Selling My Car - Is This a Scam Offer?

gautamp on 03/04/2019 - 13:35
Last edited 03/04/2019 - 16:25 by 1 other user

Hi All,

I am selling my car and have listed it on car sales websites. I got an offer today which sounds genuine, but still not so genuine.

  • The buyer is ready to pay the asked money.
  • The buyer suggests he is somewhere in remote region of Western Australia and hence there is no phone and email is the only channel to talk ( i smell fraud there)
  • The buyer is ready to transfer the money in my account and happy for me to see it all settled before someone from his team will come and pick the car
  • The buyer also suggests not to give the rego plate and he will get his own once it is registered in his name

I have never sold anything like this before and while all i care is getting my money, still concerned if there is something i should care. fraud ? illegal gangs ? money laundering ? terrorists ? :-)

Please help what do you smell here.

Thanks,
G

Automotive

Comments

  • GG57 on 03/04/2019 - 13:40
    +4

    It does sound familiar as a scam, unless your car is a collectors or similarly rare?

  • zombrex on 03/04/2019 - 13:42
    +33

    All the traits of common scam.

  • Hybroid on 03/04/2019 - 13:50
    +8

    Absolutely a common scam. Eventually you'll get told the money has been transferred when it clearly hasn't and they'll concoct a story to get you to drop it off somewhere and you lose both car and money.

    AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!

    Stick it on Carsales.com.au like everyone else and encourage a viewing inspection and cash in hand/bank before handing over keys. Alternatively, you can sell it to those companies that you can drive up to and walk out with cash but expect to get far less than market value. Depends if you want to offset convenience and peace of mind versus lower cash value.

  • Sergeant Salami on 03/04/2019 - 13:50
    +4

    Textbook scam.

  • spackbace on 03/04/2019 - 13:50
    +1

    Scam.

  • gautamp on 03/04/2019 - 13:55
    +2

    Thanks Guys, the car is not a collectable and the rate at which the deal panned out in agreement i agree to you all above. i think i will stand back on this. Thanks all for comments.

  • prisonmike on 03/04/2019 - 13:57
    +1

    don't respond. Wait for an offer from someone who seem genuinely interested in buying your car.

  • gautamp on 03/04/2019 - 13:57

    Apologies for typo in OP, i have updated it now. I am the seller (corrected above)

  • bobbified on 03/04/2019 - 14:01
    +3

    rolls eyes

  • AdamFury on 03/04/2019 - 14:09

    Scam.

  • hashtagbargain on 03/04/2019 - 14:09
    +6

    Did he mention working in a mine/offshore rig? Did they suggest western union? Welcome to the world of gumtree scams.

    • gautamp on 03/04/2019 - 14:14
      +4

      Yes he did :-)

      "I work for Fly In Fly Out (FIFO)Mining Oil and Gas and we are presently in remote area"

      Looks like a standard use case.

    • drewbles on 05/04/2019 - 00:38

      I've had a few Marine Biologists want to buy cars i've sold on carsales want to pay me via PayPal and drop it off at a shipping agency for them.

      I'm really not sure how people fall for these scams!

  • GangGang on 03/04/2019 - 14:10

    Was it on gumtree? Did you also get the $200 lowball offers?

    • gautamp on 03/04/2019 - 14:15

      No through carsales

  • Numpty21 on 03/04/2019 - 14:10

    Scam

  • Caped Baldy on 03/04/2019 - 14:17

    Scam. It might be worthwhile to set up a poll.

    • gautamp on 03/04/2019 - 14:23
      +12

      i know the results :-)

      Scam- 100
      Not a scam - 1 (this is the buyer)

  • mreddie on 03/04/2019 - 14:20

    Any offers saying they are off-shore, on a boat or similar is a complete Scam…avoid at all costs!

  • Prince K on 03/04/2019 - 14:22
    +2

    String them along. Tell them you are meeting them somewhere very far away to hand over the car. Waste a few hours of their time for change

    • Ryanek on 03/04/2019 - 14:30
      +1

      Not worth it, you can get some pretty disgruntled scammers. Best to just avoid.

    • Hybroid on 03/04/2019 - 16:31

      No point, it's not like they'll show up waiting. They get arrangements for courier to transport the car out of the country straight away without ever handling it.

      • Prince K on 03/04/2019 - 17:44

        Even better. they’d have to pay for courier to show up. That’d cost them money

      • brendanm on 05/04/2019 - 00:11
        +1

        You do realise they don't actually want the car, right?

        • Hybroid on 05/04/2019 - 08:15

          They absolutely do, I have been through this before. They try and get you to drop it off at a courier's yard or shipping port to be taken abroad.

          • brendanm on 05/04/2019 - 09:15

            @Hybroid: No, they don't. They pretend to pay you, then attempt to get you to pay the "courier" from some of the money they sent.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/04/2019 - 14:55
    +12

    Mate, I just read this post and I thought I'd save you the trouble of going through the private sale channel.

    I'll take it off your hands for whatever price you're asking.

    I'm currently working for the government on a project. Due to strict privacy protocols, I am only allowed to go to one nominated domain - OzBargain.

    I have arranged for additional clearance for PayPal and can pay your asking price, and as a bonus, I'll throw in $500 for your troubles. Money is no object when you work for the government.

    I'll have my associates arrange pickup after you receive cash through a privacy proxy (so the sender's name may be different for government privacy). Just sign for the dispatch when the couriers arrive.

  • apple2016 on 03/04/2019 - 15:11
    +1

    I got an offer today which sounds genuine,

    Why does it sound genuine??? to me it screams scam!…

    • Micko179 on 04/04/2019 - 08:45

      After reading his post I wouldn't be surprised if he takes you up on your offer! 🤣

  • zonra on 03/04/2019 - 15:29

    Scam.

    P/s: needs poll to really hammer it in.

  • crentist on 03/04/2019 - 15:53

    Serious buyers will inspect the car first. And won't mind paying by cash or bank cheque.
    Unless you are sure about another payment method and that it's impossible to reverse, sticking with cash is safe, and could be handed over inside a bank branch for security.

    • GregMonarch on 05/04/2019 - 01:20

      I wouldn't even take a bank cheque. I've seen many people claim even that can be cancelled. (Don't know if it's true - and I bought a car paying that way - but I've heard it enough times that it doesn't fill me with confidence.)

  • Cave Fire on 03/04/2019 - 16:02

    definitely terrorists

  • the-mal on 03/04/2019 - 16:51
    +4

    The buyer suggests he is somewhere in remote region of Western Australia and hence there is no phone and email is the only channel to talk ( i smell fraud there)

    Lol. Yep, so remote that there's no way to talk via phone, but email works just fine. I guess email is sent via camel?

    110% scam. I suggest you play along for a while just to waste their time. Ask for photograph evidence of them via email, ask them to place 3 bananas on their head in the photo as a verification method. Tell them the car is ready to be picked up and give them the address of a police station.

    • apple2016 on 04/04/2019 - 15:27

      Well I like this idea….

  • zathras on 03/04/2019 - 17:30

    Agree to the sale.
    Get the guy to send the money to his "team", so the guy picking up the car can bring it to you in cash.

    You won't hear back.

  • neophytte on 03/04/2019 - 19:30

    I'm surprised there has been no mention of bikies yet ….

  • elgrande on 03/04/2019 - 19:40
    +11

    I feel sorry for anyone on an oil rig who genuinely needs to buy a car …!

  • Micko179 on 04/04/2019 - 08:42

    As the old saying goes… Did you come down in the last shower? Is your hair still wet too?! 🤔

  • hawkeye on 04/04/2019 - 08:45

    How much are you selling it for?
    If they're having problems with communications (most likely to cover an accent but anyway play the game) Let them know it would be safer for all to settle with cash on pickup.
    You'll soon know in seconds

    I'm dying to hear the reason why they can't manage that.

  • even-track on 04/04/2019 - 08:48

    I received the exact same thing when selling my previous car. It's 100% a scam. Just ignore them.

  • backpaqer on 04/04/2019 - 11:10

    Tell them they can pick it up from the police impound yard and that you're selling it as you couldn't pay all the fines owing on it. That will show if they're keen or not.

    Having travelled in extreme remote wa… Phone and internet coverage was very good. You should also be able to figure out where these people are based from the IP addresses you can find in their email headers.

  • ozboygsl on 04/04/2019 - 11:25
    +1

    say yes and keep advertising. when they say theyve transferred the money laugh a bit and tell them when you actually have the money you'll talk to them some more. next time they call, tell them you want their daughter thrown in as well.

    • Never Pay RRP on 04/04/2019 - 16:20

      I was about to say this too. I want to see how they "pretend" that they have sent you the money. Just out of curiosity.

  • MrBear on 04/04/2019 - 11:36

    For this scam, they are normally in Darwin or on an oil rig.

  • bamzero on 04/04/2019 - 13:09

    Reply saying you've got a lot of interest in the car, someone has offered $xxxxx amount, will they match it and I bet you'll get a reply of yes ;)

  • 1bug on 04/04/2019 - 16:13

    Definitely a SCAM

    Same "I work for Fly In Fly Out (FIFO)Mining Oil and Gas and we are presently in remote area" SCAM on whirlpool…
    https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/2791025

    Warning over online scammers targeting car buyers and sellers
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-02/scammers-targeting-ca…

    Extract:

    Manager of operations and security at the Carsales.com.au website, Dimitri Kulshitsky, said if the seller agreed and provided payment or banking details, the scammer would then send a fake transaction report.

    The scam then works one of three ways.

    • A courier comes and picks up the car and it is effectively stolen
    • The buyer suddenly demands a refund on the fake transaction
    • They "accidentally" pay extra on the fake transaction and demand to be reimbursed
  • brendanm on 05/04/2019 - 00:13

    Completely legit. It's normal to by a car sight unseen when you're working somewhere remote with no phone.

  • OrderInWrongWordsThe on 05/04/2019 - 00:21

    When I was selling my first car I got 2 different email accounts send me the exact same scam email, word for word. The first one I wasn't sure… I mean someone who goes on business trips to Milan could conceivably want a modified 1990 Celica for their wife…the second identical email? Well…

    Scammer

    I want to buy it for my wife's birthday to make her a surprise.
    As I am in Milano, Italy in a business trip I want to manage this fast so we won't waste our time.
    I would like to know your final asking price.

    My Response

    Hi Nick

    It is good to be hearing from you.

    Unfortunately there was a problem in the making of the ad of the car. The car is actually up for the sale for $500,000. I make the most profuse apologise for any misunderstanding my errors have caused and hope sincerely for a most productive future for us both. I hope to hear from you soon as I am a most eager seller of the car for you.

    I looked into it later and from what I can gather they do something along the lines of pay you more than the asking price for the car with stolen or fake details, money arrives in your account, they tell you to send the extra money to another account to pay for shipping or some other excuse and then when the bank figures out the money you recieved isn't any good they take the whole amount back from you leaving you short.

  • redslert on 05/04/2019 - 01:15

    Scam.

    Cash only and make sure it is not counterfeit.

  • GregMonarch on 05/04/2019 - 01:30

    LOL. I was just reading this thread when an SMS arrived:

    "You have an unclaimed inheritance on your surname, kindly Contact this email [email protected] for more details. F. Chu From: +61414287235"

    Parasites!

  • moneyhungry on 05/04/2019 - 03:10
    +2

    Careful scammers everywhere best is to accept cash or bank cheque then accompany them to vic roads to complete the transfer.

    I once sold a $100k car and the buyer organised finance over the phone with a stolen licence. I was contacted by the finance company after receiving the funds in my bank and was told to hand the car over to the buyer. Long story short, finance company lost their $100k and I received over $2k in speeding fines and tolls (which I eventually sorted out). Also had the police almost break my door down 2 in the morning as the car was involved in a robbery and high speed police chase as the plates were still under my name.

  • kaleidoscope on 05/04/2019 - 05:09

    run away

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join