Scammers... man are they lame!!

blkongry · 02:08 PM

Okay, so it may be blasphemy, but I think it's time for me to part with my cabrio and get a new ride... lookin' at the 4.4i X5. Anyhow, I posted it online with Autotrader right away got a response... some guy interested in it for his 'client' and requesting some more info, so I sent it to him. We sent an email or two back and forth with a little info and haggling on price. He came back saying his 'client' was ready to buy it and then the email went like this...
____________________________________

From: Steven Anderson [mailto:janderson_005@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 1:01 PM
Subject: Payment Proposal/Pickup Arrangment.

Hello Lee,
I have discussed about your car with my client,Before he made a business trip out of the country.Am from canada and my Client is also from canada.He has finally accepted the price and hopes the engine is well Serviced because, He can't wait to see the car parked in his garage.
However, My client made out a certified cashiers check of ($17,000)Before he travelled to ITALY on a crucial business trip, the Amount on the check he deposited for the car is for the total Expenses which includes the purchase of your car,tax, the pick-up of the Car from its present location and the shipping charges /other Necessary Shipping arrangements. However he has instructed us to carry on with This transaction. So you're required to deduct the cost of your car ($10,300) and send the balance of ($6,700) to my Pick-up agent via money gramTransfer to enable him offset shipping charges /arrangements.Once the transaction is concluded and the check clears my fore man will be coming for the Pick-Up of the car from its present location, on an open vehicle and then Drive to a pre-paid shipper for shippment, and also conclude other Necessary shipping arrangements. So you don't have to nuisance or bother yourself About the pick up and shipping arrangements, while title papers and Other necessary documents will be sent by you via any courier service to my Customer.
Please confirm the above explicit information and provide me with Legal Name, Address and Phone number for check payment to be delivered to you via the fastest courier service. Thanks and have a great day!!!
Best Regards
Steven
NB: Consider your car sold to my client. I look forward doing business with you.

Below is my client's information that will be in the Title:

peter marvis D
44365 Rue Acorn Drive
Montreal,Canada 6H3 R7T
____________________________________

If any of you are selling anything and you get someone with asking for stupid s**t like this, it's a scam. They send you a bogus 'certified' check, you deposit it, then send them back the difference in a certified check. The catch is the fact that there is a lag in the banking system... it takes several days for the bank to realize that initial 'certified check' isn't valid, then they pull the funds from your account... but you've sent a REAL certified check back to the buyer, then never hear from them again.

There are different versions of this, but it's all crap... if they are out of the country, want to send you extra money, and sound overly enthusiastic... run!! run far and fast!! ...well, not before you report them first... and then kick their a$$!

BMR BOY · 10-09-2005, 09:59 PM

BLKONGRY,
Yeah, I recently aquired a hardtop for an e46 cabriolet, and i posted it on craigslist. Fortunately, I had two REAL people interested (which one of them bought for $800), but I did have a scammer for that too. Offered way too much money, but wanted to trade certified whatevers. Every email I replied to got "I only am dealing with cash in this transaction; send that to me!" They never wrote back. Anywho, nice choice on the X5 4.4. have you considered the 4.8is though? Soooo sweet. One came into my work the other day (which I drove, though I had no reason to), and it was AWESOME!! Check them out too!
BMR BOY

Jeron · Jeron's Garage

I have a nice collection of 32 Vehicle Leads from Autotrader over the last year. All of them are the same M.O..

BTW, there is a local club member that just listed his 2003 X5 3.0 for sale. Asking $33k. Let me know and I'll pass along his info.

blkongry · 10-14-2005, 08:14 AM

Man, that's a bummer to see how rampant the whole scam thing is... even listing something relatively small on Craig's List brought in the scammers, eh BMR? And 32 bogus leads on Autotrader!??! Holy crap! That would get annoying to have to sift through that.

Yeah, BMR, I might have to look at the 4.6 or 4.8... my friend's boss in Vegas has the 4.8 with cylinder deactivation... says he LOVES the thing, it hauls ass, and gets better gas mileage that the 3.0 I6 version (not by much). I have yet to drive either model, so I'll really start test driving and looking when the time comes (thinking in the spring... we'll see).

Thanks for the reference on the 3.0 liter X5, Jeron. I'm going to have to drive the I6 and V8 and see if there is really a noticeable difference between the two. I have a feeling (knowing me) that I'll lean to the V8... the gas mileage isn't that much worse (w/o cylinder deactivation)than the I6, and it's pretty comparable to my 4Runner that I have now.

I guess the first step is to sell the 325... it's been pretty quiet on the selling front (except for the scammers)... not a good time to be putting a cabrio up on the market here in Portland, but the ad is a run till it sells, and I don't really want to sell til spring, so we'll see.