Car buying scam

ellissa

We're selling a car on the well known websites and today received the email below. Thought these types of scams usually said 'working abroad', the British Soldier line is very good!...

Hello ,
I satisfied with the vehicle and want to purchase it from you at the said amount. I am a British Soldier Medic currently deployed with the 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines serving in Helmand, Afghanistan and out here it is difficult accessing a phone regularly due to the nature of my professionand I’m getting this car for my partner. I will not be able to come for inspection, hence will arrange for pick up and delivery of the car to Malaysia and all paper work regarding the purchase of the vehicle will be handled by the pick up agent on my behalf as they posses the power of attorney to do so, after i have made purchase. I would be happy if you could send me one or two more photos of the vehicle and will also need your word as a guaranty that the condition of the vehicle is as described online.
I am gladly going to make payment to you via pay pal and all i require to effect payment to you is your pay pal email id (email address associated with your pay pal account). I am aware of the very rampant problems in the pay pal world of nowadays but i want you to understand that pay pal is a secure way to pay online without sharing your financial information’s with the recipient. Pay pal is free when paying for domestic purchases. Pay pal is United Kingdom and the world most secure and favourite way to pay online compared to other online payment system and individual credit card brands. Due to the present situation with online car auctions i run a safe account with pay pal (Premier Business Account). Pay pal Premier Business Account is 100% safe for making payments, verified, well monitored and different from the regular pay pal account which is very common and pruned to problems such as scam.
I hope me little explanation will help if you are not familiar with Pay pal and you will not mind getting an account will pay pal. It is safe reliable and easy to use, just visit www.paypal.com to register and create an account with them. After wards you link your pay pal to your bank account so that you can move funds paid to via pay pal from your pay pal account to your bank account in order for you to cash your money.
Do get back to me soon as i wait to from you, many thanks.
Best Regards

Funnily enough, I suspect a scam... here's my reply - that hubby wouldn't let me send!

Thank you for your email. The car is now sold. The buyer is in a similar position to you and needs the car shipping abroad as he is working for charity in Africa. He offered me double the asking price and is sending the money by direct bank transfer. All I had to do was send him all my personal details, bank account numbers and passwords and hey presto, the money is on it's way. Sorry we couldn't help you.


Anyway, think it's a well known scam but sellers beware!

hcb42

lol just send it anyway!

Think there must have been something wrong with last car I sold on Autotrader. WE didnt even get any scam emails!

paulwellerfan

and to boot the scammers spelling is dire.... lol

Frank_Force

ellissa wrote: »

...will be handled by the pick up agent on my behalf as they posses the power of attorney...

I wouldn't want a posse turning up to collect a car, all those horses and guns.

vax2002

We have even had folk on here posting fake posts and conclusions saying how well it all worked out.
But yes it is a scam, a very very old one and also one that no end of mugs fall for, again, again and again.
Some people are just to BUTT STUPID to understand that money showing cleared in your bank account can be cancelled / Withdrawn/ returned/ declined by a scammer using methods that are BEYOND the intellectual understanding of most honest hard working people .
The Scam involves you issuing a partial refund, of course leaving you a tempting amount as a "gift" for cancelling the sale.
So like a mug, the fools refund the money using their OWN money from the bank and the scammer cancels the first payment and all you are left with is a nice overdrawn bank account and no money.

PinkKiwi

I would be tempted to send the reply lol! I was looking for a pug puppy once and emailed someone from their advert. I received a very lengthy reply saying her husband had died and she needed homes for the puppies quickly and so was reducing the price to £200. Her daughter was also killed on her way for piano lessons (I'm sure these foreign people think us english sit around a piano in high neck dresses, drinking earl grey) and she wanted a western union payment to get the dog shipped over (she was from england too but was helping in orphanages in africa.

The best ones are the emails saying someone has a million trillion dollars that they would like to leave to you after they die.

Frank_Force

PinkKiwi wrote: »

Her daughter was also killed on her way for piano lessons...

Don't mock, I can't tell you how many friends and members of my family I've lost on their way to piano lessons.

s_b

ive been killed twice going to piano lessons :think:

skiddlydiddly

I'm a piano teacher and the rate I am losing students at I may have to rethink my career.

Tangible

ellissa wrote: »

.........regular pay pal account which is very common and pruned to problems such as scam.

Aaaah - the pesky prune problem again. :eek:

It's why I don't use paypal. I can't face having to eat the bowl of prunes afterwards. :rotfl:

PinkKiwi

:rotfl: I was going to start having piano lessons but decided against it when I received the email.