New scam for car sellers to be aware of....

I receieved 2 emails today , less than one minute apart from the same person. (One regarding each car I have for sale)

Here's the text from one of them (the other is the exact same, except it references my other car)

Here is the header....

His email address is - stevewalts@fastermail.com

I don't even want to reply. But I DO want to report it to someone.
Who do you notify of things like this?

 

More Info here.

http://www.americandreamcars.com/scamalert.htm

 

I'll talk about the scam he linked to ....

You get an email from someone in "Nigeria" (or wherever..)
The potentail buyer says he'll send you a money order for like $5K more than your car is selling for.
He says to cash it, and forward the extra $5K to his "shipping guy in the states", who then takes your $5K
Then a couple days later YOU find out that the original money order was a fake, and you're out the $5K you gave to his "shipping guy", and neither the shipping guy or your buyer can be traced.

Now in my particular case.... the guy hasn't made that offer. I'm just assuming he's up to no good, and it will end up something like the other scam.
I mean really... two emails within one minute saying the exact same thing about 2 different cars??
I might have been born in the dark.... but it wasn't last night.

 

hey.. where'd those two posts I just replied to go?? :eek2:

 

A friend has received a similar email, the guy wants to buy the car sight unseen, wants to make a deal immediately, all that is known is an email address and that he is in the UK! Does not seem to want to know anything more than what was posted about the car. The friend has gone to his bank and asked what is the best way to handle, if he in fact gets a check from the prospective buyer, he is to wait til the check clears, then the prospective buyer owns the the car, and it is up to him to make arrangements to get it to wherever it is going. This is definitely a scary part of doing business, and we will see what happens. The interesting point here, is if the prospective owner is so anxious to get the car,then why would he send funds by mail and not by Fed-Ex or UPS? The next step will be very interesting as if the money shows up, who will come get the car to send it to the UK, maybe then we will understand some more about the American Iron going to Europe. Check out this thread on the BCA Web on this same topic:Here

RV

 

http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

The FBI likes to know about these things.

Betcha a nickle upon your reply to sender, sender will request your bank account's transit routing and account number so sender can wire you the money. Usually upon receipt of this vital info sender will deplete your account.

 

Check this out for more info:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/carsale.asp

 

Thanks Jim
Thats the type of site I was looking for!

I filed the complaint (what a long winded pain in the rear type of process that is) ou:
I doubt it'll do any good, but I feel better after filing it.
:TU:

 

Thanks Marc
I can't help but to want to reply to this guy, just to see what kind of BS he comes back with. :laugh:

Can anyone tell me a good reason NOT to jerk this guy around a little?
I've thought about it for a few minutes, and I can't see where I'm exposing myself any more than I have already to him, if I were to reel him in a little with a few emails.
He obviously already has my email address. What could it hurt?
o No:

 

There's a website somewhere, someone may have even posted here before. This guy basically plays w/ the scam artists, asking for pictures of their family and what not. I read through one of these, and it was hilarious how this guy scammed the scammer.

 

I remember that one! I wish I could remember WHERE I saw it though:laugh:

 

www.ebolamonkeyman.com
Warning- not a site for everybody! (bad language, etc.)

 

That's the site alright. Good stuff.

 

That's a line of bull. I had one of these deals back last year on a van I was selling. The guy even sent me the check, for $8000 over the asking price of the vehicle, Of course I knoew it was bogus long before I got it. I contacted the FBI, they came out , collected the check, I gave them copies of all the emails, I was still staying in contact with the guy at the time I contacted the FBI, figured this would help them be able to catch the idiot.
Results: nada, nothing. I really don't think the FBI gives a rats ass about actually catching these idiots.
I've come across these types of scams over the past few years, have contacted the FBI in every situation, never have any results from them. Jim Burek

 

I don't think the FBI can do much of anything when the supposed buyer is overseas somewhere.

 

uzzled: Was one of them mine? I thought I had replied to your post right away? I know I didn't delete it.

 

Well, a bit of analysis of that e-mail's headers. Looks as though the message was sent from someone using Verestar, which is a satellite based ISP which provides service in various parts of the world.

I would report the e-mail to their abuse department, whoever sent it could be an employee, or a customer. Either way they may be interested in it.

 

I don't remember who they were David. But I know there were 2 posts right after Mark, and they were both pretty much asking "what's the scam".
I think one of them was Doug Hecker. o No:

By the time I typed up my response... they were both gone. :eek2: