Whats the scam here??

[DP400]

Hi

I've been looking for a Z4 for a while now looking on various websites and all the reasonable mileage cars in my price range (£7k)seem to be around the same age / condition.

Then I looked on Loot and some of the cars there looked to good to be true, such as these two:

http://loot.com/motoring/cars/n3/2011-bmw-z-series...

http://loot.com/motoring/cars/e1/2009-bmw-z4-23i-s...

No contact telephone numbers, only contact via email.

Naturally if I find a car I want to buy, before making any payment I'll be doing a full HPI check which will quickly show if the car is stolen, written off etc.

What do you recon? You turn up with a bag full of cash and they wack you over the head and make off with the swag, or is there a more subtle scam at work here?

Any thoughts appreciated!

[roddyp]

Or indeed, this:

http://loot.com/motoring/cars/ws10/2012-audi-a3-rs...

I've no idea, but TANSTAAFL...

[davamer23]

Really ?

[Butter Face]

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.....

[Pixelpeep7r]

Butter Face said:

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.....

it could be a clever chicken?

[mikefreer]

Looks massively sketchy to me. If it looks too good to be true, it nearly always is.

[Justin Case]

Probably payment by (alleged) Western Union website only and neither your money or the car will be around when you go to pick it up

[Evil.soup]

I see things like this on autotrader too. I have a feeling it has something to do with sales companies marketing cars on others behalf at toycar prices to get someone on the hook.....

[Driver101]

It just shows why people still fall for these scams.

Even when it is far too good to be true, the crazy low price still makes them feel there is the potential for a bargain and they still get pulled in.

I'm amazed people still give these adverts a second thought.

[vikingaero]

In a lot cases your best bet is to google the number plate. The first Z4 was sold by Cambria Motorparks. All the scammer has done is to lift the pictures, possibly crop them and placed an ad at a low price to attract the stupid...

[Pixelpeep7r]

we should set up a thread for baiting these people, like the 419'ers

Using the theory that all the time we are wasting their time, they can't be conning other (less intelligent) people

So, like 'what crap have you seen on ebay' we should have 'what scam adverts have you seen'

[feef]

At a risk of sounding stupid, what IS the scam? Is it simply a marketing hook?

[Pixelpeep7r]

feef said:

At a risk of sounding stupid, what IS the scam? Is it simply a marketing hook?

Could be any number of things but i doubt any of them are as innocent as a marketing hook.

Pay a deposit to hold it - no car
Come meet us with the cash - no car - we'll stab you for the cash
Do the transfer - no car
You need to pay a release fee - no car
Give us your credit card details - no car and thank you for having a £5000 credit limit

Pretty much all end up in you losing money and not getting a car.

[MG CHRIS]

Does this scam really need to be repeated on how it works. Its simple a car ad is used by the scammer removes contact address and put it up with a reduced price to attract the idiots. Contact by email only he will say payment through Weston union for example then will deliver car to you.

You pay him ex amount and no car turns up to you.

Anyone who falls for this is an idiot why would you buy a car without even seeing it.

[Pixelpeep7r]

MG CHRIS said:

Does this scam really need to be repeated on how it works. Its simple a car ad is used by the scammer removes contact address and put it up with a reduced price to attract the idiots. Contact by email only he will say payment through Weston union for example then will deliver car to you.

You pay him ex amount and no car turns up to you.

Anyone who falls for this is an idiot why would you buy a car without even seeing it.

but it's so cheap its worth taking the risk right?


i am of course joking

[feef]

Pixelpeep7r said:

feef said:

At a risk of sounding stupid, what IS the scam? Is it simply a marketing hook?

Could be any number of things but i doubt any of them are as innocent as a marketing hook.

Pay a deposit to hold it - no car
Come meet us with the cash - no car - we'll stab you for the cash
Do the transfer - no car
You need to pay a release fee - no car
Give us your credit card details - no car and thank you for having a £5000 credit limit

Pretty much all end up in you losing money and not getting a car.

Fair enough.. I'd have (perhaps naively) assumed that such obvious scams would be getting reported and closed down by the site..

but then, how do they know it's a scam until some muppet falls for it and reports it.

[Pixelpeep7r]

feef said:

Pixelpeep7r said:

feef said:

At a risk of sounding stupid, what IS the scam? Is it simply a marketing hook?

Could be any number of things but i doubt any of them are as innocent as a marketing hook.

Pay a deposit to hold it - no car
Come meet us with the cash - no car - we'll stab you for the cash
Do the transfer - no car
You need to pay a release fee - no car
Give us your credit card details - no car and thank you for having a £5000 credit limit

Pretty much all end up in you losing money and not getting a car.

Fair enough.. I'd have (perhaps naively) assumed that such obvious scams would be getting reported and closed down by the site..

but then, how do they know it's a scam until some muppet falls for it and reports it.

It gets closed / removed they just go onto hotmail, get another email address, write another ad. Job jobbed.

[Evil.soup]

I think some of them are simply to get your details and your name on a car buyers list e.g.

You email about car, "sorry, car sold but we do have others available soon" you are added on mailing list as potential buyer and get lots of real examples sent to you at real prices and possibly buy one via their contact then they get paid.

Others are of course simply fishing for really really really stupid people but we all know there are plenty of them out there to catch.

[romeogolf]

Evil.soup said:

I think some of them are simply to get your details and your name on a car buyers list e.g.

You email about car, "sorry, car sold but we do have others available soon" you are added on mailing list as potential buyer and get lots of real examples sent to you at real prices and possibly buy one via their contact then they get paid.

Others are of course simply fishing for really really really stupid people but we all know there are plenty of them out there to catch.

Exactly this. The same happens with finding homes to rent. The great one you see on their website stays long after it was actually signed for. You call up and arrange a viewing, shortly later you get the "sorry, that flat is now gone. But we do have these ones..." call. None of which meet your criteria, obviously, but by now they've got your number.

[DrDoofenshmirtz]

When you email they give you a mobile number to call.
When you call, they sound very nice and tell you all about the car.
But, oh no - there's a problem...you are caller #10 just this morning - no worry though, Just £100 will secure the car (payable via bank xfer, western union, Paypal gift etc).
10 suckers = £1000 thank you very much.

Try it. Let us know what they say. I can guarantee it'll go just as above.