Discussion
My neighbour is selling one of his cars and it looks like he may be getting scammed, though I can't figure out how the scam works. It may be an honest deal but it sounds fishier than Captain Birdseye so I'd like some other opinions please, the chain of events goes something like this:
Car listed on Autotrader, contact within less than 2 days from a guy who works offshore, wants the car, will pay cash at the asking price (no bartering, doesn't want to see the car) and wants to pay into Paypal. Neighbour thinks it's very odd and isn't happy about the guy not seeing the car and says he would only do it direct into his bank account and I think he has received the money (c. £9k). He then gets an email saying that they will pay him £900 to ship it, given him details of the shipping company but said he has to make the payment, I'm unsure whether he has the £900 yet or not.
I'm a bit hazy on some of the details but am going round now to read the emails and have a chat, it all seems a bit off but if the money is in his account I can't see where the scam is? Anyone heard of anything like this?
Car listed on Autotrader, contact within less than 2 days from a guy who works offshore, wants the car, will pay cash at the asking price (no bartering, doesn't want to see the car) and wants to pay into Paypal. Neighbour thinks it's very odd and isn't happy about the guy not seeing the car and says he would only do it direct into his bank account and I think he has received the money (c. £9k). He then gets an email saying that they will pay him £900 to ship it, given him details of the shipping company but said he has to make the payment, I'm unsure whether he has the £900 yet or not.
I'm a bit hazy on some of the details but am going round now to read the emails and have a chat, it all seems a bit off but if the money is in his account I can't see where the scam is? Anyone heard of anything like this?
toast boy said:
My neighbour is selling one of his cars and it looks like he may be getting scammed, though I can't figure out how the scam works. It may be an honest deal but it sounds fishier than Captain Birdseye so I'd like some other opinions please, the chain of events goes something like this:
Car listed on Autotrader, contact within less than 2 days from a guy who works offshore, wants the car, will pay cash at the asking price (no bartering, doesn't want to see the car) and wants to pay into Paypal. Neighbour thinks it's very odd and isn't happy about the guy not seeing the car and says he would only do it direct into his bank account and I think he has received the money (c. £9k). He then gets an email saying that they will pay him £900 to ship it, given him details of the shipping company but said he has to make the payment, I'm unsure whether he has the £900 yet or not.
I'm a bit hazy on some of the details but am going round now to read the emails and have a chat, it all seems a bit off but if the money is in his account I can't see where the scam is? Anyone heard of anything like this?
Yep, it sounds 100 percent above board and kosher. No scam here, nope, no siree. Car listed on Autotrader, contact within less than 2 days from a guy who works offshore, wants the car, will pay cash at the asking price (no bartering, doesn't want to see the car) and wants to pay into Paypal. Neighbour thinks it's very odd and isn't happy about the guy not seeing the car and says he would only do it direct into his bank account and I think he has received the money (c. £9k). He then gets an email saying that they will pay him £900 to ship it, given him details of the shipping company but said he has to make the payment, I'm unsure whether he has the £900 yet or not.
I'm a bit hazy on some of the details but am going round now to read the emails and have a chat, it all seems a bit off but if the money is in his account I can't see where the scam is? Anyone heard of anything like this?
If they use the words Western Union or Money Gram, then yes it's a scam.
My cousin had the same when he was selling his Z4. They offered £100 more than his asking price and came up with the excuse that they were a marine engineering working at sea. In the end, my cousin played along with the scam, to the point that he said that he crashed the car and it was burnt out, and they still wanted to buy it...lol.
Be careful out there, it happens a lot.
My cousin had the same when he was selling his Z4. They offered £100 more than his asking price and came up with the excuse that they were a marine engineering working at sea. In the end, my cousin played along with the scam, to the point that he said that he crashed the car and it was burnt out, and they still wanted to buy it...lol.
Be careful out there, it happens a lot.
toast boy said:
He then gets an email saying that they will pay him £900 to ship it, given him details of the shipping company but said he has to make the payment, I'm unsure whether he has the £900 yet or not.
This is where the scam is, the £900. I'm pretty certain the money currently in your neighbours account will not be cleared. He should get a call from his bank soon after.cris654321 said:
just dont send the shipping company any money the money hes recieved will be false why does some1 on a oil rigg need a car only take cash on collection
Aside from the fact that this is obviously a scam.... why do you think that someone who works offshore on oil rigs wouldn't want a car?They don't live on the rigs all year around, you know.
WeirdNeville said:
In which case they can buy a car when they're on dry land....
Where is the car being "Shipped" to? Piper Alpha??
Sounds very scammy to me. As soon as payment gets complex and doesn't involve bankers drafts, cash or a bank tansfer, I get very wary.
Well, yes, in this case it's a scam - but you can't discount interest from people off-shore / abroad etc. just because they're off-shore / abroad.Where is the car being "Shipped" to? Piper Alpha??
Sounds very scammy to me. As soon as payment gets complex and doesn't involve bankers drafts, cash or a bank tansfer, I get very wary.
It may just be that you have what they want whilst they're not in the UK and don't want to miss out - I bought a motorbike on UK eBay whilst on a business trip to Germany.
VeeFour said:
WeirdNeville said:
In which case they can buy a car when they're on dry land....
Where is the car being "Shipped" to? Piper Alpha??
Sounds very scammy to me. As soon as payment gets complex and doesn't involve bankers drafts, cash or a bank tansfer, I get very wary.
Well, yes, in this case it's a scam - but you can't discount interest from people off-shore / abroad etc. just because they're off-shore / abroad.Where is the car being "Shipped" to? Piper Alpha??
Sounds very scammy to me. As soon as payment gets complex and doesn't involve bankers drafts, cash or a bank tansfer, I get very wary.
It may just be that you have what they want whilst they're not in the UK and don't want to miss out - I bought a motorbike on UK eBay whilst on a business trip to Germany.
You have email and phone on an Oil Rig, you could be in good contact.
As soon as it gets complex: "I'm a busness man, in Europe, I want the car for my son, I'll pay more, I'll pay shipping, No, you pay shipping, Western Union, Email contact only please"... Well, we all know where that's going.
Right, just been over to see him, it's definitely a scam. The way my neighbour described it sounded like he already had the money which was why I was uncertain but it's all emails pretending to be from Paypal but actually from some Brazilian guy. My neighbour is a pretty sharp guy when it comes to doing business face to face but it seems if people aren't too computer savvy they can be fooled by a few emails that look official to the untrained eye.
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