Car Buying Scam?

thehalfboy

Hi guys,

I'm selling a Morris Minor Van, and it went up on Gumtree last night. At lunch today I received a text asking if I'd mind emailing at a given address, which I did, and then received this reply:

Thanks for the prompt response. I am ready to buy it now as a Birthday gift for my son and i am at sea at the moment as i am a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I really want it to be a surprise for My son so i wont let him know anything about it until it gets delivered to him, i am sure he will be more than happy with it. I insisted on PayPal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my paypal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your paypal email address and the price so i can make the payments asap for it and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to paypal and get it set up, after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with paypal so as to put the money through. I have a pick up agent that will come and pick it up after i have made the payments...Thanks!!!


Now to me it smells very scammy, and if they were wanting to pay by cheque I'd have dismissed it straight away, but I'm just not sure with this. I can't say I'd be happy selling to somebody who's never seen it, especially with a classic car like this.

Thanks,

Matt

Browntoa

run away, your gut feeling is right

force_ten

get back in touch and say sorry no paypal cash only, the e mail has scam written all over it bet his e mail address is scammer at Hotmail.con

I have a pick up agent that will come and pick it up after i have made the payments...Thanks

normal people dont have pick up agents and that is not a term most people would use

Car_54

I agree with the others. Apart from anything else, PayPal payments can be reversed too easily.

iolanthe07

The "I'm away at sea" (in various guises) is quite a common opening gambit for a scam. I would run a mile - people are able to reclaim payments from Paypal in certain circumstances, which is why I never use it.

Weird_Nev

Scammy scam scam scam.

Cease all contact.

thehalfboy

Thanks guys,

I was working under the assumption that there was some way to recall a Paypal payment, but I'd never actually heard of it happening.

Weird_Nev

thehalfboy wrote: »

Thanks guys,

I was working under the assumption that there was some way to recall a Paypal payment, but I'd never actually heard of it happening.

They're not interested in the car whatsoever, it's a way to use your paypal as a clearing account for other scams - they will usually dump fraudulent payments in your account exceeding the value of the car, ask for a partial refund, then the whole lot goes into investigation and you end up out of a serious amount of money. There are other scams also, but the car doesn't figure in any of them - scammers have no interest in getting lumbered with a morris minor!

shaun_from_Africa

If ever in doubt about a potential scam, Google it.
There are very few original attempts about nowadays.

2012
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/About-Protections/Examples-of-Suspected-Fraud-or-Fake-Emails/td-p/271370/page/81

2011
http://tigersndragons.blog.fr/2011/10/02/john-smith-wants-to-buy-my-car-11952809/

And many more:
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=&as_epq=I+am+ready+to+buy+it+now+as+a+Birthday+gift+for+my+son+and+i+am+at+sea+at+the+moment+as+i+am+a+marine+engineer+and+due+to+the+nature+of+my+work%2C+phone+calls+making+and+visiting+of+website+are+restricted+but+i+squeezed+out+time+to+check+this+advert+and+send+you+an+email+regarding+it&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=&gws_rd=ssl

1DayAAT

Scaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam. (Just wanted to eliminate any remaining doubt).

jimjames

thehalfboy wrote: »

Thanks guys,

I was working under the assumption that there was some way to recall a Paypal payment, but I'd never actually heard of it happening.

If no proof car has been taken then they can reverse paypal, your word isn't enough. Same with Ebay. NEver sell something paid by Paypal with collection in person as they can claim no proof it was them that took it.