Rip-Off

[benny]

I put my car up for sale a few weeks ago and it didn't sell on e-bay. I was contacted after the auction by a person in England who wanted my car. This raised a flag. We agreed to an amount and it took a month to get payment. The day the check arrived they e-mailed me to let me know it came. (It arrived by regular mail and had no return address. ) They said they paid for the car plus I was to pay the shipper with the extra money sent. The same day the check arrived, they also e-mailed that a problem with logistics regarding their carrier arose and they requested I wire 4k to the shipper immediately to insure the smooth transition of car from me to them.
Well, they are still waiting and I now have a 22k check to frame and mount on My office wall. I played them to see just how far it would go. Kept all their e-mails also. Oh, the check is drawn on the Bank of Brookhaven and payable through US Bank, St Paul, Mn. Really looks official.
I've heard of this scam before, but wanted to see how far it goes, Guess it must still be profitable for them.
Spread the word to the old folks out there; if it's too good to be true, it must not be true.

[swi66]

Have you contacted that bank to let them know?
I would suggest also reporting it to e-bay, but seeing as you were contacted "after" the auction that wouldn't be a good idea.
I was actually contacted about an ad I had on the MOPAR club website. Seems someone wanted to purchase a Torquer intake I had for a 383. Sure enough they wanted to send me a check for $1000 and have me send them the balance after I cashed their certified check. What really struck my curiosity was the guy was from Nepal. Now how many big block MOPARS they got in Nepal? I did e-mail asking him what kind of car he wanted it for, he was evasive but still wanted the intake..........

[benny]

I have a buyer in Sweden who deals mostly in Corvette and Mustangs. He claims there are more 50/60's cars per capita in Sweden than any other Country in the world. (yes,that means USA also)

[benny]

Contacted the Bank and the check is bogus. faxed a copy to them and all the e-mails. Hope somthing positive can come from this.

[95gts]

I hope they don't hit you with fee's and such.

[benny]

Never cashed it. It's on My office wallnow.

[65cuda]

Sorry guys, are new member blackcadilliac is buying my 53 Plymouth

[benny]

that's a good running dependable car

[95gts]

Ok sorry i took it as you cashed it, which would be a great move lol, I can't beleive that a person tried that. you know the internet is a interesting place, but gosh you better not buy anything pricey unless you can check it out, see the item and settle it on a hand shake not a email.
Don't sell it, lol, I was going to buy it one day. He getting a great car at a nice price, damm.

[65cuda]

These Scams are documented and worldwide costing Americans Hundreds of Millions of dollars a year. Please do not fall for any of these scams. Follow the precautions below and be suspicious of every inquiry.

Do not BUY or SELL any cars outside the USA


Do not accept a cashiers check without contacting the 800 number of the issuing bank and validating its authenticity then wait for it to clear the bank before releasing the vehicle. Today anyone can print a check while the banking system has no way of validating it quickly.

Scams have involved sending sellers a foreign or out of state cashiers check that was later to be found fake. In many cases even a bank cannot determine if a check is fake until it is submitted to the issuing bank, often taking 3 weeks and more often 2 weeks after the car is gone.

In one case a man is on trial for depositing a fake check that he accepted for his vehicle. Now with no car, no cash and facing jail time for being a victim.

Do NOT Refund an overpayment. Some sellers are faced with a buyer that either sends a check or claims to have someone send a check exceeding the sale amount and requesting that the seller pay the shipper and refund the balance to the fraudulent buyer. Not only have sellers lost their car they also spent their own cash to do it.

Do not give out personal information. We have also had attempts at identity theft. Scammers try to sell your car on e-bay using your name and credentials while collecting the money at their PO Box or foreign address, leaving the buyer looking for you to get their money back.

Please take every precaution to protect your identity. Don't give up any information. If someone wants to send you a cashiers check no questions asked its most likely that they are scamming you.

If someone is sending you a check for an amount exceeding the vehicle cost and asking you to send back the difference, you are being scammed. No one is going to trust a complete stranger in a foreign country to send back thousands of dollars.

You can read more about these scams on almost any automotive website, yet people are being taken daily. It's not just individuals, car dealers and businesses alike have been scammed and often enough to close them down.

[benny]

Don't buy a car ANYWHERE unless You or someone You trust see it before paying.

Bank checks from another state can be bad...had one. Sold a camaro to a guy in texas. He sends a bank check drawn on texas bank I wait 5 days and ask MY bank if check is good...they say YES. Transporter comes on thursday and I release car and paperwork. Saturday morning I get letter from bank saying check is no good . Guy in texas bought the bank check one day,went back next and claimed he lost it,texas bank cancelled it,he sent the check. It worked out in a few weeks but I lost about 5 years of my life waiting from that saturday tillmonday until I could contact my attorney.

Bottom line: In God We trust, all other's pay cash.

[blackcadillac]

It's odd that this is brought up since my car is on ebay right now! I saw the same thing happen to my friends dad a few months ago, sold a $2000 honda to the "overseas guy", received a "bank check" and some extra for the "shipping guy", we were working on my friends car when he went to the bank, came back and the SAME exact story as above happened except the bank mgr wouldn't cash the check.....luckily. Thank you for putting this situation back on my mind, SERIOUSLY. If anything seems odd for me i WILL be asking all of your opinions!

[blackcadillac]

I got this e-mail today from ebay member 2006jcooper.

Say whats going on big dawg i love this cadillac man it is beautiful i am out of Houston Texas so u can understand why i love this old school. If the car does not sell for your buy it now price i would like to buy it but the thing is i can only give u $1,000 a week until it is paid off. if this cool give me a holla at 832-265-3390 peace

sound pretty fake anyone know a good reverse phone # search site? plus he has been a member for under a month and has no purchase history. red flags all over!!!
the e-mail was sent through the ebay site also.

[65cuda]

sounds fishy to me

[95gts]

The phone number "[phone]" is based in Houston, TX and the registered carrier is Sprint Spectrum L.p. However, due to number portability, some numbers have been transferred to a new service provider other than the registered carrier.

I call him and say ok, send me cash payment when it is payed in full you can get the car, untill then you have ### numbers of day to complete this transaction, default on your part will cause loss of you existing payments.

whats his username, run the user name on the web, usually people do otehr transaction and you can see some kind of track record. i think this is a cell phone, and with out a pay site you may now find much, but i continue to look. ebay id?

[blackcadillac]

I immediatly thought so myself, though the phone number is a nice touch. lol

[blackcadillac]

user is 2006jcooper, and thank you.

[blackcadillac]

i sent this back:
If this were to happen i would need all the money before the car moves, and i am in Buffalo NY and i am not able to do anything with shiping other than take one last look at it while it goes. Keep watching and we'll see what happens.

we can all have a little fun with this!

[95gts]

I can't find anything with the user id, writes like a kid so might live at home with mom and pop. I looked foir a j cooper also, lots of numbers in houston, but no match. really might have better luck when he replys, might give name of sender. Try to google his email thru google or yahoo search, usually turns up information. But cell phones are hard to locate with out paying a 30 dollar fee, I would suggest giving him a time line which he has to pay you by 30 days, that way your not sitting on a car and part cash for x amount of time. I also suggest that you exhaust all attempts of selling your car before you take payments, usually ends up in a headache.

[blackcadillac]

i agree, and tried searching names also and recieved the same you did thanks for all the help and i'll post any replies i get for all to see! The payment thing i can't argue too much since that is how i bought the car myself, but then again i met the guy selling in person gave him so much info he could have found me at any time and typed up and signed a contract/pymt sched and didn't take the car or title until fully paid. meeting people and getting a feeling for them makes a difference.