European concierge service classic car buying scam
European concierge service classic car buying scam
Author
Discussion

stinkyspanner

Original Poster:

963 posts

105 months

I was browsing a popular car buying site for classic cars and came across a very nice looking E30 M3 at what seemed to be a bargainious price. The advert (listed as a private seller) directed me to a 'Concierge service' in Germany. Alarm bells were ringing loud and clear but the car was lovely so i thought i'd pursue it and see how it played out, i enquired about the car via the VERY plausible and professional looking website and asked for lots of info and pictures that weren't shown to which the 'seller' replied in reasonable time and with what i'd asked for. I even asked for a picture of the car with a note on it with my name and current date, which duly arrived.
I would happily have flown over to look at this car but no this isn't possible as the cars aren't kept on site so they just deliver it straight to you via their shipping agent, and if you don't like it they offer a 7 day money back guarantee.
It all seemed too good to be true, (more alarm bells) so i looked into it a bit harder and discovered nearly all of the pictures were lifted from an ad from a year or so ago, i couldn't find any trace of this company anywhere - literally nothing which you wouldn't expect from a company with a decent sized and interesting inventory and the website is only a couple of months old despite having been in business since the eighties (!).
Lastly i looked up the named staff members, none of their names appear anywhere else concerned with cars and the pictures look a lot like AI, as are some of the obscure pics i requested including the one with my details on
Reading this back it seem obvious that its dodgy, but it's very well done and will no doubt draw in a few hapless punters

Pica-Pica

16,461 posts

112 months

The sayings:
If it looks too good to be true ...
and
A fool and his money ...
Spring instantly to mind.