Car Scam?

[l33]

I currently have my belovid Wedge on the pistonheads classified section.

I have had a few emails from a company called "Midnight Imports" based in Austrailia offering to buy my car. Has anyone heard of them before? Google has turned up nothing.
Am I right in thinking "SCAM"

[firefox1712]

Is there a psotal address? Check it out with multimap or mapquest.

[grahamw48]

Tell them they can have the car once their cheque has cleared - same as anyone else.

[dickkark]

Try www.euro-business-sales.com,
then search for Australia, this gives you loads of avenues such as official business registries/yellow pages/aussie govt.reg etc,
Have bought cars this way without problems, don`t know about selling though.
one things certain though check everything three times and dont hand over keys until you can physically draw the money from the bank,
Our M.O.T tester told me a tale of an estate agent who lost his 500 SL merc through a very clever spanish scam which showed the money as in his account, but two days after the car was released he had no car, no money!
(still being an estate agent he probably deserved it after all the people he`s stiffed over the years,should be some sort of offenders register for them!!1 )

[TVR-NUT]

I have had an email from the same company as well l33. I think that it is probably a scam of some sort, so I haven't bothered replying to the email.

Mark

[l33]

TVR-NUT said:

I have had an email from the same company as well l33. I think that it is probably a scam of some sort, so I haven't bothered replying to the email.

Mark

I have replied and it all seams very genuine - You even get the cash before car / documents handed over. Still can't work out the scam is mind...

[grady]

Don't know about banking rules in the UK, but in the US even after the check, bank check, wire transfer has "cleared" and you have cash in hand, you can still be required to repay the bank if the transaction is a ultimately found to be fraudulent - which can take several weeks. I would certainly work directly with an experienced banker if in any doubt.

[PetrolTed]

l33 said:

TVR-NUT said:

I have had an email from the same company as well l33. I think that it is probably a scam of some sort, so I haven't bothered replying to the email.

Mark

I have replied and it all seams very genuine - You even get the cash before car / documents handed over. Still can't work out the scam is mind...

I've checked out the chap's activities on PH and looked at which adverts he's replied to. It looks like it might be genuine (most of the scammers are dead easy to spot). I'd still urge you to be cautious but if you're not getting interest from elsewhere it might be worth seeking further evidence that the chap is genuine.

[ozzie dave]

Do they give details - find out which state and you can check if the company exists on line

[pwd95]

Use extreme caution, have a read of this;
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=274883&f=120&h=0

[firefox1712]

One safeguard might be to quickly switch the money to a separate account when it is received. Maybe manually in cash to another bank in case the banks have automated procedures for reversing transactions that turn out to be fraudulent and cost them money. Large cash deposits may require explaining these days due to the anti-terror laws - like a business must declare when payments in cash of over £7,500 (if it is still that) are made and by whom and for what purpose.

[dickymint]

Maybe Chunder can check out the company for you.

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=0&memberId=27941

Edited by dickymint on Friday 16th June 07:22