Need help with a possible scam

[bigb996]

Well as many of you know im parting with my car. Well its listed in the autotrader and i have been emailing back and forth with a guy. He asked for my bottom line price. I emailed him back with it and he told me his client accepts it and that they will be sending me a cashiers check for the full amount plus another 8k bucks to ship it to canada. However the catch is when the check arrives i have to send the 8k extra to the agent. I dunno it sounds really fishy to me. Here is the email i received today.
Brian,
Sorry for my late respond Please I will need your assistance for the payment arrangment as you can see that i am a very busing man as business take me arrand allot, but for now i'm in uk to see my sick son, My client have accepted your price $9300.00 for Your vehicle after considering the condition and his interest in the unity.

I have also finalized payment issues on the unit with my client and he is ready to go ahead with the transaction. He spoke with an agent that work with a shipping Company here in Canada concerning the shipment,the charges is $8,000,00 So the payment will get to you in Payment(cashier'sCheck) of $17,300 which will also take care of shipment expenses, inspection, tax and other charges ,

Due to the company's shipping policy and for record purposes, they only allow payment through wire transfer So you are required to deduct the cost of your vehicle $9300.00 when payment gets to you and send a refund of $8,000,00 to the agent of the merlin limited through western union wire transfer or money GRAM international the shipper agent who will be coming for pickup close to the location of your address.

After payment has reached you, and balance sent to the agent, the agent will come and pickup the vehicle with a mechanic , while you send the receipt and other title papers to our client via u. p s courier.

Kindly forward to us your payment information (1)name (2) address (3) phone number for payment to be sent to you, we could send the check to you through( EXPRESS REGULAR MAIL) immediately. Make sure that the address is correct to avoid the! fund entering in any wrong hand,.

He said he will give you a call but that should be when the shippers must have started coming for the pick up for you to direct them on how they are going to reach you.,
Thanks

[NzProjeKt]

I had someone contact me with an almost exact same offer when i put my car up for sale on AutoTrader... But it seemed to fishy since it was a foreign buyer...plus at first you will be getting more money for your car? so I disregarded his emails... cant offer a whole lot of advise... Selling the vehicle to a local buyer seems like the best move.. that way you know the money is legit...This seems as if it is a definite SCAM...BEWARE...

[Ms Dollar]

if they are sending you the checks just cash them in the bank to make sure that they are legit..doesn't sound like a scam to me...it's not like they are saying hey send the car blah blah blah we have shipping paid for on our end and then you will get your money...doesn't sound bogus to me...especially through Autotrader...just my :2cents:

[Negrodamus]

Sounds like the Nigerian ebay scam

[bigb996]

see i dunno its like i see it being possible but i dunno.........my friend was like call the police! lol.......im like thats a little much. I think i might get in touch with clark howard though.

[NzProjeKt]

see i dunno its like i see it being possible but i dunno.........my friend was like call the police! lol.......im like thats a little much. I think i might get in touch with clark howard though.

Trust me its a SCAM.. Yea sure it seems possible but man look at how he is rushing the whole situation.... Send him your telephone number and tell him to call you to discuss further details.... Watch not only is he not going to call but he is going to stop responding to your emails.. I had someone contact me with an offer just like this one... You can tell its a straight up SCAM cause they dont even try to negotiate the price or nothin...

[SilverJester]

it IS a scam. I had a friend that almost went through with this. His situation was almost identical to yours. They told him that they were buying it as a company car but that they were originally planning on getting another car which cost 7k more. But they had already made some transaction or some bs, and that they would be sending him a check for 7k more than he was asking, then he was to send the extra 7k back to them via western union. It was also a cashiers check and when he went to deposite it in the bank, the bank said it would take a week or so to clear. Well a week later it cleared (this parts still confuses me) and we went to western union to send the cash. the lady working at western union though WE were trying to pull some scam and refused to send it. The next day the bank called and said that he owed them 7k (he had withdrawn it to send back) plus a little extra he took out. They were also from some other country, I believe the U.K. but when you look at the check they said you, it will be from Nigeria.

The only thing that confuses me about the whole thing is that the bank claimed the check had cleared...personally, I would have gone to the bank and bitched until they either let me keep all, or at least the money he had withdrawn (not the 7k) but the extra he took out, I think he bought a part for his car or something like that, and he had to pay the bank back.

Anyways don't go through with it....if you want you can even let them send you a check but I garuntee it will be a chasiers check from Nigeria.

[Niggerian]

Sounds like the Nigerian ebay scam
what bitch?

[ahmonrah]

well if it looks like a fish, smells like a fish, then it must be ......

[Buford®]

well if it looks like a fish, smells like a fish, then it must be ......

pig?

[HyPer50]

Definatly sounds like the typical ebay auto scam.. Usually, if it requires cashier checks and shipping to other countries, I just say it's not worth the trouble/chance.

[4dmin]

it doesn't cost 8k to ship a car to canada... i shipped mine for under 2k to nova scotia which is 30+ hour drive from here ;)

i would take the check cash it send him a bill of sale after it clears and never send the money to the shipping company :D

[quickdodge®]

Lolol. Later, QD.

[chrisdavis]

if they are sending you the checks just cash them in the bank to make sure that they are legit..doesn't sound like a scam to me...it's not like they are saying hey send the car blah blah blah we have shipping paid for on our end and then you will get your money...doesn't sound bogus to me...especially through Autotrader...just my :2cents:

They send the check he deposits it and sends them 8k. By the time the bank actually goes to transfer the funds at least a week will go by the crooks have thier 8k and the bank finds out the cashiers check is no good. Guess who is on the hook for the missing 8k. He is. That is how the scam works.

[Dragonfly5338]

what bitch?

LOL don't get pissed man. It's a Nigerian scam. They give you a fake check, it clears you get the money and send them the extra. The bank realizes it, pulls the money out of your account, and you're SOL with no car, and out 2k. I had that shit pulled on me by several different people when my supra was up on autotrader. They also do the same thing with rare type cars - selling them for 12k, send us back 2k for taxes, blah blah. Scam.

I'm sure there are nice honest Nigerians out there, but a lot of 'em are involved in scams. If you wanna get pissed, tell em to stop doing that shit. People from Nigeria have a notorious reputation for that kinda stuff.

check out www.ebolamonkeyman.com

[Brett]

DO NOT DO IT!!!!! This scam was on the news, You will get ripped and loose alot of money, I forget the details but I remember them saying these always sound so good but you will get fucked in the end, This is a 10% scam, That I know, because 11alive did a story about this and a guy who fell for it.

[mocha latte cupcake]

Ok kids and the moral of the story is DON"T DO IT! thats about my 2 pennies...

[drupason]

yea its fake someone tried it with me when i had my car in the autotrader..i sent him an email back kinda like this..FUCK YOU

[B16a2 Civic]

just send me the money and car.
oh btw, i wouldn't go through with it, hell, if that was the email, he has horrible grammar skillz to be an agent, dont you have to be educated?
nigerians....i swear

[A.P. Photography]

Yes it is a scam. Any reputable dealer will be able to spell and use words correctly. There has been a rash of these popping up all over the place, so sell it locally.

[5thgcelica]

yep. scam. heard the same damn thing on clark howard. the person fell for it. and he was like YOU STUPID IDOIT!

[Jaimecbr900]

It's a SCAM.....Don't do it. They are using bogus checks and you are essentially laundering the money for them.

Besides, the guy can't even spell. That should've been your first clue. He can't spell "busy" or "around"??????

Also notice how he is mixing words. He is sending YOU a "cashier's check" via "regular" mail, yet he wants you to return him $8K via WESTERN UNION and title work via U.P.S. Follow that?

This is a scam from beginning to end. Don't do it.

BTW, it does sound like that Nigerian scam of a few years ago.

[BOOSTEDeg]

I'd tell them out of that extra 8k, I'll take 4k and send the extra 4k to the agent. See what they say. Worth a shot. Don't do ANYTHING until you see the funds in the account though.

[Brett]

^^ Dude, do you not get it? This is a scam? Why suggest he try and get ripped off?

[Brett]

nigerians....i swear

Yeah fuck them!! Bomb the whole country, that will show them to scam us!! HA HA HA HA

[quickdodge®]

Hmmm, what a coincidence. I charge exactly $8,000 to drive cars to wherever they are sold. Just give me the 8k and I'll take care of it. Later, QD.

[Repost Squintz]

Dont Do it, its a damn scam

[bigb996]

yea im gonna report it someone to see if maybee they can do anything about it, that way maybee we can stop some of these people. The spelling was something that bothered me but i figured eh hes foreign haha...........but yea i think its a lot of trouble as well ill just stick to my local sale. thanks alot guys!

[CMO]

yup, it's a scam they tried to pull the same thing on me when I was selling my civic. But I figured it out, and lets just say that I got a nice chunk of change when I sold the car. There is a way that you can come out on top of this though.

[Spyder]

i would have them send me a check and deposit it then sell my car locally.

[carrascopa]

yup! fuckem get their money and tell them to fuck off! hahaha.. id do the same thing

[Z33_kid]

tell him to send money first u deposit it an wait for a week if its still in ur bank its all good if not its a scam an dont send the car heard that stuff before in africa instead they call u an be like hi this is king tanki or congo i have 2 million dollers give me ur bank count number so we can deposit it an crap an by the time u get to ur bank to take out the 2 million ur entire bank account is empty

[B16a2 Civic]

Lol@ king tanki

[bigb996]

hahah king tanki of the congo?hahaha.....well 8k to ship to canada? im sorry doesnt seem at all possible.

[Dragonfly5338]

Take the check if you want to "rip him off". But the money will get removed from your account about a week after the check clears. So don't go spending it or anything.

[bigb996]

im just gonna disregard the email for now. If he emails me again then i will tell himt o call me.

[B16a2 Civic]

tell him to call me, i will ship my Si to Nigeria....
and by Si i do mean a piece of paper that says "Si Senor"

[chrisdavis]

i would have them send me a check and deposit it then sell my car locally.

The checks are fake. There would be no point in depositing it because the bank will immediately withdraw whatever the amount is the moment they find out its fake.