AutoTrader scammer - Jordan Evans [email protected]

Looks like Jordan has a new name - Michael Sosey. The following is his first response to my add:

How are you doing?i will like to know if the car is still up available for sale and i will like to know the last asking price of the car Thanks

After I replied 4 days later (all my autotrader replies ended up in junkmail and i just noticed them), he responded in less than 5 minutes with the following:

Thanks for the prompt response,the price is okay by me,I am ready to buying it now for Birthday gift for my Dad and i am at sea at the moment as i am a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I really want the car to be a surprise for Dad so i wont let him know anything about the car until it gets delivered to him,i am sure he will be more than happy with the car. I insisted on PayPal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address and the price so i can make the payments asap for the car and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to http://WWW.PayPal.com and get it set up, after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to put the money through. I have a pick up agent that will come and pick the car up after i have made the payments.


Cheers...

If I had more time, I'd love to string him along

OK, this is depressing...is this what AutoTrader has become? My second reply today, this time from Frank Bloomfield [[email protected]]:

Thanks for your reply,my dad as always wanted something like this, so for his birthday i am surprising him by buying this. I would have loved to come for the inspection myself but i am mostly away,am an engineer and i work offshore most of the time, needless to say, i wont be able to come myself. However I have a private courier agent that will represent me and come for the pick up after the payment has been made,they will handle issue of my details,transferring the name of ownership and signing of all paperwork will be done by the courier agent.

As for the payment,i can only pay via the safest 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 paypal account hence my insistence on using pay pal to pay.If you don't have a paypal account, you can easily set up one at www.paypal.com and sign up its very easy. i would have loved to talk to you on phone but i work mainly offshore and our satellite server has been down due to the bad weather which restrict our calls,please get back to me!! i appreciate your time. Thanks

The scary thing is, they do this because it sometimes works. I hate scammers!

Hi all I am under some health stress and was selling my car. I received this email that seemed too good to be true and was starting to get concerned ....I found you guys who have probably saved my car and my credit. Thank you very much. Just to keep others on watch here is what he sent to me.
Question from auto trader,

How are you doing?i will like to know if the car is still up available for sale and i will like to know the last asking price of the car Thanks


Hello Michael,
Yes the car is still up for sale.
Last asking price is at $17,250 for the time being.
Thanks for your inquiry,
Chris


Thanks for the prompt response,the price is okay by me,I am ready to buying it now for Birthday gift for my Dad and i am at sea at the moment as i am a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I really want the car to be a surprise for Dad so i wont let him know anything about the car until it gets delivered to him,i am sure he will be more than happy with the car. I insisted on PayPal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address and the price so i can make the payments asap for the car and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to WWW.PayPal.com and get it set up, after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to put the money through. I have a pick up agent that will come and pick the car up after i have made the payments.

Cheers...

Hello Michael,

This would be a very nice gift for your Dad, he must mean a lot to you. I do not have a paypal account but I did call them to ask how we would go about the sale. My main concern is that we are selling the car to clear out the loan due to my current illness. The bank will not remove the lean until paid in full. I would have to get the car cleared for you before pick up. We can keep the car insured till the final date of the transfer, but I have a few questions.

Where would the car be delivered to (for bill of sale)? If Close enough my wife can deliver for you with a bow.

Paypal will charge a fee of $500.55 for this amount (2.9% + $0.30) is there anyway we could just do a branch to branch transfer or money order. I honestly cannot afford this fee at this time.
We also have all of the warrantee transfer forms and will submit upon purchase
The car goes in tomorrow for its yearly scheduled maintenance check up. Please let us know as soon as you can as I have to be in Hamilton at the cancer clinic next monday for more treatment and we will be gone for a week, so it would be best to get this all done for you asap.

Chris

Thanks for the mail..I am very glad to see you write back.As for the car pick up and test drive of the car ,my shipping agent will be accessing that and they will also be coming for the pick up.Please send me your address and paypal info so that i can made the payment and my pick up agent can figure it out and come for the pick up and other necessary things after the payment have been made,they will also be coming with all the information needed,my details and transferring the name of ownership to me will be done by the pick up agent so you don't have to worry about that and i will be responsible for the paypal charges

Hello Michael,
Our address is --------------. Because we are outside of the city a GPS tends to mess up the directions.
Our Home phone #.
We have not yet set up Pay Pal yet but will be doing that later today.
Pay Pal told us it can take a couple of days to transfer funds and then the bank still has to clear everything before they will release the loan. pay pal is our largest concern.
It appears by your latest email that the agent would like to come by and look at and drive the car first.
Of course that is no problem, what is the best time for this to take place.
We are in town this week but most likely not next.
Please let us know,
Thank you,
Chris

Thanks for the mail..I am very glad to see you write back.As for the car pick up and test drive of the car,my shipping agent will be accessing that and they will also be coming for the pick up.Please send me your address and paypal info so that i can made the payment and my pick up agent can figure it out and come for the pick up and other necessary things after the payment have been made,they will also be coming with all the information needed,my details and transferring the name of ownership to me will be done by the pick up agent so you don't have to worry about that

Michael,
I am very concerned about the paypal and wish not to use it. A branch to branch transaction is very simple and is the only way our bank will release the lean on the car as we spoke to them today. I would really like to sell you my car but the only way this can proceed is with branch to branch.

Sorry

Chris
this is when we got very suspicious and found scam warners!!!

Welcome to ScamWarners notthatdumb and Notsohappy , and thank you for posting this information. Not every user of AutoTrader is a scammer, but all online sites are targets for scammers. We get our share here and we ban them as soon as we know about them.


Notsohappy, is the scammers you were dealing with was using a different email address than the one posted, please give us that email address.

It is great that you got suspicious and your bank really saved you because you owe money on the car. Scammers won't use bank2bank because the money has to be real.

The scammer would not have been using real money to "purchase" the car, it would have been a total fabrication and lie. We are glad you found us and did not fall for the scam.

Hi just thought i'd add a message on here:

Andrew Smith is still at it, he was very interested in the car i recently put on autotrader, again like many was very keen on paying the exact amount advertised without seeing it first. For someone without internet options is very clear about using an online paypal account? This is the generic message still going around.

"Hi,Do you still have it for sale? i will like to make an offer of the exactly amount you want to sell it,payment will be made through paypal and i will arrange for the pick up as well. Cheers, Andrew."

How they continue to have access through Auto trader baffles me, it isn't just the free telesafe number you need it's someone form of blocker on emails to, shall not be adding my email address to any future adverts i place.

By the way anyone want to buy a Ford Fiesta?

Hi, I have also had the same thing.
Nearly got caugh as well, the first one was whiterace503, buying my MINI for his dads birthday, can't come to see it as he's at sea, his shipping agent would come get it and he wanted me to pay the 400pound fee. Told him I wouldn't do it but he said he had no one else. After that email I got one from rickshaun, who is also a marine engineer, buying the car for his brother in law! exactly the same story just a different person he's buying it for.
I'm really angry about the whole thing! I just want to sell my car as soon as possible with no fuss, someone comes round and views it and then pays cash! but no, scammers have to take the piss!
there is no point reporting them either because I tried to email whiterace back to tell him to give it up, I know he's a scam, but the email didn't send, so I'm pretty sure the address no longer exists.

Also chucky 1986 I am actually looking to buy a ford feista lol!
Need to sell my MINI though first, too someone who is actually not a scam!

Welcome to ScamWarners.

It is most helpful to us to have the email address the scammer has contacted you from. Just having a name really doesn't do much to track the scammer.

Also, we are not a car selling or trading site. Neither are we a dating site. We deal with scammers. Lets keep to the purpose of this site, even in jest.

Hi Folks,

Just had the following response to my autotrader advert:

From: [email protected]

Hi,

Thanks for the response,i am so much interested in purchasing the car and am very okay with your price,but i will not be able to come and inspect it because I'm not in town presently,i would love to know it's present condition and the reason you are selling it.I will arrange for the pick up and delivery through my private shipping agent,so kindly get back to me with your PayPal account email address so that i can proceed with the payment as soon as possible.

Thanks and hope to read from you soon.

Regards,
Mercy

Thought I'd better post as scamwarners confirmed my suspicions and I'd hate to think people are getting robbed of their hard earned cash by these W@$&3RS!

Welcome to ScamWarners simonnicholson70, it is great you checked out your suspicions and we were able to help you. Yes, this is the way scammers respond to an online advertisement.

Got the same response to my ad. It was so obviously a scam ("it"???) that I decided to string the chap along, to see how far he'd go.

Name: Jordan David Evans
Phone:
Email: [email protected]

Question
Hi,do you still have it for sale?

so I was polite but terse:

I received an inquiry from you about my Odyssey.
The vehicle is still available.
Best regards,
Juan

His response, quite predictably, spoke of a dire situation where he was compelled to use paypal, the douch; he claimed he had restricted internet access, yet his responses were long and frequent:

From: Jordan Evans <[email protected]>
To: Juan
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 12:46:36 AM
Subject: Re: Auto traders: Odyssey

Thanks for the mail,i am buying this for my son as his gift because i
would not be around to celebrate with him i am a petroleum engineer
currently on a rig offshore and due to the nature of my work,phone
calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out
time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I really
want this item to be a surprise gift for my son so i wont let him know
anything about the item until it gets delivered to him,i am sure he
will be more than happy with the item.I insisted on paypal because i
don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet
banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account,as i have my bank a/c
attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address
so i can make the payment as soon as possible for the item and pls if
you don't have PayPal account yet,it is very easy to set up, go on
http://www.paypal.com and get it set up ,after you have set it up i will only
need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to
put the money through.I have a pick up agent that will come for the
pick up immediately you have receive the payment in full.please get
back to me with your last price?
Jordan David

I am an engineer myself, so I know quite a bit about these operations. So the internet restriction was a big red flag for me, not to mention the paypal thing, and the definite give away, THE SHIPPER. It is just laughable how these lowlifes pick up bits and pieces here and there and try to pass themselves as something else. Besides, I expected an educated professional to have better command of the English language.
It is sad that there are people that will be caught in his scam.
Seeing the chap was insisting in selling me his scam, I went for irony...

Hi Jordan Evans (or Jordan David, whatever).
I really don't think your "son" will be happy with a minivan, you're better off getting him a BMW or Acura. Even a Cobra would be better for him (I really wanted one when I was younger)!
Thanks!
Juan

However, it seems Mr. Scum has a thick skin, or his greed precludes him from getting offended easily:

do not worry about that,this the car i can afford to buy for him send me your paypal account so that i can proceed with the payment

At this point I decided I couldn't be bothered by this scum any longer, so I cut him loose. I could have strung him along further, but I have better things to do, like spending time with my family or actually trying to sell my Odyssey to a real buyer.

Hi Jordan.
It seems your son has a very generous father, apparently you have been busy buying him vehicles from that oil rig of yours, see what I found googling your name ---> http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewto ... f=6&t=9089

Please stay away.
Juan

Hope the chap stops it.

Thank you for posting the update on him. I did remove the last line for your post because it does fall into the category of advertising.

One thing, though--we do not recommend pointing out to scammers that they are listed on the internet. He will not stop scamming because you called him out, and the less we educate scammers, the better.

He's at it again, he replied to my sis in laws ad for her car she had for sale.

she thought it was a bit fishy tho, ive found this and other sites with his shenanigans on and ive warned her!

Welcome to ScamWarners GAB2882. It is great that you warned your sister in law. I hope she will ask any questions she might have about emails she has received. We are here to help.

Hi All,

A friend of mine received some emails although its slightly different. No mention of gifts or anything, but super fishy. I suggested my friend email back to the person telling them to use Paypal to the person picking the car up and then have that person get a certified cheque to bring for payment.

Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:55:14 -0800
Subject: Re: Demande d'information en provenance de AutoHebdo.net
From: [email protected]

Thanks for the response Does it need anything to be replace or repair?if theirs please specify,i will take it for the listed price,Payment will be sent using PayPal and i will handle the PayPal surcharge as well.I will arrange with someone to have this picked up for your location once i have paid as i am out of town at the moment. I would appreciate if you email me with more pictures (if available) too,since i won't be be able to see this in person,what's the PayPal email to send funds to in order for me to pay you ASAP.

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

I insisted on paypal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking and i can't go to the bank due to the nature of my job, but i can pay from my paypal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your paypal email address so i can make the payments asap for the vehicle and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to www.paypal.com and get it set up , after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with paypal so as to put the money through