Selling my car on autotrader - is this a scam?

goldenshilling

Have been trying to sell my car on autotrader for the last week or so. Yesterday I revieved an e-mail from a yahoo e-mail address saying

"Hello,

Am interested in your car advert on autotrader, what is the last price?

Reply"

Having replied to the message I said that I was looking for the asking price but would be open to offers and to contact me if needed.

Having just checked my e-mail today I found I had this repsonse:

Thank you for your e-mail.

I have just contacted my agent to pay you by Draft for the car , I will be offering £3100 for the car, Draft will take only 5 days to clear in your account, the Draft will be sent to you early next week, once draft clears in your account, My agent will come over for the car.

I will need you to send me the following details for the Bank Draft:

1, Full names
2, Full Address
3, Telephone numbers

Reply.

Now obviusly this sounds a little too good to be true. Someone wanting to buy the car for full asking price without seeing it. Having looked on the web Ive found that there are a few scams along this line but most involve a lot more details and tend to offer above what the car is advertised for. Does anyone think this could be legit?

anewman

Extremely likely! I think if you contact them the location Nigeria will pop up and some mention of shipping the car abroad, sending money etc. DON'T DO IT!

colino

This isn't maybe, or perhaps, it is a straightforward scam that goes out to thousands of users every week and Autotrader do nothing about it. Add to your blocked emails.

Ebe_Scrooge

Absolutely, guaranteed, 100% cast-iron scam.

Of course, you could always play along with him, just for the wind-up......

But don't, under any circumstances, give him any of your personal details, bank details, etc., and do not part with any cash or the car. Safest just to ignore it / bin it.

maninthestreet

Ebe Scrooge is correct, it's most definitely a scam. If you check the full headers of the email, you will find that the email has originated from abroad, probably West Africa.

goldenshilling

Thanks everyone for the advice. Assumed it was too good to be true. Aww well I'll just have to keep trying

Harry_Flashman

On the other hand (not autotrader). I had a similar experience with a couple of chaps from Georgia who wanted to export my car.

I ended up screwing 'em down to paying cash and all went well in the end (even the banknotes weren't forged )

verybigchris

If you want to see how common this scam is, try Googling "I have just contacted my agent to pay you by Draft for the car"

Link here