Is this a scam???

[Richie200]

Hi guys, I currently have a car for sale and have just received another email which looks a little dodgy to me. I am not really that hot when it comes to computers so thought it best to ask here. Just seems strange to me that if you are interested in a car, why you would not provide some details for me to get back to you. As it stands I have not responded to either. Is that wise?

Edited by Ollie_M on Saturday 5th September 16:29

[t400ble]

Probably

[Blib]

They're both fishing to see who bites. Personally, I'd ignore them.

[DS240]

Two different email addresses, but exactly the same text in the message....

Looks odd, especially if they arrived around the same time.

[GT3cs]

I got exactly the same text a few weeks ago .

I goggled the email address , and got there linked in account . All seemed to check out . Emailed a few times and it all seemed genuine .

I'm sure this must be standard text that PH puts in if you leave the comment box blank .....

[Richie200]

GT3cs said:

I got exactly the same text a few weeks ago .

I goggled the email address , and got there linked in account . All seemed to check out . Emailed a few times and it all seemed genuine .

I'm sure this must be standard text that PH puts in if you leave the comment box blank .....

I goggled the 2x email addresses and couldn't find anything.

[timbo999]

'Hover' your mouse cursor over the links (but DON'T click on them)- at the bottom of the browser page the true address of the link should appear - bet you its not really a link to www.pistonheads.com... i.e. its dodgy.

[rubystone]

Don't click on the link..it isn't a link to your ad. They rely on you clicking on the link and never respond if you mail them at the address. I guess it installs s virus on your device.

[Richie200]

timbo999 said:

'Hover' your mouse cursor over the links (but DON'T click on them)- at the bottom of the browser page the true address of the link should appear - bet you its not really a link to www.pistonheads.com... i.e. its dodgy.

Thanks for the tip timbo. I followed your advice but it all appears to be kosher i.e bottom of page does refer to PH in both cases???

[GT3cs]

As it was in my case . And the guy definitely exists ......

This has got to be something related to a standard text if you access PH via a mobile site or similar . Is there not a moderator who can confirm . It Would be a shame to be ignoring genuine enquires .

[Far Cough]

when you look at a PH advert there is a button to click to email the seller. It already has the field filled in with the car details and something like , " I`m interested in your so and so for sale". Probably genuine

[Richie200]

Far Cough said:

when you look at a PH advert there is a button to click to email the seller. It already has the field filled in with the car details and something like , " I`m interested in your so and so for sale". Probably genuine

Fully understand; though my apprehension is regarding the email addresses of the potential buyers. They just seem a little odd to me???

[Patent]

I would post this in website feedback. They are quite good at responding to queries.

[bitchstewie]

They're scams - not sure how it would unravel but I'd guarantee it.

The email address is unusual but legitimate - it's just something Gmail lets you do.

[supersport]

They are probably genuine. I bet the email addresses are auto generated to hide the real address, in the same way the use hidden phone numbers. They are probably the guys user name + some code to indentify the user.

[Richie200]

As it currently stands I am none the wiser as to whether they are dodgy emails or not. Gaz above is a moderator of Pistonheads so I have forwarded the original email to him to see if it is safe or not to respond.

[rubystone]

They are dodgy. But by all means, click on the link to test the theory...I had a whole slew of them when I advertised a car on PH.....

[bitchstewie]

Richie200 said:

As it currently stands I am none the wiser as to whether they are dodgy emails or not. Gaz above is a moderator of Pistonheads so I have forwarded the original email to him to see if it is safe or not to respond.

They walk like a duck, they look like a duck, and they quack.

The email format using the "+" sign is something I guarantee you that 99% of GMail users don't even know exists, add it all up and it's a scam.

Ignore it and move on.

[KatieM]

Thanks for letting us know Richie, these are both scams. Fraudsters tend to send out generic emails to source your email address (from the reply). Once they have it, they will send what is called a "phishing email" which is designed to capture your details. It always contains a Pistonheads-like URL, which takes you to a copycat login page.

As a rule of thumb, always check the URL when you are on the page, if it doesn't say www.pistonheads.com/, then it isn't our site. We will request that these fraudulent domains are closed.

[Nurburgsingh]

Definite scam.

OP you beat me to it with the post. I've had an email from Mr johnnrichards +ad30 at gmail with nothing more than the default text from my 993 advert.

I think this is something that PH should look at to make sure scammers and virus propagating robots can't use the classifieds to infect people's machines.
Simple use of a captcha code or something would do the trick.

Personally I wouldn't entertain any enquiry that didn't have a bit more than the default.. I mean if the buyer can't be arsed to add a few more questions they're hardly serious are they?

Or is this where I'm going wrong!?