Is this a scam???

[JR Indy]

I have my car listed on autotrader.com. I have been trading e-mails with a prospective buyer and here is his latest response. Any thoughts?


Dear sir,

Thanks for your mail,I have spoken to my client
and he has instructed me to inform you that payment
will get to you in a cashier check of$27,000.00 which
is a refund payment of a cancelled order earlier made
by my client.
Due to company policy this check has to be made out in
this amount to you ,because company policy only allows
a refund payment on one cashier check,so you are
required to deduct cost of the vehicle i.e $19,500
when
payment gets to you and refund balance $7,500.00 to my
customer's agent via western union money transfer or
money gramm internatinal transfer for him to
be able to offset shipping charges. Since I reside in
Texas.
After payment has reached you and balance sent back to
him,our agent will come pick up title and drive to a
prepaid shipper to be shipped to my customer,while
title papers and other necessary documents will be
sent to you via fedex courier to my customer. I could
send the check to you through fedex courier
immediately. Please forward your full names, address
and phone number now.
Thanks,

[Porsche virgin]

You will find that this scam has been attempted on probably dozens of people on this board alone. It is a VERY common scam. Tell them you'll only accept a payment for your car in cash. They'll leave you alone after that.

[JR Indy]

In this case, I'm assumming they send a fake cashiers check. What if the cashier check arrives and funds are available for deposit? What's the take then?

[white87911]

That is absolutely fake.
I recieved many emails like that when I sold my Muscle Car (so I could by my 911). I just responded with F - off. But you might not want to be that blunt.

[a914luvr]

I know someone who actually received a fake cashiers check and deposited it into her bank account. The bank thought she was in on it and put all of her accounts on hold and turned her in to the appropriate authorities. If I remember correctly, she even told them about it possibly being a bad check. Stay out of it!!

[LeeH]

But, it's fun to play with these guys. Have him send the check to your local Mail Boxes, Etc. (so they don't have your address). Then tell him when you went to pick it up the check an agent from the FBI was there, confiscated the check, and asked you a lot of questions...

[tfmcmahon]

I actually have received 37,500 for my car in 2 checks ,SINCE IT SOLD !I have called the attn, Gen. here in AZ. and walked my way up the food chain till i spoke with a secret service type.They are handling these due to the high chance the fraud is a fund raiser for the bad guys.If you want to pursue this,save and print the e-mails and send the checks to an Agent after getting an address near you.

[Exoticbro]

I find it absolutely amazing that people will fall for this.

When you are buying a car long distance, would you send someone MORE than the purchase price of a car!!!

I had a check sent to me that was substantially more than the purchase price of the car, it was counterfiet.(I was not shocked)
When you receive a check have your bank verify it is good BEFORE you deposit it, this will avoid any problems for you.

[JR Indy]

Thanks for the replies, I didn't realize this was such a common scam until I did more research. I am also amazed anyone would fall for this. I've asked for the check to be sent to a PO box, I will then turn it over to the proper authorities in case they would like to pursue.

[Emission]

I got the same e-mail when I was selling a BMW on AutoTrader. Scam.

[Oldporsche]

One of our local "exotic" used car dealers fell for this scam a few years ago. The authorities actually found his car somewhere down on the Mexican border. Probably became a pretty nice race car somewhere.

David Duffield

[bondodust]

That isn't good enough! The parents of a friend of my bro-inlaw fell for one of these... They took the check to the bank and said "is this real?" The banker made some phone calls, and then said "yes". They deposited it, then sent several thousand to nigeria via Western Unioin (bad!) In a week or so it came up as fake. The bank tried to make them take the loss, but I think they ended up splitting the loss 50/50. The worst part is they got their credit report tagged with something so bad that NO bank will even give them a checking account. I can't imagine what would happen if they applied for a credit card... they probably come to your house and shred your credit report in front of you.

As for reporting them to the authorities, don't bother. They're in Nigeria and immune from our laws. It's either legal by nigerian laws, or unenforced. It's best to just delete the email and move on.

Also, most of the scam emails I get are from outblaze.com, I think it's something like hotmail but less traceable. Beware of anything from outblaze.com, or their relatives outgun.com and fastermail.com

Originally posted by Exoticbro

When you receive a check have your bank verify it is good BEFORE you deposit it, this will avoid any problems for you.

[Exoticbro]

Originally posted by bondodust
That isn't good enough! The parents of a friend of my bro-inlaw fell for one of these... They took the check to the bank and said "is this real?" The banker made some phone calls, and then said "yes". They deposited it, then sent several thousand to nigeria via Western Unioin (bad!) In a week or so it came up as fake. The bank tried to make them take the loss, but I think they ended up splitting the loss 50/50. The worst part is they got their credit report tagged with something so bad that NO bank will even give them a checking account. I can't imagine what would happen if they applied for a credit card... they probably come to your house and shred your credit report in front of you.

As for reporting them to the authorities, don't bother. They're in Nigeria and immune from our laws. It's either legal by nigerian laws, or unenforced. It's best to just delete the email and move on.

Also, most of the scam emails I get are from outblaze.com, I think it's something like hotmail but less traceable. Beware of anything from outblaze.com, or their relatives outgun.com and fastermail.com

Sorry to hear about your friend.

When I inquire about a cashiers check that is payment for a car
I tell the bank that a car title will be transfered per their verfying
the check is good. I think they look a little harder, also I talk with the bank manager and no one else.(I also tell them point blank that banking is their business and if THEY say the check is good they are assuming ALL the responsibility)
I did get a check that I was told a hold could be put on I called the buyer and told him nothing would be released until the check cleared.
As I said MAKE SURE the check is good, looks like your friend did not.(he only thought he did)

I used to get at least a couple of those e-mails a day, I don't get them much any more.

[trader220]

I dont think you telling the bank that its their responsibility is going to mean much of anything. I'd be careful believing that protects you.

[Exoticbro]

Originally posted by trader220
I dont think you telling the bank that its their responsibility is going to mean much of anything. I'd be careful believing that protects you.

I agree, but it sure makes them dig deeper to make sure there is no problem.

[JR Indy]

The check has not yet arrived. When I do I will give it to my sister, who is a vice president of a large bank. I will not send title.