Anyone heard of a Swiss scam?

NY65912 · 05-12-2004, 03:04 AM

Just sold my '65 912 off eBay. A guy who appears to be very trustworthy has bought it, although he lives in Switzerland. Anyone out there ever encounter a scammer from Switzerland? Deposit was sent right away thru Paypal and final payment send today.

Any thoughts??

Everything seems to be on the up and up......is it just my paranoia?

Mike

tangerine69s · 05-12-2004, 03:29 AM

Just paranoia in my opinion, I live in Spain and have bought 2 cars from USA this way.

Josep
1968 911L soft window targa

Wavey · 05-12-2004, 04:38 AM

I would just be DAMN sure that, if PayPal gets bogus payment, there's no way they can take the money back. I'd ask for some kind of firm confirmation in writing from them. They do have the ability to debit your account if they get screwed. Happened to a fellow Pelican who lost something like $900.

RickM · RickM's Garage

What type of payment was the final payment? Some bank checks can take 2 weeks or more to be returned.

masraum · 05-12-2004, 06:12 AM

You'll probably be fine. Good luck.

detroiter · 05-12-2004, 07:13 AM

Expect this to happen more often, since the US dollar has been weak lately.

Randy
Taking a pay cut each time the US $ goes down

Kraftwerk · 05-12-2004, 07:27 AM

Hey Mike, Has the buyer begun to make legit shipping arrangements for the car?

Off topic: How about photo from rt 78? Did it come out okay? JT

pwd72s · 05-12-2004, 09:51 AM

Swiss? They are funny folks when it comes to money. A friend who lived there for a decade or so once told me you could be caught in the sack with a Swiss Banker's wife, and he'd shrug his shoulders, reasoning that she probably enjoyed herself. But even THINK of messing with his bank or it's money, and you'd be locked up for life. I'm guessing everything will be fine. I'd wait to be sure you have "collected funds" before shipping or letting go of the title...any legit buyer would agree to that.

K. Roman · K. Roman's Garage

You ever see gas prices out there???
I have a friend from there who said "you know why our gas prices are so high? 'Cause *we* buy it."

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

I had these concerns with some recent car sales I made. My bank told me that a cashiers check can be returned to them up to six months after you deposit it. So, a bank transfer is the only thing that is 100% secure. They, of course, can call the bank that issued the cashiers check and verify it's accuracy, which then makes it almost foolproof, but still not as good as a bank transfer (according to them).

-Wayne

gaijinda · 02:05 PM

Hey Mike: How have you been?

Be paranoid, be very very paranoid.

Make sure the full amount is free and clear before you hand that 912 off to any freight forwarder/shipping company. Just because a person is arranging this purchase through Switzerland, does not mean he is Swiss nor even really living in that country.

These Nigerian scammers (and others) are getting very sophisticated and tell you what you want to hear.. A small deposit is nothing if they are looking to rip you off for the balance.

Have you talked with them by phone? Most if not all Swiss speak pretty good English. What does he know about Porsches? Nobody goes looking for 912 on the other side of the world unless they know exactly what they want. Be careful.

Best regards, Billy B

NY65912 · 05-12-2004, 04:21 PM

I have received payment thru Paypal for the balance, so the guy has paid me. I have requested Paypal to transfer the money to my bank account.

I will ask for his phone number just to be sure.

Thanks for the input everyone. What made my 912 special to him was the fact that I had a 0 mi Harry Pellow "Maestro" engine in her. The dude said that as soon as he saw that he hit the buy it now button. A lot of people showed interest in the car, within two hours on eBay it was only $100. under reserve and sold within 5 hrs.

Mike

Wavey · 05-13-2004, 04:51 AM

The thing is, even though PayPal has made the deposit to your account, you have already given them permission to debit your account under certain circumstances. If the payment they receive turns out to be bogus, they will debit the amount. About a year ago a fellow Pelican had an experience where he sold a part (tranny?) for about $900.00, received payment by PayPal and shipped the part. Then, on the last day that he could make a claim (30 days? 90 days?), the buyer claimed that he never received the part, and PayPal debited the seller's account. They subsequently refused to get involved any further, and it was up to the seller to proove that the part was delivered and to get reimbursement on his own. I cancelled my PayPal account after hearing that story.

Joeaksa · 05:05 AM

Mike,

Take what Wavey says to heart! Take all of the money out of your bank account you used with Pay Pal and move it to another account until you are sure everything is correct, and do not do it by wire transfer or any other means they can track it. I never use a "primary" bank account with Pay Pal.

Pay Pay is well known for playing games and even locking up a members bank account for months if something happens, even if they are wrong.

I just had Pay Pal tell me my AmEx Plat card had been declined for some charges. No way that was possible. Seems that Pay Pal has a informal agreement with AmEx that they will accept only a few charges every month on an AmEx card then they tell the acct holder that the charge has been declined, even though there is nothing wrong with the credit card or the account. I called AmEx and they said that there was nothing wrong with my card, that this was a Pay Pal problem. See www.paypalsucks.com for more info on the games they play.

I still use them but only because they are easy and most people on Ebay accept them.

JoeA

RickM · RickM's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Mike,

Take all of the money out of your bank account you used with Pay Pal and move it to another account until you are sure everything is correct, and do not do it by wire transfer or any other means they can track it. I never use a "primary" bank account with Pay Pal.

Good advice Joe. I'm going to set up and utilize a Paypal only account.

mfbarnes · 05-13-2004, 05:29 AM

One sure tip off is when the buyer sends more money than the purchase and asks you to forward the difference to a third party. If that did not happen here, it may well be legit.

john walker's workshop · 05-13-2004, 07:02 AM

they can have a swiss or english address, and the payment can still end up in nigeria.

RickM · RickM's Garage

My Nephew was selling a motocross bike and an "Irishman" sent a bank check. The info on the overnight mailer pointed to Nigeria.

I find it unusual that a scammer would release ANY funds...Paypal or not. That is not typical for the large scale pro.

gaijinda · 05-13-2004, 12:38 PM

Everyday scammers move quickly to stay one step ahead. Mike, make sure that cold cash is in hand before you release that car.

BTW: When are the BKLN and NYC "Pelicanheads" getting together?? I have got a place in Williamsburg in mind...

Bill

Schuey · 05-13-2004, 12:47 PM

just make sure he is a VERIFIED paypal.com user; and from what I understand, Paypal.com CANNOT take money from your bank account...

for example, I sold a part via eBay and they paid via paypal, I then deposited it in my account, they then said they didn't receive it (delivery issue that was eventually solved) but money was NEVER taken from my bank account, only debited in my paypal.com account which now had a $400 negative balance...