Anyone else being plagued by these nutters??

[S4INT]

I.m currently advertising my S4 on Autotrader with my e-mail address in the ad. I am getting at least one a day of the following type of e-mail:

Hello Seller,
I am widow Lisa by name i live in Italy and Mr Tom Mark is my personal asst ,my only son is wedding
next month,i inetend giving him a gift which his daddy promised him
before his sudden death.before his death he did promise his only son a car
which is this exact one you place for sale on(autotrader.co.uk)distance is
notting to me in buying it just to fulfill my late husband promise to
his son .Please i would want to know if it's still availiable and if it
is,let me have the below details:
(i)The final/bottom price of it.
(ii)The mileage
(iii)Recent pictures of the it.
(iv)Why you are selling the it.
(v)If the car has a clear title.
(vi)Any other detail you may wish to give us.
The above questions are questions that i was advised to ask by my
engineer before purchasing any car abroad,So don't find them
embarrasing
to answer.I hope to hear from you soon.Have a nice day.
Lisa....
you can call me on this number

Anybody else experienced this? Had one the other day from a guy called Wang Qin!

[Scotty]

A scam that's happening everywhere.

[bakerdcb]

Anybody else experienced this? Had one the other day from a guy called Wang Qin!

TING TONG!

[Nige_RS4]

Can you try reversing the charges on the number!

[S4INT]

A scam that's happening everywhere.

So how does the scam work?? Presumably it involves me sending them money somehow, or are they trying to get address details to come round and nick the car??

Can you try reversing the charges on the number!

Tempted to try that one.......

[bobjebb]

I am think my mother live in this england and would much like your car. Please send it to my mother with gammy hip and I will mail you the dollars or pesos which do you like to prefer? I am very much intend to buy this engine from you for my sister with a bad eye.

I also would like to marry you, my name is Ting Tong, I will ship you my picture being taken by a Mule up rear if you enjoy this?

[S4INT]

And another one, this time for the BMW i'm selling:

Goodday,
Thanks for your mail, so i have decided to get the car, and am pleased with the price at £20,000 i got in touch with the person that is making out payment for the 2004 BMW 3 SERIES 330i Sport 4dr Auto Saloon and he said i should get to you first on how the payment will be made that it will be in cheque since the company is paying for car.

So i want to know if i can trust you over this transaction sending the remaining balance that will be left to the shipping comp that will handle the shipping of the 2004 BMW 3 SERIES 330i Sport 4dr Auto Saloon to my location. through Western union Money Transfer, because i'll be sending a cheque for £25,000 and since i have made the choose to buy the car it you base on trusting you with the remain money.

Well to start with the procurement of the bank cheque,i will need the
followiing.information from you:
Yourfulladdress.....................
Street ................................
City/town ..................................
State, ....................................
Country and post code,............
your phone numberand ............
Name to be written on the cheque..............
Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

The shipping line will send a deligate to see the 2004 BMW 3 SERIES 330i Sport 4dr Auto Saloon and they will arrenge for the pickup in two to three days after inspetion
Regards

I'm intrigued to know how this scam works, if he sends me a cheque for £25k and it clears, where is the sting??

[JonnyX]

I think they pay you whatever you want for the car and their shipping fees on top. You
pay the cheque into your account and it 'clears'. You are then instructed to pay the
shipping fees (there is normally a sweetener in that they 'give' you money for doing this)
to a shipping agent via western union. The shipping agent collects this money in
complete anonymity. All of a sudden the cheque hasn't actully cleared.

I think some people have also handed over their cars as well to 'shipping agents'
turning up to collect. Net result is you are money down and have given away your
car. Nice.

[cpufreak]

banks are really inconsiderate in such matters...and its difficult to prevent against it.
I recall an instant where a friend was selling some brakes, and a guy from israel wanted them.

Friend fealt uneasy on the matter, as he didn't want to be scamped, so asked the bank to manually authorise the credit card, and do whatever checks they do to ensure its genuine.
Bank authorised the amount on the card, so friend shipped off the brakes.

2 weeks later, bank phones up to say that the credit card was stolen, so they're taking the money back. Needless to say the guy from israel disappeared.

Banks line was the authorisation was in relation to the amount on the credit card, and they weren't aware it was stolen until later.

If in doubt be very wary, and trust your gut instinct... Worst thing that can happen by doing that is that the sale is delayed a little bit.