Car Buying Scams

Below is a bunch of e-mail recorded by our system that shows the methods used by the scammers. Remember there are 3 basic scams.

1. They send you a fake cashiers check for an amount exceeding your asking price and ask for a refund via Western Union.

2. The advertise a car that is too good to be true and get you to pay them for the non-existant car.

3. They take your identity and take payment in your name for an actual car you are selling. Leaving the bamboozeled buyer and the police looking at YOU!

In any of the cases, its not good! But you will clearly see the patterns in the e-mails sent to sellers. If you get e-mails like these, the best course of action is to delete them and avoid any contact wih the scammer.

These are the actual e-mails sent:

Hello Seller,
I have interest on purchasing your (Items For Sale)How much are you asking for it? Please aknowledge recipient of message by sending reply with pics of (ITEM for sale ) in different views just so we can access the face value. My Name is smith, I intend sending you certified checks and deliver to you & I have a reputable shipping agent to start coming around for the pick up as soon as possible after the payment received by you seller but if that is okay by you let me Know.....
On confirmation of information provided,we will instruct the buyer to remitt full payment without further ado. Your Full Name? Your Full Address,Code,Country? Your Telephone for Contact You and Your Last Price Okay. And if you can aresure me on what am buying from you and tell me the conditions, and you are interesting to sell it to me you can send me the payment informations as soon as possible. We look forward to your prompt reply. Thanks
Sincerely, and have a great day.
Best Regards

In Review: Notice the bad grammar, spelling and the lack of details pertainent to any specific product. They do not specify what they want to buy, because they are sending the same e-mail to everyone. They ask for all your personal information and claim to already be willing to buy the vehicle without asking even one question about it. Your ad likely already has the asking price and photos, so the fact that they are asking for that, clearly demonstrates they have not read your ad.

Hello Seller,
I just mailed to let you know i saw the advert you placed over the web site
and couldnt help but be interested in buying it.
so please i will like you to e-mail me back with the following details.
1.an assurance that it is in good condition.
2.a recentpicture so i can view it present condition.
3.your last offering price and please i will like you to keep other buyers off it, because am willing to buy it.
Thanks and have a nice day.
Williams Page.......

good day, jones buxton from u.k,I am highly interested in this of your items , I will like to know if it still available and I want you to tell me his last offering and his presence condition, if it will be okay with me I will be making my payment with a certified cashiers cheque. If you do I want you to get back to me immediately for me to proceed with the payment. and as for shipping I will contact a shipping agent of mine who will arranged for the pick up as soon as the transaction is sealed ,and I will be looking forward to your response, you can send me the pics through my email.thanks,
Best Regards

Hello,
My name is Tony Bikers,I have a client who is interested in buying your item,He informed me that the payment will be remmited via a usps money order.I will also like you to get back to me with the least price for the item.
In order to conclude the deal as soon as possible, the money order that will be sent to you will include the money for the sales of your item and the shippers fees for organising a home pick up service.You do not need to worry as my shipping company will come to pick the item up from your base for shipment. What I want to clarify is that will you be able to send the shipping charges to the shipping agent through Western Union Money Transfer method as soon as you get and cash the money orders and you deduct the money for the sales of your item.
If you agree to assist in this capacity , send your full name,your address and phone numbers.
Regards.
Tony

hello,
In regard to your ad placement . I want to purchase the
car and will like to know some neccessary information about the car
before i can proceed with the transaction.
Please do reply me with the answer to the below questions.
I want to know the condition of the car right now?
The state where the car is located? The last price of the car and
picture of it, Is the car available for sale right now?
The shipment cost and note that I have a shipping company that can
ship the car .Depends on where you are located and we can arrange for it.
Let know your payment option ( I can only pay you with cashier check
and money orer.)

yours
janet

In Review: This scammer throws the book of questions at you. Most of which are already answered in the ad. You must realize that if a car is thousands of dollars and the buyer is interested, they would have probably read the ad. Agin, no specifics about the car, just an open willingness to buy and send you the infamous CASHIERS CHECK!

Good Day,
Compliments of the reason to you overthere. I was just searching by for a used car 1970OPEL.I saw your sale and I am very much interested in it so I will like to know the cost of the car so as to start the transaction immediately I will also like to know the present condition of the car and mind you I will be paying by a cashier check payable to usa bank. As per the shipping I have a reputable shipper in usa who will come for the pick-up after this transaction. Thank you for your understanding. Your urgent respond is higly needed.ASAP.
cole.

In Review: This is great, the buyer is looking for a $1500.00 car to ship back to England. So they are going to pay just over a thousand dollars for the car and five thousand more to ship it. This scam works buy telling the buyer they will send the entire cost of the car and shipping $6,500.00. You can then take your $1500.00 and pay the shipper $5000.00 out of the fake money. But there is no shipper, you are refunding the money from a fake check back to the scammer.

You may have even deposited the check in your bank and waited for it to clear. But banks clear funds before they have verified the check. It can take upto 6 weeks for a bank to realize a foriegn check was fake. Now you have to pay the bank back the $5000.00 you have already wired to the scammer.

HELLO
I SAW THE PLACEMENT OF YOUR 1948 DIAMOND ON THE INTERNET FOR SALE BY YOU.I AM INTRESTED IN BUYING IT SO I WILL LIKE TO KNOW YOUR LAST PRICE AND THE EXACT CONDITION OF IT.ALSO I WILL LIKE YOU TO ATTACHED THE PICTURE OF
IT.FUTHERMORE,THE MODE OF PAYMENT WILL BY CERTIFIED CASHIER CHEQUE. I WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF THE SHIPPING MYSELF.
REGARDS

Good day to you,

I saw your advert while surfing the web and I am very interested
in your car.I will appreciate if you could acknowledge this
message possibly with the details and the least you can go
regarding the price. But as a matter of urgency I'm ready to buy
it. and l am an agent in london,So please get back to me as for more
information

regards

( rolland mith(sales manager)