Selling a car, payment by bank transfer. If it seems dodgy..
Discussion
ging84 said:
£400 to ship a £1100 car?
up until this point i was all willing to believe this could well be legit, but this seems madness
I guess he's doing it in a business name, so he'll get the vat back on the shipping, but still seem a little on the odd side
So what exactly would the scam be? up until this point i was all willing to believe this could well be legit, but this seems madness
I guess he's doing it in a business name, so he'll get the vat back on the shipping, but still seem a little on the odd side
jimbop1 said:
ging84 said:
£400 to ship a £1100 car?
up until this point i was all willing to believe this could well be legit, but this seems madness
I guess he's doing it in a business name, so he'll get the vat back on the shipping, but still seem a little on the odd side
So what exactly would the scam be? up until this point i was all willing to believe this could well be legit, but this seems madness
I guess he's doing it in a business name, so he'll get the vat back on the shipping, but still seem a little on the odd side
I didn't think you could reverse bank transfers at all, if you pay into the wrong account it's not a case of straight refund, you have to hope the other person is honest enough to do the right thing. The banks wouldn't be interested. I'd rather have a bank transfer than cash, I hate having that much money in the house and you're never 100% certain it's not fake.
ch427 said:
There was an article on tv yesterday where someone transferred money into an account and got 1 digit wrong, someone benefitted from £900 but the mistake could not be reversed. The bank couldn't do anything about it, not the same situation I know.
The receipient's bank can ask nicely, which can be refused by the account holder. It happened to me, someone paid in about £900 to my account, one digit misread, I'd guess 1 instead of 7. My bank called me, said they'd had a call from the senders bank that her rent had gone to my account instead of her landlord's. It's now my money, but would I consider a return of it. They said it was completely my decision to makeI don't think it sounds like a scam, but I can't get my head around someone willing to pay £400 to ship a £1100 Peugeot 406. It's utter madness! The man must really want your car.
If this is a scam and if he did (somehow) reverse the payment so he had your car and the money, it's a big risk (and hassle) for very litle reward (no offence intended to any 406 owners). The only reason I could see in him buying a cheap car is that if the money is stolen, I guess some people wouldn't notice straightaway that their account was down £1000.
If this is a scam and if he did (somehow) reverse the payment so he had your car and the money, it's a big risk (and hassle) for very litle reward (no offence intended to any 406 owners). The only reason I could see in him buying a cheap car is that if the money is stolen, I guess some people wouldn't notice straightaway that their account was down £1000.
[quote=Who me ?]Have a closer look at some of the TV programs warning about scams. One constant message is NEVER, EVER to accept payment by bank transfer.
[/quote]
Consumer advice in these matters is usually:
I've bought my last two cars this year by bank transfer, in one case prior to viewing so all I did was collect after having paid in full and paid once in full after having viewed, to then collect when the seller was satisfied my money was in their bank.
I carry my driving licence, bank and personal ID with me both when buying and selling privately and haven't had any issues in 15 years and nearly 40 cars. If anything, I'm just as potentially vulnerable to a scam, but there's always elements of trust and risk involved.
You rcar may well have been the exact spec and looked like suitable condition history and a decent price to the buyer, £400 to transport it home is evidently less than the cost to him in both his free time and money - it's at least a couple of hundred £ on a train and a full day out of work etc. so I can understand why it makes sense to them to do it the way described here.
[/quote]
Consumer advice in these matters is usually:
- Don't aceept a bank transfer, it might be a hacked account and scam.
- Don't accept a card payment via PayPal, it might be a scam.
- Don't accept a cheque, bank draft or building society check as it might be fake.
- Don't accept cash as it might be fake/from immoral earnings/leave you exposed to a robbery to reclaim it.
I've bought my last two cars this year by bank transfer, in one case prior to viewing so all I did was collect after having paid in full and paid once in full after having viewed, to then collect when the seller was satisfied my money was in their bank.
I carry my driving licence, bank and personal ID with me both when buying and selling privately and haven't had any issues in 15 years and nearly 40 cars. If anything, I'm just as potentially vulnerable to a scam, but there's always elements of trust and risk involved.
You rcar may well have been the exact spec and looked like suitable condition history and a decent price to the buyer, £400 to transport it home is evidently less than the cost to him in both his free time and money - it's at least a couple of hundred £ on a train and a full day out of work etc. so I can understand why it makes sense to them to do it the way described here.
Jayyylo said:
I don't think it sounds like a scam, but I can't get my head around someone willing to pay £400 to ship a £1100 Peugeot 406. It's utter madness! The man must really want your car.
If this is a scam and if he did (somehow) reverse the payment so he had your car and the money, it's a big risk (and hassle) for very litle reward (no offence intended to any 406 owners). The only reason I could see in him buying a cheap car is that if the money is stolen, I guess some people wouldn't notice straightaway that their account was down £1000.
Less cars in Scotland and the older cheaper ones tend to be rot boxes compared to the same age car sourced from the south, salty roads and longer winters are very hard on cars in Scotland.If this is a scam and if he did (somehow) reverse the payment so he had your car and the money, it's a big risk (and hassle) for very litle reward (no offence intended to any 406 owners). The only reason I could see in him buying a cheap car is that if the money is stolen, I guess some people wouldn't notice straightaway that their account was down £1000.
Jayyylo said:
I don't think it sounds like a scam, but I can't get my head around someone willing to pay £400 to ship a £1100 Peugeot 406. It's utter madness! The man must really want your car.
If this is a scam and if he did (somehow) reverse the payment so he had your car and the money, it's a big risk (and hassle) for very litle reward (no offence intended to any 406 owners). The only reason I could see in him buying a cheap car is that if the money is stolen, I guess some people wouldn't notice straightaway that their account was down £1000.
+1If this is a scam and if he did (somehow) reverse the payment so he had your car and the money, it's a big risk (and hassle) for very litle reward (no offence intended to any 406 owners). The only reason I could see in him buying a cheap car is that if the money is stolen, I guess some people wouldn't notice straightaway that their account was down £1000.
andy-xr said:
The receipient's bank can ask nicely, which can be refused by the account holder. It happened to me, someone paid in about £900 to my account, one digit misread, I'd guess 1 instead of 7. My bank called me, said they'd had a call from the senders bank that her rent had gone to my account instead of her landlord's. It's now my money, but would I consider a return of it. They said it was completely my decision to make
Is that really what the bank said? ISTR reading several stories:1) a bank inadvertently put large sums of money into people's accounts
2) the thankful recipients started to spend the 'windfall'
3) bank sued the recipients for the money's return
The background being that the law considers that keeping money which you know is not yours - even if 'given' accidentally - is illegal. An example: http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/blackbur...
I understand that under the FPS banks may be unwilling to divulge a recipient's details to the sender without a court order, but the sender could surely sue for the money's return if he could find out who it is?
Where's Breadvan when you need him?
Who me said:
Have a closer look at some of the TV programs warning about scams. One constant message is NEVER, EVER to accept payment by bank transfer. I can't remember why, but it's no 1 on the scammers hitlist.
Not convinced by this. Considering car dealers can't (or won't) accept cash for anything over £10k then what do you suggest?The 2 most expensive cars I've ever bought (£22k and £30k) have both been bank transfers at the dealers request the day before I picked them up.
Edited by northwest monkey on Wednesday 29th October 21:31
andy-xr said:
ch427 said:
There was an article on tv yesterday where someone transferred money into an account and got 1 digit wrong, someone benefitted from £900 but the mistake could not be reversed. The bank couldn't do anything about it, not the same situation I know.
The receipient's bank can ask nicely, which can be refused by the account holder. It happened to me, someone paid in about £900 to my account, one digit misread, I'd guess 1 instead of 7. My bank called me, said they'd had a call from the senders bank that her rent had gone to my account instead of her landlord's. It's now my money, but would I consider a return of it. They said it was completely my decision to makeEskimoArapaho said:
andy-xr said:
The receipient's bank can ask nicely, which can be refused by the account holder. It happened to me, someone paid in about £900 to my account, one digit misread, I'd guess 1 instead of 7. My bank called me, said they'd had a call from the senders bank that her rent had gone to my account instead of her landlord's. It's now my money, but would I consider a return of it. They said it was completely my decision to make
Is that really what the bank said? Some first-hand experience:
I recently sold my X5. A guy drove up from Devon, agreed the purchase, handed over some cash and transferred the balance by bank transfer. It didn't show in my account for about 90mins, so I sent him to a local bar to get some dinner while I waited for it to show.
I also checked with my bank that the payment couldn't be reversed - they confirmed it couldn't. So, once it's showing, it's your money.
The posters above talking about hacked accounts and reversed payments applies to Paypal but not, AIUI, bank transfers between accounts. And yes, if you get the account details wrong on a transfer you have to request it back from the recipient, but cannot enforce it.
So the short answer is that you'll be fine.
I recently sold my X5. A guy drove up from Devon, agreed the purchase, handed over some cash and transferred the balance by bank transfer. It didn't show in my account for about 90mins, so I sent him to a local bar to get some dinner while I waited for it to show.
I also checked with my bank that the payment couldn't be reversed - they confirmed it couldn't. So, once it's showing, it's your money.
The posters above talking about hacked accounts and reversed payments applies to Paypal but not, AIUI, bank transfers between accounts. And yes, if you get the account details wrong on a transfer you have to request it back from the recipient, but cannot enforce it.
So the short answer is that you'll be fine.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff