Squaretrade safety?

typing00

Hi all again

Late last night saw a BMW 330d 2002/52 reg 28k miles advertised on ebay in the north east where I stay, auction stated a Buy-It-Now price of £8000 (but this option is not available for the auction itself) with pre-approved bidders. Checked a few websites, thought that the car was worth at least £15000, immediately e-mailed the seller via ebay offering to pay £8000 immediately when I go and see the car today.

Then a few things happened in quick succession: seller was NARU-ed, auction was pulled, and ebay sent me a warning letter about avoiding dealing with this seller out of ebay. Then I got the following e-mail from the seller:

Hello there and thanks for your interest.
I'm very glad that you like my car and I can only say that you have good
taste about cars! I want you to know that I closed my auction earlier
because someone has offered me the buy it now price, but didn't have all the
money available and I cannot accept financing because time is a real issue
for me. The price I want to obtain for it is � 8,000 (this price includes
shippment and insurance charges). In order to eliminate any concerns I can
accept a deposit of � 4,000. After you will make the deposit then just
forward the transfer details to Square Trade so they can check the deposit,
and only after receiving and inspecting the car you will send me the
remaining balance.
The car is like new, completely working, low miles, 2002 BMW 330d model. It
has always been garage kept. It is an UK model with UK specs (RHD) and it is
still registered there and you will have no problem with registration.
Shipping will be done via Pegasuscarrier Air Cargo from Rome, Italy and it
will take no more then 4 days for the car to arrive at the delivery
location. I am in the Military and Pegasus will manage me a low price for
shipping and if you will pay the money transfer taxes wich will be at � 400,
I will pay for the shipping fees. I will arrange for you not to pay any
duties when the car will pass through customs. In this way the car will be
delivered to your home address.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to register the car here because the car is an
RHD so I decided to sell it to someone back in UK. If you want to have it
registered here have to start an individual procedure for the vehicle
through the Government, pass several technical tests and make a lot of
changes to the car which are expensive they told me. This is why I am
selling the car so cheap.
This is a overseas purchase and I would like to use a third party for this
transaction as I want a smooth and safe transaction. We will use Square
Trade, I have completed a lot of successful deals using them. I have a
Purchase Protection Account for US $20,000 and I assume you know what this
means. If this is your first time using Square Trade here are their terms:
if you will not receive the car exactly as advertised or you won't receive
it in 15 days since you made the payment, Square Trade will refund you from
my account.
If you agree with these terms, please reply with your full name, home and
shipping address in your next email so I can register the transaction with
Square Trade asap.
Regards,

My instinct shouted `scam!!!' immediately but I would appreciate some opinions on how safe Square Trade is? would I really be able to get all my money back if the transaction goes belly up?

Many thanks.

danmanchester

My feelings is that it's a scam too..and is using Square Trade as some sort of escrow service-I didn't even know they were an escrow service? However, Naru!!!??? I'd be inclined to cantact Square Trade quoting his user id and see if they can verify his details..maybe it's an ebay account that's been hijacked? Still wouldn't touch the deal with a bargepole tho!!

VH

Stay well away, this has all the classic signs of a scam.

1. The car is going for much cheaper then its market value - entices people in. The seller has a convenient excuse for the price reduction.
2. After offering to buy the car you are then told it's not in the UK and will be shipped. You can't even view it!!! You have no idea if it even exists.
3. The seller will accept a 50% deposit to 'eliminate any concerns'. How generous of him!
4. He's 'in the Military' - appears to make him trustworthy.
5. He wants to do the transaction through a third party to make it appear safe. Increases trust in the transaction and 'gives you protection'. What will happen is that you will either be directed to a fake website or some similar scam and you will believe your money is safe.
6. The seller will pay the shipping for you. How nice of him! He'll also arrange for passage through customs without fees, no doubt with a sly nod and a wink to a couple of customs officers! Now he sounds even more generous!

You would have to be mad to go through with this transaction. The chances are he is currently in communication with at least a dozen other people, one or more of whom will part with their hard-earned cash and never see it again.

Hang firmly onto your money and buy a car that you can actually have a look at.

PASCALI

Scam
Squaretrade only intervene if negative feedback is involved, they are based in US and do not have any legal basis whatsoever

typing00

thanks everyone. will pass it up.