Help with potential scam?

[youngsyr]

Hi all, I'm selling a couple of hundred quid's worth of car parts on another forum and have had a couple of pms from a guy in South Africa who is interested.

It makes sense that he wants to ship the parts from the UK as the car in question is rare in SA (so parts are hard to come by) and these parts are pretty unique as well as being sold at a good price.

I've had a fairly long-winded pm exchange on that forum, which he signed up to as a non-paying member 6 months ago. Nothing suspicious until the latest email, where after saying people in the SA have difficulty transferring money abroad in the penultimate email, he's asked for the usual name, address and bank account details.

Normally this would scream scam to me, but for some reason it doesn't in this case (possibly because I'm blinkered by the sale).

So, can anyone confirm whether it is tricky to use ebay/paypal etc in SA and whether bank transfers do need these details?

The only other alternative I can see is that I ask him to take a pic with him, a can of custard and his car, so at least I know it's not a guy operating out of a mud hut reeling me in.

[Lord Flathead]

Do a private ebay auction for invited bidders only, and only accept paypal so you are covered.

[koolchris99]

ask him for the pic anyway..

and post it here..

this is your bannnnnnkkkkk

[youngsyr]

Lord Flathead said:

Do a private ebay auction for invited bidders only, and only accept paypal so you are covered.

I've already suggested that, but it's been ignored.

Is there any reason, beyond fees, that he might legitimately have for not wanting to it through ebay/paypal?

[TheEnd]

ask for the money through western union, It's a scammers dream as people can't get the money back through it, but it'll stop him from claiming the money back, and you can get your cash from half a dozen newsagents on the highstreet.

[sunbeam_alpine]

I regularly buy from different countries, and I think that what he is asking is not unreasonable - when I buy I NEED to know bank details - bank name and address, account name and number, IBAN number. I don't think it's unreasonable for him to ask for your address - after all, if you were going to transfer money overseas, you'd want to know where it was going.

I don't think that a fraudster can do much with these details, and I've not had any problems up to now.

However, if you're doubtful (and also maybe if there are other - easier - opportunities to sell) maybe walk away.

[youngsyr]

sunbeam_alpine said:

I regularly buy from different countries, and I think that what he is asking is not unreasonable - when I buy I NEED to know bank details - bank name and address, account name and number, IBAN number. I don't think it's unreasonable for him to ask for your address - after all, if you were going to transfer money overseas, you'd want to know where it was going.

I don't think that a fraudster can do much with these details, and I've not had any problems up to now.

However, if you're doubtful (and also maybe if there are other - easier - opportunities to sell) maybe walk away.

Thansk for the advice, but my feeling is that my background is easily traceable on the forum I'm selling on, over 3 years of history and not a few sales with no complaints. Plus I've physically met dozens of people on there and the forum hold my address as I'm a paid up member, so I don't think he has any cause for concern about me as a seller.

I've also offered to do the sale through Ebay and using Paypal, so if the above were an issue he could do it that way and have more protection than the bank transfer.

It just doesn't make sense to me that he'd want to do it via a bank transfer, but he seems genuine (and knows some bits about the car from previous communications).

[JimNoble]

sunbeam_alpine said:

I regularly buy from different countries, and I think that what he is asking is not unreasonable - when I buy I NEED to know bank details - bank name and address, account name and number, IBAN number. I don't think it's unreasonable for him to ask for your address - after all, if you were going to transfer money overseas, you'd want to know where it was going.
I don't think that a fraudster can do much with these details, and I've not had any problems up to now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security)#Pretexting

sunbeam_alpine said:

However, if you're doubtful (and also maybe if there are other - easier - opportunities to sell) maybe walk away.

Jim

[SystemParanoia]

tell him to post a travelers cheque.

cant be hard for him to do that. otherwise tell him to stuff it

[sunbeam_alpine]

I guess it depends how used you are to doing overseas transfers. I prefer to do a bank transfer because you're transferring to a physical entity. In every country I've ever worked in, you need to provide proof of identity to open a bank account. It's also more easily traceable if something does go wrong.

I've very mistrustful of Paypal (don't use E-Bay much either) - you don't have to search far on the web to see a lot of bad publicity about fraud. I believe it's also more risky for you - if the buyer raises a complaint they could take your money back.

Edit:

JimNoble said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(s...

I still don't see what the problem is - OK, someone in another country has his bank details, they still can't get at his money?

Edited by sunbeam_alpine on Monday 4th January 22:40