Sarah.....

Hi Nathan

Sorry to hear you got done as well, would be worth you checking the bank details against those posted and I have complained to financial ombudsman that Barclays as the receiving bank are failing to protect us (the public) against money laundering by allowing these accounts to be used over and over again.

Sarah seems to be at it again.

This time she is called Evelyn and appears to be selling a Triumph TR6 for £5500. A bargain price which tempted me, especially when I saw the photos on the link she sent me :-
http://s1049.photobucket.com/albums/s39 ... RIUMPHTR6/

Her email comes from [email protected]

I googled the email address and found this forum. Her e mails are almost word for word to those of Sarah which I have seen on here.

I don't know how to help others but have reported the matter to action fraud.police.uk and hope that they can find these crooks.

Hi, she has come through to me about a Bailey Ranger 2007 620/6 offering for £3550 when it is worth about £8000, I have reported this as fraud to Ebay. If anyone is looking, the listing no is 190843646437

Have you got an e-mail for him ?

They don't normally want to work within the system and an e-mail address is how they'll usually operate.

Hi

I think Sarah is now "trading" as Evelyn Hudson.

She, (not that I think she is a she), tried to sell me a triumph TR6 this week. Exactly the same scam, same emails as I have seen on the forum ect so I am sure that it is the same bunch of crooks! Fortunately I spotted the scam, and found this site, when she refused to let me view the car, but I did take it far enough to get her bank details ect.

Her e mail address is [email protected]

Fake E Bay e mail address: [email protected]

The bank details she gave me via a fake e bay page sent by e mail are:

Beneficiary- V.Garabagiu
Bank- Barclays - London
Sort code- 20-29-41
Acc no.- 63077519

And the address she gave is:

21 Sterling St
Dundee
DD3 6PH
UK

Interestingly, the fake e bay emails used my correct e bay user name! So they have either monitored what I have been searching for or monitored a particular car to see who is interested in it.

I don't know if any of the above is of any help to any one but I really do hope someone can use it.

I reported the attempted scam to Action Fraud. www.actionfraud.police.uk/ I don't suppose they will do much but if everyone reported it to the same authority, it might provoke some form of action.

Good luck
[email protected]

The information is useful You won't com me.

Apart from enabling people who could become victims to Google the account and avoid getting scammed, it shows the underlying pattern.

What I see is quite extraordinary and really very disturbing. If the authorities don't get to grips with what's going on the consequences will be serious and have wide-ranging effects. The facts and figures are in the public domain and how the scam works is also well known.

More of the same - an Eriba caravan for £4000 when the realistic valve was £7000

last email I received:

Evelyn Hudson
21 Stirling Street
Dundee
DD3 6PH
I had some troubles with the fees payment and I had to end the ad. I spoke with eBay and we still have their support if you agree to proceed. Its still for sale.
Fees were finally paid which make us eligible to proceed.
Thank you

Evelyn

Hi I bought a Toyota Hilux for £4400 paid money into a I David Barclays account 20-66-51 ACC 53002098 have been promised delivery on Tuesday, only just found this forum see truck on eBay cheaper than it should of been paid money via bank transfer been fobbed off for last couple of days when I was getting truck!! Evelyn Hudson you've had me but I promise it won't be the last you hear of me!!!! Every dog has its day!!!!

It is necessary to have email headers for this scam You won't com me and recent posters. The bank account can be shut down. Westham could you give full details too please. I am afraid that dog will have many days and is unreachable as it is in Africa or Malaysia. If there is a money mule then they may be caught. Sadly though the accounts are probably opened up by a scam victim/job scam victim, who has then passed on the bank details to the scammer under the false idea of only a read only access.
Beneficiary- V.Garabagiu
Bank- Barclays - London
Sort code- 20-29-41
Acc no.- 63077519

Once again it is Barclays. All these frauds we hear about should be going to SOCA and the responsible Barclays officer should be looking at the transactions and reporting them. Identifying possible fraud actions is not rocket science. If Barclays do not report suspicion of fraudulent activity and money laundering they are breaking the law. The bank does not have to know if an offence is actually committed to report it. They have to report for the police to investigate and it may be part of a wider picture.

Certain things are glaringly obvious Began Steele and a bank with a competent fraud department will quickly recognise it and act swiftly and resolutely to deal with it.

If innocent 'money mules' are being recruited by means of scam mails, they'll have a random assortment of accounts with different banks. Scammers with malicious intent will always target the same bank after sharing knowledge of their particular requirements and procedures. The existence of tourist 'money mules' who operate professionally is well known and once you have them targeting one particular bank, they'll abuse it ruthlessly until they're stopped. The fact that they will be of a uniform nature, even if they're at different branches, will make them easy to detect, even before any fraud is performed. Economically the bank will recognise them at the application stage and not open the accounts as that avoids the cost, hassle and harm completely. I know one bank used to do that some years back.

Banks are businesses and can't be obliged to hold anyone's account and they can shut anyone's account without giving a reason at any time. Even if a bank doesn't want the nuisance of a prosecution, closing the account is effective and has a serious effect on the person involved. In the modern world you can't function without a bank account and getting a job will be difficult if not impossible, as will claiming benefits, paying bills and buying anything.

A bank is entitled and justified in shutting the account of even an innocent money mule, as they've abused the banking relationship, so when there is any suspicion of it being deliberate, the account should be shut immediately and the person blacklisted.

Hi,
Has anyone had their money back when been scammed by this woman, it has just happened to me.
Martin Hughes

Welcome Martin,

First, it is important that you understand that there is no "Sarah." That is just one of many bogus identities used by this scammer or scammers. Based on the volume and the number of scams run and the number of bank accounts used, there is very possibly a gang of scammers behind this. Some of the English suggests that the authors of some of the emails are African. They are more likely male than female.

So, the police can't just go and arrest "Sarah." Unraveling one of these operations is a very tricky (and expensive) job. The greater the known losses, the more likely a full investigation will be launched. It is important that you report the scam for this reason.

As for getting your money back--a few people who have reacted quickly and immediately contacted the banks involved have managed to get their money back. But I'm not going to lie--those situations have been few and far between. Because you, as the account owner, authorized the transfer, ultimately you are considered responsible for the consequences. So if the scammers have already withdrawn the money (they will usually move it quickly) and there is no money to reverse, the banks will often not go any further.

UK banks have a legal obligation to report to the authorities all bank accounts engaged, or suspected to be engaged in crime, fraud and money laundering, and individual staff are liable to be prosecuted for not doing so.

It is widely reported that the UK has the most stringent anti-money laundering legislation in the world. However, it's no secret that failure to implement it properly makes it largely ineffective. If Barclays fraud department haven't caught on to the reality that a Barclays Bank account bearing a Romanian name is a combination to avoid they ought to at least recognise that something appears to be malfunctioning in their systems and procedures. As much as banks welcome accounts, ones engaged in fraud are no benefit and a liability that banks should avoid.

The problem is that if banks and the police do nothing, then everything they say about the risks of working as a 'money mule' is also untrue. If criminals ever get to understand this, then the UK banking system and indeed commerce in general will collapse.

A report from Cisco Systems gives some outline of the problem

http://www.csoonline.com/article/656232/cisco-fraudster-s-money-mules-in-short-supply

Cisco said in its 2010 Annual Security Report that the ratio of stolen account credentials -- which can be acquired through phishing or hacking -- to available mule capacity could be as high as 10,000 to one.

Ebay isn't the only source of payments for 'money mules' and it includes compromised credit card details and hacking. I can provide more links to articles from reliable sources and it's quite worrying. Until the authorities can catch those organising this fraud, and they've been woefully unsuccessful so far, the only answer is to punish the 'money mules'. In spite of that being the stated policy of banks and the police, I've never met one victim who hasn't been met with anything other than a shrug of the shoulders when they report their loss.

By CIFAS's own figures with 45,000 money mules instances last year it appears to be the only part of the economy booming, because I've not heard any reports of an equivalent number of prosecutions, or even those involved losing their accounts.

If the authorities can't do anything, they should at least warn consumers of the risks.

Hi Guys,

Just a quick thanks. Having contacted these ********s about an ad in autotrader for a Nissan Navara for £4700 something didn't ring quite true. A quick google of the email address [email protected] brought me straight to this thread. Below is a copy of the email, same old stuff. They didn't even go to the trouble of writing a personal reply, just cut and paste!!! I hope those that have lost money get it back and possibly an appointment with these miscreants and some baseball equipment.

Regards

lb2439


From: Evelyn <[email protected]>
To: ***********************************
Sent: Sunday, 2 June 2013, 23:23
Subject: Re: Car for sale

Its still for sale. Immaculate condition, no damages, nothing to worry about. All necessary documents available. My current location is Scotland due to my work commitments, If this is going to be a quick sale I will let it go for £4,700 delivered at my costs. Are you familiar to eBay? I will list the navara eBay Motors for the £4,700 buy it now price and I will send you a link to my auction, so you can buy it immediate.
As soon as you will confirm the payment to eBay, I will proceed delivery without any additional costs for you.
In case you are not familiar with them, please read their Buyer Protection and will see that they cover 100% the transaction done through them up to £50,000. You will receive the navara with all the documents. As you know eBay is the best company of online transactions. If indeed interested in it and have the funds, I will list it on eBay, as I have a 100% positive feedback with them.
Please let me know your decision.
Thank you

I have nearly fallen for this scam on e bay, a Audi Q7 for £5300, the reg checked out o.k. on Experian so is a real car, but no doubt not Evelyn's her bank details are also as;
Beneficiary: Tudor Stoia ? Account now reported
Bank Name: Barclays
Account no: 63780864
Sort Code: 20-29-41
City: London
Country:
United Kingdom

Her address:-
Name: Evelyn Hudson
Address: 21 Stirling Street
Dundee
DD3 6PH
United Kingdom
Though I doubt this is real!!
I have reported it to e bay and the Police Action Fraud.
Will they ever be able to stop this...I doubt it, but the banks could.
I am with Barclays, always have been so will bring it to their attention but I am sure they already know.
There are now 3 Q7's on e bay all very cheap and probably all scams. They all ask to be contacted by phone or send your e mail address. By text they will ask you to e mail them. Text wil not reply and the phone number used will not respond. The same for any advertised phone numbers, these are just taking voice mail only. You will never be able to speak to a person.
I guess when they contact you to buy a car they somehow manage to take the car without the money actually arriving in your bank, or do they use pay pal who will freeze or even refund if the buyer complains?

Bank details noted - Michelle