Here we go again, these guys bite pretty fast on these ads:

[icm5er]

""Hello seller,
I am Mr Lauren Paul and am intersted in buying your
"1989 535iM - Bronzit Beige" l'm okay with the condition, give me
the last offer,i would like you to know that payment will be sent to
you by my client in the Uk. so he will issue you on a bank certified
check for payment for the bike.Also,my shipper will be the one to
take care of shipping as soon as you have the payment,you contact
him, so that he will make an arrangement to come for the pick-up at
your location.If this is okay by you, provide your contact details
and phone number on which payment can be remitted to you immediately.
name to be on the cashier check.............
address..................................
country...............................
state...................................
zip code.................
phone no..................
I wait to read from you soonest
Best Regards,
Paul....... ""

--

[bimmerd00d]

hmmm, odd.

[Drooby]

carefull man,
i have seen & heard of many of these scams

they send fake cashiers check from a "real" bank accounts

what happens is - he will say that you'll get a cashiers check for a lot more than the amount of the car + shipping .

when the check clears - in about 2 weeks you then send him the difference in money and the car ( the car takes more time to set up delivery)

what you dont know is that these cashier checks being from an actual account but -being fraudulant - will show up as money in your account leading you to belive that everything is ok -

in reality the money is shown in your account only because the bank shows that it is "covered " but in a month or so ( after you send the difference and possibly the car !!) you will get a phone call saying you cashed a bad check !!!

there are a lot of sick people out there - i wouldnt sell my car to anyone i cant physically trace - or otherwise sell for cash only !!

drooby

[632 Regal]

cash is the only way I sell anything big

[TimGinCentralNJ]

The first post is his response to my asking him for verification of himself and his employer.

I wonder how many people are really 'taken' by these idiots.

Tim G.


Message:
----
Tim,
I should be asking that considering the amount involved.Why not just trust someone for once?Every business is based on trust.Can i have your address?My client is living in the US and his address will be sent alongside other information and he will come down for the pick-up.
david
-----

Tim Goodell <timo1745@earthlink.net> wrote:
David-

I have to be honest; while this transaction may be legitimate, it sounds awfully reminiscent of an internet scam.

If you would be willing to offer proof of your employment and someone from your company I can speak to verify you and your client are both legitimate, I'd be happy to proceed with this transaction. If not, I'm afraid I do not feel comfortable proceeding.

Hope you can understand my situation.

Please advise.
Tim

-----Original Message-----
From: david shawl
Sent: Oct 19, 2004 3:18 AM
To: Tim Goodell
Subject: Re: Fw: Owner 55368339: AutoTrader.com: Vehicle Lead

Tim,

Thanks for the pics. My customer has finally accepted to pay $6,900 for your car.He travelled but left a cashier's check of $13,900 which is a refund payment of an earlier cancelled order.If you dont mind let me have your address and phone number and it will be sent to you via FEDEX Courier then all you need do is deduct $6,900 for your car then send the balance,$7,000 to my client so that he can use it for pick-up,shipping,clearing and western union charges.GET BACK ASAP.

DAVID SHAWL

------------


""Hello seller,
I am Mr Lauren Paul and am intersted in buying your
"1989 535iM - Bronzit Beige" l'm okay with the condition, give me
the last offer,i would like you to know that payment will be sent to
you by my client in the Uk. so he will issue you on a bank certified
check for payment for the bike.Also,my shipper will be the one to
take care of shipping as soon as you have the payment,you contact
him, so that he will make an arrangement to come for the pick-up at
your location.If this is okay by you, provide your contact details
and phone number on which payment can be remitted to you immediately.
name to be on the cashier check.............
address..................................
country...............................
state...................................
zip code.................
phone no..................
I wait to read from you soonest
Best Regards,
Paul....... ""

--

[632 Regal]

I see this all the time but still find it amazing.

[bfd]

If you're not aware, there is a Dentist who thought he was getting a "deal" on a brand new 2003 M5 for only $55K through Ebay Germany. The seller wanted him to use the seller's escrow - cheaper fees, faster service, etc. What the Dentist didn't know was the escrow company was a fake. The Dentist check out the website and it seemed very professional. Wired the money to the seller's ecrow and bam - gone!!!!!! The Dentist was out $55K. He finally bought a M5 from a local dealer for $80K, so his car cost him what $135K, ouch!

Lesson - if ya gonna use an escrow, YOU, the buyer, should choose it....

[pundit]

If you're not aware, there is a Dentist who thought he was getting a "deal" on a brand new 2003 M5 for only $55K through Ebay Germany. The seller wanted him to use the seller's escrow - cheaper fees, faster service, etc. What the Dentist didn't know was the escrow company was a fake. The Dentist check out the website and it seemed very professional. Wired the money to the seller's ecrow and bam - gone!!!!!! The Dentist was out $55K. He finally bought a M5 from a local dealer for $80K, so his car cost him what $135K, ouch!

Lesson - if ya gonna use an escrow, YOU, the buyer, should choose it....
After just spending $3000 with a dentist who inflicted hell upon me and can't make up his mind whether to drive his Porsche, Bimmer or Ferrari to work.... What?!!... I'm supposed to feel sympathy for this guy??!!!

[Robin-535im]

than when they have to *beg* you to trust them?

How's the car selling going?

[icm5er]

that even though this scam is old and many are aware of it, these guys just dont quit. This is about the third e-mail I receive like this, even for a set of wheels I was selling last year, I received one of these e-mails. It is a shame they can not be caught easily. I just delete them now.

I read about the dentist who thought he was getting a great deal on an M5 and got ripped-off instead.

Lets be careful out there gents!!!

[andyman32]

Yeah, I got this scam. The first time it happened I got as far as the fake cashier's check in-hand. I called the police and the bank it was drafted from, and they said they were getting reports of 15 to 30 PER DAY. It was some little podunk bank with 2 or 3 branches, up in Missouri or Wisconsin or something.

Now, whenever I sell a car on autotrader, I'll typically get 2 or 3 scam emails on the same car. They don't even keep track of which ones they've already tried to cheat.

[rickm]

You could report those scams....there have been a bunch of them coming out of Nigerians living in Denmark. Denmark busted 19 or so folks for scamming people recently. Their solution? Deport them, it would take too much to try them. Nice attitude. I'm thinking taking them parachuting w/o the chute would be a suitable punishment. "My US buyer was supposed to send you the parachute...."

[SharkmanBMW]

You could report those scams....there have been a bunch of them coming out of Nigerians living in Denmark. Denmark busted 19 or so folks for scamming people recently. Their solution? Deport them, it would take too much to try them. Nice attitude. I'm thinking taking them parachuting w/o the chute would be a suitable punishment. "My US buyer was supposed to send you the parachute...."
get that on video and we could make some big $$$ selling it!