Pelicanites Beware!! Car buyer scam

[real550A]

Most of us have read or heard about this scam......well,
HERE IT IS!
I have a '57 Chev advertised on a couple online sites. This is the second response of this type I've gotten. The first one was actually from Nigeria, and I just blew it off.
This time, I'm playing along for a while. Here's how it started:

Hello,

I am the Admin Manager of A. Y. Autos and will like to purchase your car to one of my international clients. Can you just give me its present condition, the pic (if available) and the last price. So, I can contact my client as soon as possible because he is ready to pay you as soon as possible, if he is interested in it. I look forward to reading from you.

Thanks.
Al

O.K. I sent him the pics and the bottom line. This was his response:

Hello Mike,

Thanks for your mail, I have forwarded the pictures, contacted and concluded matters with my client and he said that since you said that the cost of your Car is $10,000 and my client says there is no problem about the price since it is without risk with what I and my client have seen. But like i will like you to understand that my client is owing me $36,000 and I will like to use this opportunity to collect my money from him as he has just issued you a Certified Check of $46,000, which you will be expecting while you deduct your $10,000 and wire back $36,000 to the Shippers who wll take care of the Shipping of the Car. So you will be expecting a Certified Check of $46,000 while you Wire back $33,000 Via Money Transfer to the Shipper's Account as soon as you receive the Payment which they will Use for Coming to your Location as soon they Comfirm that the Funds is in their Account. After my balance has been wired to Shipper and T! hey have Told me that the Funds has been Transfered Into their Account, I will then instruct the shippers to come to your destination in 3 day After the Funds have been Comfirmed in their Account that Sameday and then Take off to your location for the pick up of the Car. So let me have your full contact information to where the check will be sent to like this:

Name............
Full address..........
City..............
State............
Country..............
Zipcode............
Cell telephone number......
Home telephone number .....
Work telephone number .....

Anyone else going through this?
I sent him the address to send the payment to, nothing else.
I'll post the results, if any.
DO NOT EVER WIRE THESE GUYS ANY MONEY!!! (just had to say it!)

[widebody911]

wow - $36k! this guy ain't messin' 'round!

[singpilot]

I say deposit the check in a new account and see what happens.

[Jim Richards]

So you get the money first before you do anything. It's not a scam to you per se, but it sure sounds like they're trying to lure you into money laundering. Unless I misunderstood this...

[RichMason]

I get these every 6 months or so for a 914 that I listed on that board two years ago. Never for such high amounts though. Based on the grammar (and the weird spaces around the amounts and dates that I received), it seemed like a computer-generated scam to me so I never replied.

[dtw]

I love the ludicrous English. Any idea where this joker is from?

Are you calling the FBI or your bank to see if they are interested in the sting you are setting up?

[Decolliber]

Originally posted by singpilot
I say deposit the check in a new account and see what happens.

Use a false name, withdraw the cash as soon as the check clears, and disappear. Wear a Groucho Marx nose and glasses when you open the account (cameras). I think banks have to make the cash available after a few days, but won't find out that the check is fraudulent for a while longer.

[Leland Pate]

It's an old scam.
Many people I know get emails like this every time they sell a car.
I would report this to law enforcement. If I had to guess, someone has a case building on these people. You may be able to give them what they need to put these morons away.

[widebody911]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
So you get the money first before you do anything. It's not a scam to you per se, but it sure sounds like they're trying to lure you into money laundering. Unless I misunderstood this...

No, it is a scam. The check will be bogus, but it takes a while for it to bounce - up to several weeks. In the mean time, he will have wired real money to the scamster - the wire won't bounce.

[Leland Pate]

If I remember right, it goes something like this:
You depositing the bad check, then you send a balance back to the guy. They walk with the money. Meanwhile, the bank goes bezerk looking for payment, and you are the one sitting in first chair.

[Leland Pate]

Thominator beat me to it.

[ubiquity0]

Agreed- open a new account & tell him that (like his client) you do not use money wire transfers but prefer "certified checks". I'm sure he won't have a problem with this as its obviously ok by him to send it to you in this manner When you get his check deposit it & let him steam while he waits for your "check" to arrive in the mail

[Chuck Moreland]

The cashiers check won't clear.

That is the scam, you are the patsy - not his "client". You will wire out the cash, then be informed in a couple weeks the check was fraudulent.

You'll be out $36k and a car.

[RickM]

This is literally the most popular email scam on the internet. At least by last years numbers. I get this and variation once a week from a car listed as well.

[dtw]

If the scammer provides a valid routing number for the wire xfer, why haven't there been more busts? How are they keeping from getting caught?

[Jdub]

Carpetbaggers all. You really have to laugh at the lengths these folks will go to.

John

[Bruno Lavion]

This is a well known scam.

Because of the nature of my work (Financial Industry) I am well aware
of Fraud Prevention and work often with regulators to report potential fraud. I encountered the same scam while selling my Audi this summer.
This is a version of a common scam that is perpetuated by scammers particularly in NY and NJ. I have contacted the authorities in the past and actually ended up talking to the FBI through my channels. They indicated that this particular type of fraud is usually investigated through state branches of the Federal Government and typically ends up in the hands of the Secret Service.

Again, anything that involves a two sided exchange of money for a transaction that would normally require one, is fraudulent. I think they used the old Whimpy trick of gladly paying you for a hamburger tomorrow in return for a hamburger today.... hehe

So remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Also, anyone representing "international Clients" in the trade of cars is questionable at best. You can also conclude that this is a scam when they ask you for the present condition and pic of your car as well as the price when in most cases that information is already posted on the site in which you are selling the car. It's all common sense and simply pulls on our "greed" strings when we see keywords like "international clients" and lot's of $$ being mentioned.

Regards and beware all.

B

[widebody911]

Tell him wire you the $46k, and you'll be happy to turn around and wire back the $36k to him. He'll disappear so fast it will make your ears pop.

[old_skul]

If I had a dollar for every one of these scams....I'd have a 3.6 in my car.

If I had a dollar for every THREAD about these scams, I think I could be the actual 993.

[LeeH]

Wow! He actually asked for pictures and details? The ones I get just say, "The price is fair - where do we send the money?" They never ask the first question about the car!