buying a car with pay pal scam

I received a scam attempt from [email protected] . I guess he's moved on to another email account.

He texted me first, asking me to reply to his email address and tell him more about the mechanical condition of the car I'm attempting to sell .

I replied by email, spelling michael properly the first time. When the delivery failed, I sent it again spelt "micheal".

His response:

"Thanks for taking your time to explain to me the information i
requested about what you listed for sale, I agree with the price you
listed it for because I'm comfortable with the information yo gave me.
I'll want you to send me more pictures so that i can cross check and
be certain of what i want to buy. Payment will be sent using PayPal,
do you have a PayPal account?"

I was then sure it was a scam, but I googled his email address to be sure and found my way here.

This is the first time I've had a scam attempt like this.

I also got another scam attempt from a text asking me to email [email protected] .

I received an email from [email protected] saying they are interested in purchasing my car and paying the full asking price without viewing the car. He then told me he is an oceanographer and cannot talk on the phone due to there being no signal at sea but has access to a laptop and email. He can only pay via PayPal and will send a shipper to collect the car once I have received payment and will pay all the fees. The car will then be delivered to his son.

Luckily I found this website and discovered it was a scam.

Another scammer fairytale.

Thanks for the response, It's really appreciated. I would have loved to call but it's unfortunate that i wouldn't be allowed to do so due to the nature of my profession as I'm a military man and presently in Iraq on war front, So we're not allowed to use phone as security measures. I'm very much interested in purchasing the van and would be more than happy if you could sell it to me. Please can i know the full condition of the van and how much are you willing to let it go which i am ready to pay right now as am buying it for my Uncle who lives in Perth and wouldn't want you to sell to someone else.. And I will appreciate it if you could be open minded with me and let me know why you are selling the van and it's working conditions. I will appreciate if you could remove the listing.

Do you have any more pictures i can view? And mind you, I won't be able to come inspect it due to the nature of my profession and that's why I'm asking all this questions and I'm sorry if I'm asking too much which i wouldn't want you to think otherwise about me but to be honest and sincere with you, I'm interested in purchasing it and i can pay right now.

I'm in talks with the freighters that will handle the pickup and delivery. In regards to the payment, It would be sent to you via the fastest and safest online payment PayPal which is linked with my personal account. What bank do you bank with? You can easily email me your Bank details as well to make a direct deposit if you don't mind because my account is a business account and i don't have limit of funds i can transfer. So i will need you to send me your details so i can effect the payment. Shipment or pickup would be made after payment has been sent, received and sorted out.

PS: In case you don't have a PayPal account,It's reliable fast,secure and easy to use PayPal, All you need to do is to log on to visit www.paypal.com.au to set up an account. All you need to forward to me is the email used to set up the account so i can make the payment and get the funds across to you immediately. Please get back to me so that we can arrange for pick up as i will like the van to be picked by a pickup agent. I wait to hear from you soonest.

I listed my car for sale last night and early this morning I received a text from zhengxwen saying "Send me an email if you still have the car for sale k555wt at gmail.com...Ken. I was suspicious straight away for two reasons: 1) the text message did not show a mobile number, but the name written above; 2) why text me to ask for my email when he could have phoned me. I have a gmail account which I never use but my gut instinct was not to use my personal email as I thought that is what he/she/they were after so I used the gmail email instead. I emailed

Hi Ken,

You just texted me about my car for sale. What would you like to know?

He responded within 15 minutes with:

Ken Willis
9:59 AM

Hello,

Thanks for the swift response, I need you to understand that i am
willing and ready to purchase it right away as i really appreciate the
price stated in the AD, however i will like you to re-confirm the
price by stating it in your return e-mail for verification, possibly
have more pictures of it, put it off the AD site and consider me as
your favorite buyer as i am buying this for my Dad and due to the
nature of my job and my present location as i am a marine engineer...i
will not be able to come for inspection,i'm a very busy type as i work
long hours everyday,i have gone through your advertisement and i am
satisfied with it.

As for the payment..i can only pay via the fastest and secure way to
pay online i.e (PayPal) here, as i do not have access to my bank
account online,but i have it attached to my pay pal account, and this
is why i insisted on using pay pal to pay.

I have a private courier agent that will come for the pick up after
the payment has been made ...so no shipping included and With the
issue of my details,transferring the name of ownership and signing of
all paperwork will be done by the courier services company agent so
you don't have to worry about that.

It will be so sweet if you can send me your PayPal email now so i can
pay in right away and also include your address in your reply as i
don't really have much time on here.If you don't have a paypal
account, you can easily set up one...log on to http://www.paypal.com.au and
sign up its very easy... i would have loved to talk to you on phone
but i work mainly on the sea and our phone network is down on the sea
right now due to bad stormy weather, that was why i sent you a text, i
even wonder how my message delivered to your phone but for now we can
only communicate through the same mailing channel.await your reply
asap.

Regards,

Ken.

There is no way I would give any paypal details to anyone and having sold on ebay before knew that I could invoice him rather than have him pay to my email address. However, I knew this was a scam so said I would only accept a bank cheque and as such this car was not going to fit his very specific requirements, and good luck in your car search. I am amazed how long this scam has been going on!

Hello secretidentity99 and welcome to Scamwarners.

Thank you for posting the email address of the scammer [email protected]

You are correct. You can invoice him and wait for the money to show in your account. Do not trust any emails verifying your funds. Log directly into Paypal or call them to verify the money is in your account. Do not use any links provided by an email or phone number given in an email.

NOTE: Scammers will send you fake bank Check Cheque or Money Order. They will look real and fool your bank teller. If they are real the scammer has stolen a victims bank account. Either way, days or week later your bank will inform you of the fraud. You will have to repay that money back to the bank. Your bank may even close your account and/or report you to Law Enforcement for fraud.

It is best for you to sell face to face with cash in a public place.

Bryon

Hello secretidentity99 and welcome to Scamwarners.

NOTE: Scammers will send you fake bank Check Cheque or Money Order. They will look real and fool your bank teller. If they are real the scammer has stolen a victims bank account. Either way, days or week later your bank will inform you of the fraud. You will have to repay that money back to the bank. Your bank may even close your account and/or report you to Law Enforcement for fraud.

It is best for you to sell face to face with cash in a public place.

Bryon

Thanks for your response Bryon. Just a question about payment...if payment by cash is not possible, what are other safe ways to receive payment from legitimate buyers?

^^^^You are selling a vehicle. In most Countries there are rules for the transfer and etc. So the person must be local. You can make sell at the bank. The bank will take different funding.

The key here is to meet the buyer in person. Follow your laws in transferring a vehicle. Do not deal with third persons. Nor, send money to anyone via Western Union, Money Gram or Bank Transfer that you have never met personally.

The scammer does not want your vehicle he wants your money.

^^^^You are selling a vehicle. In most Countries there are rules for the transfer and etc. So the person must be local. You can make sell at the bank. The bank will take different funding.

The key here is to meet the buyer in person. Follow your laws in transferring a vehicle. Do not deal with third persons. Nor, send money to anyone via Western Union, Money Gram or Bank Transfer that you have never met personally.

The scammer does not want your vehicle he wants your money.

Thanks again. I recognise that scammers only want money. Your comment on bank cheques did concern me as I did not know that was possible. I have learned some useful information from you, and this site, today!

Yes, scammers are creative. Spend some time checking out their ways of stealing money. Visit other forums and tell your friends.

Please visit this thread on fake checks: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3141

If you need more examples pm me.

Bryon

Scammers have been producing counterfeit bank drafts and travellers cheques for many years and the lowest level scammer will have access to a supply of them, and even a bank will have difficulty recognising a forgery. You can legitimately buy the software to produce cheques online and modern printers will will do an effective job using the correct quality paper.

The only secure method to receive payment is to get an electronic transfer in to your bank account, and to only believe the money has been received when it's confirmed by your bank. If you have online banking you can do that yourself.

Just thought I'd post a warning with the new name (I would guess not a real one) and email address of the scammer. The text of the email is exactly the same as some of the examples in this thread.

The name of our marine engineer is Howard Marriner (running out of ideas for names?), his email is [email protected]

I replied politely explaining that either cash in hand or direct bank transfer are the only ways I will accept the payment. I do not expect to hear from him again, but if he comes up with extra excuses I will post them here for others to be aware of.

All the best,
FC

OK, I realise it is a scam, but somehow I cannot work out what they can do to me. Paypal is obviously out of the question, as they can request the repayment. But a direct bank transfer? This is not reversible, I give many people my bank sort code and account number (I am in the UK), and I am told by my bank that all people can do with this is pay me some money. And what if they come up with cash? What would the dangers be there?

Curiously,
FC

You can never be sure what a scammer will come up with next even if we have seen it all before. It could at the least cause you major inconvenience if he has any such details. He could for example, start producing a series of fake cheques with your details on them, including your correct name if he knows it. It could also take a time for the fakes to come home to roost and in the meantime you could have money vanishing from your account. Yes you will notice it, but in the time until you find out and all the fakes are found you could have a major headache. I am not saying you will ultimately lose any money but you will spend on phone calls and petrol somewhere in the process.
One thing for certain is that money will find its way to a WU Office in Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, or Accra etc., where it will rest in the hands of a filthy simiform and a victim will discover the whole thing was a scam and they lost it. Most of us manage to get by without involvements with criminals and gangsters- until we do. (I make it a speciality but that's why I am here. ) In 13 or 14 years, and almost since Google was a baby in his mothers arms, I have never seen a new scam- only old versions disguised as such with different lies. So I know it is better to avoid such financial dealings with internet strangers however 100% risk free it appears to be.

Let's be honest, if you buy a car 'sight unseen' you're an idiot, with apologies to all persons who've bought a car in that manner and don't consider themselves an idiot.

The massive risk you're taking is that you're buying a stolen car whose identity has been cloned, and without visiting it and checking the VIN number, and knowing what to check and how to check it, you're a criminal's dream purchaser. Think how many cars are stolen each year and that selling online is the perfect method to convert the car to cash. As soon as you try to register the car the police will contact you and take it off you and your money will be lost.

Google ;car cloning; if you want to know more about it, but it's not particularly hard to do and even an amateur thief can do it nowadays.

Equally, if someone offers to buy your car 'sight unseen' and then asks you to pay shipping fees, they're not idiots, they're scammers who want your cash and have no intention of buying anything.

Here's mine just received: from [email protected]

Hi again, thank you for getting back to me!

I would be glad to meet you but am currently in Spain.As of now, I
don't have much access to communicate on phone and I can't meet with
potential seller to inspect what am purchasing but i believe what i
read about the ad is genuine and fact. I just have access to the
internet and check my email very regularly...

I am ready to purchase it asap..i will offer you $30,000.00 as a
better offer in which i expect you to decline all other offer that is
below my offered price.I anticipate that I'll have payment
made through paypal to you from my paypal .. You do not have to bother
yourself about the shipping. I'll instruct a Shipping Co Agent to
come for pick up at your door,when you must have gotten your cash at
hand

I had prearranged the deal with paypal and they will supervise our
transaction. So it would be of a great appreciation if you can accept
my offer and choose to commence with the transaction

So if you want to make this deal I need the following details from you:

Paypal email address
Name on paypal

Note:you can visit www.paypal.com to register with paypal if you dont
have paypal account

After I have all this details I will forward them to paypal and
proceed with the payment and email you when the payment is made.

Every document and signature will be in my shipping agent name on there arrival

I will wait your email with the requested details.

Sorry for the long email I have tried to explain the entire process.

Regards,
Patrick