Is this a scam?? - Car buyer

jatclarke999

Hi All
I am trying to sell my car, I placed an advert online and have received initially a text, which has been followed up by an email. The car I am selling s a 8 year old Hyundai.
Below is the the contents of the email. I have removed some elements of the mail for personal reasons but they do not detract from the sentiment.

Hello John,
Thanks for the response. The price of the vehicle is fine and i am happy to purchase it so would want the advert removed online. I am getting this for my partner in Malaysia and will not be able to come for inspection cos I work offshore
Please confirm the condition of the vehicle and me a photo of the engine. I am only able to handle payment via pay pal and all i will require to make payment is your pay pal name and email address.
I have requested the services of a freight company that will handle the pick up and delivery of the vehicle to Malaysia. The freight company will also handle any paper work regarding the purchase/sale on my behalf as they have the power of attorney to do so. Look forward to hear from you, many thanks.

There appears to be a valid mobile number but I have not tried to call it.
Does this appear to be legitimate and what protection should I ensure if I do proceed?

Thanks in advance
John

[Deleted User]

One of the oldest scams on the net

BillTrac

Yep total scam. It's a generic email with minor details changed to suit.

Why would anyone bother to buy an 8 year old Hyundai and ship it o Malaysia?

payment va PayPal, and either it is via some poor innocent persons PayPal account or payment by another PayPal account. 'Courier/shipper' collects your car and then claims inr and as you won't have a PayPal recognised proof of delivery etc you lose you car.

Whatever happens you lose the car and depending on how they finally complete the scam you lose money as well.:mad:

jatclarke999

Thanks both - email deleted. Actually it was my son selling the car but as he was working, he forwarded the message to me. Lucky - he might not have seen a potential risk, only the opportunity of the ££££'s

Thanks again

sue1493

It seems it definately is a scam. I was highly dubious about my contact ( see attatched) but did some checking on line and have confirmed that yes it is a scam. Also checked with close relative who is a police officer in CID and he has confirmed it is a scam.
You will end up losing the car and the money through fake paypal emails confirming the money is in your account. I just wish i could alert people to this as there are loads of people desperate to sell their cars and some would not question it.

Hello Sue,
Thanks for the response. The price of the vehicle is fine and i am happy to purchase it so would want the advert removed online. I am getting this for my partner in Malaysia and will not be able to come for inspection cos I work offshore (NAME: Alba Phase II, LOCATION: North Sea Northern, UK. BLOCK: 16 / 26 WATER DEPTH: 138m RESERVES: 400 million barrels recoverable reserves DISCOVERED: 1984 FIRST PRODUCTION: January 1994). Please confirm the condition of the vehicle and send me a photo of the engine. I am only able to handle payment via pay pal and all i will require to make payment is your pay pal name and email address. If you do not already have a pay pal account set up, you can visit the pay pal website to set up an account as it is easy secure and convenient to use. I have requested the services of a freight company that will handle the pick up and delivery of the vehicle to Malaysia. The freight company will also handle any paper work regarding the purchase/sale on my behalf as they have the power of attorney to do so. Look forward to hear from you, many thanks.


Anna Patricks

I will not be replying to Anna Patricks!!!!

shaun_from_Africa

'Courier/shipper' collects your car and then claims inr and as you won't have a PayPal recognised proof of delivery etc you lose you car.

Although it is without doubt a scam, what is quoted above couldn't happen as Paypal buyer protection doesn't cover vehicles.

What is far more likely to hapen is that you would receive an e-mail which appeared to originate from paypal but in reality would be from your buyer. (it would look very realistic, complete with all the right logos and headers).
It would state something along the lines of:
"We have received the full payment of "£XXX from your buyer, and this payment is being held by our Safe Harbor team.
Once you have provided proof that the car has been collected by the buyer or their agent, we will immediately release the money to your account"

Of course you would never see a penny of the money concerned, and there would be no comeback on Paypal as they were never involved in the transaction.

Kite2010

They use Paypal's name instead of Western Union these days, although Western Union is still used by scammers.

soolin

I am surprised to see that old scam still has people not sure if they are about to be scammed or not.