Buyer has paid finance off but disappeared
Discussion
He pays off finance with a stolen card or his own money.
Disappears.
Claims cards etc were stolen (if his own money) and he was beaten up or whatever fantasy he wants to tell the company and asks bank to recover the money for him. Bank and finance company get into an argument and finance eventually relinquishes.
He ends up with a car and keeps his money if it is all done correctly by him.
He's waiting this one out to see what happens.
Disappears.
Claims cards etc were stolen (if his own money) and he was beaten up or whatever fantasy he wants to tell the company and asks bank to recover the money for him. Bank and finance company get into an argument and finance eventually relinquishes.
He ends up with a car and keeps his money if it is all done correctly by him.
He's waiting this one out to see what happens.
I had my account cleaned out on a friday and the money was transferred instantly - the fraud teams pick it up and freeze the account in the end. The scam then was to pay money into somebodies account they'd recruited to be an agent, They say they are a eastern europe company haven't got a uk bank. Money goes in, shows as cleared, the intermediary western union transfers it out the country retaining a cut and then the trail catches up but too late.
Hard to see how it would work like that in this case, but I would either leave it a little longer or as you suggest contact the finance company. But holidays, accidents etc are all possible.
If it all looks good a reasonable amount of time would be 3 weeks after which I'd sell and be prepared to refund. I'd also use the car as you've not sold it yet and its still registered in your name.
Hard to see how it would work like that in this case, but I would either leave it a little longer or as you suggest contact the finance company. But holidays, accidents etc are all possible.
If it all looks good a reasonable amount of time would be 3 weeks after which I'd sell and be prepared to refund. I'd also use the car as you've not sold it yet and its still registered in your name.
Schermerhorn said:
He pays off finance with a stolen card or his own money.
Disappears.
Claims cards etc were stolen (if his own money) and he was beaten up or whatever fantasy he wants to tell the company and asks bank to recover the money for him. Bank and finance company get into an argument and finance eventually relinquishes.
He ends up with a car and keeps his money if it is all done correctly by him.
He's waiting this one out to see what happens.
I appreciate this could be a possibility. Let's assume it is the case, if i then proceed with the sale, he gives me cash which is legit (6k-ish) and heads off with the car. Then later on we find out the cash used for finance is not legit. At that point surely the due diligence of the finance company has failed and i would not be expected to pay back the £15k. I would hope this is the case otherwise this is the easiest scam in the world as the guy has got at £20k+ car for £6k.Disappears.
Claims cards etc were stolen (if his own money) and he was beaten up or whatever fantasy he wants to tell the company and asks bank to recover the money for him. Bank and finance company get into an argument and finance eventually relinquishes.
He ends up with a car and keeps his money if it is all done correctly by him.
He's waiting this one out to see what happens.
It's not sold as in effect he has only paid a £15k deposit, there is still the balance of £7k to pay.
I would be very careful because the OP has gained from the finance being settled early, he has a preferential settlement figure in terms of the interest and no monthly payments whilst this is being sorted.
I would personally give the 'buyer' until the end of the week and get the finance company to transfer the money back to him if he has not heard anything and speak to their fraud department in the meantime
I would be very careful because the OP has gained from the finance being settled early, he has a preferential settlement figure in terms of the interest and no monthly payments whilst this is being sorted.
I would personally give the 'buyer' until the end of the week and get the finance company to transfer the money back to him if he has not heard anything and speak to their fraud department in the meantime
blongs said:
This is how it would appear if they have used some stolen internet banking credentials though, if the bank fraud team later look into it the finance company will probably send the money back to the bank/original owner and re-instate the debt on the car.
I think CHAPS can only be arranged in a branch with ID checking? It's used for timely and secure payments, such as house purchases etc. I imagine reversing one due to fraud is quite hard work.Happened to me. Blind buyer made 3 payments to my finance company before going quiet. Finance co. wouldn't let him make four separate payments due to suspicion. At least a week later they confirmed the payments were made with several stolen cards that took a few days to be noticed etc.
His main mistake was to use cards with low limits, if he'd nicked one with a £15k limit and done it in one go I would have taken the finance co's word and parted with the car.
I didn't really trust the bloke anyway - no queries about the car at all, no bartering and wouldn't give me a landline number. Red flags were waving.
His main mistake was to use cards with low limits, if he'd nicked one with a £15k limit and done it in one go I would have taken the finance co's word and parted with the car.
I didn't really trust the bloke anyway - no queries about the car at all, no bartering and wouldn't give me a landline number. Red flags were waving.
I suspect your car has been bought by a legitimate chap who wanted to take it off the market quickly, is busy and has not got round to picking the car up. I would say it is inexcusable to rag the car in the mean time, if it has been bought in good faith.
If there is no contact in 30 days you can start believing the conspiracists above, or assume he is 6 feet under.
If there is no contact in 30 days you can start believing the conspiracists above, or assume he is 6 feet under.
Its a dumb crime to pay off the finance company fraudulently and then turn up and pay you as he'd be traceable as the owner of the car (so long as he registers it).
If he DOES make an appearance with a suitcase of money, I'd be wanting some substantial form of ID from him before I proceeded
If he DOES make an appearance with a suitcase of money, I'd be wanting some substantial form of ID from him before I proceeded
pacoryan said:
Happened to me. Blind buyer made 3 payments to my finance company before going quiet. Finance co. wouldn't let him make four separate payments due to suspicion. At least a week later they confirmed the payments were made with several stolen cards that took a few days to be noticed etc.
His main mistake was to use cards with low limits, if he'd nicked one with a £15k limit and done it in one go I would have taken the finance co's word and parted with the car.
I didn't really trust the bloke anyway - no queries about the car at all, no bartering and wouldn't give me a landline number. Red flags were waving.
What happened next?His main mistake was to use cards with low limits, if he'd nicked one with a £15k limit and done it in one go I would have taken the finance co's word and parted with the car.
I didn't really trust the bloke anyway - no queries about the car at all, no bartering and wouldn't give me a landline number. Red flags were waving.
SydneyBridge said:
It's not sold as in effect he has only paid a £15k deposit, there is still the balance of £7k to pay.
I would be very careful because the OP has gained from the finance being settled early, he has a preferential settlement figure in terms of the interest and no monthly payments whilst this is being sorted.
I would personally give the 'buyer' until the end of the week and get the finance company to transfer the money back to him if he has not heard anything and speak to their fraud department in the meantime
This.I would be very careful because the OP has gained from the finance being settled early, he has a preferential settlement figure in terms of the interest and no monthly payments whilst this is being sorted.
I would personally give the 'buyer' until the end of the week and get the finance company to transfer the money back to him if he has not heard anything and speak to their fraud department in the meantime
Who pays off £15k finance before actually viewing a car? This sounds very dodgy.
What is his plan if he sees the car and it's not quite what he expected? He can't walk away now so effectively if you've misdescribed it he would then have to try and get £15k back off you which if you chose to be a t
t could be incredibly painful. This has scam written all over it.
pacoryan said:
Happened to me. Blind buyer made 3 payments to my finance company before going quiet. Finance co. wouldn't let him make four separate payments due to suspicion. At least a week later they confirmed the payments were made with several stolen cards that took a few days to be noticed etc.
His main mistake was to use cards with low limits, if he'd nicked one with a £15k limit and done it in one go I would have taken the finance co's word and parted with the car.
I didn't really trust the bloke anyway - no queries about the car at all, no bartering and wouldn't give me a landline number. Red flags were waving.
I'm intrigued. What happened? Were you notified prior to releasing the car by the police/fraud team or was this some time afterwards.His main mistake was to use cards with low limits, if he'd nicked one with a £15k limit and done it in one go I would have taken the finance co's word and parted with the car.
I didn't really trust the bloke anyway - no queries about the car at all, no bartering and wouldn't give me a landline number. Red flags were waving.
kevpip said:
pacoryan said:
Happened to me. Blind buyer made 3 payments to my finance company before going quiet. Finance co. wouldn't let him make four separate payments due to suspicion. At least a week later they confirmed the payments were made with several stolen cards that took a few days to be noticed etc.
His main mistake was to use cards with low limits, if he'd nicked one with a £15k limit and done it in one go I would have taken the finance co's word and parted with the car.
I didn't really trust the bloke anyway - no queries about the car at all, no bartering and wouldn't give me a landline number. Red flags were waving.
I'm intrigued. What happened? Were you notified prior to releasing the car by the police/fraud team or was this some time afterwards.His main mistake was to use cards with low limits, if he'd nicked one with a £15k limit and done it in one go I would have taken the finance co's word and parted with the car.
I didn't really trust the bloke anyway - no queries about the car at all, no bartering and wouldn't give me a landline number. Red flags were waving.
Could the finance co. have told the credit card co. to get lost? If the finance had been settled (with a letter of confirmation) and I had parted with the car who would have footed the bill??
All in all just grief I didn't need and a thankfully harmless education in what people will try on.
As for the OP I would expect this to unravel in the near future along similar lines. If the buyer died I would expect his relatives to be picking up messages - obviously they may have none etc etc but given the mobile only contact etc etc this sounds like an attempted fraud that hasn't worked out for the fraudster (yet).
pacoryan said:
Kevpip (and others) I had an ongoing conversation with Lombard who initially told me that while the funds had cleared it wasn't enough to fully settle the finance, so I had a modest balance outstanding and would need to service it until it was settled, and not to part with the car until it was settled. I tried texting/phoning the buyer but to no avail, so for the best part of 2 weeks I was living in the hope that lady luck had shone on me until Lombard called me back and confirmed they had had to return funds, the cards had been flagged as stolen, thanking me for being a model citizen and being suspicious etc etc. I was no worse off so I re-advertised the car here (having paid off the finance myself) and sold it easily, for cash.
Could the finance co. have told the credit card co. to get lost? If the finance had been settled (with a letter of confirmation) and I had parted with the car who would have footed the bill??
All in all just grief I didn't need and a thankfully harmless education in what people will try on.
As for the OP I would expect this to unravel in the near future along similar lines. If the buyer died I would expect his relatives to be picking up messages - obviously they may have none etc etc but given the mobile only contact etc etc this sounds like an attempted fraud that hasn't worked out for the fraudster (yet).
Credit card payments can be reversed very easily, chaps payments less so. Could the finance co. have told the credit card co. to get lost? If the finance had been settled (with a letter of confirmation) and I had parted with the car who would have footed the bill??
All in all just grief I didn't need and a thankfully harmless education in what people will try on.
As for the OP I would expect this to unravel in the near future along similar lines. If the buyer died I would expect his relatives to be picking up messages - obviously they may have none etc etc but given the mobile only contact etc etc this sounds like an attempted fraud that hasn't worked out for the fraudster (yet).
Just missed a call. Got excited and phoned it back. Rangemaster engineer to fix our cooker. very disappointed. Maybe he needs a new car???
I updated my profile and didn't realise "Log-in name" was the same as what was appearing in the thread - sorry no conspiracy theories here.
I have re-advertised the car, not with the intention of selling it but with the intention of giving the chap a contact channel to get hold of me if he has lost his phone.
I'll give him a couple of days and then i'll give PH a call to see if they can advise me. Failing that, i'll be contacting someone regarding financial/legal advice. One way or another i just want a conclusion.
Watch this space!
I updated my profile and didn't realise "Log-in name" was the same as what was appearing in the thread - sorry no conspiracy theories here.
I have re-advertised the car, not with the intention of selling it but with the intention of giving the chap a contact channel to get hold of me if he has lost his phone.
I'll give him a couple of days and then i'll give PH a call to see if they can advise me. Failing that, i'll be contacting someone regarding financial/legal advice. One way or another i just want a conclusion.
Watch this space!
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