What do people get from this scam?
Discussion
Sorry didnt know exacly where to post this..
Basicaly i put my car up for sale on autotrader and in the last few days i got this email below.
Hello,
I saw your advert where you placed it, I'm highly intrested in buying the car. I will like you to explain the present condition of the car, the full vehicle history, and finance report if there is one and also if it has passed HPI check, Are you the owner ? where are you located?, What is your last asking price you are willing to sell the car?. I will be paying by Via Uk banks Draft which will clear your account before any other arrangement of shipping through my reputable shipping company which you dont need to worry about that because my shipping agent will handle that for me.
I have seen one picture at advert kindly send its recent pictures if available.
Do get back to me.
Kind Regards
Richard.
I thought this sounded a bit hmmm not right as he was wanting it shipping but then again yes i want to sell my GF's car so i replyed with the following email.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your interest in our Ford Ka.
The car is in great condition, no accidents or anything like that.
There has been 1 previous female owner before my Girlfriend (It's all registered in my girlfriends name and we have all the documentation)
What are you wanting to see relating to the finance on the car? I don't understand what you mean by finance report? We have not done a HPI check as of yet, but if you are really interested then we may be able to get the money together to get the check done.
We are located in Daybrook, Nottingham, England
We are selling the car to pay off finance as my girlfriend is pregnant and the baby is due in 6 weeks, we can't go any lower than £4100.
Please see attached all pictures I have of the car, if you would like any extra pictures of any part of the car then I will happily send them over to you.
Regards
Liam Wheldon
And then received this email back bare in mind that my name is "LIAM WHELDON"
Hello ryan smith,
I will like to say a big thank you for your reply,its so good to hear that the car is still available, am satisfied with the condition of the car think it would be a great buy.Its perfectly okay with me. I travel a lot in my line of buisness hence the reason why i wont be able to come view or test drive the car at your end.....im acting on your words on a basis of "mutual trust" thats why i will be proceeding to make payment for it.. and also am buying this car for myself . I am ok with the car's picture and it will be good to let you know that i will be paying you with a bank draft or company's cheque that was intended for me through services rendered (£9,000). The only problem is that sum owed me by the investment company is more than the price of your car. I would greatly appreciate if you could deduct sum of your car(£4,100)from the amount and have the rest of (£4,900) sent to my shipping agent. so that they will come for the pickup of the car in your location. I will wait till draft or cheque clears before i instruct my shipping agent to take up ownership of car on my behalf. I really am very sorry that it has to be this way but i do not want to miss out on this great buy. Please send me the following information below so i could have the company make out the draft in your name and send it to you immediately.Thanks.
full name...............
full address.................
mobile phone number...................
home number..............
Thanks,
Robinson
Now i thought WTF is this guy upto???????
Not even replying.. or should i? and what with? anyone got any ideas on how this scan is meant to work and what they get out of it as the way it's worded he is sending me money to pass on :S
WTF: just noticed that the guy signs the first email Richard and the second Robinson but his email name is "Richard Nickerson"
Regards
Liam
Basicaly i put my car up for sale on autotrader and in the last few days i got this email below.
Hello,
I saw your advert where you placed it, I'm highly intrested in buying the car. I will like you to explain the present condition of the car, the full vehicle history, and finance report if there is one and also if it has passed HPI check, Are you the owner ? where are you located?, What is your last asking price you are willing to sell the car?. I will be paying by Via Uk banks Draft which will clear your account before any other arrangement of shipping through my reputable shipping company which you dont need to worry about that because my shipping agent will handle that for me.
I have seen one picture at advert kindly send its recent pictures if available.
Do get back to me.
Kind Regards
Richard.
I thought this sounded a bit hmmm not right as he was wanting it shipping but then again yes i want to sell my GF's car so i replyed with the following email.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your interest in our Ford Ka.
The car is in great condition, no accidents or anything like that.
There has been 1 previous female owner before my Girlfriend (It's all registered in my girlfriends name and we have all the documentation)
What are you wanting to see relating to the finance on the car? I don't understand what you mean by finance report? We have not done a HPI check as of yet, but if you are really interested then we may be able to get the money together to get the check done.
We are located in Daybrook, Nottingham, England
We are selling the car to pay off finance as my girlfriend is pregnant and the baby is due in 6 weeks, we can't go any lower than £4100.
Please see attached all pictures I have of the car, if you would like any extra pictures of any part of the car then I will happily send them over to you.
Regards
Liam Wheldon
And then received this email back bare in mind that my name is "LIAM WHELDON"
Hello ryan smith,
I will like to say a big thank you for your reply,its so good to hear that the car is still available, am satisfied with the condition of the car think it would be a great buy.Its perfectly okay with me. I travel a lot in my line of buisness hence the reason why i wont be able to come view or test drive the car at your end.....im acting on your words on a basis of "mutual trust" thats why i will be proceeding to make payment for it.. and also am buying this car for myself . I am ok with the car's picture and it will be good to let you know that i will be paying you with a bank draft or company's cheque that was intended for me through services rendered (£9,000). The only problem is that sum owed me by the investment company is more than the price of your car. I would greatly appreciate if you could deduct sum of your car(£4,100)from the amount and have the rest of (£4,900) sent to my shipping agent. so that they will come for the pickup of the car in your location. I will wait till draft or cheque clears before i instruct my shipping agent to take up ownership of car on my behalf. I really am very sorry that it has to be this way but i do not want to miss out on this great buy. Please send me the following information below so i could have the company make out the draft in your name and send it to you immediately.Thanks.
full name...............
full address.................
mobile phone number...................
home number..............
Thanks,
Robinson
Now i thought WTF is this guy upto???????
Not even replying.. or should i? and what with? anyone got any ideas on how this scan is meant to work and what they get out of it as the way it's worded he is sending me money to pass on :S
WTF: just noticed that the guy signs the first email Richard and the second Robinson but his email name is "Richard Nickerson"
Regards
Liam
Dracoro said:
It's a scam. full stop. move on and wait for calls from proper buyers 
looks exactly the same as every one of the eleventy million scams you see on here an ebay etc. Anything like that, or anything asking for overseas shipments should be given a very wide berth. Check the scam warnings posted all over here
You could play along for the entertainment value, keep posting the email's you send and the responses you get, here's the address you could give:
Elm House
10-16 Elm Street
London
WC1X 0BJ
Tel: 020 7239 7272
That's the address and phone number for The Serious Fraud Office, don't forget to sign it with a completely different name each time you respond to his emails.
Elm House
10-16 Elm Street
London
WC1X 0BJ
Tel: 020 7239 7272
That's the address and phone number for The Serious Fraud Office, don't forget to sign it with a completely different name each time you respond to his emails.
If you want to keep responding open an anonymous email account with fastmail or gmail. It's a cheque mule scam. He will send you a cheque for more than the asking amount stating some dodgy excuse about the error and asking you to send the difference back. The money will appear to have cleared but the cheque will be fake. It could be months before this comes to light by which time the guy has your money, possibly your car and you are left out of pocket possibly facing charges of cheque fraud. I would drop this guy forthwith, don't wind them up with your own details or email address, they're not nice people and you may annoy them just enough for them to decide its worth having someone more local pay you a visit, unlikely, but why risk it?
You are right to have been suspicious, and you obviously know its a scam like the above have said.
If you went through with it, and people have I am sure, you give the car away, plus the cash you give them. The cheque that you banked shows as cashed, but gets bounced some time later, sometimes months later.
If you went through with it, and people have I am sure, you give the car away, plus the cash you give them. The cheque that you banked shows as cashed, but gets bounced some time later, sometimes months later.
the cheque is either money that requires laundering or a fraudulant cheque (often a company cheque but sometimes personal)
so essentially as its not thier money in the first place they pocket the difference in cash, and maybe your car too.
Friend of mine is a bit of a numty and fell for this, he got arrested too as they thought he was in on the scam! (got released without charge though)
It's quite a common on these days,
so essentially as its not thier money in the first place they pocket the difference in cash, and maybe your car too.
Friend of mine is a bit of a numty and fell for this, he got arrested too as they thought he was in on the scam! (got released without charge though)
It's quite a common on these days,
We have become extremely fortunate of late, my wife and I seem to have won windfalls from Lotteries around the world (although for the life of me I don't remember us entering any) and they come on a daily basis.
We have also been contacted by some very pleasant people, Doctors, Lawyers and Reverends etc, telling us that we are beneficiaries of businessmen and recipients of long lost funds amounting to millions, it's truly heartwarming to think that these people are so honest in contacting us when they could just take the money and run.
We have provided our personal details to all these wonderful people and organisations so can expect some pretty large cheques coming through the post any time now.
See you all on the next Cannonball
We have also been contacted by some very pleasant people, Doctors, Lawyers and Reverends etc, telling us that we are beneficiaries of businessmen and recipients of long lost funds amounting to millions, it's truly heartwarming to think that these people are so honest in contacting us when they could just take the money and run.
We have provided our personal details to all these wonderful people and organisations so can expect some pretty large cheques coming through the post any time now.
See you all on the next Cannonball
The buyer will usually overpay with the cheque, asking you to pay the excess on to his "shipping agent". You'll be asked to send the money to the shipping agent by Western Union or some similar method. You will end up out of pocket for this excess as the original cheque will bounce. You may even end up without a car if someone from the shipping company turns up to collect it (not sure if this bit happens).
A friend of mine nearly lost £2,500 and a Z4 through this scam until I told him how stupid he was being.
A friend of mine nearly lost £2,500 and a Z4 through this scam until I told him how stupid he was being.
t on BBC breakfast complaining about phishing scams , he answered and gave his bank details and pin - passwords they swiped 1000 quid and his bank refunded it to him ??? Uncleared lodgement fraud.
You pay in his cheque for more than the required amount. It appears to clear into you bank account. Satisfied you send him a cheque refunding the difference between his cheque and the actual price of the car. Possibly you also give him the car. Your bank contacts you to say that his original cheque is a fake / has bounced etc. You say "but it cleared into my account?" They say "No it was provisionally credited to your account subject to clearance but it has now been deducted since it didn't clear, this is how the banking system works didn't you know?"
You pay in his cheque for more than the required amount. It appears to clear into you bank account. Satisfied you send him a cheque refunding the difference between his cheque and the actual price of the car. Possibly you also give him the car. Your bank contacts you to say that his original cheque is a fake / has bounced etc. You say "but it cleared into my account?" They say "No it was provisionally credited to your account subject to clearance but it has now been deducted since it didn't clear, this is how the banking system works didn't you know?"
Thanks for all the info i did think it was a bit didgy but i half thought just maby it's not fake from the first email but then that second one did me. If they mentioned Western union then i would have just laughed.
Streaky
I only gave a locality and he doesn't know my girlfriends name so he couldn't even look me or her up in a phone book or anything.
Thanks
Liam
Streaky
I only gave a locality and he doesn't know my girlfriends name so he couldn't even look me or her up in a phone book or anything.
Thanks
Liam
MilnerR said:
If you want to keep responding open an anonymous email account with fastmail or gmail. It's a cheque mule scam. He will send you a cheque for more than the asking amount stating some dodgy excuse about the error and asking you to send the difference back. The money will appear to have cleared but the cheque will be fake. It could be months before this comes to light by which time the guy has your money, possibly your car and you are left out of pocket possibly facing charges of cheque fraud. I would drop this guy forthwith, don't wind them up with your own details or email address, they're not nice people and you may annoy them just enough for them to decide its worth having someone more local pay you a visit, unlikely, but why risk it?
Also as the scammer would now have all the details about where you live, the UK side of the operation (if indeed he's actually foreign at all and not just a pikey) can move in for a burglary and/or liberate your bank statements from the bin. Hello ID theft and a bunch of loans & HP agreements you've never heard of... to a place you've never lived at and mysteriously nobody has for a while.TheKeyboardDemon said:
You could play along for the entertainment value, keep posting the email's you send and the responses you get, here's the address you could give:
Elm House
10-16 Elm Street
London
WC1X 0BJ
Tel: 020 7239 7272
That's the address and phone number for The Serious Fraud Office, don't forget to sign it with a completely different name each time you respond to his emails.
Brilliant.Elm House
10-16 Elm Street
London
WC1X 0BJ
Tel: 020 7239 7272
That's the address and phone number for The Serious Fraud Office, don't forget to sign it with a completely different name each time you respond to his emails.
ThePassenger said:
MilnerR said:
If you want to keep responding open an anonymous email account with fastmail or gmail. It's a cheque mule scam. He will send you a cheque for more than the asking amount stating some dodgy excuse about the error and asking you to send the difference back. The money will appear to have cleared but the cheque will be fake. It could be months before this comes to light by which time the guy has your money, possibly your car and you are left out of pocket possibly facing charges of cheque fraud. I would drop this guy forthwith, don't wind them up with your own details or email address, they're not nice people and you may annoy them just enough for them to decide its worth having someone more local pay you a visit, unlikely, but why risk it?
Also as the scammer would now have all the details about where you live, the UK side of the operation (if indeed he's actually foreign at all and not just a pikey) can move in for a burglary and/or liberate your bank statements from the bin. Hello ID theft and a bunch of loans & HP agreements you've never heard of... to a place you've never lived at and mysteriously nobody has for a while. I think only 1 person on the street knows my name.But i dont wanna risk owt so im just gonna leave it. Got a baby on the way 6 weeks today..
I don't doubt it's a scam, but I think that if you received a bank draft and your bank cleared it then the money is yours. I don't think a bank can come back later and take the money back. The clearing system is there to protect them. If the draft is false then the clearing system would reject it. The scammer probably would ask for the return payment before the draft clears and these days the advice of banks is not to release goods on payment of a bank draft until the draft has cleared, which rather defeats the object of a bank draft, or at least what I thought was the object of a bank draft.
herewego said:
I don't doubt it's a scam, but I think that if you received a bank draft and your bank cleared it then the money is yours. I don't think a bank can come back later and take the money back. The clearing system is there to protect them. If the draft is false then the clearing system would reject it. The scammer probably would ask for the return payment before the draft clears and these days the advice of banks is not to release goods on payment of a bank draft until the draft has cleared, which rather defeats the object of a bank draft, or at least what I thought was the object of a bank draft.
When you present cheque or draft to your bank then they have a certain number of days to make that money available to you. Even if the clearing system takes longer than that. In the case of a foreign bank cleared funds could take weeks or months to be processed. Hence funds that appear to have cleared, in reality haven't. There's also the fact that you have presented a fraudulent bankers draft which is a criminal offence in itself. This scam works, and a lot of people get taken in by it.Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff