Selling my car - Is this a scam?

cwoolhouse_2

No, go on. You've mouthed off, so now back yourself up. What's the scam that involves paying £500 in cash into my bank account?

xoleeb

crazyguy wrote: »

Personaly though I would not have given my bank details to a stranger, so if theres a scam it may well involve clearing your account after the event, my suggestion is to withdraw all funds and re open a new account and never give details out unless you know them, ie:- wages or dd's

so you have never in your life paid for something with a cheque - where you hand over a piece of paper with your account number, sort code name and even a copy of your signature???? :rotfl:

rodenal

To give a rational explination to your question:

Paying £500 cash into your account is no problem for somebody who has acquired that £500 illegaly and stands to make approximately £3.5k more when he moves on your stolen car.

However, if you can get the guy to pay in cash with you at the bank, the bank verify this and do some checks on the guy handing over the money (which I assume they will) then I don't think there is much more you can do. For what it's worth I still think it's a scam and the guy will never show but it would be good to find out first hand that it isn't

Flyboy152

rodenal wrote: »

To give a rational explination to your question:

Paying £500 cash into your account is no problem for somebody who has acquired that £500 illegaly and stands to make approximately £3.5k more when he moves on your stolen car.

However, if you can get the guy to pay in cash with you at the bank, the bank verify this and do some checks on the guy handing over the money (which I assume they will) then I don't think there is much more you can do. For what it's worth I still think it's a scam and the guy will never show but it would be good to find out first hand that it isn't

What checks would the bank need to do on the person buying the car? Four thousand five hundred pounds is well within the limits of the MLRs, so there would be no legal requirement for the bank to investigate, unless there are obvious reasons for suspicion. The buyer simply being African, is not enough.

cwoolhouse_2

Rodenal, that is a rational explanation, but why bother with the £500 in the first place? Why not just come along to view the car and nick it at that point?

rodenal

I'm not suggesting the bank will do any particularly stringent checks, but as (if) the OP doesn't usually have one off payments going in of a few k they may do some checks. I know little of banking rules or practises and won't pretend to do so, if they are unlikely to do any checks then fair enough I won't argue with that.

OP the reason for giving you the initial £500 is to lull you into a false sense of security and in the hope that, by the time you realise the money has been frozen / reversed from your account the car will either have been stripped or moved on - should they turn up at your house with a baseball bat and politely take the car and all of its documents from you the police will immediately be informed, meaning they have to work quicker.

It's much easier for them to do with either a bankers draft or transferred funds etc (could be coming from somebody elses account, he might not be who he says he is) but i'm sure there is still a way with cash. Anyway, let us know what comes of it.

Flyboy152

rodenal wrote: »

I'm not suggesting the bank will do any particularly stringent checks, but as (if) the OP doesn't usually have one off payments going in of a few k they may do some checks. I know little of banking rules or practises and won't pretend to do so, if they are unlikely to do any checks then fair enough I won't argue with that.

OP the reason for giving you the initial £500 is to lull you into a false sense of security and in the hope that, by the time you realise the money has been frozen / reversed from your account the car will either have been stripped or moved on - should they turn up at your house with a baseball bat and politely take the car and all of its documents from you the police will immediately be informed, meaning they have to work quicker.

It's much easier for them to do with either a bankers draft or transferred funds etc (could be coming from somebody elses account, he might not be who he says he is) but i'm sure there is still a way with cash. Anyway, let us know what comes of it.

The money paid was cash, the money being paid in is cash, there is nothing to freeze. Once the cash has been handed to the teller, the transaction is complete; there will be nothing to freeze or reverse. On what basis can the bank "freeze" or "reverse" the funds?

fivetide

It is sad we have to be so suspicious but that appears to be the case.

See what the outcome of the call is. Don't meet him anywhere strange and if possible take a mate along, a large one. I'm sure he'll want to look at the car before paying you the cash, why wouldn't he? So you need to make sure it is nice and public and you have everything with you to sign/hand over.

Get the bus home again!

5t.

rodenal

Flyboy152 wrote: »

The money paid was cash, the money being paid in is cash, there is nothing to freeze. Once the cash has been handed to the teller, the transaction is complete; there will be nothing to freeze or reverse. On what basis can the bank "freeze" or "reverse" the funds?

What's with the attitude? It's not very hard (should you know the right people) to make yourself up some identification in someone elses name, acquire their bank account details (or open yourself a new account) then get a loan or overdraft and use that money to pay for something. At some point this is discovered, then the funds are traced and given back to the bank.

Flyboy152

rodenal wrote: »

What's with the attitude? It's not very hard (should you know the right people) to make yourself up some identification in someone elses name, acquire their bank account details (or open yourself a new account) then get a loan or overdraft and use that money to pay for something. At some point this is discovered, then the funds are traced and given back to the bank.

If cash is paid into the OP's account, it cannot be seized by a bank who has been the victim of a fraudulent loan application. If in any surreal event they could actually do that, at the very last they would have to prove that that actual cash was the proceeds of that loan.