed a car for sale on Craig's List and as usual, got a bunch of scam inquiries. This one smells for all the world like a scam but I can't see the catch. Help me out here.

I know about the phony bank check and wiring the rest of the money to the seller scam but this guy seems willing to let the check clear before having the car picked up. Where's the catch?


Here's the e-mail history with the oldest at the bottom -



HI,
MANY THANKS FOR THE MAIL AND YOUR CONCERNS....
KINDLY BE INFORMED THAT I NOT IN THE STATES RIGHT NOW AND THERE IS NO WAY FOR ME TO GET THE CASH TO YOU ...OK
I HAVE BEEN IN THIS BUSINESS FOR ABOUT TWENTY YEARS AGO AND EVER SINCE HAVING BE BUYING CARS FROM STATES,I HAVE BEEN USING CHECK....ALL YOU NEED TO IS TO DEPOSITED THE CHECK IN YOUR BANK AND AFTER YOU MUST HAVE RECEIVE THE MONEY THEN MY SHIPPING AGENT WILL NOW COME FOR THE PIC-UP OF THE CAR ......
KINDLY ADVICE ME ...HAVE A NICE DAY

TONY

From: "jay" <xxxxx@hotmail.com>
To: yyyyyy@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: 1987 VW Golf GT project car - $800
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 10:18:02 -0500

Tony,

Thanks for your interest. Due to the prevalence of scams, I am only accepting cash for this car. If you would like to have your shipping agent bring me cash, I'd be glad to sell the car. You can contact me in the evening (5-9PM CST) at 555-1234 and we can work out the details.

Thanks again,

Jay



From: "tony" <yyyyyy@hotmail.com>
To: xxxxx@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: 1987 VW Golf GT project car - $800
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 16:22:38 +0000

hello,
Many thanks for the your mail and your concern......
I am well satisfy with your price .........

Ok, i will like you to forward me the information below;
Full name .............
Postal Address.......
Contact Address.......
So that i can instruct my associate to issued out payment{check} as
soon as possible.I will like to tell you that am an International buyer
and the pick-up arrangement will be made by me with the shipping agent
that is always in care of my machandise bought in state there, so feel free
to ask any further question.So if the payment clears from your bank then we
can make proper shipping arrangement but before then they will be there for inspection.
I will await to hearing from you.
Best Regards
Tony


From: "jay" <xxxxxxxx@hotmail.com>
To: yyyyyy@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: 1987 VW Golf GT project car - $800
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 13:28:54 -0500

Tony,

The Golf is still available. I bought this car in not-running condition. I was told that it ran when it was parked but that the transmission was bad. Someone has started to pull the axle loose. I later had to borrow the distributor out of it for my other car until I could get a new one. The original distributor is with the car but needs to be reinstalled. The car has 4 matching 14” factory alloy wheels plus a matching full-size alloy spare.

The car is black with black and red interior and has a clear Oklahoma title and a current black tag. I have a spare motor, automatic transmission, and axles that go with the car. It needs a battery, tires, and radio to be complete as far as I can tell.

Too many projects. This one has to go. $800 cash or reasonable offer. Let me know if you have any other questions or when you'd like to come look at the car.

Thanks,

Jay

------------------------------------

From: "tony" <yyyyyy@hotmail.com>
To: xxxxx@hotmail.com
Subject: 1987 VW Golf GT project car - $800
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 16:21:53 +0000

Hi,
I saw your listing on craigslist site that you want to sell the above mentioned {VW Golf GT project car},kindly confirm the availability and come up with the final asking price...
looking forward to read from you soon.....
thanks
tony

BigBlue

I'm not quite sure where the catch is either. He actually wants you to let his check clear in your bank before he picks up the car.

TorqueJunkie

It sounds exactly like the emails my buddy got when trying to sell his dirt bike. The guy sent him a Money Order that was real enough to deposit but the funds didn't clear. Luckily he held off shipping until the money cleared, so he didn't lose his bike. They tried to do the same thing, arrange shipping for you so there company would come and get the bike as soon as the check arrived. My buddy told them that he would call the company as soon as the check arrived but was going to wait until it cleared. Good thing he did!

Do Not Trust These People!

Lary Ellis (Top)

Yep Scam! Don't do it!

They send a check that looks real and the bank puts the money in your account. 2 to 3 weeks later the bank takes it away from you as the check is a phony albeit a good one.

By then you let the car go and you are out the car plus the bounced checks since the bank took away the money.

new2ctd

Look at the way the sentences are written:

i will like you to forward,,, KINDLY BE INFORMED THAT,,, instruct my associate to issued out payment

He's probably in Bucharest somewhere trying to get you man. To me, the catch is right in the sentence diction.

phox_mulder

Yup, that's the one.

Banks, and people, have gotten wise to the fake cashiers checks, so the scammers are doing it this way now.

It's a real check, with real money attached to it, but right after sending you the check,
the scammers clear out the account leaving a couple dollars.
This lets the check bounce so it gets sent back to your bank, your bank then goes after the original bank who tries to go after the scammer, only to find out the account was opened in a fake name with a fake address.
By the time all this is hashed out, you're out both the money and the item sold.

Run, fast as you can, give no personal info, not even a phone number.


phox

12valve@heart

Hmm. I hadn't heard that spin on the scam yet. Interesting.

They have my first and last name, city, and cell #. Not sure what they can do with that but I'm sure that someone could do some mischief with it.

Guess I'll just stick to my guns and hold out for cash.

Thanks for the feedback.

Geico266

Ask yourself one question.

Q; Why would the guy want to buy a non running Golf and pay you more than you are asking?

A; He doesn't want the car, he wants your money.

phonx has it right, 100% of these e-mails are scams. It may take 2 months for the check to acually "clear", but you are still responsible when it comes up short.....and it will.

12valve@heart

Geico, I understand your question but this guy isn't asking me to pay the shipping (yet), neither is he offering me more than I'm asking. Thus my question about where the catch is since this isn't the "typical" scam that I've seen. Now I do wonder why an international buyer would want to buy a project car but stranger things have happened. I am going to stick to cash only but I'm also going to ask the bank about this later this week since I hadn't heard of the legit account - bounced check routine.

Iron Mike

It could very well be a scam. But there are a few legitimate ones out there. I currently work in Angola. Many of the Angolans I work with are constantly asking me to help them buy a used car from the States. There are many reasons. One is that the US is about the cheapest place in the world to buy a car. Everything is sky high over here in Angola. As an example, if they buy a $10,000 car from the US, pay $2,000 - 3,000 to ship it to Africa. Then pay customs fees of 35%. That is still about 50-65% of what it would cost them over in Angola. The guys I work with are legit. Some of them use a Buyer Agent in the States. Some have friends working in the US that help them etc. But you do have to be very careful as probably 99% are scams. They should be willing to give you the name and number of the Agent and you could check him out. If they won't, run away. I will probably eventually help one or two buy a car. I like shopping for cars with someone elses money. The only thing I haven't really worked out is, how to not pay sales tax when I purchase it and how to purchase it in their name. They will be giving me the money upfront.

Iron Mike

It may very well be a scam. But most overseas buyers will have sentences structured differently. For people who learn language as a second language, many times the sentence structure is different in their Native tongue. You know like the old Germans who say "Throw over the fence the cow some hay". As far as a project car. Unfortunately car parts are hard to come by and very expensive in a lot of African country's as well. I agree about the check though. Tell him to send the check to his buyer and have him bring you the cash. It would be protecting him too. All this being said it probably is 99.999% chance of being a scam. But I can tell you that I know personnaly of a few. I do know that these guys did use cash though. They did not expect the buyer to take a check. In fact, checks are a very rare thing here anyway. Most places only accept cash. Very few accept checks or credit cards.

signature600

RUN AWAY!!! I almost got hit with that one too!! Good thing I wasn't letting my stuff go until I was sure I was getting my cash

Bank called 10 days after I deposited to money, and said "Counterfiet!!"

Chris

waldersha

Just tell the guy to give his buyer's agent a check and the agent can bring you cash then. If he can't do that then it is a scam. Awhile back we sold a tractor over ebay to a guy in Costa Rica. Granted it was a pretty rare collectors tractor, but the guy called 4 or 5 times to make sure that he had shipping arrangements made. Then he personally flew in, got cash and came to pay. We took the money to the bank while he was there to check for counterfeits (they do this with CASH too) and everything checked out. Just be REALLY careful, it would suck to get bitten.

Gotlift01

Honestly I'd screw with the guy, make up some crap and see if he bites. Tell him you decided to raise your price for whatever reason and see if he goes for it. Or tell him that if he wants it that badly to send the check to his "PEOPLE" and they can cash it and bring you the cash for the car. Tell him cash is cash, checks aren't the way you do business and if he can't come up with it then he needs to continue shopping for someone that does.



~Nick

Sgt. Peper

I would notify the police. If they are worth a dam, they will contact the owner of the check and his bank to make sure the check is good. If it is not good, they will do a sting and arrest the suspect when he comes to pick up the truck! Make sure it clears his bank, not yours! I have been in the police business for 30 years and that is what I would do.