scam with autotrade?

FBaby

I put an add with autotrade (internet and local magazine) for a MPV car on Sunday. Since then, I've received 5 or 6 calls, all from men with a very strong accent I can hardly understand.

I live on the South Coast, but all these calls have been from either London or Birmingham (or so they claim!). They all asked similar questions (fair enough) and seemed prepared to come and buy the car right away.

Now please don't get me wrong, I am not racist and don't have any issues at all with selling to anyone regardless of their accent or skin colour (I am a foreigner myself anyway!), but selling a car privately for the first time and being aware of the spread of scams all over the country, I don't want to fall to one of them through naivity.

So my question is? Is anyone aware of any current scams going on? Is it ok to accept cash and check the notes with one of those pens? I assume that is the only way they could pay and take the car right away.

Any further advice would be very welcome!

scheming_gypsy

if it is a scam they'll want to pay by bankers draft or something else except cash, and then send somebody to collect the car. They collect the car and reverse the payment

poppasmurf_bewdley

Do you mean AutoTrader?

FBaby

yep, the finger slipped on the 'r'!
Thanks, I've refined my search and I've found more details on how scams operate (at least some of them) and what I need to watch, ie. no transation outside of the bank!

vax2002

Its a dialogue scam, they promise cash on collection, then that falls through due to some sob story, then a bank transfer and his mate/agent will collect once the money is in your account , WOW money shows in your bank...then he can not collect as the person they were buying the car for has died from an acorn dropped by a squirrel or something equally as untrue and for your messing about they will let you keep 25% of the money if you kindly refund please for your trouble.
Then as it is an international money transfer they cancel the transfer which can happen up to 30 days, the bank cancels the money and you are left out of pocket to the sum of the refund plus a few letters and overdraft charges from the bank.
The car stays where it is, it was never about the car, just the excuse, if you were selling a pit pony they would try it on.

scheming_gypsy

might be worth trying it with a stolen car.....

rev_henry

Does it have a very high mileage and is it japanese? We had a similar thing happen when selling our old Rav-4. Dealer who my mother bought replacement from said they'll just clock it and sell it on...

Out of interest I've just had a look on the DVLA and aforesaid Rav 4 looks like it was exported shortly after we sold it. Doesn't surprise me. I understand there's quite a demand for old cars which are reliable but MOT failures. Stick them on a roll on roll off ferry to Nigeria...

Rolandtheroadie

OP, you advertised it then you got phone calls from people interested in it. Not too unusual really.

Only accept cash, why not get them to pay it into your account at your local branch?

As far as forgeries go, check with a pen if you're not going to the bank, but I'd have thought forgeries would have the same serial numbers as well.

Lithian

FBaby wrote: »

Is it ok to accept cash and check the notes with one of those pens?

As an aside, those pens only work with cheap copier paper. If someone is printing £100 notes they'll probably fork out for starch free paper

scheming_gypsy

if they're printing £100 notes they might as well use potato peelings seeing as they'll be instantly spotted as a fake.

gilbert_and_sullivan

If your car is a known good bet ie. not modern French, then the buyers might well be fully legit, many better quality used cars are being bought for export, these foreign blokes are pretty clued up on motors, they don't buy rubbish.
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