Fraud!

[T A WOW]

Well, after my little incident in my car on sunday I've been in the market for some shiny new(ish) wheels.

Whilst browsing over auto trader I came across a rather tasty looking Audi A3 2010 reg for a rather unbelievable £4700. So I tried to call the number on the advert but it was engaged. I just put this down to it being such a bargain that everyone and their dog would be calling. So I sent an email to the address on the advert and a few hours later I got a reply from rather polite lady saying that she had just moved to Spain and was having difficulty driving a RHD car over there so she'll be selling the car back in sunny England.

After a couple more emails I asked how she would go about getting the car back and how I would pay for it. Her answer was seemingly legitimate, using google wallet (which is something I use regularly) so she said she would get in contact with them and they would email me with details as to how to pay.

At this point I did one of those car checks that cost a few quid and tell you if there is any outstanding finance or if it's been scrapped etc, and it all came out clean. Winner I thought.

So I got an email off google. The address it came from looked very legit, reference number terms and conditions about how i recieve the car and check it over etc with her details on explaining how I needed to pay. It wasn't overly clear so I clicked on the help button at the bottom which bought up my email send feature as normal. So I sent a question asking for advise on how to proceed. A few minutes later I got a reply saying that I needed to go to my bank to sort out the transfer. Now as I am aware of scams and such I replied asking how I could trace the reference number given on google wallet without going through any links sent in an email. I had tried to find it, but I am generally quite useless at finding my way around websites I'm not familiar with.

Whilst I was waiting for a reply I decided to type into google search "google wallet invoice #61300955 (which was the ref number) and I came across a forum with people saying its a scam and giving similar stories but with different cars selling for a bargain.

So I seems I got away quite lucky. If this lot had used a different ref number I may have found myself nearly £5000 lighter.

Moral of the story I think. If it seems to good to be true it most certainly is. Also For the love of god. Don't buy something especially this much without seeing it first. I think I got so caught up in the excitement of finding such a bargain that my common sense flew out the window. But luckily came back just in time.

Oh, I also reported it to the police and they were helpful and took all the details etc. obviously I won't hear any more as I wasn't actually scammed, but I'm pleased I could provide any info to help find the scum doing this. It does make me wonder how many other people caught out by this.

[oldfruit]

Lucky escape, 5 grand lost, ouch!! that would have hurt anyone. Bet you are glad you did that last check.

[Craig]

Blimey, that was a close call!

 

Also, always use a credit card. You have so much more protection.

[Brantuk]

Horrendous !! I wouldn't buy a car from abroad unless through a main dealer. And I'd always see the car first before paying for it. I also don't allow myself to get too excited till the deal is on the table. Lucky escape Tobias.

[dawson]

I can't think of a "totes" quote, but you were lucky to discover it before any money left your account. A valuable lesson for us all. Thanks for sharing.

James

[BAZ]

It might be worth bringing this to the notice of the local constabulary. They might like to know about this, they can at least pass on the details to the Plod Espania. 

 

Close one there. They only have to get a few replies and they are made.

[dawson]

It's easily done. I just messaged a guy on asb about the 180 mak, and i probably wouldn't have given it too much thought about sending £320 via any method he preferred; it's sold though, which is good really as i don't have a mount for it!

[Guest Ely Ellis]

Well done for checking Tobias.

 

I was in a similar position last year.

Again and Audi A4 S-line, 1 year old for just £10,000, (this is a £25k car).

I corresponded with the woman who was selling it on behalf of her husband.

I had photo's of the car, inside and out, clearly displaying the reg etc.

 

I asked the usual questions and everything seemed fine.

 

But, like you, you don't hand over £10k without further checking and the HPI check showed there was outstanding finance. I queried it with the woman who insisted there wasn't. Of course I had been put off now, but wanted to see how far they would go.

 

I even offered to meet them, with cash and said we could go to the bank together so they could check the money was good.

Communications see slow down considerably then.

In the mean time, I also had a search on the internet for her name and address, which did seem legit, but came out as a 13 year old girl in Liverpool.

I even started to watch her facebook page as she chatted to her friends at school about how she was about to get some money.

She did appear to be upper class type at a private school. I don't know how far she would have gone, whether it was a scam to obtain money or just a joke, but I reported it.

It was probably her dads car!

 

It pays to check on things and as said many times before, if it appears to good to be true, then it probably isn't.

 

In the end I went to Audi in Derby, bit of piece of mind!

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Craig]

Martin "Sherlock" Holmes?

[Guest]

There's loads and loads of scams but nobody ever seems to make an arrest. I wish I had a tenner for every e-mail I get that asks for my bank details.

[Craig]

The problem is that it takes international co-operation in most cases to bring about justice. We simply don't have the treaties we need with many of these countries. In actuality, the e-mail you are receiving is probably from an innocent bystander who has been infected by malware and is oblivious to the fact they're now part of a botnet.

 

Cyber crime is probably one of the most complicated types of crime to detect.

[dawson]

It sounds like the people making most money out of these car scams are the HPI check companies; money for old rope for them!

[Daz Type-R]

You say money for old rope, but would you rather spend £5.99 for a complete HPI check, or find out a few months later that your cars a write off, or has finance outstanding????

[dawson]

No, I think the HPI checks are useful, but the HPI companies just have to check a database, it's not like it's a difficult job for them. I would urge anyone seriously thinking of buying a car to do one.

 

James

[Daz Type-R]

You ought to try and keep the databases up to date, that's why I am a busy busy bee!

[Guest Ely Ellis]

You would think that it would be maintained by the government and be a free service for crime prevention.

 

But, do you know you can check the MOT history of any vehicle free of charge! Handy for checking mileage.

 

Martin

[T A WOW]

I found that out a while back while I was checking something on my car. Quite a useful tool. Also I'm still looking for a new car, and looking on auto trader, there are so many cars which are (now) obviously scams. Including the same one that nearly had me. Shame I don't know much about computers or I would send them a nasty virus in an email, or get there hopes up and tell them i paid when I haven't.

[Cazz]

I like checking my van on these dates bases, it says first registered in the UK in 2005, not bad for 1986 vehicle lol.

Of course it's previous history is in Germany, just East of Berlin I believe. A bit tricky to check, but of course she's a way of life, a member of the family and not just a vehicle. :-)