Autotrader UK - interesting examples of fraudulent adverts

Another example of a nomadic car dealer with one car and many phone numbers.

I wouldn't mind so much but he hasn't yet cracked the year code system on UK registrations, and that it's illegal to give an older car a newer registration, which isn't aided by the fact that he's omitted to photoshop all the photos.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/land-rover/range-rover-evoque/used-land-rover-range-rover-evoque-2-2-sd4-dynamic-5dr-auto-9-lux-pack-brentwood-fpa-201404263707171?logcode=p 27 Apr

Tel: (01277) 229368 - Brentwood

£12,855 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 2.2 SD4 Dynamic 5dr Auto [9] [Lux Pack] Diesel - NL61AHN

The same photos with various contact details and the same illegal registration.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2ZPOLg9dPnkJ:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/land-rover/range-rover-evoque/used-land-rover-range-rover-evoque-2-2-sd4-dynamic-5dr-auto-9-lux-pack-homerton-fpa-201404043070909+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

4th April 2014

Tel: (07960) 021455 - Homerton

£12,855 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 2.2 SD4 Dynamic 5dr Auto [9] [Lux Pack] Diesel - NL61AHN

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AzMbayPStI4J:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/land-rover/range-rover-evoque/used-land-rover-range-rover-evoque-2-2-sd4-dynamic-5dr-auto-9-lux-pack-south-norwood-fpa-201404103227023+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

10th April 2014

Tel:(07508) 968737 - Norwood

£12,855 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 2.2 SD4 Dynamic 5dr Auto [9] [Lux Pack] Diesel - NL61AHN

Gone, also email address is undeliverable in the last 10 minutes well done to all

[AlanJones]

Back again in Peterborough this time.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/l ... ?logcode=p

£12,855 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 2.2 SD4 Dynamic 5dr Auto [9] [Lux Pack] Diesel

(01228) 317444

Still with an illegal reg

Thanks for that eagle-eyed AJ.

These fraudulent adverts are fiendishly difficult to pick out and my concern is that these are much more widespread than we are currently aware.

Of course, if these fraudsters are paying for their adverts, they can be traced.

This vehicle has been mentioned earlier in the thread and STILL it's being posted by the nomadic dealer with multiple phone numbers and a disturbing inability to understand the UK vehicle registration system.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/audi/a1/used-audi-a1-1-6-tdi-sport-3dr-st-albans-fpa-201404273727385?logcode=p 27 Apr

Tel: (0117) 9759043 - St Albans

£4,050 2004 Audi A1 1.6 TDI Sport 3dr Diesel Hatchback - Reg OV60LWM

Actually the incompetent scammer has amended some dates to 2010 and some remain at 2004.

It's not my place to tell AT UK what to do but he should at the least be blocked from posting adverts but, if he's reported to the police, he could be prosecuted and/or face losing his bank account for using his card to perform fraud.

The problem is Boycie that they will be using a compromised card(s) to place the adverts. I will send this particular example to my contact at AT to deal with personally and highlight the repeats.

Here's another example - 2010 / 2007 Audi TT 2.0 TDI Quattro S Line 2dr Diesel Coupe.
I contacted him from a baiting address, and got back the following:

Adrian Mcbrien <[email protected]>
to me
Hello,

I am glad to hear that you are interested in my: 2010 AUDI TT 2.0 TDI Quattro S Line - 47000 Miles,UK registered,Right Hand Drive.It still has UK registration,so you won't have to pay any import and insurance fees.The car is in great condition,no engine problems,damages or hidden defects.I`m selling it so cheap because we've recently moved to Spain-(VIGO).Price is low because the car is right hand drive in a country where all cars are left hand drive so in Spain is very difficult to drive this type of vehicle and nobody wants to buy it here in Spain.The price I'm after is 4100 GBP including delivery to your home address and full insurance during shipping.
Please let me know if you're interested so I can provide you with further details.

Thanks for your interest

I hate that his fake adverts are so hard to find, but I report them to AT when I do catch them.

i did read somewhere that for every money mule recruited the criminals have 100,000 (yes - one hundred thousand) compromised cards to exploit, which is why money mule recruitment and opening bank accounts to utilise in fraudulently cashing in those details, has a momentum that is virtually impossible to defy.

It is perhaps unreasonable to expect a commercial entity to be more secure than the banks who provide the payment system they utilise but, if the payment system is so easily exploited by criminals, commerce itself is under threat. I may sound like a doom-monger but I quoted an example in another thread where a witless phisher in the UK was portrayed in a news story as an "IT expert" who made off with £250,000. Incredibly during the trial he disappeared off to Canada using someone else's passport and his wife, whose bail conditions forbade her from using bank accounts, opened four. He was only caught when he went round to one victim 'mob handed' to collect gold bullion he'd ordered using his card.

I'm still amazed by the recent major bank fraud case in the UK involving the so-called 'computer genius' but, when you have a bank insider working for you, why would you need to hack the banking system ? - not that it's possible anyway. I can't go in to detail but if the banking system were hackable, I'd have my money buried in the garden for safety. I've never come across any single instance of a major bank's core computer network being hacked.

Back to the issue - the question then is the speed with which AT UK can pick up and detect compromised card details. If the cost of using cards in commerce is that consumers have to risk being defrauded, then perhaps the card has had its day as a payment medium. I am disturbed that UK banks are devising funkier and palpably more insecure payment mediums, even as the old card system is falling apart. It was reported that one of the sidelines of the 'computer genius' gang involved making use of compromised cards.

I can't change the system and perhaps AT UK can't either, but when the criminals have the potential ability to overwhelm an honest well-established major UK business with fraudulent adverts and payment transactions…..that is quite frightening. These criminals are well-organised and ruthless, and they won't go away.

If the banking system can't provide a realtime means to detect fraudulent card transactions, or the world is so awash with compromised cards they can't cope, where the fault lies speaks for itself.

Here we go again. The nomadic multi-phoned car dealer with no grasp of UK car registrations is having another car sale fantasy. I though my eyesight was packing in, but he applies different years to the car's make without a thought as to the relevance of the car's registration number.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/bmw/1-series/used-bmw-1-series-118d-m-sport-5dr-bloomsbury-fpa-201404273733100?logcode=p 27 Apr

Tel: (01285) 893639 - Bloomsbury

£4,000 2008 BMW 1 SERIES 118d M Sport 5dr Diesel Hatchback 2.0 - Reg YR60JYL

Previous incarnations

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kELM1cGnUhQJ:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/bmw/1-series/used-bmw-1-series-118d-m-sport-5dr-leigh-on-sea-fpa-201403072322102+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

7th March 2014

Tel: (0114) 2999132 - Leigh on Sea

£4,000 2008 BMW 1 SERIES 118d M Sport 5dr Diesel Hatchback 2.0 - Reg YR60JYL

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TKMmsMr_op0J:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/bmw/1-series/used-bmw-1-series-118d-m-sport-5dr-manchester-fpa-201403132484349+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

13th March 2014

Tel: (01301) 715832 - Manchester

£4,000 2006 BMW 1 SERIES 118d M Sport 5dr Diesel Hatchback 2.0 - Reg YR60JYL

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... clnk&gl=uk

27 February 2014

Tel: (07538) 005242 - Bournemouth

£4,000 2005 BMW 1 SERIES 118d M Sport 5dr Diesel Hatchback 2.0 - Reg YR60JYL

I regret to admit that these have clearly been slipping under my radar. I thought it was suspiciously quiet during daylight hours and this must be how the hacker keeps himself busy before the late shift comes online.

They're clearly timing the posting of the more easily detected fraudulent adverts when fraud detection is less likely to respond, and saving the better disguised ones for the daylight hours. I'm on to them now.

If his problem with UK car registrations is an indicator of his general IQ level - he should pack in now because I'll be picking them off quicker than he can post them.

Ab actu ad posse valet illatio

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/audi/a1/used-audi-a1-1-6-tdi-sport-3dr-sheffield-fpa-201404273732842?logcode=p

It's dropped £50 in price, moved at lightning speed to Sheffield and now claims to have been registered in 2008.

The cult fantasy car of the seller's dreams:-

(0117) 9119887 - Sheffield

£4,000 2008 Audi A1 1.6 TDI Sport 3dr Diesel Hatchback - Reg OV60LWM

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/audi/a1/used-audi-a1-1-6-tdi-sport-3dr-sheffield-fpa-201404283740653?logcode=p

After an exhausting circuit tour of the country this car has finally stopped in Sheffield - ironically known as 'Steel City". The seller of this fantasy car has however purchased a new phone number ( or should I say made a new one up).

Tel: (0117) 9119887 - Sheffield

£4,000 2008 Audi A1 1.6 TDI Sport 3dr Diesel Hatchback - Reg OV60LWM

The seller clearly isn't a reader of this forum otherwise he'd have learned by now that it's illegal to sell a car registered in 2008 with a newer registration - though I do concede that he has correctly amended one date, which ignores the fact that once he's given the game away it's a weeny bit late to attempt to fool anyone

I like a challenge but this wasn't much of one. Removing the registration number only heightens my curiosity.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/jaguar/xf/used-jaguar-xf-3-0d-v6-portfolio-4dr-auto-stanley-fpa-201404283749727?logcode=p 28 Apr

Tel: (07508) 309850 - Stanley - [email protected]

£9,750 2013 Jaguar XF 3.0d V6 Portfolio 4dr Auto - Hidden Registration number is actually OY13LVB

Photos actually come from here

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:GG_jWh-B-UAJ:www.ridgeway.co.uk/audi/ridgeway-select/search/page/91/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Jaguar XF 3.0 V6 Diesel S Portfolio
Registration OY13LVB Fuel Type Diesel
Colour Ultimate Black Tax band G
Mileage 12,683 Tax rate £175
Registration Year 2013 CO2 Emissions (g/km) 159
Transmission Automatic
£36,990

The same photos have previously been posted on Autotrader UK with varying details that I'll compile below.

Scammers like great artists each have their own signature style. Unfortunately this one's style can be described as idiotic.

Getting the registration date of the car wrong doesn't make it more difficult for me to trace as I use the photo, but it does prove that his adverts are fraudulent. Thanks.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QNLDrZ3O96kJ:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/jaguar/xf/used-jaguar-xf-3-0d-v6-s-portfolio-4dr-auto-inverkeithing-fpa-201404283740647%3Flogcode%3Dp+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Change of location to - Inverkeithing
Change of phone number to - (07567) 334654
Change of date of registration - 2009

In this example he covers all bases and states that the vehicle is registered in 2009 and 2013

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:b6iVuNIxkPMJ:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/uk/scotland/makes/jaguar+&cd=11&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/land-rover/range-rover-sport/used-land-rover-range-rover-sport-3-0-sdv6-hse-5dr-auto-chorley-fpa-201405043921206?logcode=p 4 May

£7,500 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport 3.0 SDV6 HSE 5dr Auto - Reg VO10CHJ - (01257) 802190 - private seller - Chorley

CONTACT ME BY E-MAIL AT : GORDONPEARSON3@GMAIL. COM

Presumably the space is an accident - [email protected] for clarity.

Previously advertised

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pOrPvYqlDNMJ:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/land-rover/range-rover-sport/used-land-rover-range-rover-sport-3-0-sdv6-hse-luxury-5dr-auto-southampton-fpa-201405023876371%3Flogcode%3Dp+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Dealer - (07525) 007377 - Southampton

… and so on and on.

[AlanJones]

A van that moves around a lot



2010 VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER 2.0 TDI 140PS Van Diesel in Firth Park £5,000

Metallic Black,Facelift model,SWB, 38,000 miles Full Volkswagen Service History and still under manufactures warranty 06/2013.2.0 TDI 140 BHP Euro 5 model. Sportline spec,18" Sportline wheels with matching Falkens,6 speed,Air Conditioning,Climate Control,V/W Bulkhead with shatterproof glass,Rear Park Distance Control,On Board Computer,Electric Folding Heated Mirrors,Electric Windows,Remote Central locking (2 keys),CD Player,Factory Colour Coding.Rare tailgate model. £5,000

Email from [email protected] to a potential victim

Hello there,

I am glad to hear that you are interested to buy my 2010 VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER 2.0TDI 140PS Panel Van, NO VAT!!! 38,000 miles Full Service History. Although I am registered in the UK,i recently moved to Cadiz, Spain (where my family is from) and the van is being shipped from here. I want to sell it in UK due to the fact that it's an UK version (right handed),it meets all UK standards.I bought this van from UK and It still has UK registration, so you won't have to pay any import and insurance fees.Metallic Black With Full Black Leather. Turbo Diesel, 6 Speed, Air conditioning, 18" Sport Alloys, Leather seats, Electric Glass Sunroof, Park distance control, Electronic Stability Program, Body coloured bumpers, Multi CD, Roof rails, Electric windows, Electric mirrors, Full size spare wheel. 5 Seater, 2 Front 3 Rear Bech, Slding Side Door, Smoked Glass Side Windows, Chrome Side Steps, Chrome Grill, IPod Connection, Absolutley Lovely,MP3 Player, CD player, AM/FM Stereo,Electr. Stability Program, ABS, Alarm, Driver Airbag, Immobiliser Power windows, Sunroof, Air Conditioning, Power-assisted Steering (PAS), Parking Sensors. The van meets all United Kingdom guidelines so there will be no problem regarding UK Customs policy on receiving the van.The van is in perfect condition, the bodywork is immaculate,no scratches, dents or hidden defects as well as the interior in excellent non-smoking condition, never been implied in any accident and it is as advertised. The van comes with log book, HPI cleared, No finance. You will get from me the keys and all documents to register the van in you name.If the car is not how i described it, i will offer a full refund. It will be insured during transportation and for all Inspection Period that you will have ( 15 days ), will be delivered at your address in maximum 10 days. Final price is GBP 4,700 (the price includes shipping and insurance fees).The price is low because the van is right hand drive in a country where all cars are left hand drive so in the Spain is very difficult to drive this type of vehicle and nobody wants to buy it here in Spain.Instead of keeping it in garage (during this economical crisis), I decided to sell it to someone back in the UK for a really attractive price.

I want to take this opportunity to assure you that this deal is 100% legitimate,the deal will be manage by a very well company,in this way both buyer and seller are 100% covered during the steps of this transaction.
Let me know if you need any further details or if you would like to buy my car.

Thank you!

This is the scammer for whom I've been running lessons in UK car registrations, but I can't be a very good teacher.

Tonight he's been active with photoshop (a surefire method to confound me).

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/seat/ibiza/used-seat-ibiza-1-2-tdi-cr-ecomotive-se-copa-5dr-harrow-fpa-201405043923949?logcode=p



Nothing to arouse suspicions there.

£2,500 Seat Ibiza 1.2 TDI CR Ecomotive SE Copa 5dr - 2009 - Mystery registration number - private seller - (020) 81286290 - Harrow - BRAYSHAW470@GMAIL. COM

[email protected]

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:slgUE-evZM4J:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/seat/ibiza/used-seat-ibiza-1-2-tdi-cr-ecomotive-se-copa-5dr-reading-fpa-201403132486382+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

The same car and the same photos - undressed so to speak.

£2,500 2005 Seat Ibiza 1.2 TDI CR Ecomotive SE Copa 5dr Diesel Sport - Dealer - Reading - (07489) 418981 - Reg VN11FPY

I presume that this scammer is unaware that there is any connection between UK registration numbers and the date.

It appears that he's running his own little nest of fraudulent adverts.