Scammer in the Classifieds
Discussion
All,
I thought it would be considerate to let people know about a con artist that i have identified recently. I posted this in the Tuscan group and it was suggested i put it here as well. This related to P6 TUS that was being advertised recently.
This chap has tried this with a focus RS (link below) and the aforementioned Tuscan and probably more, so please be aware.
As a follow up to this, i thought you might like to know that i followed up with the advert just to prove to myself that it definitely wasn't legitmate.
I was right. Whilst emails from the "seller" were clear and written well, the story he was selling just didn't add up. He is trying to run a typical escrow scam. This involves the seller claiming that they are abroad in a country where the import taxes on the vehicle make it uneconomical for him to take over, so he wants a quick sale in the UK. He then claims the car is sitting with a 3rd party escrow service to enable a safe transfer of the car from the seller to the buyer, and a safe transfer of cash from the buyer to the seller. The seller will claim to have been messed around before, and will only travel back for a viewing if you put some money down to the escrow agent as a desposit, which of course he will claim is fully refundable if the buyer isn't satisfied. He may even have more pictures of the car, and attach some phoney form of ID.
It will all seem moderately believable, especially as the scammer will provide a link to the escrow service they are using. It will be a website that looks like a real company's page. Unfortuntaely it's a site the scammer has setup. So if you put a deposit down, it's just going straight to the scammers account.
He tried the tactic on a Ford Focus RS site, and was found out. http://www.focusrsoc.com/forums/topic/176297-cv59-...
Unfortunately people like me are this scammer's worst nightmare. Below are his details so everyone is aware. If there is a better place to put these so more people can be alerted, please advise.
Scammers Real Name: Xhevahir Sefolli
Nationality: Albanian
Pseudonym: Anthony Craig Bowes, Chris Frazer Scott
Fake Escrow Company: Express HCW Ltd http://www.express-hcw.com/
I believe he operates out of Express Hand Car Wash; a car wash that he runs. Address:
16 Stukeley Road Huntingdon PE29 6HQ
The police have been alerted.
I thought it would be considerate to let people know about a con artist that i have identified recently. I posted this in the Tuscan group and it was suggested i put it here as well. This related to P6 TUS that was being advertised recently.
This chap has tried this with a focus RS (link below) and the aforementioned Tuscan and probably more, so please be aware.
As a follow up to this, i thought you might like to know that i followed up with the advert just to prove to myself that it definitely wasn't legitmate.
I was right. Whilst emails from the "seller" were clear and written well, the story he was selling just didn't add up. He is trying to run a typical escrow scam. This involves the seller claiming that they are abroad in a country where the import taxes on the vehicle make it uneconomical for him to take over, so he wants a quick sale in the UK. He then claims the car is sitting with a 3rd party escrow service to enable a safe transfer of the car from the seller to the buyer, and a safe transfer of cash from the buyer to the seller. The seller will claim to have been messed around before, and will only travel back for a viewing if you put some money down to the escrow agent as a desposit, which of course he will claim is fully refundable if the buyer isn't satisfied. He may even have more pictures of the car, and attach some phoney form of ID.
It will all seem moderately believable, especially as the scammer will provide a link to the escrow service they are using. It will be a website that looks like a real company's page. Unfortuntaely it's a site the scammer has setup. So if you put a deposit down, it's just going straight to the scammers account.
He tried the tactic on a Ford Focus RS site, and was found out. http://www.focusrsoc.com/forums/topic/176297-cv59-...
Unfortunately people like me are this scammer's worst nightmare. Below are his details so everyone is aware. If there is a better place to put these so more people can be alerted, please advise.
Scammers Real Name: Xhevahir Sefolli
Nationality: Albanian
Pseudonym: Anthony Craig Bowes, Chris Frazer Scott
Fake Escrow Company: Express HCW Ltd http://www.express-hcw.com/
I believe he operates out of Express Hand Car Wash; a car wash that he runs. Address:
16 Stukeley Road Huntingdon PE29 6HQ
The police have been alerted.
BlackST said:
People deserve to be scammed if they are too stupid to actually fall for the scam in the first place.
Who would do such a thing.
Some people do though, doesn't mean the scammer isn't a piece of sh*t and it's good to publicise their scumbagness, like woodlice they don't like light. Who would do such a thing.
Strawman said:
Some people do though, doesn't mean the scammer isn't a piece of sh*t and it's good to publicise their scumbagness, like woodlice they don't like light.
... however if we were to put up every scam email on here, there'd be nothing else.Better to alert people to the type of scam, rather than try to identify one particular scammer, who, lets face it, will just use another fake name, and a different variance of the name.
Strawman said:
BlackST said:
People deserve to be scammed if they are too stupid to actually fall for the scam in the first place.
Who would do such a thing.
Some people do though, doesn't mean the scammer isn't a piece of sh*t and it's good to publicise their scumbagness, like woodlice they don't like light. Who would do such a thing.
A bit like the emails from the Nigerian Prince who has millions to give away.
daemon said:
... however if we were to put up every scam email on here, there'd be nothing else.
Better to alert people to the type of scam, rather than try to identify one particular scammer, who, lets face it, will just use another fake name, and a different variance of the name.
True. You''re very unlikely to stop them entirely but at least you can make it as difficult as possible. And you never know what outcome identifying one particular individual may bring.Better to alert people to the type of scam, rather than try to identify one particular scammer, who, lets face it, will just use another fake name, and a different variance of the name.
Anthony Craig Bowes has been at it again with a 1969 E-Type which is being offered by another advertiser. After making an enquiry through PH the first response read.
Sorry I've taken so long to reply,currently I am on a business trip to Austria. Nevertheless, I am glad to hear you're interested in purchasing my Jaguar E-TYPE. I've attached some recent pictures and you should note that the car is in perfect condition with immaculate original factory paint job, immaculate non-smoker interior and no hidden defects. It's registered, HPI clear, comes with full mail dealer service records showing consistent maintenance that was performed on it. I'm pressed and need the equivalent of 20,000 EUR for the car by mid-Sep, hence I am asking £15,000 for a quick and painless sale. Odometer reads 1,000 miles and the car was never crashed and still drives like new!
The divorce has finished 2 months ago and the Jaguar is mine now, but unfortunately it is useless for me because the taxes in Austria are very high and the car is kept in the garage waiting for a new owner back in the UK.
Kind regards,
Anthony Craig Bowes
Sent from my iPad
After asking where the car could be seen and for sight of the registration documents the second response read;
Hi Alan. You're lucky ....I had to pause the listing on Piston because I've almost reached an agreement with a local potential buyer. Unfortunately, he had my fly back to England last weekend for nothing, he assured me that he has the cash in hand but instead of cash it turned out that he was expecting for a loan and the bank didn't approve it. Bottom line is that I don't want to take any chances again and I would rather close the deal through a British third party.
Thus, I wont be able to keep the Jaguar reserved, without a form of confirmation of the buyer's financial ability. If you're genuine interested and you wish to have first refusal on the roadster, I'll make travel arrangements once I receive the confirmation that the funds has been cleared.
Please don't get me wrong Alan,since I have been messed about before my only request would be for you to secure the deal before I book a plane ticket.
Regards from Austria,
Anthony C. Bowes
Sent from my iPad
Needless to say I've heard nothing more from him but see the real car is being advertised by a dealer in Durham.
Sorry I've taken so long to reply,currently I am on a business trip to Austria. Nevertheless, I am glad to hear you're interested in purchasing my Jaguar E-TYPE. I've attached some recent pictures and you should note that the car is in perfect condition with immaculate original factory paint job, immaculate non-smoker interior and no hidden defects. It's registered, HPI clear, comes with full mail dealer service records showing consistent maintenance that was performed on it. I'm pressed and need the equivalent of 20,000 EUR for the car by mid-Sep, hence I am asking £15,000 for a quick and painless sale. Odometer reads 1,000 miles and the car was never crashed and still drives like new!
The divorce has finished 2 months ago and the Jaguar is mine now, but unfortunately it is useless for me because the taxes in Austria are very high and the car is kept in the garage waiting for a new owner back in the UK.
Kind regards,
Anthony Craig Bowes
Sent from my iPad
After asking where the car could be seen and for sight of the registration documents the second response read;
Hi Alan. You're lucky ....I had to pause the listing on Piston because I've almost reached an agreement with a local potential buyer. Unfortunately, he had my fly back to England last weekend for nothing, he assured me that he has the cash in hand but instead of cash it turned out that he was expecting for a loan and the bank didn't approve it. Bottom line is that I don't want to take any chances again and I would rather close the deal through a British third party.
Thus, I wont be able to keep the Jaguar reserved, without a form of confirmation of the buyer's financial ability. If you're genuine interested and you wish to have first refusal on the roadster, I'll make travel arrangements once I receive the confirmation that the funds has been cleared.
Please don't get me wrong Alan,since I have been messed about before my only request would be for you to secure the deal before I book a plane ticket.
Regards from Austria,
Anthony C. Bowes
Sent from my iPad
Needless to say I've heard nothing more from him but see the real car is being advertised by a dealer in Durham.
And if you get past the e-mail above this is the next one you'll get - express hcw, (i.e. hand car wash) has now become an international car transport firm!
Hi again Mike,
I hope you do understand my predicament as I have been mislead by time wasters and I apologize for asking a deposit, I tend to pick the bad apples when it comes to potential buyers, will be nice to find a good one. I am a British citizen and just to avoid any awkward misunderstandings I have attached a copy of my British passport...(please delete it).
Someone suggested, Express HCW and their vehicle program called , "Safe Exchange", www.express-hcw.com
If you're not familiar with them, please visit their homepage and read the material,it's all described in there. Let me know if their return policy is acceptable and if you want to inspect the Chimaera this week please confirm your full name and a contact phone number. Mine is Anthony Craig Bowes, mobile 07845880644.
Finally to strike while the iron's hot, I believe 45% or 50% down is fair enough and if the sale falls through it will be fully refundable through HCW Ltd. Win-Win
Much obliged,
Anthony C. Bowes
Hi again Mike,
I hope you do understand my predicament as I have been mislead by time wasters and I apologize for asking a deposit, I tend to pick the bad apples when it comes to potential buyers, will be nice to find a good one. I am a British citizen and just to avoid any awkward misunderstandings I have attached a copy of my British passport...(please delete it).
Someone suggested, Express HCW and their vehicle program called , "Safe Exchange", www.express-hcw.com
If you're not familiar with them, please visit their homepage and read the material,it's all described in there. Let me know if their return policy is acceptable and if you want to inspect the Chimaera this week please confirm your full name and a contact phone number. Mine is Anthony Craig Bowes, mobile 07845880644.
Finally to strike while the iron's hot, I believe 45% or 50% down is fair enough and if the sale falls through it will be fully refundable through HCW Ltd. Win-Win
Much obliged,
Anthony C. Bowes
mike parfitt said:
Interetingly he (antony charles bowes) is doing same scam again with a chimeara 450 rosso pearl, couple of us on the TVR chimaera Forum have picked up on ad, asking us to transfer funds to a vehicle transport firm, same address as car wash.
CDC, which force did you report him to?
SirCDC, which force did you report him to?
I reported him to www.actionfraud.police.uk, the national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre. I had a text a few weeks later saying it was now being reporting by the Met Police, crime ref number 4415257/15.
The emails above are almost word for word what i received. The austria story, divorce, HCW etc. So looks like he is trying it across a number of cars.
I had exactly the same sequence of emails (related to the TVR Chimaera) and so I have also reported him to Action Fraud.
Other places/firms that he appears to be linked to are as follows:
Bourne HCW & Tyres Ltd
https://check-business.co.uk/business/09119539/bou...
64 Belsize Avenue
Peterborough
PE2 9JA
120 Larches Ln
Preston
PR2 1PP
Car-Auto Horizon Express
I'm amazed at the lengths that he has gone to with his Express HCW website to make it look genuine -it's very professional and detailed.
Other places/firms that he appears to be linked to are as follows:
Bourne HCW & Tyres Ltd
https://check-business.co.uk/business/09119539/bou...
64 Belsize Avenue
Peterborough
PE2 9JA
120 Larches Ln
Preston
PR2 1PP
Car-Auto Horizon Express
I'm amazed at the lengths that he has gone to with his Express HCW website to make it look genuine -it's very professional and detailed.
P.S. huge thanks to CDC for his work in outing this reprobate
P6 TUS Starmist Green Tuscan
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=21&...
P6 TUS Starmist Green Tuscan
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=21&...
Images and other content stolen from here: http://www.autotransport4u.de/transporte
The owner claims here
"As you describe your situation, you and the "Seller" are using PistonHeads. In other words, EXPRESS-HCW has nothing to do with this transaction. As a general rule, trademarks do not infringe one another if the underlying products or services of the two companies do not compete and are not distributed in the same trade channels.
As many business owners already know, company can have both a legal name and a trade name. The legal name of the business is the name under which the business is registered with the FSA. That name can be different from the business’s trade name, which is the name that everyone knows the business by, or the name it uses for marketing purposes. For example, Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works) is generally known as BMW. Trade names are not only used by companies who want to do business under an easier, shorter, or catchier name, but for large companies that are involved in a variety of products, goods, and services, in different industries. Trade names are also used by sole proprietors who are not formally incorporated and want to do business under a business name.
Finally, if you ever stumble across anything that looks like it violates our copyright, trademark, or policies, please contact us immediately. This Seller has been reported and the item will be soon removed. "
http://www.focusrsoc.com/forums/topic/176297-cv59-...
I.e. he's claiming he's not complicit in the fraud and he's a legitimate company. (Though it would be Companies House, not the FSA)
The fact that the content is stolen, suggests that this is a lie and he is involved.
I'm sure the police will be investigating, oooh, approximately never.
The owner claims here
"As you describe your situation, you and the "Seller" are using PistonHeads. In other words, EXPRESS-HCW has nothing to do with this transaction. As a general rule, trademarks do not infringe one another if the underlying products or services of the two companies do not compete and are not distributed in the same trade channels.
As many business owners already know, company can have both a legal name and a trade name. The legal name of the business is the name under which the business is registered with the FSA. That name can be different from the business’s trade name, which is the name that everyone knows the business by, or the name it uses for marketing purposes. For example, Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works) is generally known as BMW. Trade names are not only used by companies who want to do business under an easier, shorter, or catchier name, but for large companies that are involved in a variety of products, goods, and services, in different industries. Trade names are also used by sole proprietors who are not formally incorporated and want to do business under a business name.
Finally, if you ever stumble across anything that looks like it violates our copyright, trademark, or policies, please contact us immediately. This Seller has been reported and the item will be soon removed. "
http://www.focusrsoc.com/forums/topic/176297-cv59-...
I.e. he's claiming he's not complicit in the fraud and he's a legitimate company. (Though it would be Companies House, not the FSA)
The fact that the content is stolen, suggests that this is a lie and he is involved.
I'm sure the police will be investigating, oooh, approximately never.
Just had a long conversation with Fraud Action support.
The sad news is, until such time as you have actually lost money, they don't really want to carry out an investigation. They just collate ïntelligence"
The fraudster this time was Tim Sillet, German, selling a Blue Chim 500 reg T929 JLD
id used is :
He also used a PDF of school fees with a UK address.
Phone number is the same as previously used - 07845880644.
All of the emails and other MO are exactly the same as above.
CAVEAT EMPTOR
The sad news is, until such time as you have actually lost money, they don't really want to carry out an investigation. They just collate ïntelligence"
The fraudster this time was Tim Sillet, German, selling a Blue Chim 500 reg T929 JLD
id used is :
He also used a PDF of school fees with a UK address.
Phone number is the same as previously used - 07845880644.
All of the emails and other MO are exactly the same as above.
CAVEAT EMPTOR
A couple of clarifications from the post above:
a) the suspect's new alias appears (from his passport photo) to be TIM SILLER [not "Sillet"]
b) I too have discussed the issue with Action Fraud and they advised that they just collate reports of fraud but all reports are then passed on to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau for investigation (and from there to the local police force of the complainant):
http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-a-fraud/wh...
The NFIB prioritise the reports. Allegations where money has actually been lost will be accorded a higher priority for investigation, but this does not mean that lower priority reports will not be investigated. Expect a response of some form on a report you've filed within 4-6 weeks.
I got the following from Action Fraud when I reported it:
National Crime Reference Number: NFRC150901166296
I also amended my report to also quote:
a)the Crime Ref Number quoted near the top of this thread
b) a weblink to this thread. Therefore, keep posting the info up if there are any more developments with this scam because the Police will read all of it (for the latest info) in due course!
It appears that the suspect has the right contacts to get hold of stolen passports (or at least get photos from someone who handles stolen passports). This has 'organised crime ring' written all over it.
a) the suspect's new alias appears (from his passport photo) to be TIM SILLER [not "Sillet"]
b) I too have discussed the issue with Action Fraud and they advised that they just collate reports of fraud but all reports are then passed on to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau for investigation (and from there to the local police force of the complainant):
http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-a-fraud/wh...
The NFIB prioritise the reports. Allegations where money has actually been lost will be accorded a higher priority for investigation, but this does not mean that lower priority reports will not be investigated. Expect a response of some form on a report you've filed within 4-6 weeks.
I got the following from Action Fraud when I reported it:
National Crime Reference Number: NFRC150901166296
I also amended my report to also quote:
a)the Crime Ref Number quoted near the top of this thread
b) a weblink to this thread. Therefore, keep posting the info up if there are any more developments with this scam because the Police will read all of it (for the latest info) in due course!
It appears that the suspect has the right contacts to get hold of stolen passports (or at least get photos from someone who handles stolen passports). This has 'organised crime ring' written all over it.
Edited on Wednesday 30th September 10:47
Edited by Clayton on Wednesday 30th September 11:02
Edited by Clayton on Wednesday 30th September 11:03
Edited by Clayton on Wednesday 30th September 11:05
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